npr--2020-01-14--Despite Election Security Fears, Iowa Caucuses Will Use New Smartphone App

Despite Election Security Fears , Iowa Caucuses Will Use New Smartphone App Iowa 's Democratic Party plans to use a new internet-connected smartphone app to help calculate and transmit results during the state 's caucuses next month , Iowa Public Radio and NPR have confirmed .
Party leaders say they decided to opt for that strategy fully aware of three years ' worth of warnings about Russia 's attack on the 2016 election , in which cyberattacks played a central role .
Iowa 's complicated caucus process is set to take place Feb. 3 in gymnasiums , churches , rec @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state .
As opposed to a primary in which voters cast ballots in the same way they would for a general election , Iowa 's caucuses are social affairs ; caucus-goers gather in person and pledge their support for a candidate by physically `` standing in their corner '' in designated parts of a room .
Iowa 's Democrats hope the new app lets the party get results out to the public quicker , says Troy Price , the chairman of the state party .
In an interview , Price declined to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies designed the app , or about what specific measures have been put in place to guarantee the system 's security .
But security is a priority , he says .
The state party worked with the national party 's cybersecurity team , and with Harvard University 's Defending Digital Democracy project , but Price declined to answer directly whether any third party has investigated the app for vulnerabilities , as many cybersecurity experts recommend .
`` We as the party have taken this very seriously and we know how important it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ process is secure and that we protect the integrity of the process , '' Price says .
`` We want to make sure we are not relaying information that could be used against us . ''
Unlike many states in which local and state officials oversee the presidential primary election , in Iowa the state party is responsible for administering , staffing and funding the caucuses , relying primarily on trained but unpaid volunteers .
Cybersecurity experts interviewed by NPR said that the party 's decision to withhold the technical details of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the system — and instead makes it hard to have complete confidence in it .
`` The idea of security through obscurity is almost always a mistake , '' says Doug Jones , a computer science professor at the University of Iowa , and a former caucus precinct leader .
`` Drawing the blinds on the process leaves us , in the public , in a position where we ca n't even assess the competence of the people doing something on our behalf . ''
The Iowa Democrats ' plan is for caucus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and submit them to the central party via their smartphone apps .
In the past , the leaders might have called in the results over the phone .
Because caucusing is an in-person process , verified by witnesses , there is virtually no risk that a cyberattack on the app could change the results of the caucus and go undetected .
If the wrong results were reported because of a hack , there would be people from each precinct , and paper records , who could correct it .
But the damage to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says , if a hack caused the wrong winner to be called on caucus night and then that announcement had to be retracted .
`` Once you report something , it 's really hard to undo it , no matter how many retractions you print , no matter how many apologies you say , it 's too late , '' Jones says .
`` From that point of view , someone hacking the reporting process , even though its purpose is entirely informal , not intended to have any permanent importance , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' A number of other potential vulnerabilities could also be introduced by using the technology , experts say .
If the app does n't work , either because a denial of service attack clogs the system , or for any other reason , then there could be confusion at precincts across the state , and a potential delay on a winner being announced .
Price , the state chairman , says Iowa Democrats have `` redundancies built into the system , '' including a hotline to accept results , but declined to further @ @ @ @ @ @ @ app go down for any length of time , the party would need to receive hundreds , if not thousands , of phone calls from the state 's 1,679 precincts .
Still , Price says he 's confident in their contingency planning .
`` If there 's a challenge , we 'll be ready with a backup and a backup to that backup and a backup to the backup to the backup , '' Price says .
`` We are fully prepared to make sure that we can get these results in and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It 's unclear how similar this year 's app is to one developed by Microsoft and a private contractor that was used by both parties in 2016 .
Price did confirm that the app again would be downloaded onto the personal smartphones of the caucus precinct and party leaders , and not onto party-provided hardware .
That could make the system a more appealing attack target , according to Betsy Cooper , director of the Aspen Tech Policy Hub at the Aspen Institute , because peoples ' phones also may contain sensitive messages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I sure hope the engineers building it are among the best on the planet , '' says Cooper .
Price said when designing the app , the developer considered the close proximity to potentially-sensitive information , but he again did n't detail exactly how that information would be protected .
Four years ago , Russian attackers hacked into the email accounts of prominent Democrats and weaponized the information they stole throughout the election year .
Cooper said that the party could , if it wished , disclose who developed the app or the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it without `` giving away the keys to the kingdom and making it easier for hackers to get in . ''
`` Basic transparency about how it was built , how up-to-date the security of the app is , and how it 's been tested , all could be made publicly available with little cost to the DNC , '' she says .
Price said that some details would be unveiled about the app to reporters and the public in the days leading up to the caucuses , but he did not commit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Less than three weeks before the caucuses , precinct chairs have not yet gotten access to the app .
Internet connectivity and tech literacy in Iowa has improved over the past four years .
Local party leaders say they expect that more precinct chairs will own smartphones and be more comfortable using an app this cycle than during the previous one .
Still , in more rural parts of the state , some Iowans have been slow to adopt to technology , according to Gary Gelner , who chairs the Hancock County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There may be some lingering skepticism .
