Notable links: August 14, 2026

Most Fridays, I share a handful of pieces that caught my eye at the intersection of technology, media, and society.I've been taking a hiatus during August while I prepare to join the Stanford JSK fellowship, but I couldn't wait to send you today's link.Did someone forward this to you? Subscribe for free.Can public media build its own social network? Chicago Public Media teams up with New_ Public to try I’ve been more excited about this announcement than any other development in either social media or news technology this year. Chicago Public Media — which runs both WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times — will run a network of online social communities for Chicago neighborhoods at chicago.com. These communities run on New_ Public’s Roundabout, a social networking platform designed to be a positive space for local communities to organize, meet, and share.As Nieman Lab reports:“Roundabout’s team sees these communities as places local reporters can be invited into to listen and build trust —…