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facebook decided we're not worthy of being in their 'news' tab, because apparently we're not real news. that's a revelation to me, a reporter who has written hundreds of stories over the past year.
let's take a quick look... https://www.forbes.com/sites/robpegoraro/2020/08/13/no-facebook-isnt-getting-political-clickbait-out-of-its-news-tab/#1f5c2124e840
let's take a quick look... https://www.forbes.com/sites/robpegoraro/2020/08/13/no-facebook-isnt-getting-political-clickbait-out-of-its-news-tab/#1f5c2124e840
i wrote last year about america's deeply flawed mental health system. real news! https://couriernewsroom.com/2019/12/10/even-with-insurance-americans-cant-find-mental-health-providers/
in january, i wrote about america's elder care crisis and the lack of a public long-term care system in the U.S., which as we've since realized, is a pretty catastrophic thing. real news! https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/01/27/the-alarming-reality-of-americas-elder-care-crisis/
in february, i wrote about the trump administration's war on SNAP (food assistance). real news! https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/02/07/700000-americans-could-lose-food-stamps-in-april-we-spoke-to-one-of-them/
in march, i wrote about how covid-19 would ravage america's prisons and jails. spoiler alert: it has. real news. https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/03/09/coronavirus-could-wreak-havoc-in-u-s-prisons-and-jails/
also in march, i wrote about how the pandemic was leading to a wave of labor activism. once again, real news. https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/03/31/whole-foods-amazon-instacart-the-coronavirus-crisis-could-be-a-watershed-moment-for-unions/
fast forward a few months to the killing of george floyd. i wrote about why the protests felt groundbreaking and yet also deeply and tragically familiar. real news. https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/06/01/the-george-floyd-protests-are-grimly-familiar-but-theyre-also-different/
a week later, i wrote about how police unions obstruct reform. you guessed it, real news! https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/06/08/police-unions-are-out-of-control-real-change-wont-happen-until-we-do-something-about-them/
a few weeks after that, i wrote about how hollywood's faulty portrayal of law enforcement had warped americans' views of police officers and the Black and brown communities they overpolice. yup, real news. https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/06/30/hollywoods-decades-long-love-affair-with-copaganda-is-finally-facing-a-reckoning/
i've also written extensively this summer about the battle over the $600-a-week federal unemployment benefit, which has left millions of americans with no lifeline amid an economic collapse. https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/07/08/congress-stalls-on-extending-unemployment-benefit-expansion/
i wrote about ICE's since-revised rule that would have blocked international students from studying in the US if their university transitioned to online-only classes. https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/07/10/ice-coronavirus-policy-international-students/
i wrote about parents and teachers and their fears over sending their kids back to school. https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/07/14/parents-and-teachers-are-terrified-of-schools-reopening-as-covid-19-cases-surge/
i wrote about the trump administration's commitment to resuming federal executions amid a pandemic. https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/07/29/trump-administration-resumes-federal-executions/
just yesterday, i wrote about the nation's hunger crisis and how it's about to get worse. https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/08/12/coronavirus-hunger-crisis-worsens/
all these stories feature real people telling real stories about real struggles. nothing here is fake. and neither are the stories written by my brilliant colleagues across our newsrooms.
yes, we're a progressive media company with a majority funder that has political ties. at no point has that been a secret. but somehow, to facebook, that makes us less 'real' than the likes of breitbart, daily caller, and fox news, which constantly spew lies and misinformation.
the lesson here is if you hide the ball and are a right-wing media company that complains enough, you'll get chance after chance, even when you break the rules and spread toxic lies. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/sensitive-claims-bias-facebook-relaxed-misinformation-rules-conservative-pages-n1236182
as for me, i'll keep doing my job, which is covering real stories that affect real people, unlike the automaton billionaire from harvard that has apparently decided single-handedly destroying journalism, discourse, and democracy represented his life's mission.
