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Good on @brianstelter for saying it straight out to Facebook VP Nick Clegg on @ReliableSources. “A part of me feels like I’m interviewing the head of a tobacco company right now.” Jay Rosen @jayrosen_nyuI teach journalism at NYU, critique the press, direct @membershippzzle. PressThink is the name of my subject and my site.

When Patagonia organized a boycott of Facebook, I was all for it and I still am. Sort of. Facebook is such a great idea but, it also features a big downside. From what I read, it is not only my queue that keeps filling up with stuff that promotes fear and loathing, almost everybody’s queue does. Facebook is designed that way. Aparently, it wants to make me angry, which generates clicks and keeps me in their claustrophobic universe. Or, to be more accurate, Facebook stirs up my fears which my body reacts to as anger. Anger is a great motivator and my reaction to a post like Sherrif in Bumfuck Texas kills Hispanic toddler, just encourages Facebook to send me more of the same. When I got off of Facebook, I thought it would just be for a month or so, but I fell out of the habit and I’m calmer for it. But, I would still like to hear – or read – what going on, and I miss that about Facebook. If you have a comment – pro or con – about something I’ve written in my blog, I can be reached in the comments below. Even if you don’t have a comment, I would love to hear from you.  

Speaking of Facebook-type news, this has been a hell of a couple of weeks for Michele. It started with her seeing a podiatrist for a hammertoe and they discovered that her “tibial sesamoid” – also known as a small bone in the foot – is degenerating. There is an outside – way outside, we are told – chance that it is malignant and will require a biopsy of the bone to know for sure (or, as the poditrist recommended, skip the biopsy and just remove the bone). About this time, Michele’s esophagus started spasming which resulted in a trip to the emergency room and cascade of tests, none of which have shown the problem. While that was going on, Michele started seeing strange blotches and made an appointment with our eye doctor. She – the eye doctor – immediately sent Michele to an eye surgeon where she had a tear in her retina lasered-sealed. So far, this weekend hasn’t brought any new medical disasters. Our fingers are crossed.

I’m an ambivalent New York Times subscriber, it is far from being the perfect newspaper, but it does do special stories better than anybody. What I mean by special stories is deep reporting on something that is not very controversial. A perfect example is an in-depth story on CalFire. It is fascinating the amount of manpower and equipment that is now involved in trying to protect people who live in the interface between the wild – for lack of a better word – and civilization. Check it out at Inside the Fight Against the Dixie Fire – The New York Times (nytimes.com).

As an aside, several news-type websites, including the LA Times and the NY Times, are leading this kind of story with a full-screen picture or, even, a series of full-screen short videos. I’m sure that the Dixie Fire piece is in the dead-tree NY Times, but it can’t be as impressive as opening up the story on my computer and having my 27″ monitor filled with a series of pictures. End aside.

When did fried chicken sandwiches become such a big deal? It sort of snuck up on me. Now, almost every fast-food chain offers a fried chicken sandwich and the LA Times has become obsessed with them having no less than six videos on them. Here is my favorite sandwich – which I haven’t even seen in real life let alone tasted – How two Michelin-starred chefs make the ultimate fried chicken sandwich – YouTube. And a video on the best fast-food chicken sandwich. We found the best fast-food chicken sandwich – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

Meanwhile, California continues to have warm, dry weather which prompted the great Erin Brockovich to Tweet this. 

Meanwhile here on earth. Erin Brockovich@ErinBrockovichConsumer advocate & Environmental Activist. Founder of The Brockovich Report Newsletter http://thebrockovichreport.com#TruthUnfiltered Agoura Hills, California brockovich.com

Finally, Max Verstappen leads the Formula One championship by six points, 262.5 to 256.5 over Lewis Hamilton with six races to go. Their Instagram posts tell the story.