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Alex Mahadevan

@alexmahadevan.com
1.9K followers 470 following 229 posts

Director of MediaWise and faculty doing AI, media literacy and OSINT stuff @poynterinstitute.bsky.social‬ | alexmahadevan.com

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Reposted by Alex Mahadevan
Tony Elkins @tonyelkins.com · 24/09/2026
Does the threat of consolidation and potential ownership changes have you wondering if a potential job search is on the horizon? Here's a few things you should be thinking about. lnkd.in/p/eE452n3S
lnkd.in
A few months ago, Megan Griffith-Greene and I wrote for Poynter Institute about the bad vibes in journalism due to consolidations and meddling owners. With mergers back in the news, I wanted to share…...
A few months ago, Megan Griffith-Greene and I wrote for Poynter Institute about the bad vibes in journalism due to consolidations and meddling owners. With mergers back in the news, I wanted to share ...
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Reposted by Alex Mahadevan
The Onion @theonion.com · 23/09/2026
Mr. Autumn Man Walking Down Street With Cup Of Coffee, Wearing Sweater Over Plaid Collared Shirt theonion.com/mr-autumn-man-walking-…
Mr. Autumn Man Walking Down Street With Cup Of Coffee, Wearing Sweater Over Plaid Collared Shirt
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Tony Elkins @tonyelkins.com · 27/08/2026
@alexmahadevan.com and I came to LA to speak and lead a workshop for @hackshackers.com on visual AI. On the way I read Corey Doctorow's new book and saw this quote by @greatdismal.bsky.social (my fav author). It was a perfect fit for a session we did, so I switched the title at the last second.
Two presenters are on a stage discussing AI
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Colin @colin-fraser.net · 21/08/2026
honestly the best way to tell if an image online is fake is to introspect about whether looking at reinforces a sense of superiority over some group towards which you already feel contempt
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PolitiFact @politifact.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
President Donald Trump mentioned the White House ballroom, Reflecting Pool and other capital construction projects in more than a quarter of his 2026 public appearances, a PolitiFact analysis found. politifact.com/article/2026...
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Andrew Deck @andrewdeck.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Fact-checkers around the world face major funding cuts from USAID and Meta. Meanwhile, new threats loom, including attempts to influence AI products through what some have dubbed "LLM poisoning." My report from the GlobalFact conference in Vilnius, Lithuania. www.niemanlab.org/2026/06/at-g...
niemanlab.org
Fact-checkers reckon with shrinking budgets and growing AI threats at GlobalFact 2026
Hundreds gathered in Lithuania to discuss Russian influence operations, “LLM poisoning," and how to survive a funding crisis.
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Nick Diakopoulos @ndiakopoulos.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I’m glad Anthropic models will be released, but de facto executive control of AI systems has got to be the worst possible version of AI governance. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/t...
nytimes.com
U.S. Lifts Restrictions on Anthropic’s Most Powerful A.I. Models
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 12/06/2026
Tweet —> ad under the tweet
Screenshot of a WIRED post on X dated 6/11/26. The text reads “Activists raised a 40-foot-tall inflatable Elon Musk in Manhattan to draw attention to the risk he allegedly allegedly poses to investors.” The photo shows a large shirtless inflatable figure meant to resemble Elon Musk towering over Times Square, with writing on its stomach referencing SpaceX’s Grok and AI. The article headline reads “Massive Effigy of Elon Musk Raised Over Times Square to Pro…”Screenshot of a Grok ad on X (formerly Twitter). The ad shows a very very young woman with blonde hair and dark sunglasses sitting in stadium seats, wearing a white crop top with a Nike swoosh and a beige skirt. Text overlay reads “Turn your photos.” The ad copy says “From deep questions to stunning visuals – Grok does it all.” An Install
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 06/06/2026
Wish I could write like @gene.meme
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 01/06/2026
Inspired by the work of @mantzarlis.com at @indicator.media, I fired up my AI Community Notes bot. I hope it actually flags political misinformation. And I'll be testing lots of LLMs to see which one is best at it. alexmahadevan.com/blog/communi...
alexmahadevan.com
Meet Kind Raspberry Chickadee, my AI fact-checker
My quest to build a bot that would actually fact-check politics on X's Community Notes.
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 20/05/2026
Interesting things happening over on X. A community note bot leaves an AI-written fact-check on AI slop from the DOL
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Reposted by Alex Mahadevan
Jeremy Merrill @jeremybmerrill.com · 19/05/2026
I wondered: How much has the legalization of online sports gambling transformed watching sports on TV? We got an AI to watch fifty hours of sports to find out. Every single game had gambling ads, promotions or other references. Every single one! But some sports had far more than others.
an event plot shows minutes in a typical hour of six sports featuring a gambling reference. NCAA women's basketball is the most, but it's almost all ESPN ticker's with odds. NHL hockey is second, with forty minutes shaded, mostly from in-arena ads. NBA basketball has the third-most. NFL football, NCAA basketball and NCAA men's basketball have the least -- about 4 to 5 minutes a game.