`` At least everybody with smartphones is gon na do it , I know that , '' Gelner says .
`` You 'd be surprised how many people up here got the old flip cell phones . ''
Gelner was skeptical of the party moving to a caucus night reporting app in 2016 .
Though he 's more optimistic this year , he 's still wary of a process that he says could delay the release of the closely-watched results .
Gelner said one of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in his results , only to find he could n't connect .
`` He called in and he tried for half an hour and he could n't get through , '' Gelner said .
The Iowa Democrats ' app will theoretically allow the state party to report the results much quicker than a phone-based system , and it may also help local party leaders with what 's referred to as `` caucus math . ''
A party manual says the app will `` automatically calculate the number of delegates '' presidential contenders are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the number of supporters for each candidate , the total number of delegates awarded and overall turnout .
But as is the case with much in the world of voting technology , things that make voting easier or more efficient can also introduce new unforeseen issues .
Travis Weipert is the top elections official in Iowa 's most Democratic County , Johnson County , and this cycle he 'll also be volunteering to oversee a caucus site as a precinct chair .
He says his experiences as an elections administrator make him skeptical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the web .
`` As long as you 're staying off the internet , then there 's no connectivity , your chances of an issue are almost zero , '' Weipert said .
`` It 's when you get on the internet and security patches have n't been made , that you open yourself up [ to hacking ] . ''
Weipert says there is a tendency for some local officials to underestimate the interest that foreign powers or bad actors may have in their elections .
While he says he 's doubtful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caucuses , he says it 's something party leaders have to consider .
This is the second time in the past few months that the Iowa Democratic Party has had cyber experts questioning its commitment to security .
Last year , under pressure from the Democratic National Committee to increase accessibility at its famously arcane caucuses , the state party proposed a plan to allow Iowans to caucus remotely .
Internet and phone-based voting systems are considered notoriously insecure however , and the national party said there was n't a system available secure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So that plan was scrapped .
Jones , the University of Iowa cybersecurity specialist , says transmitting results from precincts to the state party through a smartphone app is n't as insecure as the virtual caucus plan — but that it 's still insecure for the same reasons .
`` The entire ecosystem of smartphones is extraordinarily poorly secured , '' Jones said .
`` And resting security functions on that ecosystem is something I do n't trust at all . ''

Despite Election Security Fears, Iowa Caucuses Will Use New Smartphone App
Enlarge this image toggle caption JGI/Tom Grill/Tetra images RF/Getty Images JGI/Tom Grill/Tetra images RF/Getty Images
Iowa's Democratic Party plans to use a new Internet-connected smartphone app to help calculate and transmit results during the state's caucuses next month, Iowa Public Radio and NPR have confirmed.
Party leaders say they decided to opt for that strategy fully aware of three years' worth of warnings about Russia's attack on the 2016 presidential election, in which cyberattacks played a central role.
Iowa's complicated caucus process is set to take place Feb. 3 in gymnasiums, churches, recreation centers and other meeting places across the state.
As opposed to a primary in which voters cast ballots in the same way they would for a general election, Iowa's caucuses are social affairs; caucusgoers gather in person and pledge their support for a candidate by physically "standing in their corner" in designated parts of a room.
Iowa's Democrats hope the new app lets the party get results out to the public quicker, says Troy Price, the chairman of the state party.
In an interview, Price declined to provide more details about which company or companies designed the app, or about what specific measures have been put in place to guarantee the system's security.
But security is a priority, he says.
The state party worked with the national party's cybersecurity team, and with Harvard University's Defending Digital Democracy project, but Price declined to answer directly whether any third party has investigated the app for vulnerabilities, as many cybersecurity experts recommend.
"We as the party have taken this very seriously, and we know how important it is for us to make sure that our process is secure and that we protect the integrity of the process," Price says. "We want to make sure we are not relaying information that could be used against us."
Unlike many states in which local and state officials oversee the presidential primary election, in Iowa the state party is responsible for administering, staffing and funding the caucuses, relying primarily on trained but unpaid volunteers.
Cybersecurity experts interviewed by NPR said that the party's decision to withhold the technical details of its app doesn't do much to protect the system — and instead makes it hard to have complete confidence in it.
"The idea of security through obscurity is almost always a mistake," says Doug Jones, a computer science professor at the University of Iowa and a former caucus precinct leader. "Drawing the blinds on the process leaves us, in the public, in a position where we can't even assess the competence of the people doing something on our behalf."
Cyber concerns
The Iowa Democrats' plan is for caucus leaders to compile the results from participants and submit them to the central party via their smartphone apps. In the past, the leaders might have called in the results over the phone.
Because caucusing is an in-person process, verified by witnesses, there is virtually no risk that a cyberattack on the app could change the results of the caucus and go undetected.
If the wrong results were reported because of a hack, there would be people from each precinct who could correct it, and paper records.
But the damage to public confidence would be catastrophic, Jones says, if a hack caused the wrong winner to be called on caucus night and then that announcement had to be retracted.
