🗞️ Forbes as a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism

Plus: U.S. Inflation Accelerates to 40-Year High, Biden's Biggest Idea on Climate Change Is Remarkably Cheap, and more ...

Happy Thursday. In today’s edition:

• An incomplete history of Forbes.com as a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism. (Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab)

• U.S. Inflation Accelerates to 40-Year High. (Gwynn Guilford / Wall Street Journal)

• Biden's Biggest Idea on Climate Change Is Remarkably Cheap. (Robinson Meyer via The Atlantic)

• Twitter misses earnings expectations across the board, authorizes $4 billion in share buybacks. (Lauren Feiner via CNBC)

• Let's Face It, LinkedIn Might Be the Best Social Network Right Now. (Joanna Stern via Wall Street Journal)

• Reselling gig work is TikTok's newest side hustle. (Mia Sato via The Verge)

• Meet the scientist at the center of the covid lab leak controversy. (Jane Qiu via MIT Technology Review)

Enjoy!

— Jose Montes de Oca

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Today’s pick

An incomplete history of Forbes.com as a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism

(Joshua Benton via Nieman Lab). That “rapper” accused of billions in crypto fraud was also a Forbes contributor. Is it finally time to move past the contributor network? Read More

Joshua Benton @jbenton

New by me —> An incomplete history of @Forbes as a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism. You simply can’t have 1000s of unpaid, wildly conflicted people writing unedited copy at scale and expect all they produce to meet journalistic standards!

niemanlab.orgAn incomplete history of Forbes.com as a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalismThat “rapper” accused of billions in crypto fraud was also a Forbes contributor. Is it finally time to move past the contributor network?

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U.S. Inflation Is Expected to Have Stayed Near 40-Year High

(Gwynn Guilford via Wall Street Journal). U.S. inflation is estimated to have remained at a nearly four-decade high in January as prices remained under pressure from strong consumer demand and pandemic-related supply constraints. Read More.

WSJ Central Banks @WSJCentralBanks

U.S. inflation accelerated to a 7.5% annual rate in January, rising to a new four-decade high

on.wsj.comU.S. Inflation Accelerates to 40-Year HighU.S. inflation accelerated to a 7.5% annual rate in January, rising to a new four-decade high, the Labor Department said Thursday.

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Biden's Biggest Idea on Climate Change Is Remarkably Cheap

(Robinson Meyer via The Atlantic). It’s one of the most cost-effective climate policies the U.S. has ever considered, according to a new analysis. Read More.

Jonathan Lemire @JonLemire

“Biden’s clean-energy tax credits—a set of incentives that would push the United States to generate more electricity through wind, solar, and other zero-carbon resources—would be one of the most cost-effective climate policies in American history”

theatlantic.comBiden’s Biggest Idea on Climate Change Is Remarkably CheapIt’s one of the most cost-effective climate policies the U.S. has ever considered, according to a new analysis.

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Twitter misses earnings expectations across the board, authorizes $4 billion in share buybacks

(Lauren Feiner via CNBC). Twitter reported earnings for the fourth quarter of 2021 Thursday that missed analyst estimates on earnings, revenue and user growth. The report is the first under new CEO Parag Agrawal after Jack Dorsey stepped down from the role in November. Read More.

Jay Yarow @jyarow

Twitter: we had a pretty bad quarter, so we’re going to buy our stock back to make it up to you.

cnbc.comTwitter misses earnings expectations across the board, authorizes $4 billion in share buybacksThe report is the first under new CEO Parag Agrawal after Jack Dorsey stepped down from the role in November.

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Let's Face It, LinkedIn Might Be the Best Social Network Right Now

(Joanna Stern via Wall Street Journal). CEO Ryan Roslansky lays out new features arriving on the professional networking platform, including a no-politics button and live video and audio events. Read More.

Joanna Stern @JoannaStern

Some news from my column today: LinkedIn is testing a no-politics setting. It filters out content about political parties and candidates, election outcomes, ballot initiatives and more. You may have access to it already.

wsj.comLet’s Face It, LinkedIn Might Be the Best Social Network Right NowCEO Ryan Roslansky lays out some new features on the way for the professional networking site, including a no-politics button.

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Reselling gig work is TikTok's newest side hustle

(Mia Sato via The Verge). Service resellers find cheap labor on freelancer platforms like Fiverr, and flip services like graphic design or copywriting for profit. Read More.

mia sato 佐藤みあ @MiaRSato

My latest @verge: "Drop servicing" is the new millionaire mindset side hustle: You buy cheap labor on gig platforms like Fiverr & resell it for profit. Jobs incl. social media marketing, copywriting, graphic design, etc. Clients/workers don't always know:

theverge.comReselling gig work is TikTok’s newest side hustleResellers buy gig work for as cheap as $5 to resell for profit

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Meet the scientist at the center of the covid lab leak controversy

(Jane Qiu via MIT Technology Review). Shi Zhengli has spent years at the Wuhan Institute of Virology researching coronaviruses that live in bats. Her work has come under fire as the world tries to understand where covid-19 came from. Read More.

Jane Qiu, PhD @janeqiuchina

Meet China’s bat woman: She’s spent 18 years studying coronaviruses. She’s traced both SARS and covid to bats. Did she cause the pandemic? Is she the victim of a witch hunt? I spent 14 months trying to find answers. Join me in Wuhan and at a bat cave. 1/n

bit.lyMeet the scientist at the center of the covid lab leak controversyShi Zhengli has spent years at the Wuhan Institute of Virology researching coronaviruses that live in bats. Her work has come under fire as the world tries to understand where covid-19 came from.

That’s all for today! Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

I hope you found it interesting and, needless to say, if you have any questions or feedback let me know by hitting reply or on Twitter.

Take care,

Jose