How do your own implicit biases shape the abilities you develop and the opportunities you pursue? What effects do they have on your own mental health? How can we be liberated from the constraints they quietly impose on us and from the distress they can cause us? – Aeon
Author: Douglas McLennan
Why Journalists Are Addicted To Twitter
“For many of us, the most difficult part of the job is ringing the doorbell of a bereaved family, or prying into the opinions of unwelcoming strangers. Twitter has created a seductive universe in which the reactions of a virtual community are served up in neatly quotable bits without need for uncomfortable personal interactions.” – Washington Post
75+ NYC Galleries Sued Because Their Websites Aren’t Accessible To Blind People
“Like the lawsuits targeting other businesses, the claims against galleries tend to identify websites that lack special code that would enable browsers to describe images for people with impaired vision. In order for screen-reading software to work, the information on a website must be capable of being rendered into text. The complaint also cites several other ‘barriers’ to site accessibility, including ‘lack of alternative text,’ an invisible code embedded beneath a graphic image or within a URL.” – Artnet
In France – A Golden Age For Comic Books
There are now more comic books published annually in France and Belgium than ever before. “It’s a kind of golden age. There has never been so much talent. There have never been so many interesting books published.” – The New York Times
The Current Journalism Crisis Didn’t Just Happen – It’s Been Decades In The Making
People want to blame the internet for the news industry’s troubles, but the seeds go back to the 1980s. To understand this moment and how to fix it, it means understanding three key forces creating this slow-motion disaster. – Slate
Funding Boom In Higher Ed Benefits The Liberal Arts
There’s a growing consensus across the donor community that the liberal arts can effectively complement the STEM model. Throw in traditional support for endowments and digitization projects, plus gifts earmarked for philosophy studies, and it becomes clear that the liberal arts funding space is more diverse and robust than one would initially suspect. – Inside Philanthropy
British Museum Says It Will Be International Watchdog For Looted Antiquities
Using their expert knowledge of archaeology, a sophisticated new database, and plenty of detective work, the dedicated team at the British Museum is working closely with colleagues in Cairo and Khartoum to identify problematic objects and expose fictitious provenances. – Artnet
Public Libraries Are Increasingly Playing A Social Support Role
They’re becoming maker spaces, loaning tools and musical instruments, and playing support roles. “These two disciplines, librarians and social work, come together so beautifully—we can look at these issues from two different angles.” – NonProfit Quarterly
Study: Song Lyrics Have Become Angrier, More Pessimistic and Unhappy
“The results show a clear trend towards a more negative tone,” write Kathleen Napier and Lior Shamir of Lawrence Technological University in Michigan. “Anger, disgust, sadness, and conscientiousness have increased significantly, while joy, confidence, and openness expressed in pop-song lyrics has declined.” – Pacific Standard
Facebook Says People Want Relevant Ads. These Researchers Beg To Differ
“We find consistently that people are wary of marketers tracking them, don’t understand the complexities of data mining, and don’t like to be discriminated against based on information that companies have about them and others. They may therefore see personalization as a double-edge sword. Personalization can provide them with material they like, but it just as well could be used to shape their behavior or beliefs, or even cause them to lose out on discounts to more desirable consumers.” – The New York Times