"Once you report something, it's really hard to undo it, no matter how many retractions you print, no matter how many apologies you say, it's too late," Jones says. "From that point of view, someone hacking the reporting process, even though its purpose is entirely informal, not intended to have any permanent importance, is something that could be very disruptive."
A number of other potential vulnerabilities could also be introduced by using the technology, experts say.
If the app doesn't work, either because a denial of service attack clogs the system or for any other reason, then there could be confusion at precincts across the state, and a potential delay on a winner being announced.
State Dems promise contingency plan
Price, the state chairman, says Iowa Democrats have "redundancies built into the system," including a hotline to accept results, but declined to further detail those as well.
Should the app go down for any length of time, the party would need to receive hundreds, if not thousands, of phone calls from the state's 1,679 precincts.
Still, Price says he's confident in their contingency planning.
"If there's a challenge, we'll be ready with a backup and a backup to that backup and a backup to the backup to the backup," Price says. "We are fully prepared to make sure that we can get these results in and get those results in accurately."
It's unclear how similar this year's app is to one developed by Microsoft and a private contractor that was used by both parties in 2016.
Price did confirm that the app again would be downloaded onto the personal smartphones of the caucus precinct and party leaders, and not onto party-provided hardware.
That could make the system a more appealing attack target, according to Betsy Cooper, director of the Aspen Tech Policy Hub at the Aspen Institute, because peoples' phones also may contain sensitive messages, emails and passwords.
"I sure hope the engineers building it are among the best on the planet," Cooper says.
Price said when designing the app, the developer considered the close proximity to potentially sensitive information, but he again didn't detail exactly how that information would be protected.
Four years ago, Russian attackers hacked into the email accounts of prominent Democrats and weaponized the information they stole throughout the election year.
Cooper said that the party could, if it wished, disclose who developed the app or the types of testing that had been done on it without "giving away the keys to the kingdom and making it easier for hackers to get in."
"Basic transparency about how it was built, how up to date the security of the app is and how it's been tested all could be made publicly available with little cost to the DNC," she says.
Price said that some details would be unveiled about the app to reporters and the public in the days leading up to the caucuses, but he did not commit to revealing the identity of the developer. Less than three weeks before the caucuses, precinct chairs have not yet gotten access to the app.
Questions beyond security
Internet connectivity and tech literacy in Iowa have improved over the past four years. Local party leaders say they expect that more precinct chairs will own smartphones and be more comfortable using an app this cycle than during the previous one.
Still, in more rural parts of the state, some Iowans have been slow to adopt to technology, according to Gary Gelner, who chairs the Hancock County Democratic Party in north central Iowa. There may be some lingering skepticism.
"At least everybody with smartphones is gonna do it, I know that," Gelner says. "You'd be surprised how many people up here got the old flip cellphones."
Gelner was skeptical of the party moving to a caucus night reporting app in 2016. Though he's more optimistic this year, he's still wary of a process that he says could delay the release of the closely watched results.
Gelner said one of his precinct chairs in 2016 resorted to phoning in his results, only to find he couldn't connect.
"He called in and he tried for half an hour and he couldn't get through," Gelner said.
An insecure ecosystem
The Iowa Democrats' app will theoretically allow the state party to report the results much quicker than a phone-based system, and it may also help local party leaders with what's referred to as "caucus math."
A party manual says the app will "automatically calculate the number of delegates" presidential contenders are awarded, based on a formula involving the number of supporters for each candidate, the total number of delegates awarded and overall turnout.
But as is the case with much in the world of voting technology, things that make voting easier or more efficient can also introduce new unforeseen issues.
Travis Weipert is the top elections official in Iowa's most Democratic County, Johnson County, and this cycle he'll also be volunteering to oversee a caucus site as a precinct chair.
He says his experiences as an elections administrator make him skeptical of any system that mixes democracy and the Web.
"As long as you're staying off the Internet, then there's no connectivity, your chances of an issue are almost zero," Weipert said. "It's when you get on the Internet and security patches haven't been made that you open yourself up [to hacking]."
Weipert says there is a tendency for some local officials to underestimate the interest that foreign powers or bad actors may have in their elections. While he says he's doubtful "rogue states" would target the caucuses, he says it's something party leaders have to consider.
This is the second time in the past few months that the Iowa Democratic Party has had cyber experts questioning its commitment to security.
Last year, under pressure from the Democratic National Committee to increase accessibility at its famously arcane caucuses, the state party proposed a plan to allow Iowans to caucus remotely.
Internet and phone-based voting systems are considered notoriously insecure however, and the national party said there wasn't a system available secure enough to support such an idea.
So that plan was scrapped.
Jones, the University of Iowa cybersecurity specialist, says transmitting results from precincts to the state party through a smartphone app isn't as insecure as the virtual caucus plan — but that it's still insecure for the same reasons.
"The entire ecosystem of smartphones is extraordinarily poorly secured," Jones said. "And resting security functions on that ecosystem is something I don't trust at all."


npr--2020-01-14--House To Vote Wednesday To Send Impeachment Articles To Senate

House To Vote Wednesday To Send Impeachment Articles To Senate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has notified Democrats that the House will vote to send two articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate Wednesday , according to multiple lawmakers at a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic caucus .
