Poynter. Friday March 11, 2022
You read that right. In a Feb. 16 meeting of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that had been dedicated to U.S.-Colombia relations, Texas Senator Ted Cruz demanded details on the Biden administration’s stance on Mexico, saying that he was “deeply concerned” violence in the country. Cruz read off a series of dire statistics, noting that in 2020, “more journalists were killed in Mexico than in any other country in the world.” How deep Cruz’s concern for Mexico runs, no one knows, of course. But as Poynter points out, he was right about the danger facing journalist there. Read the full Story >>
Smithsonian Friday March 11, 2022
For photographer Iké Udé, beauty is a political intervention. His images of Nigeria and its people reframe the “debased” narrative of Africa commonly seen around the world, notes Smithsonian, which spotlights the exhibition “Ike Ude: Nollywood Portraits,” on view at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. The work celebrates performers from the world’s second largest movie industry–Nollywood. (The term, coined in 2002 by Norimitsu Onishi, chief of The New York Times’ southern Africa bureau, refers to the films coming out of Nigeria.) Read the full Story >>
GIZMODO Friday March 11, 2022
Batteries are out. Hydraulic power is in. Gizmodo reports that a company called Flowcopter is building the world’s first hydraulic drone, which uses gas engines and hydraulic pumps to send large drones over hundreds of miles in flight that last up to six hours. Instead of electric motors powering each propeller, hydraulic motors, powered by an endless flow of hydraulic fluid through hoses, make them spin. Read the full Story >>
feature shoot Friday March 11, 2022
In November of last year, the curated photography platform Quantum Art launched its first collection—a series of cyanotype self-portraits made by the artist Amy Elkins over the course of 377 days. The cyanotypes were not available as printed objects, but as NFTs. “It set the tone for Quantum’s success right at the launch," says Justin Aversano, Quantum's CEO. If you belong to the photography world or the crypto space, Aversano’s name will be familiar, as will his partners in the launch: Kris Graves, Alexx Shadow, EXP_Table, and Jonas Lamis, notes Feature Shoot. Read the full Story >>
