02.16.21 Newsletter

Hello, dearest patrons!

Here is the latest newsletter with some recent articles we've been enjoying. Stay tuned for a new episode coming your way tomorrow and, as always, endless thanks and gratitude for your continued support of Citations Needed.

- Nima, Julianne, Florence, Marco and Adam.

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How the Media Cracks Down on Critics of Israel - Nathan J. Robinson, Current Affairs (February 10, 2021)

Nathan Robinson recounts how a pair of joke tweets he sent making fun of U.S. military aid to Israel led to The Guardian US killing his regular column. The episode shows how criticism of Israel and Palestinian solidarity is often excluded from the media’s supposed dedication to free speech.

Thread Man - Lyz Lenz, Columbia Journalism Review (February 11, 2021)

Seth Abramson’s long-winded Twitter threads supposedly revealing a web of collusion between Donald Trump and Russia were widely read during the Trump Administration and earned him quick stardom. However, Abramson often used other people’s reporting to come to his own predetermined conclusion that Americans could never truly elect Trump.

The Darker Story Just Outside the Lens of Framing Britney Spears - Sara Luterman The New Republic (February 12, 2021)

The documentary Framing Britney Spears puts the pop star’s legal arrangement, called a conservatorship, under the spotlight. The documentary does not tell the full story of how conservatorships are often used to restrict the rights of adults with disabilities with few checks on a court’s ability to place people under a conservatorship.

The Ambiguous End of “Remain in Mexico” - Maria Inés Taracena, The New Republic (February 13, 2021)

The Biden Administration announced that it will end Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers awaiting their case, allowing some with an active case to come to the U.S. The changes to the policy are still modest by only applying to asylum seekers with an active case, and border agents still have discretion to meter out how many cases are processed in a day.

Moderate Democrats’ Cruel Calculus on Who Deserves Stimulus Relief - Brendan O’Connor, The New Republic (February 10, 2021)

As Democrats debate the COVID-19 stimulus bill, moderates are asking to reduce the household income cap on recipients of checks from $75,000 to $50,000. Reducing the cap would exclude millions of households in higher-income cities whose financial situation may be worse than it appears on paper.

Jacinda Ardern Is Not Your Friend - Justine Sachs, Jacobin (February 12, 2021)

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden has become popular with liberal pundits for reviving the New Zealand Labour Party and her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Arden’s government has so far failed to bring the reforms in areas such as the housing market and has not instituted a full break from her party’s neoliberal turn.

The Lincoln Project and Andrew Cuomo Are Media-Created Monsters - David Sirota, Andrew Perez, Jacobin (February 13, 2021)

Reports that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration did not release info on thousands of nursing home deaths, and allegations of sexual harassment by a co-founder of the Lincoln Project reveal the danger in media’s power to create heroes. Cuomo and the Lincoln Project received positive coverage by liberal media over the past year that ignored troubling signs in both cases.

Adam Schiff’s Tough-On-Crime Background Complicates His Push to Be California AG - Akela Lacy, The Intercept (February 11, 2021)

As Adam Schiff lobbies for the job of attorney general of California with support from Nancy Pelosi, criminal and racial justice groups sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a letter opposing Schiff based on his tough-on-crime background. Schiff authored or supported several tough-on-crime measures as a state senator and member of Congress, including the creation of a Department of Juvenile Justice in California to administer prisons for kids.

Journalists Praising Psaki Should Remember: Spin Doctors Are Not on Your Side - Ari Paul, FAIR (February 10, 2021)

After four years of Trump’s cartoonishly untrustworthy press secretaries, some are quick to heap praise on Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki for not outright showing contempt for the media. Media analysts and reporters should remember that Psaki’s job still includes running spin for the most powerful man in American and should look to Psaki time in the U.S. State Department to see how she is more than willing to cover for an administration’s policies.

New York City Has People on Parole In Jails At Rates Not Seen Since the Early Pandemic - Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, The Appeal  (February 10, 2021)

After technical parole violation detentions declined in New York City during the pandemic, detentions have begun to rise again starting in December. People arrested on parole violations can spend weeks in jail with no way of recouping wages and are put at risk of getting COVID-19.

New Massachusetts Law Paves the Way for Police-Free Schools - Rachel M. Cohen, The Appeal (February 12, 2021)

Massachusetts’ omnibus police reform bill included removing the requirement that each school district have a school resource officer amid youth efforts to eliminate the mandate. Advocates in Maryland and Florida are hoping to pass similar reforms that end the school resource officer mandate in their school districts.

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