Pelosi is also expected to name impeachment managers to lead the prosecution against the president but did not tell the caucus who would the managers would be .
The Speaker had delayed transmitting the articles in an unsuccessful attempt to force Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky. , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trial will take place .
Speaking to reporters after the meeting , House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries said the vote to transmit the articles will happen `` at some point tomorrow '' and that impeachment managers will be named before the vote takes place .
`` I have no expectation to serve as an impeachment manager , '' Jeffries said , noting he has a `` day job '' as Caucus Chairman .
The House approved the two articles of impeachment last month .
The first article charges Trump with abusing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pressure Ukraine to investigate a potential political opponent , former Vice President Joe Biden ; the second charges Trump obstructed Congress ' investigation of his actions .
The House resolution serves as a formal notice to the Senate that it is prepared to transmit the articles .
Then , the Senate responds saying they are prepared to receive them .
The articles themselves are placed inside a box and carried from the House to the Senate where it is presented to the secretary of the Senate .
The ceremonial delivery to the Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the articles are sent to the Senate , the impeachment trial can begin but it remains unclear exactly when it would start .
Senators say they expect to be sworn in as jurors later this week .
Meanwhile , the Senate continues to still work through pending legislation , including a bill that would limit Trump 's ability to wage war with Iran .
The Senate trial will mark just the third time in U.S. history a president has faced removal from office after being impeached .

House To Vote Wednesday To Send Impeachment Articles To Senate
Enlarge this image toggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Updated at 5:53 p.m. ET
The House will vote to send two articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate Wednesday, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says a trial to determine whether to remove the president from office will probably begin next Tuesday.
In a statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will also name impeachment managers to lead the prosecution against the president Wednesday but did not say who they would be. "The American people deserve the truth, and the Constitution demands a trial," Pelosi said.
Pelosi plans to hold a press conference on Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET ahead of the vote to unveil the list of managers.
The speaker had delayed transmitting the articles in an unsuccessful attempt to force McConnell, R-Ky., to lay out the rules under which the trial will take place.
Meeting with reporters, McConnell said senators would likely be sworn in as jurors for the trial later this week by Chief Justice John Roberts. McConnell said "that would set us up to start the actual trial next Tuesday."
Pelosi said McConnell "has signed on to a dismal resolution," which would allow for the Senate to dismiss the charges against Trump if the House failed to send the articles to the Senate in 25 days. Pelosi labeled a dismissal "a cover up."
She also criticized McConnell's decision to start the Senate trial without guaranteeing it will hear from additional witnesses, as Democrats had demanded.
"The American people will fully understand the Senate's move to begin the trial without witnesses and documents as a pure political cover-up," Pelosi said. "Leader McConnell and the president are afraid of more facts coming to light."
But McConnell indicated there was little sentiment among his party to move to dismiss the articles of impeachment before hearing opening arguments from both sides, and said he would leave the decision on whether to call witness until then.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., left the door open to a vote after the trial begins. "First, we need to hear the case, not dismiss the case," he said. "To me that means one, hear the arguments, two, ask our questions and three, be guaranteed a right to vote on whether we need more evidence. That could be witnesses; that could be documents. So I reserve that decision until I hear that case."
Other Republican senators, including Mitt Romney, R-Utah, also support the idea of calling witness after the trial starts. But Romney indicated he would not support Democratic efforts to put a requirement in the trial rules to call witnesses.
Former White House national security adviser John Bolton has said he would be open to giving testimony were the Senate to subpoena him.
The House approved the two articles of impeachment last month. The first article charges Trump with abusing the power of his office for attempting to pressure Ukraine to investigate a potential political opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden; the second charges Trump obstructed Congress' investigation of his actions.
The House resolution serves as a formal notice to the Senate that it is prepared to transmit the articles. Then, the Senate responds saying it is prepared to receive them. The articles themselves are placed inside a box and carried from the House to the Senate where it is presented to the secretary of the Senate.
The ceremonial delivery to the Senate could happen later on Wednesday.
Once the articles are sent to the Senate, the impeachment trial can begin.
Meanwhile, the Senate continues to work through pending legislation, including a bill that would limit Trump's ability to wage war with Iran.
The Senate trial will mark just the third time in U.S. history a president has faced removal from office after being impeached.


npr--2020-01-14--St. Louis Chief Prosecutor Accuses City, Police Union Of Racist Conspiracy In Lawsuit

St. Louis ' first black prosecutor , Kim Gardner , has sued the city , its police union and five others for what she calls a racist effort to block her reform agenda .
`` Gardner was elected in 2016 on a promise to redress the scourge of historical inequality and rebuild trust in the criminal justice system among communities of color , '' reads the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court .
`` Unfortunately , entrenched interests in St. Louis ... have mobilized to thwart these efforts through a broad campaign of collusive conduct '' to protect the status @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jacob Long , a spokesman for Mayor Lyda Krewson , said the city `` vehemently denied what it considers to be meritless allegations levied against it , '' and expected to be `` fully vindicated '' at trial .
