America is beginning to look like a bunch of addicts in denial. Over the last few years, as researchers have found more and more evidence connecting depression and anxiety to social media usage, as well as increased feelings of loneliness, we’ve all ignored the warnings and gone back in for more. A recently released Pew Research study found that social media use is continuing to rise, with a larger and larger portion of the population engaging with everything from longtime juggernauts like Facebook to upstarts like BeReal.
But the harm is getting harder to ignore. In the past week, social media has had multiple meltdowns, only two of which have involved Taylor Swift. This first, of course, was the spread of AI-generated nudes of the singer across X. After Elon Musk dismissed much of the platform’s moderators, it was easy for the images to go viral. The only way to slow the spread was to shut down searches for the singer’s name completely, though it hasn’t seemed to do much good.
Of course, average folks would never get the same treatment. It’s why imaged-based sexual abuse, particularly abuse that includes deepfake images, has exploded recently. According the independent researcher Genevieve Oh, over 143,000 deepfake porn videos were created in 2023. That’s predicted to only get worse as image generators improve. Only a few states—Texas, Minnesota, New York, Virginia, Georgia, and Hawaii—have laws on the books criminalizing nonconsensual deepfake porn. Congress is getting into the game with the Preventing Deepfake Images Act, but moving something through the House of Representatives that’s sponsored by a Democrat, namely Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, is unlikely.
There’s nothing that outlaws conspiracy theories, though, which is the other Swift-centric social media snafu of the week. There have been dozens of stories written about how right-wing figures including former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy have pushed the idea that Swift will somehow make her way onto the field during the Super Bowl and endorse President Joe Biden, using her power as a pop superstar to throw the 2024 election for the Democrats. The whole thing is silly at best. It also might explain why the deepfake images spread so quickly, conspiracy nuts hoping to degrade Swift’s public image any way they can.
But the third meltdown didn’t even occur on social media itself. It happened in Congress and on Wall Street. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg offered a non-apology apology to parents who lost their children to suicide during a congressional hearing. He told them that he was “sorry for everything you’ve all gone through. It’s terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered.” And he’s right, no one should. But he also didn’t take any responsibility for that suffering. He just offered up hallow empathy. And he was rewarded for that. Two days after his testimony, Meta’s stock jumped by 20 percent, roughly $200 billion, on the heels of better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Zuckerberg alone made $28 billion.
It all continues to sully this horrible thing we just can’t seem to shake. Because we’re addicts. People spend an average of 2.5 hours a day on social media. We are always there for the latest hot take or meme-able Elmo moment. It seems required to be a fully functioning member of society.
But maybe it doesn’t have to be that way. Addicts can get off the sauce—and so can we. It just takes a lot of effort. If it means you can avoid looking like a traumatized Elmo, then maybe it’s worth it.
More Awards
Getting into the Top 20 of a Hearst Journalism competition like Julia Jennings did in the Explanatory Journalism category for her Urban Plains piece on a forgotten Kansas women’s prison is hard enough. Nearly 100 journalism schools submit their two best stories in each category. All of them are ridiculously good. So the fact that Drake placed both second and third in the Hearst Feature Writing contest is a bit unheard of. Junior Lincoln Roch (MMJ) got second with his Drake Mag story “When the Cameras Leave,” while recent grad CJ Younger (MMJ) grabbed third place with her Urban Plains piece “We Can Bring Back the Stars.” Not too shabby.
High Plains Reporter
The Nebraska Journalism Trust is looking for multiple interns to help with its two publications, The Flatwater Free Press and Silicon-Prairie News. The non-profit trust was founded during the pandemic’s peak in April 2021, launching the Press a few months later. It acquired the longstanding Silicon-Prairie News, a tech focused website that covers start-ups and entrepreneurs across the Midwest, at the beginning of 2023. That’s all to say, the Trust is doing plenty of good work. Your job as a development, marketing, or news intern would be to further the Trust’s mission of covering Nebraska’s diverse voices. Get some more info here.
Bring Earplugs
Summer in Des Moines is concert season. Between 80/35, the summer series at the Lauridsen Amphitheater, the ramping up of Val Air Ballroom and Vibrance Music Hall, and, of course, Hinterland, you could spend half your summer nights taking in live music. Better yet, as either a Pinnacle Productions or a Des Moines Water Works Park Foundation intern, you could be helping put together and promoting some of those events.
With Pinnacle, you’ll be involved in the production and technical side of live music events, helping with the audio, lighting, and video at 80/35 and Hinterland. With DMWWPF, you’ll be helping with event logistics and social media marketing of all the Lauridsen Amphitheater events. Either way, you’ll have front-row access to some of the best concerts of the summer.
Political Insider
Think of it as getting paid to go to grad school. The Allbritton Journalism Institute, a non-profit program established by Politico founder Robert Allbritton, is looking for its next cohort of government and policy reporters. You’ll get paid $60,000 a year for two years to move to Washington D.C., take classes from veteran journalists, and write for NOTUS, a non-partisan news site covering national politics. The goal of the project: To both restore journalism’s essential role in the national conversation and prep the next batch of reporters who can drive that conversation. Applications are due by March 4.
Coffee and Climate Change
Some things are worth waking up earlier for. While the Global Investigative Journalism Network webinar on climate change journalism starts at 8 a.m. CST on Tues., Feb. 6, the panel is definitely rates the coffee. Matthew Green, Sunita Narain, and Amy Westervelt are all investigative journalists who have dedicated their work uncovering overlooked climate crisis issues. They’ll discuss their techniques, as well as a potential agenda for all climate writers, during the free online discussion. Sign up here.
Internship and Scholarship Roundup
• Science magazine is looking for a 6-month intern to help write news content for its site and print products. The position runs from July to December and can be fully remote. Recent grads are preferred. Apply by Feb. 9.
• The Ida B. Wells Society is looking for multiple summer investigative reporting interns. You’ll work for 10 to 12 weeks at organizations like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, ProPublica, National Public Radio, or the Indianapolis Star. Seniors or recent grads are preferred, as are those from traditionally underrepresented groups. Apply by Feb. 18.
• The National Press Club is accepting applications for multiple scholarships ranging from $5,000 to $20,000. Check out the details here. All applications are due by Feb. 18.
Ready for a Spring Fling?
Do you have some essential info or has your hyperlocal influencer marketing company been killing it like 2012 PR grad Emily Steele’s Hummingbirds? If you do, send it on over to jeff.inman@drake.edu. JMM will treat it like this math professor’s PowerPoint wizardry and tell everyone about it.
Finally, remember that the universe does give us signs.