Schiffrin analyzes the Signal group's function and access questions

And then, yeah, so we sort of stumbled on the signal group.

And we were very interested in the communications field.

We talk a lot about boundary work, what's different about a journalist from an influencer.

So I was really trying to understand the sort of contours of what this signal group actually was.

It has characteristics of a press list, but in other ways it seems very different.

It seems that this group is not paid.

They were very clear about that from Amelia Rowland's office.

And there's been, I would say, there's three things that I find sort of important or concerning about this group.

So I think we focused a lot today on the need for record retention.

So clearly I won't say anything else.

I would say that there's sort of a lack of clarity as to the precise function of the unpaid influencers.

And, you know, is the relationship between City Hall and influencers a sort of standard journalist?

Press relationship to get a city hall press pass you need to fill out a lot of forms you need to demonstrate the air covering you know what exactly is the intake process um and then a third question

when i when i my previous life when i was a journalist i wrote quite a bit about regulation fd which was issued by the securities and exchange commission

in 2000 and that required that material information be made public to all relevant parties at the same time and not given in advance to favored analysts or investors.

And as I recall, the Wall Street Journal was actually against that law because they like getting things first.

So one of the things I've been puzzling over is why would there be a need for a...

Separate signal group as opposed to a press list.

So I'm very interested in that question.

Why wouldn't you just have one list for everybody and have a kind of, you know, a process for everybody to join it?

So that's one of the research questions that has remained unanswered.