Jeff Roorda , a police union official named in the suit , called it `` the last act of a desperate woman . ''
The suit has its roots in the 2018 prosecution of then-Missouri Gov .
Eric Greitens .
Gardner hired an outside investigator to look into accusations that Greitens took a semi-nude @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was having an affair and then transmitted it in a way that it could be accessed by a computer .
Gardner later dropped the charge after Greitens ' attorneys raised questions about the conduct of that investigator , William Tisaby .
The defense team wanted Tisaby to testify .
When he refused , a judge ordered Gardner to testify instead , something she said she could not do while also prosecuting the case .
Police investigating perjury allegations against Tisaby asked a second judge in June 2018 to appoint a special prosecutor , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Mullen then named St. Louis attorney Gerard Carmody to that role .
Carmody presented the case to a grand jury which indicted Tisaby on seven counts of perjury and evidence tampering .
Tisaby has pleaded not guilty .
Gardner 's suit points out numerous connections between Carmody , his law firm , Gardner 's opponents in the 2016 election , Greitens ' defense team , and the St. Louis Police Officers Association , which has frequently clashed with Gardner .
Gardner accuses the St. Louis police department of delaying investigations into threatening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Defendants `` have conspired for the purpose of impeding , hindering , obstructing , or defeating the due course of justice , with the intent to injure Gardner or her property for lawfully enforcing and/or attempting to enforce the rights of all persons within the City of St. Louis to equal protection of the laws , '' her attorneys wrote .
They are seeking monetary damages , and asking a judge to stop the defendants from `` violating Gardner 's civil rights . ''
Carmody , the special prosecutor , declined to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suit — along with his daughter Ryann and son Patrick , who have worked on the case against Tisaby .
Charles Lane , the seventh individual sued , is a former police officer who challenged Gardner 's authority to pay for outside attorneys using city money .
The lawsuit lists just one instance in which Gardner was unable to achieve something because of the actions of the defendants .
But Allison Hawk , a spokeswoman for Gardner , said the legal battles over the Greitens prosecution had taken a lot of time and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eight attorneys listed in federal court papers , said the advocacy group Mothers Against Police Brutality was covering the cost of litigation .
The group did not return a phone call or an email for comment .

St. Louis Chief Prosecutor Accuses City, Police Union Of Racist Conspiracy In Lawsuit
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jim Salter/AP Jim Salter/AP
St. Louis' first black prosecutor, Kim Gardner, has sued the city, its police union and five others for what she calls a racist effort to block her reform agenda.
"Gardner was elected in 2016 on a promise to redress the scourge of historical inequality and rebuild trust in the criminal justice system among communities of color," reads the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court. "Unfortunately, entrenched interests in St. Louis ... have mobilized to thwart these efforts through a broad campaign of collusive conduct" to protect the status quo and remove Gardner from office.
Jacob Long, a spokesman for Mayor Lyda Krewson, said the city "vehemently denied what it considers to be meritless allegations levied against it" and expected to be "fully vindicated."
Jeff Roorda, a police union official named in the suit, called it "the last act of a desperate woman."
The suit has its roots in the 2018 prosecution of then-Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens. Gardner hired an outside investigator to look into accusations that Greitens took a semi-nude photo of a woman with whom he was having an affair and then transmitted it in a way that it could be accessed by a computer. Gardner later dropped the charge after Greitens' attorneys raised questions about the conduct of that investigator, William Tisaby.
The defense team wanted Tisaby to testify. When he refused, a judge ordered Gardner to testify instead, something she said she could not do while also prosecuting the case.
Police investigating perjury allegations against Tisaby asked a second judge in June 2018 to appoint a special prosecutor, a request that Judge Michael Mullen granted. Mullen then named St. Louis attorney Gerard Carmody to that role. Carmody presented the case to a grand jury, which indicted Tisaby on seven counts of perjury and evidence tampering. Tisaby has pleaded not guilty.
Gardner's suit points out numerous connections between Carmody, his law firm, Gardner's opponents in the 2016 election, Greitens' defense team, and the St. Louis Police Officers Association, which has frequently clashed with Gardner. Gardner accuses the St. Louis police department of delaying investigations into threatening letters she received during the Greitens prosecution.
Defendants "have conspired for the purpose of impeding, hindering, obstructing, or defeating the due course of justice, with the intent to injure Gardner or her property for lawfully enforcing and/or attempting to enforce the rights of all persons within the City of St. Louis to equal protection of the laws," her attorneys wrote.
They are seeking monetary damages and asking a judge to stop the defendants from "violating Gardner's civil rights."
Carmody, the special prosecutor, declined to comment. He is named in the suit — along with his daughter Ryann and son Patrick, who have worked on the case against Tisaby. Charles Lane, the seventh individual sued, is a former police officer who challenged Gardner's authority to pay for outside attorneys using city money.
The lawsuit lists just one instance in which Gardner was unable to achieve something because of the actions of the defendants. But Allison Hawk, a spokeswoman for Gardner, said the legal battles over the Greitens prosecution had taken a lot of time and effort.
