Spew from Logan Molen

Innovations in Media: ‘Old News Newsstand’

2026-09-09T16:46:50Z

I’ve written previously here about “slow news.” But I don’t think I’ve ever written specifically about “old news,” and never as it relates to media innovation.

(Photo courtesy of Old News Newsstand)But I love the idea of a new business in New York City called Old News Newsstand. It’s a kiosk that specializes in “sentimental bric-a-brac”: ceramics, maps and guidebooks, quickie and kosher snacks and candy, exotic coffee and sodas, porn, original hand-drawn cartoons, fanzines, and … yes, old news.

The New Yorker magazine recently published a fun article on the business and its owner Aaron Reiss, who proudly touts his catchphrase: “Old News: Still bad, but cheaper and more predictable.”

Innovations in Media: 'The Elysian'

2026-09-01T22:26:03Z

You’ll want to hang on as I dig into this post because there’s a lot to unpack as it relates to The Elysian, whose varied tentacles include a Substack channel, an email newsletter, periodic digital and print pamphlets, a crowd-funded book, live and recorded video interviews, live events around the world, chats with subscribers, IRL meetings with subscribers, a member Slack channel, and probably a few other things I’ve yet to discover.

All are powered or inspired by Elle Griffin, a dreamer inspired to uncover a better civilization.

Am I hearing utopia?

Yep. Perhaps it’s too far off, but the fun for Griffin is working toward utopia(s), and showing her homework along the way.

Innovations in Media: 'Newsberg'

2026-08-24T23:36:46Z

While visiting family in Oregon a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon an interesting print-digital hybrid that leverages old and new media to broaden its audience.

Newsberg serves Newberg, Oregon, a charming city of about 25,000 people that sits in the Willamette Valley wine country. The city's primary local media is The Newberg Graphic, a 138-year-old weekly newspaper and digital operation owned by Carpenter Media Group.

But wedging its way into local eyeballs is Newsberg.org, an enterprising 3-year-old hyper-local non-profit news venture that combines a weekly 2-page print product with a weekly email newsletter, active website and larger special print editions. All are free.

Innovations in Media: ‘Make us your preferred Google source’

2026-08-02T00:15:28Z

Search-engine optimization has been a challenge for news websites for several decades, ever since Google Page Rank brought the opportunity for more eyeballs to the forefront of web strategy.

In the age of artificial intelligence and Google’s focus on “AI Mode” when prioritizing results, even the smallest of tweaks can pay dividends.

Several days ago, while visiting Monocle.com, I was presented with this page, encouraging me to add the site to my list of “Preferred Sources” on my Google Pixel 9 phone. I frequently use the Pixel’s “swipe right” feature to pull up a feed of top news and topics of interest based on trends in my search history.

What’s smart about the strategy

Innovations in Media: 'Primary' — not 'Objection'

2026-07-17T16:26:24Z

I started out here with plans to highlight a new startup called Objection. But in a world of pivots, before I could start writing, Objection” has transformed itself into a new venture called Primary. Regardless, both ventures are worth exploring.

The June 2021 Hollywood Reporter article that spawned a complaint via the Objection website.Let’s start with Objection.ai, which I first learned of from a June 10 article in The Hollywood Reporter. That article — headlined “An Online Tribunal Funded by Peter Thiel is Putting Journalists on Trial. “I’m Case No. 1” — certainly caught my eye. The article is well worth reading, but here’s the gist:

Anyone who is the subject of a news article can “object” to anything within that article by submitting a complaint to Objection. The site then contacts the author of the article, inviting them to defend their work by uploading supporting evidence. Objection then would send the information to a “tribunal” of artificial intelligence “judges” to gauge the legitimacy of the journalism. The AI judges included publicly available models like Claude, ChatGPT and Grok.

Innovations in Media: 'The Print Edition'

2026-07-06T18:46:18Z

There’s unorthodox, then just a big further afield is The Print Edition.

In an age of seemingly endless and disposable media, two men have launched a podcast-to-print product that is just odd enough to carve a profitable niche.

Issue 1 of "The Print Edition"In short, The Print Edition is a quarterly printed tabloid-sized newspaper that “celebrates an escape from the algorithm and a deeper connection to what’s around us. What will you find here? Well, things we’re interested in ourselves. Travel, style, sports and the details that make those things better.”

