Usha Lee McFarling
I direct the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT. Working hard to advance science journalism and support its practitioners at a time they are needed more than ever.
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- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingIn brief, this maneuver: - effectively converts employee status to "at-will" (meaning they can be fired for any--or no--reason), - redirects whistleblower complaints to internal agency counsel, & takes away these civil servants' rights to appeal adverse personnel actions.
- Bad news today. The administration finalized a plan to remove civil service protections from about 50,000 federal workers, with no exemption for statistical or scientific agency personnel. This erodes protection of those agencies from political influence. www.govexec.com/workforce/20... #econsky
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingHims and other telehealth platforms are pushing multi-cancer detection tests before evidence of benefit. Important and timely story via @katiepalmer.bsky.social for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/02/06/t...
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingThe late Shirley Raines poured herself into bringing compassion to unhoused communities in California and Nevada, giving hygiene products and food to as many people as possible day after day. She showed millions the difference one can make by providing a neighbor with a meal, a makeover, and care.
- JOB ALERT: Some great reporting positions (for veteran reporters too) covering the environment along the Mississippi River, and others in the Mountain West. agwaterdesk.org/2026/01/22/r...
- Never forget
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- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingOh boy. “The University of Florida and the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County are investigating potential measles exposure in two UF classes following two confirmed cases in the county. Health officials have begun contacting individuals who may have been exposed.” @aetiology.bsky.social
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingOne reason Minneapolis remains in the world's eye is we have one of the most robust & independent media ecosystems remaining in the country. You all need this...and more! @mprnews.org @startribune.com @sahanjournal.bsky.social @minnesotareformer.com @minnpost.bsky.social @racketmn.com etc.
- Well it seems AI maybe got it right this time...
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingThe CIA just stopped publishing their World Factbook and took every page, including the archived copies of previous versions! This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingOr perhaps someone else can buy this paper from Bezos—since he seems to view it as an albatross—and donate it to a foundation established to run it as a nonprofit. Bezos gets a capital loss, the buyer/donor is a hero, the rest of us get a world class newspaper. The Knight Institute is ready to help.
- Jeff Bezos should be a hero and donate the Washington Post to a charity. Bezos would get a big charitable deduction; the rest of us would get a newspaper dedicated to the public interest. This post from Steven Waldman is from a year ago but it's still a great idea. www.cjr.org/opinion/wald...
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarling🚨Jeff Bezos' wedding last summer cost about $50M. That, alone, could have saved all 300 positions cut today at The Washington Post for a year. Actually, he could have ensured there were no staff cuts for the next decade and he'd still have net worth of 249B. Thank you Lizzie Johnson.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingI don't see how Will Lewis can effectively lead WaPo. Lewis did not save Bezos from himself on opinion pages. (375K+ cancelations) His innovations did not stem enough red ink. And he has not taken any ownership of the devastating ensuing cuts. He's making Murray own it alone.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingPeople often disparage the press — and we often get it wrong — but almost everything you know about this administration is not because pundits go on tv or social media and pontificate but because of relentless reporting from real journalists at institutions that give them resources to do so.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingA staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingI was laid off today, among hundreds of others at The Washington Post. I loved covering games here, and I am so proud of our international coverage. My colleagues — those who lost their jobs and those who didn't — are rockstars. It was such an honor to work alongside them.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingAfter 8 years writing the tech column @washingtonpost.com, I am among folks who were laid off today. I’m grateful for the stories I got to tell and the impact we made on privacy, sustainability & AI. You can keep following my work on my new (free) Substack geoffreyafowler.substack.com
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingMy time with The Washington Post is up. I was laid off with hundreds of folks I am so honored to call my colleagues. I covered it all at The Post (really), so now I'm looking for my next adventure. ➡️ kbellware [at] gmail dot com Website update coming soon @postguild.bsky.social forever
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingWell, I was laid off at The Washington Post today. It's been an honor to work with some of the best journalists in the business. I'm hoping to continue reporting, producing videos and finding long-forgotten archival footage. If you have any openings, reach out.
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- Entire Middle East team
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingNEWS: The cuts were so severe that at least one department head asked to leave The Post rather than be included in the planning. Peter Finn, The Post's international editor, requested that he be laid off once he learned about the scope of the cuts to his section. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingI was laid off from the Washington Post today, along with hundreds (!!!) of incredible colleagues. If you need a data journalist, chart designer, or wacky-idea-specialist, give me a shout!
