Will Google come under scrutiny next?

Will Google come under scrutiny next?

MENLO PARK, Calif.

Facebook has taken the lion’s share of scrutiny from Congress and the media about data-handling practices that allow savvy marketers and political agents to target specific audiences, but it’s far from alone. YouTube, Google and Twitter also have giant platforms awash in more videos, posts and pages than any set of human eyes could ever check. Their methods of serving ads against this sea of content may come under the microscope next.

Advertising and privacy experts say a backlash is inevitable against a “Wild West” internet that has escaped scrutiny before. There continues to be a steady barrage of new examples where unsuspecting advertisers had their brands associated with extremist content on major platforms.

In the latest discovery, CNN reported that it found more than 300 retail brands, government agencies and technology companies had their ads run on YouTube channels that promoted white nationalists, Nazis, conspiracy theories and North Korean propaganda.

Mnuchin optimistic for resolution of trade fights

WASHINGTON

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed cautious optimism Saturday over efforts to resolve trade tensions that have rattled financial markets and clouded the global economic outlook.

Mnuchin held a string of meetings over the past three days with financial officials from China, Japan and Europe over the punitive tariffs the administration has unveiled in an effort to fulfill President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to reduce America’s huge trade deficits.

In a session with reporters, Mnuchin refused to say how close the United States was to resolving the various trade disputes but did indicate progress was being made in the talks.

Pulitzer honoree is latest to win after leaving journalism

RICHMOND, Va.

Ryan Kelly won a Pulitzer Prize this week for his photo of a car plowing into protesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. – an image he snapped on the final day of his newspaper job before leaving to work at a brewery.

The photographer has joined a growing list of journalists who have won the profession’s highest honor on their way out the door of a once-thriving newspaper industry now destabilized and seriously weakened by the internet.

Kelly, 31, said he was burned out and looking for a better quality of life.

“Bad hours, bad pay, high stress, low job security ... it all just sort of built to me being ready to move on,” said Kelly, who now works as digital and social media coordinator at Ardent Craft Ales in Richmond.

Syracuse fraternity permanently expelled over racist video

SYRACUSE, N.Y.

Syracuse University announced Saturday that it has permanently expelled a fraternity over an offensive video that fraternity members say was intended as satire.

Chancellor Kent Syverud called the Theta Tau video “racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, ableist and sexist” in a video posted on the university’s website.

He said disciplinary actions against the individual students involved could include suspension or expulsion.

The video showed a group of men laughing uproariously at performances punctuated by racist language against blacks, Jews and Hispanics and simulated sex acts. Some students contend the video illustrates larger issues of racism and sexism at the university.

Associated Press