Freedom of the Press Endangered in Ferguson

Several journalists have been arrested during protests held in Ferguson, Mo., over Michael Brown’s shooting; Egypt issues a statement urging the U.S. to employ “restraint” in the Missouri suburb, seemingly mocking similar statements from the American government in the past; meanwhile, the Arctic’s snow depth has fallen significantly in the past half century. These discoveries and more below.

More Journalists Arrested in Ferguson Monday Night. So Much for Freedom of the Press Monday night, the Intercept’s Ryan Devereaux and Lukas Hermsmeier, a reporter for the German newspaper Bild, were among those arrested (or detained, as authorities are calling it) during the escalating protests over Michael Brown’s shooting in Ferguson, MO.

Watch Out, PayPal Just Made 150M Consumers ‘One Touch’ Buyers When it comes to mobile commerce, the winning formula is KISS (keep it simple, stupid).

Judge Green-Lights Class Action Suit by Former Gawker Interns Bad news for Gawker: A judge has agreed that a group of its former unpaid interns are entitled to bring a class action suit over their treatment while working at Nick Denton’s gossip factory.

Egypt Urges ‘Restraint’ in Ferguson Egypt on Tuesday urged U.S. authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with racially charged demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri – echoing language Washington used to caution Egypt as it cracked down on Islamist protesters last year.

Pilgrims Inc.: Soul Searching and Commerce on the Way of St. James Not long ago, only a few people would make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Now, over 200,000 people a year spend several grueling weeks along the route.

Boycott Battles Ahead The war in Gaza has spurred a flurry of statements and letters on the part of concerned academics — and many expect debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to grow on U.S. campuses in the year ahead.

Unethical Journalism Can Make Ferguson More Dangerous “Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief,” reads the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics.

The Newest Important Person in Newsrooms: Audience-development Czars The New York Times’ Innovation Report pointed out the need for audience-development specialists to get Times content in front of more readers.

For Anything to Change, Missouri Should Consolidate St. Louis It’s time for leaders in Missouri to start flexing muscle where it can make a difference: in the political structure of St. Louis.

The Arctic Is Losing an Alarming Amount of Snow Snow depth on sea ice has fallen by as much as half in the past 50 years.

How Israel Undermines International Law Through ‘Lawfare’ Operation Protective Edge was not merely a military assault on a primarily civilian population. As in its previous “operations” (Cast Lead in 2008-9 and Pillar of Defense in 2012), it was also part of an ongoing assault on international humanitarian law (IHL) by a highly coordinated team of Israeli lawyers, military officers, PR people and politicians, led by (no less) a philosopher of ethics

The Ivy League, Mental Illness, and the Meaning of Life William Deresiewicz explains how an elite education can lead to a cycle of grandiosity and depression.

Reparations for Ferguson Total police control over black bodies has echoes in American history.

Transformative Re-Use: The Re-Circulation of Fair Use Materials In 2011 I opened an account on Critical Commons in order to upload a series of film clips I was analyzing for a journal article on films about the 1964 Kitty Genovese murder in New York City.