Roy Austin, one of eight attorneys listed in federal court papers, said the advocacy group Mothers Against Police Brutality was covering the cost of litigation. The group did not return a phone call or an email for comment.


npr--2020-01-14--Russia Hacked Ukrainian Company Linked To Trump Impeachment, Security Firm Says

Russian hackers recently targeted the Ukrainian gas company that was at the center of President Trump 's impeachment — and they succeeded in gaining access to its email accounts , according to California cybersecurity firm Area 1 Security .
The hackers are said to have infiltrated Burisma Holdings months after Trump urged Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son , Hunter , who had served on Burisma 's board .
`` What we 've uncovered is that the same Russian cyber actors who targeted the [ Democratic National Committee ] in 2016 have been actively launching a phishing campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subsidiaries , to try to steal their email usernames and passwords , '' Area 1 co-founder Oren Falkowitz tells NPR 's Morning Edition .
Trump 's push for the Ukrainian probe led to his Dec. 18 impeachment by the House of Representatives on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress .
The House had formalized its impeachment inquiry on Oct. 31 ; hackers linked to Russia 's government reportedly sprang into action in early November .
The hacking operation was the work of the GRU , the Russian military spy agency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has published its findings online .
The company says Russian hackers sent seemingly legitimate emails pointing to malicious websites that looked like authentic Burisma sites to try to dupe employees into sharing private login information .
The phishing ploy worked , says Falkowitz , who formerly worked at the National Security Agency .
`` What we know is that they 're able to access the usernames and passwords for the employees of Burisma .
And from there , they 're able to see likely what 's in those accounts , '' he says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a phishing campaign , according to Area 1 .
In addition to the Russian attack on the DNC 's systems , one of the most damaging recent cyberattacks began with a spear-phishing email sent to Hillary Clinton 's campaign chair John Podesta .
That email instructed Podesta to click a special link to pick out a new password for his Google email account — a process the hackers then monitored , giving them full access to his account .
`` Once you have the usernames and passwords for an employee 's email @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that can be done , '' Falkowitz says .
`` You can observe all of the data that 's contained within [ their ] email .
You can also launch further phishing campaigns — and you can use that data to do quite a lot to move throughout the company 's networks . ''
In recent years , the GRU 's hackers have been very busy and extremely disruptive , attacking a variety of high-profile targets with the goal of revealing embarrassing information .
`` The GRU has been linked to cyberattacks at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the compromise of the World Anti-Doping Agency , '' Area 1 says .
`` The GRU has also been linked to the targeting of European foreign ministries and defense agencies , campaigns for the 2018 U.S. midterm elections , FIFA and Westinghouse . ''
Area 1 says it also linked the GRU phishing campaign against Burisma to another phishing attack targeting a company founded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy — whose phone conversation with Trump last summer sparked calls to impeach the U.S. president .
Trump has previously asked Russia to help his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the 2016 vote .
`` Russia , if you 're listening , I hope you 're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing '' from Clinton 's email servers , then-candidate Trump said at a news conference in Miami on July 27 , 2016 .
According to indictments secured by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller , Russian military officers began attacking the Clinton campaign and other Democratic targets that same day .

Russia Hacked Ukrainian Company Linked To Trump Impeachment, Security Firm Says
Enlarge this image toggle caption Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Russian hackers recently targeted the Ukrainian gas company that was at the center of President Trump's impeachment — and they succeeded in gaining access to its email accounts, according to California cybersecurity firm Area 1 Security.
The hackers are said to have infiltrated Burisma Holdings months after Trump urged Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who had served on Burisma's board.
"What we've uncovered is that the same Russian cyber actors who targeted the [Democratic National Committee] in 2016 have been actively launching a phishing campaign against employees of Burisma Holdings and its subsidiaries, to try to steal their email usernames and passwords," Area 1 co-founder Oren Falkowitz tells NPR's Morning Edition.
Russians Hacked Ukrainian Firm At The Center Of Impeachment 3:53
Trump's push for the Ukrainian probe led to his Dec. 18 impeachment by the House of Representatives on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The House had formalized its impeachment inquiry on Oct. 31; hackers linked to Russia's government reportedly sprang into action in early November.
The hacking operation was the work of the GRU, the Russian military spy agency, according to Area 1, which has published its findings online. The company says Russian hackers sent seemingly legitimate emails pointing to malicious websites that looked like authentic Burisma sites to try to dupe employees into sharing private login information.
The phishing ploy worked, says Falkowitz, who formerly worked at the National Security Agency. "What we know is that they're able to access the usernames and passwords for the employees of Burisma. And from there, they're able to see likely what's in those accounts," he says.
The vast majority of cyberattacks begin with a phishing campaign, according to Area 1. In addition to the Russian attack on the DNC's systems, one of the most damaging recent cyberattacks began with a spear-phishing email sent to Hillary Clinton's campaign chair, John Podesta. That email instructed Podesta to click a special link to pick out a new password for his Google email account — a process the hackers then monitored, giving them full access to his account.
