What's in a name ... like 'state-affiliated media?': Today So Far

• NPR is not state-affiliated media (unless I'm wrong, in which case, I'm in big trouble...)
• The Port of Seattle was a bit lax on anti-fraud protocols, which allowed scammers to nab more than $570,000 of port funds.
• Everett is slated to pay a bikini barista stand $500,000 to settle a lawsuit that was partially over the city's dress code.

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for April 10, 2023.

Let's get something straight: NPR is not state-affiliated media. Neither are the many public radio outlets that are part of NPR's network. Twitter labeled NPR as "state-affiliated media" last week (which is not true). This tag is also used for news outlets in Russia or China that are controlled by the government and are associated with propaganda.

After some back-and-forth with NPR, Twitter CEO Elon Musk slightly walked back on the issue. NPR is now labeled as "government-funded media," which is not exactly accurate — it's less than 1% accurate. That's how much money NPR gets from the government. NPR gets a bunch of its money from stations like KUOW, which pay to be a part of its network. If NPR is getting a nice chunk of change from the feds, then we've been wasting a whole lot of time begging you to donate to KUOW to help keep our lights on.

In the wake of the Twitter move, news organizations under NPR's wing have come out in opposition to the label. KUOW is among them. The following is from KUOW President and General Manager Caryn Mathes.

"NPR, KUOW and our fellow members of the NPR Network are editorially independent news organizations supported by listeners who believe that an informed public makes our democracy stronger. Twitter labeling NPR as "state-affiliated media," a term the platform uses to identify propaganda outlets and government-controlled media, is false and dangerous. We stand with NPR and are greatly disturbed by this blatant attack on independent journalism."

If you want an example of state-affiliated or government-funded media, the military's Stars and Stripes newspaper or Voice of America are news outlets that certainly fit these labels (though I'm not sure I'd label them with anything that implies propaganda). VOA currently has the "government-funded" tag on its Twitter page (which is fair), but Stars and Stripes does not. Even Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that operates under a division of the Department of Defense, promotes that it remains independent thanks to the First Amendment and freedom of the press.

Just in case Elon Musk needs to hear this, NBC (National Broadcasting Company) is not a nationally funded channel, and ABC (American Broadcasting Company) is not funded by the American government. And just in case I'm wrong, and public radio is under the influence of the government, I should probably stop poking fun at how Gov. Inslee talks ... who I should say, is very handsome and sports a winning smile.

Get more details on this Twitter drama here.

The Port of Seattle was a bit lax on anti-fraud protocols, which allowed for scammers to nab more than $570,000 of port funds.

The port's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department received a phishing email in 2021. Like all phishing emails, it was all fake. Basically, the scammers wrote something like, "Hey, we're Vendor X and, wow, this is embarrassing, but we sent you the wrong bank account to pay us. Whoops! Can you please fix the glitch on your end and send us $184,000 to this other, totally not-suspicious account? Thanks! Byee!"

OK, to be fair, the email probably sounded more professional than that. The DEI department forwarded the email to the accounts payable department, which sent the money along to the scammers. Thing is, two months later, scammers sent another phishing email and got the same result, this time taking in more than $388,000. The state auditor ran an investigation and found that port employees didn't follow some basic fraud-prevention protocols, such as not forwarding emails that end with "byee!" (Again, I don't know if that was actually written in the email, I'm just assuming). Luckily, the port has recovered most of the money since then.

“I think it’s good lessons learned not only for the Port of Seattle, but for many other governments who have a plethora of resources. It can happen to them, and it can happen to a very small irrigation district, as well," Auditor Pat McCarthy said.

Actually, it feels like cities, agencies, and vulnerable operations are prime targets of this sort of thing. Pierce Transit and the city of Lakewood were hit with a ransomware attack in February, which was traced back to a Russian operation. Back in 2019, the city of Sammamish was shut down for a while (no email, phones, copies of building plans, etc.) after an employee clicked on an email link that delivered ransomware to the city's servers. Ransomware hit MultiCare, a health care organization last year. The same thing happened to Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. I could go on and on. There are a few ways for hackers to gain access to an agency's computers, and email is a big one. After getting access, hackers either steal personal information to profit off of (Washington state has an online list of such data breaches), or they can even hold a system hostage until they are paid a ransom. The big lesson here is to always be suspicious of emails dealing with finances or that send you links. While I'm at it, the same goes for text messages with links. And organizations like the IRS are never going to call you and threaten you.

Read more about the Port of Seattle story here.

The city of Everett is slated to pay a bikini barista stand $500,000 to settle a lawsuit that was partially over the city's dress code for such coffee stands.

The settlement has the potential to bring to a close a long chapter in Everett's bikini barista drama. It's a drama that goes back to 2009, so I'm not going to attempt to sum it all up here. Read this story for all that. The main takeaway from the most recent news is that Everett's council has voted to allow the mayor to sign the settlement. As part of that, the city will rewrite its dress code to align with its lewd conduct laws. Also, bikini barista stands will be required to post signage about sex trafficking, an issue that put these coffee stands on Everett's radar in the first place.

AS SEEN ON KUOW

Each day during the month of April, KUOW is highlighting the work of Seattle-based poets for National Poetry Month. Spoken word poet Troy Osaki writes eloquently and tenderly of Filipino workers on the frontlines to bring visibility to their labor throughout the Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Reflecting on the global economy that creates the circumstances for human trafficking and the labor diaspora, Osaki's poem speaks deeply to identity and the longing for home. (Courtesy photo)

DID YOU KNOW?

It's been pretty dry around the Northwest so far this year. Yet, we still have decent snowpack. How does that work?

Yesterday, Seattle saw .56 inches of rain (and by "Seattle" I mean Sea-Tac Airport where these measurements are taken). Before that, Jan. 12 had the most rain this year with .46 inches. According to the National Weather Service, the last time Seattle didn't have at least a half inch of rain in the first three months of the year was 1894. Climatologists are watching the rain because of droughts in recent years. We're luckily getting plenty of rain right now, and in the days ahead. Part of this outlook is snowpack in the mountains. That's important because that's our water supply for the warmer months. Right now, Washington is at 104% snowpack. Some areas have more or less snow, but we're just slightly above normal.

These weather conditions have come as a surprise to climatologists. We just had our third La Niña in a row, which is rare. The cooler temperatures prompted expectations of more rain. We got the cooler La Niña temps, but not as much rain.

"We've had below-normal precipitation, but because our temperatures have been so cold, we've been able to build snowpack in the mountains," Washington Assistant Climatologist Karin Bumbaco told KUOW. "The last two seasons have been a good reminder that spring can really change the drought outlook. So we are going to continue to monitor conditions going forward."

Check out more weather insights from Bumbaco here.

ALSO ON OUR MINDS

Medication abortion is still possible with just one drug. Here's how it works

On Friday, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the FDA didn't properly approve a drug which has been on the market for more than 20 years in the U.S. for medical abortions. The drug in question, mifepristone, is used along with one other drug in most medication abortions in the U.S. Doctors say they will continue to offer medication abortions without mifepristone, using only the other drug, misoprostol. Here's what to know about how misoprostol-only abortions work, how safe they are and how patients would access them.

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