Vauhini Vara, writing for The New Yorker, offers an insightful piece on Facebook's effort to deliver relevant advertising to users. Vara examines the methods Facebook employs and questions the concerns raised recently that it has lost its grip on teenagers. The better area of study, Vara asserts, is how Facebook has figured out what people are interested in and what it does about it.
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The New York Times reports on the concerns following the recent ouster of the editor of Ming Pao in Hong Kong and the suspicion that the paper was vulnerable to political influence. The traditionally independent news source might be susceptible to an advance by the government in its affairs.
Meanwhile, Agence France Presse reports on how China is responding to U.S. criticism about its treatment of foreign journalists following the departure of a Times correspondent from the country. China says journalists are not being expelled and that the matter is a domestic issue.
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The situation remains blurry for the Al Jazeera journalists detained and facing trial in Egypt. The government has tried to quell accusations that it does not welcome foreign journalists and coverage of its political situation. It asserts that its laws permit contact with the Muslim Brotherhood but not if it assists or incites them. Further, its laws do not protect "thought and opinion" if it threatens national security.