"Once you have the usernames and passwords for an employee's email account, there's quite a lot that can be done," Falkowitz says. "You can observe all of the data that's contained within [their] email. You can also launch further phishing campaigns — and you can use that data to do quite a lot to move throughout the company's networks."
In recent years, the GRU's hackers have been very busy and extremely disruptive, attacking a variety of high-profile targets with the goal of revealing embarrassing information.
"The GRU has been linked to cyberattacks at the Democratic National Committee in 2016 and the compromise of the World Anti-Doping Agency," Area 1 says. "The GRU has also been linked to the targeting of European foreign ministries and defense agencies, campaigns for the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, FIFA and Westinghouse."
Area 1 says it also linked the GRU phishing campaign against Burisma to another phishing attack targeting a company founded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose phone conversation with Trump last summer sparked calls to impeach the U.S. president.
Trump has previously asked Russia to help his political campaign — most famously just months before the 2016 vote.
"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing" from Clinton's email servers, then-candidate Trump said at a news conference in Miami on July 27, 2016.
According to indictments secured by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, Russian military officers began attacking the Clinton campaign and other Democratic targets that same day.


npr--2020-01-14--The Past Year, And Decade, In Music Listening: Video Rules, The Boy's Club Remains

The Past Year , And Decade , In Music Listening : Video Rules , The Boy 's Club Remains As we ease into the 2020s , data about the music industry 's growth is more abundant than ever .
Within the last week , BuzzAngle and Nielsen Music — the two central , competing , public-facing music-data firms in the U.S. — released their annual reports on music listening trends .
BuzzAngle powers Rolling Stone 's charts and is owned by Penske Media , the parent company of Rolling Stone , Variety and Deadline ; Nielsen Music was acquired by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter , in December 2019 .
The two reports differ on some details , but are directionally similar .
Both put the total number of music streams in the U.S. last year over one trillion for the first time , representing a 15 % growth in streams year-over-year .
Both note that on-demand streaming accounted for over 80 % of total consumption in the U.S. , and that audio streaming in particular continued to register solid annual growth ( from Nielsen 's 24 % to BuzzAngle 's 32 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sheds light on the artists who dominated the past decade .
Drake , Eminem and Taylor Swift were the only three artists to rank in the top 10 for the most album sales and streams last decade — country stars like Kenny Chesney , Tim McGraw and Toby Keith lead the radio airplay charts over the same time period .
Interestingly , while Adele had the two best-selling albums of the decade — 21 and 25 , respectively , both released in 2015 or earlier — she 's nowhere to be found on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , music listening is accelerating : According to BuzzAngle , last year 's streams alone accounted for more than 30 % of all streaming activity over the past six years .
But beneath the `` one trillion streams '' headlines are some deeper truths about the current state of the music business — some of which reflect the industry 's stubborn resistance to change , and others of which provide a sign of the global transformation to come .
Audio streams might rule the U.S. , but video streams rule the world Audio-streaming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to suck up much of the air when talking about the modern music industry , at least in the U.S .
But zoom out to a global level and it 's actually video — not audio — that reigns supreme .
Nielsen Music and BuzzAngle both found that audio accounted for around 70 % of total on-demand streams in the U.S. in 2019 , with video comprising the remaining 30 % .
But Nielsen 's worldwide streaming data flips that ratio on its head : Out of the 5.1 trillion on-demand music streams @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plays , 66 % came from video , while the remaining 33 % came from audio .
This is because YouTube is the preferred consumption platform and marketing machine for several international music genres , from K-pop in Korea to Bollywood in India ( YouTube alone accounts for 40 % of Indian labels ' revenues ) .
Unlike Spotify Premium or Apple Music , YouTube is free and does n't require a login , raising its appeal for music markets whose consumers might have lower per-capita incomes or have n't yet warmed up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subscription .
More songs than ever are in the 500-million-streams club , but power is still concentrated Comparing the reports also outlines a dual narrative with respect to whether the music industry is really becoming a more-level playing field .
On one hand , more artists and songs are participating in the `` top 1 % '' of the industry .
According to BuzzAngle , 31 songs were streamed over 500 million times in 2019 , up from 21 such songs in 2018 .
A tier below , nearly 900 songs were streamed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up from 525 in 2018 .
But that does n't mean the distribution of power has gotten any more equitable .
BuzzAngle found that the 1,000 most-streamed songs in 2019 accounted for 18 % of all streams , while the top 500 album titles were responsible for 30 % of all album sales — same as the year before .
Major labels also dominate nearly all of the top artist , album and song charts in both reports .
With the exception of YNW Melly 's `` Murder On My Mind , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ artists of 2019 in BuzzAngle 's report were all owned and/or distributed by a major label .
Nielsen Music found that Universal Music Group , the largest record label by annual revenue , saw little change to its dominant market share , controlling 38.7 % of the market in 2019 versus 38.1 % in 2018 .
This is n't necessarily to say that the music business is stale , or hostile to disruption .
