Indy Digest: Oct. 15, 2026
I am concerned about today’s student journalists. They’re facing terrible job prospects in an unstable industry that doesn’t exactly enjoy public acclaim.
As for the students who pursue journalism despite it all—and I hope many of them do, because society needs journalists—I have no doubt that they’re going to kick major ass, just as they’re doing on campus right now.
A couple of years ago, Stanford student journalists forced the university president to resign after exposing his manipulation of research data, among other things. Just recently, student journalists at Cornell broke the story about the university’s unforgivable handling of a sexual assault at a fraternity. Now, a University of Maryland student journalist is justifiably getting nationwide attention for standing up to a congressman who tried to bully her.
A video taken by News4’s partners at The Baltimore Banner shows Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., telling a student reporter from the University of Maryland that she did not have permission to record him and threatening prosecution.
“You do not have my permission to record! If you record, we will refer you to the prosecutor,” Harris told the student reporter.
“Everyone in here is recording,” the student reporter said.
“But you are not allowed to. We are in a two-party state,” Harris said, citing Maryland’s Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, which makes it a felony to record private conversations without consent from both participants. However, the law only protects private conversations, and recording is allowable in situations where there is no “reasonable expectation of privacy.”
The exchange went on for several minutes.
The reporter then tried to ask Harris his thoughts on the Iran war.
“You said that it could’ve gone smoother and it could’ve gone better. What did you mean by that?” she asked.
“You’re gonna have to take her camera,” said Harris, who is seeking re-election. “She is violating the law. In fact, get an officer in here.”
That journalist’s name is Cat Murphy, and she later spoke to CNN. The Baltimore Banner reports:
Cat Murphy, a graduate student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism and a reporter for the student newswire Capital News Service, appeared on CNN Wednesday to recount a post-debate clash that has gone viral on social media and been broadcast on national news.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked Murphy, 22, how she had processed the exchange one day later.
“It has been a lot,” she said. “But I was focused on doing my job and asking my questions that I wanted answers to. And I think I did that.”
Rep. Andy Harris is an ass. Cat Murphy is fantastic.
As The Who famously said: The kids are alright.
—Jimmy Boegle
From the Independent
Common Narratives: The New Exhibition at the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum Features Paintings by Indigenous Artists Who Emerged From Boarding Schools and Mission Institutions
By Nova Blanco-Rico
October 13, 2026
“We wanted to put something together that cultivated a group of paintings that would exemplify some of the other American tribes throughout the United States,” said curator Tony Abeyta. “We wanted to focus on the common narratives all Indigenous people have gone through in America.”
Running Dry? Despite Myriad Closures and Vacancies, The River in Rancho Mirage Still Attracts a Lot of Locals
By Jonathan Bilski
October 13, 2026
The River shopping center turns 25 in 2026—and today features a movie theater, chain restaurants and a lot of vacant storefronts.
11 Days a Week: Oct. 15-25, 2026
By Staff
October 14, 2026
Coming up in the next 11 days: a celebration of tacos and tequila; a show by Toots McApplesauce; and more!
The Weekly Independent Comics Page for Oct. 15, 2026!
By Staff
October 15, 2026
Topics addressed this week include hard hats, patriotic pricing, bathtubs, fixtures—and more!
More News
• Best wishes to our friends at KESQ News Channel 3, who are dealing with the aftermath of a fire at their building this morning. The Desert Sun reported this morning: “A fire at KESQ’s studios in Thousand Palms knocked the local television station off the air Thursday morning, Oct. 15, just seconds after its 5 a.m. newscast began. The fire was reported at 5:03 a.m. at the commercial building in the 31-200 block of Dunham Way, according to Cal Fire’s Riverside County Unit. The first firefighters to arrive reported a small fire toward the rear of the building, which was quickly contained. No injuries were reported, Cal Fire and KESQ said. News Channel 3 later said it would be back on the air at noon Thursday. KESQ chief meteorologist Patrick Evans said in a Facebook video that the fire alarm sounded about 30 seconds into the newscast. When he opened a door behind the studio, he saw flames reaching the ceiling in an adjacent equipment room. … The cause of the fire remained unknown Thursday morning, though Evans and (Angela) Chen both said the equipment room contained lithium batteries used for their cameras.”