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 17/05/2026
Sam Altman is smoking crack if he thinks we’re gonna make $0.17 per click from agents. I think a vast majority of TollBit customers make NOTHING
Sam Altman in front of a podcast mic saying “my agent can read it”Sam Altman in front of a podcast mic saying “pay $0.17”
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Reposted by Alex Mahadevan
The Poynter Institute @poynterinstitute.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Short videos. Major impact. Now is your chance to learn how to repackage your journalism into high-quality vertical video for social media. Don’t miss Poynter’s crash course on Vertical Video for Creators and Journalists: www.poynter.org/shop/reporti...
poynter.org
Vertical Video for Creators and Journalists - Poynter
Create vertical video, including TikTok and Reels, that reaches real audiences. Learn scripting, filming and strategy in this hands-on course for journalists and creators.
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Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
There’s zero evidence Saturday’s night’s shooting was staged. But there’s a ton of evidence they should change the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. I wrote about this for my Monday newsletter this week. Excerpt below, subscribe now to get it Monday: www.LNI.media
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 24/04/2026
Very big week for insane AI experiments in newsrooms! www.poynter.org/commentary/2...
poynter.org
Why can't newsroom leaders just be normal about AI? - Poynter
From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen skills and elevate storytelling throughout their car...
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 23/04/2026
Screenshot of two forum posts from a bodybuilding.com thread dated May 17, 2008.
Post #9 (2:23 PM) by TheJosh (Registered User, Phoenix, Arizona, age 35, joined May 2008, 251 posts): Quoting a user named Justin-27 who wrote "7x in 2 weeks = 3.5 times a week, genius. And yeah, 3x a week, full body workouts are good." TheJosh replies: "I never said anything about going exactly 7 times, like I said, if I go every other day, that is 4 DAYS A WEEK. How hard is that to comprehend? Week 1 - Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Week 2 - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. 8 DAYS IN 2 WEEKS. In your terms, 8x in 2 weeks = 4 times a week, genius. All Muscle and No Brains? lol"
Post #10 (3:25 PM) by steviekm3 (Registered User, age 49, joined April 2008, 240 posts): Quotes TheJosh's entire previous post, then responds: "You double counted Sunday - that is 2 weeks plus 1 day. Did you fail grade 2 math? PLUS your old post said 4 or 5 times a week. Now you just neglect to mention the 5. Grow up and admit when you are wrong. Believe me you will get a a lot further in life this way."
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Reposted by Alex Mahadevan
Professor Amanda Sturgill @drsturg.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Up first at @nclocal.bsky.social summit: Keynote on AI in journalism from @alexmahadevan.com You can find information on AI and journalism from an ethics perspective here: www.poynter.org/ai-ethics-jo...
poynter.org
AI ethics guidelines - Poynter
In 2024, the Poynter Institute introduced a framework to help newsrooms create clear, responsible AI ethics policies — especially those just beginning to address the role of artificial intelligence in...
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The Poynter Institute @poynterinstitute.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
How can you tell what’s real from fake when your feed is flooded with images and videos that can easily be altered or imagined by AI? First, slow down. Next, check the source. Here are three tips from MediaWise to help you sort through the noise: www.poynter.org/fact-checkin...
poynter.org
How do I know if that’s real? 3 tips from Poynter's MediaWise to stay smart in tricky times - Poynter
AI gives us more reason to slow down and be skeptical.
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 10/03/2026
This was fun as hell last year www.poynter.org/commentary/a...
My degenerate friend puts caviar on a taco under purple lights Stacks of the Onion in print next to a sticker that says kick Elon out of Austin
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 06/03/2026
happy friday
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Reposted by Alex Mahadevan
Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
23 years old today
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 02/03/2026
Tired: In the future journalism and reporting will simply be data for AI systems Wired: In the future journalism and reporting will simply be data for prediction markets
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Reposted by Alex Mahadevan
klaudia jaźwińska @klaudia.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Research suggests people who use AI tools to find news seem to prefer them over clicking on individual stories, despite being conscious of their limits when it comes to accuracy. @aisvarya17.bsky.social and I wrote about what publishers can learn from this www.cjr.org/tow_center/a...
cjr.org
AI versus accuracy? We're willing to make the trade-off.
When asking AI about the news, readers “know the answers they are getting are not perfect.” They keep asking anyway.
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Reposted by Alex Mahadevan
Craig Silverman @craigsilverman.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Ecommerce fraud is rampant. It's also easy to launch and hard to trace. My new guide to investigating ecommerce sites covers how to ID the store platform, trace ownership, analyze traffic, do a safe test purchase etc. I also found a few free, new-to-me tools: indicator.media/p/the-indica...
indicator.media
The Indicator guide to investigating ecommerce sites
A practical walkthrough of the tools, techniques, and indicators used to analyze online stores and identify ecommerce fraud operations.
