articles of interest about the virus, journalism, fakes, social media & more

***THE VIRUS

Woman may have caught coronavirus in airplane head, researchers say

How superspreading is fueling the pandemic

Does a face mask protect me, or just the people around me?

Should I get the flu shot early this year?

Researchers: some patients who recover from COVID-19 may have only short-lived immunity to reinfection

Wearing mask below your nose can make you more vulnerable to COVID-19 

***WRITING & READING 

There Are Only 37 Possible Stories, According to This 1919 Manual for Screenwriters 

Why Nonfiction Book Fact Checking Should Be an Industry Standard

***JOURNALISM

MIT Center for Civic Media Shutting down

AOC takes on NBC, in a lesson in how not to apologize when your publication makes a mistake ($) 

USPS Warns Employees Not to Speak to Press

***STUDENT MEDIA

Parties Or Not, UT's Student Newspaper Editor Says, A COVID-19 Outbreak Seems Inevitable

How the Macalester College student newspaper advocated for racial justice by examining its school’s history  

***FAKES & FRAUDS 

Trump Says DNC Removed 'Under God' From Pledge of Allegiance in Appeal to Evangelical Christians

Former Trump University student recalls aha moment: 'This is a joke’

QAnon looms behind nationwide rallies and viral #SavetheChildren hashtags  

COVID-19 misinformation: How to spot it on your timeline 

Federal judge in Oregon upholds record $925 million damages verdict in unlawful recorded robocall case

Facebook algorithm found to 'actively promote' Holocaust denial

Why Would You Fake Having Cancer Online?

***QAnon

The US Senate candidate who took a QAnon pledge

The Republican Embrace of QAnon Goes Far Beyond Trump

QAnon groups hit by Facebook crack down

A playbook for combating QAnon

What is QAnon? A not-so-brief introduction to the conspiracy theory that's eating America

Trump refuses to answer question on whether he supports QAnon conspiracy theory

Trump praises believers in baseless QAnon conspiracy theory

***SOCIAL MEDIA 

How TikTok’s Talks With Microsoft Turned Into a Soap Opera ($)

55% of social media users worn out by political posts, discussions

Pew: 73% of Americans believe social media platforms censor political speech

Snapchat experiments with letting users share more content off app

***LITERATURE 

Orwell's 'Animal Farm,' Around For Decades, Almost Wasn't Published

Literary world overwhelmed by 600 books to be published on one day

***PRIVACY & SECURITY 

A popular fertility app shared data without users’ consent, researchers say ($)

The Secret Service bought phone location data, dodging the need for a warrant