COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS: WEEK 6

Welcome to our 6th week edition of ‘Committee Recommends’, which this week ranges from the BBC to Bellingcat. Take a look, there’s definitely something for everyone. 

LONG READS

Facebook’s Australia news ban is the best decision it’s ever made 

“It might be headline-grabbing, but the game of regulatory brinkmanship playing out in Australia fails to address the profound impact the attention economy is having on how we view the world.”

Facebook and Google are giant advertising platforms, not tenets of an open web. It’s time to start treating them as such.

A Year of Grinding Teeth 

“Battlements, Cirlot says of teeth. “The fortifications of the inner man.” It is hard to feel your fortifications crumble.”

A different read, but an interesting one nonetheless – one woman’s account of her journey with her habit of grinding her teeth. 

Puppet Entrepreneurship: Technology and Control in Franchised Industries

An interesting read about the use of electronic monitoring in franchises and the difference in incentives between franchise models that resemble independent entrepreneurship versus employment.

The BBC and the battle for truth

“The BBC is an institution in perpetual peril, never more so than in this age of polarisation.”

A timely deep-dive into the current state of the BBC, as the corporation is squeezed by budget cuts and accusations of partisanship from both sides of the political spectrum.

IN THE NEWS

Netflix raises UK prices to cover cost of content

Netflix is raising the cost of some of its UK subscriptions from next month, its customers have been told.

Charities condemn Facebook for ‘attack on democracy’ in Australia

Campaign groups say blocking access to reliable news sources leaves a void to be filled by misinformation and hate speech.

A BIT OF LISTENING

The Jab: How well will vaccines work?

Have a listen to The Economist’s new podcast all about science, the media, and vaccine politics. 

The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth Holmes 

The story of how the world’s youngest female billionaire, the woman heralded as ‘the next Steve Jobs’, lost it all in the blink of an eye. 

THE BOOK REVIEWS

We Are Bellingcat – Eliot Higgins 

In this gripping manifesto, the citizen journalist who uncovered the identities of the Salisbury assassins sets out his vision for news gathering in the 21st century.

That’s all for this week. Interested in writing for us? Contact us to chat about submissions.