Next it's the Freelance Journalism Awards 2023 shortlist for 'Best print journalist' sponsored by @NUJofficial which is @GabriellaJ @TasnimNazeer1 @mirandeee @chrisbaraniuk @ameliargh @will_coldwell @liz_cookman @AndrewKersley @hansummers @suzanne_baum

Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

17h

Forecasts indicate warmer days and nights by the end of the month but it all just feels a bit stunted right now!

Any fellow gardeners noticing v slow growing plants outside at the moment? I'm new to veg gardening etc but things seem SO slow and I've heard a few comments on gardening forums to this effect - all likely due to colder-than-normal UK temperatures at the moment, esp overnight.

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Chris Baraniuk Retweeted

jules roscoe

@julesaroscoe

19h

BREAKING: around 100 workers

@CNET

are unionizing with

@WGAEast

in response to the company's layoffs and undisclosed use of AI to write pieces, which they say "threatens our jobs."

vice.com

CNET Workers Unionize as ‘Automated Technology Threatens Our Jobs’

Around 100 workers have organized in response to the company’s restructuring plans, massive layoffs, and plans for AI content.

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Chris Baraniuk Retweeted

Jack Murley

@jack_murley

May 15

And one more thing. Being gay or part of the LGBTQ+ community is normal. And as more and more folks - many of whom are in positions of power or seek to be - try to claim otherwise, it’s more important than ever than we say that loudly and proudly.

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Chris Baraniuk Retweeted

Jack Murley

@jack_murley

May 15

Here’s something else that shouldn’t need saying - but apparently does. A ‘normative family’ can have two dads or two mums; a dad and a mum; or just a dad, or just a mum. It can be grandparents or foster-carers, or be a family of friends that you chose to have around you.

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Chris Baraniuk Retweeted

Jack Murley

@jack_murley

May 15

I might get married one day. I might have children as well. And the idea that someone could, in 2023, see the love I would have for either that husband or those kids as somehow undermining ‘a safe and functioning society’… well, it beggars belief.

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National Conservatism

@NatConTalk

May 15

The normative family, the mother and father sticking together for the sake of the children, is the only basis for a safe and functioning society. Marriage is not only about you, it's a public act to live for the sake of someone else. -MP @danny__kruger at #NatConUK

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🤦‍♂️

Chris Baraniuk Retweeted

Thomas Hobbs

@thobbsjourno

May 15

There’s a lot of defeatism about journalism rn, but it will evolve like it always has. machines might be able to pump out news stories but they’ll never be able to truly replicate human joy / pain, making those well researched heartfelt long reads even more important. We got this

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Editors - I will never use this rubbish. All my articles are hand-crafted, with love! Pay me and those like me to do real work.

"The Irish Times has apologised for publishing an opinion piece which appeared to be partially generated by artificial intelligence, in a hoax the editor said underlined challenges facing the news industry."

itv.com

Newspaper apology over fake tan 'AI article' | ITV News

Irish Times editor Ruadhan Mac Cormaic said the newspaper was 'genuinely sorry'and got it 'badly wrong'. | UTV News

😝

well my favourite was Italy actually *storms off to bed*

Moldova has a very "what your barista does after dark" vibe going on #Eurovision2023

Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

May 13

Beautiful vibes from #Eurovision so far. Loving it.

Chris Baraniuk Retweeted

Caleb Larson

@calebmlarson

May 11

I wrote about the death of my friend Arman Soldin today for Tagesspiegel, but as the piece is in German here's the text in English. Rest easy, brother.

169

Yet another one of these stories. Absolutely awful.

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The Guardian

@guardian

May 11

‘Skeletal’ body of man who lay dead in flat for six years found on gas check visit theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/m

Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

May 10

Quite a graph. Interested to see very little movement on solar in the state. 262 gCO2/kWh is comparable to the UK today (I mean literally, 10th May). When there's more wind, we can reach down near 100 gCO2/kWh here and the UK target is 50-100 gCO2/kWh by 2030.

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Nicolas Fulghum

@nicolasfulghum

May 10

Iowa carbon intensity of electricity production: 2002: 691 gCO2/kWh 2022: 262 gCO2/kWh Wind has transformed #Iowa's grid from one of the worst polluting grids in the US

to one of the cleanest. From our US state electricity explorer ember-climate.org/data/data-tool

Chris Baraniuk Retweeted

Themma Madden

@emmamaddenUK

May 10

I'm happy to take this on from Thomas while he tends to his newborn! Email me: emmamaddenmusic@gmail.com if you'd like to schedule a call

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Thomas Hobbs

@thobbsjourno

May 8

I really did free calls with 150+ writers (most of whom are from working class backgrounds and had no resources), telling them every single thing I know and staying in touch as a mentor, over a 4 year period. Most of them are flying today. Fuck a byline; that’s my legacy

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Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

May 10

Why does a four-day week just feel exactly like a five-day week

Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

May 9

5. Some of the safety advice is very recognisable, the sort of thing you would expect to apply in many crisis / emergency scenarios. But some sounds distinctly strange to British ears: "You are fighting for your life. Don't fight fair."

