The Buzz 01.02.20

WHO’S IN TOWN?

In the 1860s, the English naturalist Charles Darwin had folks on both sides of the Atlantic buzzing over his theory of evolution. The American Naturaliststarted publishing in 1867, leading to the founding of the American Society of Naturalists in 1883, a year after Darwin’s death. It’s now the oldest scientific society dedicated to the study of ecology and evolution. The society is in town this week for American Naturalist 2020, bringing together graduate students, postdoc researchers, faculty and professionals from ecology, evolution, behavior, genetics and associated fields. They are keeping the conference small to encourage discussion and help professionals “define new research directions that work toward unifying the biological sciences.”

Fri-Tue Jan. 3-7. Asilomar Conference Grounds, 800 Asilomar Ave., Pacific Grove. $185-$475. amnat2020.com.

FREE SPEECH

It’s not just social media that’s spreading election-related disinformation. According to a report by the Columbia Journalism Review, the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School has discovered at least 450 websites masquerading as real local news websites, but they each post thousands of algorithmically generated articles alongside a handful of reported stories. At least 189 of those sites were set up within the last year, as the 2020 election season was beginning, by Metric Media. The sites are concentrated in 10 states including presidential battlegrounds like North Carolina and Michigan; the Lansing State Journal first broke the story about Metric Media’s existence and connection to dozens of sites in Michigan alone, with titles like Lansing Sun and Ann Arbor Times. The stories on these sites are not exclusively political, but do include political stories with conservative talking points in the mix. About half the sites are operated by Franklin Archer, a company launched in 2018. CEO Michael Timpone is the brother of Brian Timpone, whose automated story-generating company Journatic is widely known for creating “pink-slime journalism.”

GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK

GOOD:

The Monterey County Office of Education announced that two Monterey County schools will receive recognition as California Distinguished Schools, a distinction bestowed by the California Department of Education. In applying for the distinction, the schools – Monte Vista Elementary School in Monterey and New Republic Elementary School in Salinas – had to prove they made significant gains in closing achievement gaps and improving student performance. For both, that meant making sure students perform well during state tests and improving performance of English-language learners, a demographic that historically requires more investment and support programs from schools. In total, 323 elementary schools statewide will be recognized in an award ceremony on Feb. 10 at Disneyland.

BAD:

It’s a new year, and a new look is under contruction at the Hyatt Regency Monterey – but with that remodel come calls to boycott the Hyatt by members of the Monterey/Santa Cruz Counties Building & Construction Trades Council, who cite the hotel’s union contract which calls for projects above $20,000 to be awarded to union labor. On Nov. 8, as union members began protesting outside, County Supervisor Jane Parker was inside speaking at an annual luncheon for LandWatch, and encouraged attendees to support the boycott when scheduling future events. It appears to be working: Planned Parenthood Mar Monte is moving its 2020 Roe v. Wade luncheon. “We stand in solidarity with the Building Trades Council and chose to change the venue because we do not want to distract from their efforts,” a spokesperson writes.