• To nobody’s surprise, Politico reports that Robert F. Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views helped scuttle plans to develop a bird-flu vaccine plan: “Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine views were a major factor in shelving an Agriculture Department avian flu response plan, according to five people with direct knowledge of the matter, a pause that’s alarming lawmakers as wild birds begin migrating for the winter. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins rolled out a $1 billion five-point plan in February 2025 to tackle a record-breaking spread of avian influenza. The disease has roiled the poultry industry since 2022, killing about 200 million birds and contributing to record-high egg prices last year. Rollins later pulled back on an internal USDA strategy for vaccinating poultry and egg-laying hens initially intended to be shared widely with foreign countries and industry leaders. It’s not clear whether Kennedy urged Rollins to halt the plan, but she was concerned about whether it would clash with the Health secretary’s anti-vaccine views, according to the five people, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss the internal dynamics. … The pause, which went against the counsel of expert agency staff and industry leaders, continues to raise alarm among USDA employees because its other efforts to stamp out the virus have so far failed. The decision is also at odds with calls from Republican lawmakers to ensure the U.S. is prepared for a potential surge in cases this fall.”
• Our partners at CalMatters report on the governor’s social-media team—which, by the way, you’re largely paying for as a California taxpayer: “The past two decades of media contraction have allowed government officials in every town to talk less to traditional news outlets. Instead they talk directly with voters and constituents on their own platforms. That allows them to dodge tough questions and independent media coverage where they’re ‘not controlling the narrative,’ said Menlo College political science professor Melissa Michelson. Politicians have sought this for decades, Michelson said, but only in recent years—when over half of U.S. adults get news through social media—have they seen it as more important than traditional media. Newsom has exploited the trend with unique energy, and is now preparing to leave office after eight years as governor as one of the Democratic Party’s most prolific communicators. The potential 2028 presidential contender has been a Twitch stream guest, a Substacker and a podcast bro. He never stops posting. He picks fights, on X especially, with right-wing media, an industry he is both critical of and fascinated with. Some of his communications are done on campaign accounts, but much of the jousting comes from his taxpayer-funded governor’s office communications staff, who have played a major role in casting Newsom as the leading Democrat pushing back against the Trump administration in areas well beyond the boundaries of state policy.”
• Tangentially related: A new study shows there are more news deserts in the United States than ever. Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism reports: “The number of local news desert counties in the U.S. shot up by 26 in the last year, the largest one-year rise in at least five years, according to the Medill State of Local News Report 2026. There are now 238 news deserts in the U.S., as the pace of newspaper closures hit an average of about three per week. Exacerbating the challenge is a precipitous 50% drop in digital traffic to local newspapers’ websites, coinciding with growing consumer use of AI platforms, the study shows. Despite that, the report tracked the creation of 75 digital-only and print local news startups in the last year, a rise in national local news networks and a small but emerging cohort of content creators producing original local journalism.”
• Today’s recall news involves … Amazon Acetaminophen! The Hill says: “Thousands of bottles of acetaminophen sold on Amazon have been recalled over reports of discolored tablets, according to a recall notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The recalls, voluntarily issued last month but only recently included in the FDA’s enforcement report, impact nearly 113,000 bottles of 500-milligram Extra Strength Acetaminophen caplets available through Amazon. … According to the alerts, customers reported discolored pills, prompting the recall.”
• And finally … a super-PAC supporting Maine Sen. Susan Collins purchased ad time attacking her opponent in Portland … but not the one in Maine. The New York Times (gift link) reports: “An ad funded by the super PAC, Defending Main Street, assailing Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee in Maine, was shown to more than a million viewers in Oregon and over 300,000 others in Washington State from Thursday to Sunday, according to Google’s advertising data. The super PAC’s chief financial officer, Sarah Chamberlain, pinned the blunder, which cost $25,900, entirely on its ad-buying vendor, Cross Screen Media. She added that the vendor had pulled the ads, which ran on YouTube, and began a new campaign targeting Mr. Jackson in Maine. ‘Defending Main Street had nothing to do with this,’ Ms. Chamberlain said in an interview before mentioning 1903 Group, the vendor’s parent company. ‘They screwed up.’ A spokesman for 1903 Group confirmed the mistake. He said the money had been refunded to the super PAC, which said in a statement that no donor funds would be lost because of the error.” Oops!
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