4. Mass shootings are ultimately defined as survivable "if" **you** are prepared. However, in the video a number of people are seemingly shot before anyone has a chance to react. The protagonist survivors enjoy significant time for planning their (re)actions.

3. One's potential response to the situation is implicitly weighed up and judged, even figured in terms of self-worth / self-belief. ("I'm no victim. I'm ready for this.")

2. The emphasis is entirely on those near (not directly in) the line of fire - what THEY (i.e. you, maybe? God forbid.) do is held to a certain standard rather than anything the perpetrator or the authorities do. Obviously this is aimed at members of the public - but... notable.

This video is 2 years old, though I hadn't seen it before. Some observations merely on the content and messaging: 1. The perpetrator is never visualised. A mass shooting unfolds like a hail storm or an earthquake. Just something that bursts out of the ether. Unavoidable.

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Adam Parkhomenko

@AdamParkhomenko

May 9

This is an actual ad from the FBI.

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4:36

6M views

BirdNet says we heard a Sedge Warbler, too - though we couldn't see it amidst the overgrowth! Nothing rare or startling, just a lot of lovely birds all showing at the same place and time.

Had a nice birdwatching outing yesterday. On a coastal path in Co Down, within about 20 minutes we saw: Whitethroat Goldfinch Stonechat Linnet House martin Meadow pipit Pheasant Heron (3 looking grumpy at side of a field) Eider Pied wagtail Greenfinch Dunlin Shelduck Dunnock

New from me... On the fact that wind turbines are increasingly being sited in areas at risk of hurricane-strength winds. Meanwhile, damage-related losses are increasing at wind farms. Can turbines really handle such an onslaught?

bbc.co.uk

Can a wind turbine handle hurricane speed winds?

As wind farms expand into new areas they will need to withstand extreme wind speeds.

Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

May 3

A really difficult day. We attended the funeral of my good friend Lydia, who my wife and I met four years ago when we moved to Belfast. Lydia was an incredibly talented, warm and thoughtful person who we will miss very much. She was 32.

Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

May 2

👀

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Brian Merchant

@bcmerchant

May 2

Can't help but feel partly responsible. Years ago, I wrote a story about Amazon using more fossil fuels than other big tech cos; we published it on Motherboard. Turned out Vice was about to close a multimillion $ deal w Amazon the same day and they walked nytimes.com/2023/05/01/bus

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Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

May 2

"Project manager Bruce Gardiner-Crehan said more people in work were turning to the service. As a result of that the food bank is offering an evening session to cater for people outside working hours."

bbc.co.uk

Food bank adds evening opening for people in work

The cost-of-living crisis is biting so hard it is even affecting those with jobs, says the food bank manager.

Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

May 2

"I prefer a flan."

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Metro

@MetroUK

May 2

France is now claiming that the Coronation Quiche is, in fact, a Tart. trib.al/gLxb47P

Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

May 2

Smithsonian has picked this up as well:

smithsonianmag.com

The Gruesome Ways Volcanoes Kill Fish

Whether the eruption is underwater or on land, the creatures don’t have an easy time dealing with nature’s fury

New from me: bmj.com/content/381/bm <- the crisis in Northern Ireland's health system continues to deepen with a tough new budget from the Secretary of State, grim morale and workforce challenges.

bmj.com

Rise of just 0.5% in Northern Ireland’s health budget will hit services hard

Despite record waiting lists and outcry from staff, the health service in Northern Ireland will have to make do with a miniscule increase in funding this financial year, after Chris Heaton-Harris,...

Chris Baraniuk Retweeted

Oli Franklin-Wallis

@olifranklin

May 2

The hardest part about this media implosion is that all of the LLMs (AI) out there have been trained on millions of pieces of labour - writing, music, art - created by human beings, only to end up replacing those human beings. It's plagiarism, abstracted, to benefit the rich.

Chris Baraniuk Retweeted

Dr Dani Rabaiotti

@DaniRabaiotti

May 2

I find one huge public misperception with AI is the 'just train it on x dataset' trope, as if a huge, clean, unbiased dataset exists for every single thing in the world.

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Chris Baraniuk Retweeted

BBC Press Office

@bbcpress

May 2

📢 BBC World Service launches emergency radio service for Sudan Learn more ⬇️

bbc.co.uk

BBC World Service launches emergency radio service for Sudan

The programme, which will be broadcast live in London with input from teams in Amman and Cairo, will air on short wave in Sudan and be available on radio, online and across social media

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Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

May 2

Huge intervention from Mr Hinton. bbc.co.uk/news/world-us- "Geoffrey Hinton, aged 75, announced his resignation from Google in a statement to the New York Times, saying he now regretted his work."

bbc.co.uk

AI 'godfather' Geoffrey Hinton warns of dangers as he quits Google

Artificial intelligence pioneer Geoffrey Hinton quits Google, saying he now regrets his work.

Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk

Apr 30

This is a particular kind of story I love writing. Slightly quirky, unusual research. Some sharp detail in the study that works its way into the copy... In all, just a strange little tale that is perfect fodder for freelancers like me.

And

Volcanoes can be a fiery death sentence for fish

Whether the eruption is underwater or on land, fish don’t have an easy time dealing with nature’s fury.

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