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 20/02/2026
Me (in 20 years): …. help!!! Please!!! I’m being frame mogged!! Palantir PeaceBot: FEAR NOT CITIZEN *starts sparking and eviscerates me with wayward laser shot*
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Keith @keithdunn.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Current view at the fire tower. Photo credit: Ashley Harris #BM100
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 14/02/2026
Literally the only reason to be on X
Screenshot of a Twitter/X post from verified user Keith (@keithdunn) posted at 6:00 AM on Feb 14, 2026, reading: ‘After a brief memorial, Iaz lit the cigarette at 6:00am. The 2026 Barkley Marathons has begun. #BM100’ The post has 38.8K views.
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Jake Lahut @jakelahut.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Still great! Would love to see more of this from journalists in general, re the Twitch / streaming space
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Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 06/02/2026
I suspect that the echo chamber of Truth Social and conservative media, along with X becoming a safe space for racism and extremism under Musk, has given our Republican leaders a deeply skewed idea of what ordinary Americans find acceptable www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
washingtonpost.com
Trump shares video depicting Obamas as apes
Tim Scott, the sole Black Republican in the Senate, called it ‘the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.’
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 05/02/2026
the only molt book I care about
A detailed black-and-white ink illustration of the opening scene from Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. The protagonist, Gregor Samsa, has been transformed into a "monstrous vermin" and lies helplessly on his back in a cramped, attic-like bedroom.
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 27/01/2026
It still absolutely boggles the mind why any company would advertise on X, where there's a good chance your ad for a high protein menu is right under an AI video of Charlie Kirk arguing with Jeffrey Epstein
An X post featuring an AI-genereated Jeffrey Epstein calling Charlie Kirk a lab experiment sits right above a Chipotle ad for its "double high protein bowl"
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 15/01/2026
From @mariaressa.bsky.social to where it is now, the Nobel Peace Prize’s journey says a lot about the world and where it’s headed. I hope journalism can withstand this year.
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Ryan Broderick @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
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PolitiFact @politifact.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife entered not guilty pleas Jan. 5 on drug and weapons related charges. Here’s what the indictment said and what comes next.
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What to know about Nicolás Maduro’s indictment
Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife entered not guilty pleas Jan. 5 on drug and weapons related charges. Here’s what the indictment said and what comes next.
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 06/01/2026
Small domino: prometheus steals fire Big domino: piss tracker
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Chris Richards @chrisrichards.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
“Keep Your Ear to the Ground,” the amazing new history of D.C. punk zines by our comrade John Davis, is now available direct through Dischord dischord.com/band/john-da...
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 03/01/2026
Will Menaker said it years ago: Why would someone want skim milk (Bari CBS) when they can get whole milk anywhere they want (Fox, social media)
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Patrick Monahan @pattymo.com · 27/12/2025
Merlin rocks. Could not issue a stronger “check it out”
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Sam Cole @samleecole.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
404 Media is about to enter energy saver mode. We're still publishing throughout the week, however, so watch your inbox / RSS / the @404media.co feed and you won't miss us too badly. Before we all slip into the ether, I wanted to highlight a few stories I published this year that stuck out. 🧵🪡
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 22/12/2025
Lmao
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PolitiFact @politifact.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
“It’s time to revisit the basics of why it’s important to call out lies. They’re more than just words. Lies harm livelihoods and families.” Read why PolitiFact named 2025 the Year of the Lies, from Editor-in-Chief Katie Sanders:
buff.ly
PolitiFact names 2025 the Year of the Lies
“It’s time to revisit the basics of why it’s important to call out lies. They’re more than just words. Lies harm livelihoods and families.” Read why PolitiFact named 2025 the Year of the Lies, from…
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 20/12/2025
Doing an analysis of Community Notes evidence links. New favorite domain
Spreadsheet with three links, one of which says "fuck.you"
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Benjamin Toff @benjamintoff.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
People don't go to their favorite restaurants just to eat, and they don't rely on news organizations solely for information. The business of news is about more than selling bits of information in exchange for attention. It's about delivering an EXPERIENCE that people actually want to participate in.
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PolitiFact @politifact.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
“It’s time to revisit the basics of why it’s important to call out lies. They’re more than just words. Lies harm livelihoods and families.” Read why PolitiFact named 2025 the Year of the Lies, from Editor-in-Chief Katie Sanders:
buff.ly
PolitiFact names 2025 the Year of the Lies
“It’s time to revisit the basics of why it’s important to call out lies. They’re more than just words. Lies harm livelihoods and families.” Read why PolitiFact named 2025 the Year of the Lies, from…
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 17/12/2025
Y'all left out the funniest part. The wife of the sexy anime art husband is A MORMON
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AAP FactCheck @aapfactcheck.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
With victims fighting for their lives and many dead in the Bondi terrorist attack, misinformation online is exploiting their suffering. www.aap.com.au/factcheck/mi...
aap.com.au
Misinformation exploits confusion, grief after Bondi attack
With victims fighting for their lives and many dead in the Bondi terrorist attack, misinformation online is exploiting their suffering.
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Nieman Lab @niemanlab.org · 14/12/2025
"Most local news organizations already place some value on their archives. The most common way they do this is by putting most of it behind a paywall" www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/loca...
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Alex Mahadevan @alexmahadevan.com · 10/12/2025
re: the new iOS, does anyone *really* like being able to se when someone is typing???
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