@jolyonThere's a new kind of press corps in New York City, and it operates quietly on Signal. According to a Columbia Journalism Review study, Mayor Zohran Mamdani's team is sending talking points to around 200 social media influencers. Among them are a school teacher with hundreds of thousands of followers, a TikToker focused on housing issues, and a Bronx character known for combining menswear with Pokémon themes. Surprisingly, not all of them are even from New York, one creator from California seemed to think Mamdani was behind the Knicks' championship, and another referred to him as the "mayor of uncontrollable joy." Instead of the traditional leaks to journalists, City Hall is now directly messaging the algorithm.

@jolyonThere's a new kind of press corps in New York City, and it operates quietly on Signal. According to a Columbia Journalism Review study, Mayor Zohran Mamdani's team is sending talking points to around 200 social media influencers. Among them are a school teacher with hundreds of thousands of followers, a TikToker focused on housing issues, and a Bronx character known for combining menswear with Pokémon themes. Surprisingly, not all of them are even from New York, one creator from California seemed to think Mamdani was behind the Knicks' championship, and another referred to him as the "mayor of uncontrollable joy." Instead of the traditional leaks to journalists, City Hall is now directly messaging the algorithm.