OK, we have a blend of freeform and tidiness. Structure but squishiness.

Can we stop overusing the term ‘supergroup’?

2026-06-06T15:31:45Z

Google defines “supergroup” as “a music band or ensemble whose members are already established and highly successful as solo artists or as part of other bands. It functions as a musical "all-star team".

Merriam-Webster defines “supergroup” as:

“a group made up of very talented, renowned, or expert members.
“especially : a musical group made up of established, prominent musicians,” citing true supergroups like Boygenius, Traveling Wilburys or Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
“an extremely successful musical group,” citing the K-Pop megastars BTS.

There seems to be a disconnect between over-enthusiastic music writers and their use of the dictionary. To borrow from sage linguist Inigo Montoya, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

I suppose there’s some wiggle room in Merriam-Webster’s initial definition of “a group made up of very talented, renowned or expert members.” But the dictionary emphasizes “especially” in the second definition to encourage us not to get sloppy in proclaiming anyone “very talented” or “expert.”

Below are a few examples of why I think music geeks are getting too loose with the term.

As quoted in the June issue of 5280 magazine, which focuses on Colorado, Indie 102.3 public radio music director Alisha Sweeney proclaims Graveyard Choir as “an up-and-coming supergroup including members of INTHEWHALE and Musuji.” Hmmm. Not that Spotify listenership is the arbiter of popularity, but INTHEWHALE has 2,400 monthly listeners, while Musuji has … 10. Yep, 10.

Innovations in Media: Steven Johnson, NotebookLM and collaborating on discovery

2026-05-18T19:39:02Z

Steven Johnson is a prolific and thought-provoking creator of books, podcasts and TV series on technology, history and science. He’s also spent the last four years as a Google employee, helping shape the remarkable NotebookLM AI platform.

I first learned of Johnson by reading his illuminating book, “The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World.” The book, like most all of his projects, deeply examines a topic with immense curiosity, relentlessly pursuing the who, what, when, where, why and how.

I later enjoyed his terrific PBS series “How We Got to Now,” a history of innovation.

Steven Johnson's "Adjacent Possible"Put perhaps most notably, I was thrilled to learn he’s been editorial director and a chief architect of NotebookLM, Google’s “AI-powered research assistant and virtual note-taking app.” The “LM” in the platform name stands for “language model,” a probabilistic AI model that builds sentences by predicting words based on the context of preceding text.

As touted by Google, “Unlike standard AI chatbots that draw on vast, sometimes inaccurate internet knowledge, NotebookLM is designed to base all its answers, summaries, and insights solely on the specific documents and media you upload.”

NotebookLM truly is remarkable, and I’ve been using it for a variety of projects and tasks, including my own book project. It’s remarkably efficient in helping me find

Innovations in media: 'Works in Progress'

2026-05-12T14:18:10Z

Works in Progress is a 6-year-old “magazine of new and underrated ideas to improve the world.”

“Magazine” is used loosely. A bi-monthly print version of the London-based magazine launched only late last year. The first 20 issues of Works In Progress were digital, distributed only on a robust website that includes individual articles (including audio transcriptions of each), videos, a podcast, an email newsletter, events and an archive of past issues.

All of the digital pieces are free to consume; the print magazine, however, costs $100 a year for six issues. It’s pricey, but beautifully designed on high-gloss paper. Each issue weighs in at more than 120 mostly ad-free pages, with an eclectic mix of content focused on “economic growth, technology, policy, history, metascience, cities, medical research, aesthetics, transport, energy and much more.” Classically liberal and market-oriented themes guide the story mix.

Innovations in media: 'The Cloud Report'

2026-05-09T15:44:47Z

I learned about Christine Tyler Hill from a front-page Wall Street Journal article about the school crossing guard’s passion project that is now earning $14,000 a month in subscriptions.

Hill publishes The Cloud Report, a monthly 8-page zine that’s “about nothing and everything.” The 2-color risograph print is on 4.25-inch by 5.5-inch stock she binds, stamps and hand labels for mailing.

Hill is a designer and illustrator who uses her daily 50-minute crossing guard shift to uncover interesting moments at a Burlington, Vt., intersection.

Of The Cloud Report, Hill says, “Active subscribers receive a newsletter filled with drawn and written observations from the intersection, the woods, the studio, the garden, and other