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingFormer race and ethnicity reporter for WaPo: “This wasn't a financial decision, it was an ideological one.” He also says “hundreds of people” were laid off today, and I’ve seen it reported elsewhere that layoffs affected one third of the staff.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingI’ve been laid off by The Washington Post Serving as this newspaper’s pop music critic for the past 16-plus years has been my privilege, my joy Endless solidarity to my righteous colleagues, endless gratitude to our faithful readers
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingMost of the Washington Post’s tech reporters were laid off today, including me. I have loved my time at the paper, which is where I wanted to work from age 15. I take some consolation in not being among the survivors who will have to work harder with less for fewer readers. On to better things.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingGofundme for the recently laid-off WaPo staff: gofund.me/11ae94943
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingI consider 2025 my finest professional year. The Post just laid me off.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingAfter 20 years, I've been laid off at The Washington Post. substack.com/home/post/p-...
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingWashington Post laid off many of their staff photographers, too. Which seems missing from a lot of coverage I’ve read.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarling"Those who were laid off include Caroline O’Donovan, the Post’s beat reporter covering Amazon"
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingHere's who the Washington Post just laid off.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingMy story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
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- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingSO many people have died after testifying against Ghislaine Maxwell or Jeffrey Epstein. Also shouts to The Miami Herald as they have BEEN on it. Every documentary is using them as a source. Every book. And they are being proven correct in all the Epstein files
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingThe cycle from Amazon killing bookstores to Bezos axing the books section of the Post is something
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- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingHeads are going to explode 💥 Cato Institute just nuked the lie. Immigrants have cut U.S. deficits by $14.5 TRILLION since 1994, slashing the national debt by a third. All that “immigrants are bleeding us dry” noise? Absolute bullshit. 1/3
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingA lot of people cannot just start a paid newsletter or become freelancers to sustain their careers. The sports, metro, and international desks did work that requires *team* resources, like legal checks, documents, access to archives, and long-term beat experience.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingA publisher who lays off a reporter whose pen is freezing because she's covering a frigid war zone while dodging missiles is not an editor you want to work for, in a more perfect world
- This is just devastating. A third of staff being let go from one of our country’s most important and storied watchdog organizations. My heart goes out to everyone who lost their job today. www.cnn.com/2026/02/04/m...
- We have a VIP (and a VIB!) at the @ksjatmit.bsky.social offices today. @melaniedgkaplan.bsky.social is speaking to Knight fellows about her book Lab Dog.
- Unfilled vacancies have depleted NIH advisory councils, key players in grant approvals www.statnews.com/2026/01/22/n... via @statnews.com
- 🚨Climate reporters🚨Great opportunity to see field research in the Arctic this summer for two weeks at Alaska's Toolik Field Station. www.woodwellclimate.org/project/evol...
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- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingA long awaited study on pulse oximeter bias didn't yield the answers researchers hoped “We got a very clear signal that we do not adequately understand pulse oximeter performances in sick patients" - @iwashyna.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2026/01/12/p...
- Important new story by @aniloza.bsky.social on pulse oximeters and their performance on darker skin. This area continues to frustrate researchers. www.statnews.com/2026/01/12/p...
- How is AI changing how we communicate and how can we use its tools more ethically? Join us at MIT on Feb. 27 for this important conversation about journalism, free speech, and public discourse -- all currently under threat. Please share; all are welcome.
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingFrom an email to one of our faculty members.... Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingCopy Editing Matters, from HHS's release on the new childhood vaccine schedule: All the diseases will still be available to anyone who wants them
- Incredible poetry event Jan. 23 to make visible all the cuts (and trauma) from cutting federal research funding. Register here: luma.com/phmnhtwn
- A reminder that applications for the MIT KSJ Fellowship close this Friday, January 9. So if you're applying this year, get those applications and references in. ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/...
- Wild story by Richard Stone at Science. Do we have Leonardo's DNA? www.science.org/content/arti...
- We want to highlight the incredible science reporting being done at the local and regional level. Please submit your work for the Victor McElheny Award, which comes with a $10,000 prize. ksj.mit.edu/mcelheny-awa...
- For those who missed our informational webinar last week about the @ksjatmit.bsky.social fellowships and tips on how to create a strong application, here’s a recording. 👇🏽https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dLw88Oempos
- "It is not surprising that health news site STAT has some of the best reporting of what is happening now, including a December multipart piece, “American Science, Shattered,” which is the most comprehensive telling of this year’s carnage out there." Thanks for shoutout @gregggonsalves.bsky.social
- Here are the people and institutions that gave me hope in 2025. 1/ www.thenation.com/article/soci...
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- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingThe flu is ramping up, friends. A few thoughts on that new strain driving cases and what we all can do to try to mitigate the worst of it. My latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com:
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- Reposted by Usha Lee McFarlingGiven all the recent buzz about how great ChatGPT has gotten, including its prowess with images, I figured I'd check in on its anatomical skills. Nope.
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- An excellent opportunity for journalists interesting in covering AI (and holding the companies building it to account.) Deadline is Jan. 7. www.tarbellcenter.org/fellowship
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