bby's first independent newsletter
This is long overdue
Hey *taps mic* is this thing on?
For those of you who’ve been with me since my days covering youth culture and education at The Florida Times-Union, you know this isn’t my first venture into newsletter writing.
But when I left the FTU, the newsletter died. I don’t want that to happen again, and I don’t want to lose touch with y’all — the readers who have elevated my work for this long.
I’ve built my career in creating stories, lists, explainers, TikToks, etc. that tell readers what’s going on and why they should care.
And as a news child of the Tumblr era, I’ve learned how to combine my skills of being chronically online with my journalism chops to bring you, dear readers, glimpses at both important and ~importantly frivolous~ internet culture news.
Which brings me to this newsletter.
This is merely a way to follow my work independently of what publication it goes in. It’s free (if you want a paid subscription, that feature is enabled just in case — the versions will be the same). With all that housekeeping out of the way, let’s jump in.
p.s. this edition will be longer than usual, don’t get used to these long intros
Exciting things I’ve written lately
The real star of the Met Gala red carpet? eBay.
The Met Gala red carpet was full of the usual lewks. But the brand that perhaps got mentioned the most wasn’t a designer at all: It was eBay. I explain why.
Viral exchange over buying an Instagram handle raises the question: What’s the value of a username?
Y’all, this was juicy. An influencer who just married into the billionaire family Dr. Oz is also related to got into a squabble with a normie over her Instagram handle. It went viral on Reddit. I interviewed the normie <3
Toronto animal shelter launches unhinged ‘good dogs, bad names’ adoption campaign
I maintain that Garlic Bread is actually a good name. I spoke with the shelter staffers who dreamed up this adorable campaign within a day.
Her guitar was smashed on a Delta flight a day before opening for Kacey Musgraves. The internet rallied around her.
Thrilled to share that since writing this article — and reaching out to Delta for comment — Madi Diaz posted an update that Delta’s working with her and she’s getting a new guitar!
Philadelphians say New York cheese ball eater is copying Chicken Man. We asked him about it.
I asked Philly’s Chicken Man what he thought about New York’s Cheese Ball Man. He wasn’t shy.
Dear Swifties: No, the missing ‘1′ on Taylor’s typewriter isn’t an Easter egg — it’s how the machines are designed
”Who uses typewriters anyway?” Not these fans. The release of Taylor Swift’s TTPD has introduced a new crowd to vintage typewriters. But a lack of understanding around how the machines were first built is causing a flurry of miscalculated fan theories.
Big yikes
My newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer spent seven figures on an ad campaign this year. But this week, it laid off five of my colleagues, citing budget issues. This comes after 35 other guild employees received buyouts months earlier.
I want to express solidarity with my friends who were told they were out of jobs this week. I’m frustrated, but I’m still here. Please support local news.
Journalists keep getting arrested for doing their jobs
At SPJ, we’ve been busy with advocacy work as journalists and student journalists continue to get stonewalled for simply trying to do their jobs.
An Austin videographer still faces wrongful misdemeanor charges.
A freelance journalist was wrongly arrested. So were student journalists at Dartmouth College.
Journalism is not a crime.
Lol, k
No because who thought this was a good idea and what exactly is a “volunteer reporter?”