Consider `` Old Town Road . ''
Within just one year , the song that Lil Nas X made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strategically seeded onto platforms like Triller and TikTok ended up becoming the most-streamed song of the past 10 years , beating ubiquitous hits like `` Despacito , '' `` Rockstar '' and `` Uptown Funk . ''
But even `` Old Town Road '' arguably could not have gotten to its historic peak without major-label backing — in this case , a distribution deal with Columbia Records , which helped Lil Nas X land remixes with Billy Ray Cyrus , Young Thug , Mason Ramsey and RM from BTS .
Not only did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the remixes ' streams also counted toward the original song 's tallies , helping the track make history as the longest-running No .
1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 .
Vinyl might be having a `` revival , '' but CDs still account for the vast majority of physical albums Album and song sales continue to wane across the board , seeing a 20 % to 25 % decline year-over-year in 2019 , per BuzzAngle and Nielsen , respectively .
Yet vinyl album sales continue to grow , by 11 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nielsen , respectively ) .
According to the Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) , revenues from vinyl records are poised to surpass those from CDs within the next few years .
But there 's one important caveat : In terms of units , vinyl is not the top physical music format — far from it , in fact .
In 2019 , CDs still accounted for 74 % to 80 % of physical album units sold , according to BuzzAngle and Nielsen , respectively .
( Absolute numbers differ between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of CDs sold last year at 44.9 million , while Nielsen Music reports 54.8 million . )
In contrast , vinyl constituted only around 17 % to 19 % of physical units sold last year — 10.7 million per BuzzAngle and 18.8 million per Nielsen .
While vinyl might be providing the music industry with a growing source of revenue , it does n't come close to achieving the reach of the CD market .
The vinyl market also skews the oldest out of all music formats ; six out of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before 2000 , and 67 % of vinyl sales overall last year came from catalog ( i.e.
, music older than 18 months ) , according to Nielsen .
Since streaming now accounts for the vast majority of music listening in the U.S. ( again , about 80 % ) , it 's natural to assume that those plays are an appropriate proxy for consumer behavior across other formats .
But a closer examination of the Nielsen Music and BuzzAngle reports reveals that that could not be further from the truth .
Sales-oriented @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , calculate artists ' rankings using formulas that convert stream counts into approximate `` album equivalents . ''
For example , as of summer 2018 , the Billboard charts register one `` album unit '' for every 1,250 paid audio streams , 3,750 ad-supported streams or 3,750 video streams .
BuzzAngle , meanwhile , has a simpler , unweighted formula , adding one `` album project unit '' for every 1,500 on-demand streams , regardless of the streams ' source or financial value .
Under these formulas , if only one song on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ times , with the remaining tracks receiving zero activity , that would count just as much towards an album ranking as every track receiving 100,000 streams each .
As of this month — this week , in fact — the Billboard 200 chart is also now incorporating YouTube data into its formula , which puts even further weight on an album 's biggest single ( s ) rather than on all the project 's tracks as a whole .
In short , album equivalent units often do n't reflect actual album consumption , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nuance that 's difficult to communicate in the context of a surface-level chart .
Radio listening and album sales paint a completely different picture of popularity than streaming Let 's compare the top artists on streaming versus terrestrial radio in both reports .
Unsurprisingly , hip-hop/R & B was the top genre for on-demand streaming in 2019 , accounting for nearly a third of total on-demand streams .
Moreover , rappers accounted for over half of the top ten most-streamed artists and songs of the year , according to Nielsen .
BuzzAngle reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hip-hop/R & B , with the genre accounting for 80 % of the top 25 artists of the year ( by on-demand streams ) .
In contrast , Nielsen 's radio airplay charts are almost completely devoid of hip-hop .
Towards the end of Nielsen 's report , there are four lists of the top artists and songs by airplay spins and audience reach for the decade ending 2019 , encompassing 40 total slots .
Only five of those slots went to hip-hop/R & B artists , with country and rock dominating nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sales presents a similar story .
Country and rock accounted for 14 of BuzzAngle 's top 25 artists by album sales from 2015–2019 , while only two rappers make an appearance in Nielsen 's top 10 artists of the decade by album sales and song sales — Drake and Eminem .
Once disparate , the demographics of streaming , album sales and terrestrial radio listeners are now starting to blur Listeners of all ages , including parents and seniors , are adopting smart speakers and other voice-enabled devices at a rapid pace , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ era .
And it 's not just the old guard who can benefit from selling vinyl : Colorful physical products like vinyl records can potentially help an artist stand out in the crowded streaming landscape — and , when bundled with a digital download , can even help them climb the charts ( as long as they stick to the rules ) .
In general , the physical market is also increasingly online , with nearly half of all physical album sales in 2019 happening via online e-commerce stores , according to BuzzAngle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : While Billie Eilish may be a streaming darling , she also has a much more solid track record in vinyl sales than most of her modern-pop peers .
In 2019 , 19 % ( BuzzAngle ) to 26 % ( Nielsen Music ) of physical units sold for Eilish 's When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go were vinyl LPs .
In contrast , only 6 % of physical sales for Taylor Swift and 9 % of those for Harry Styles came from vinyl .
The upper echelon of music @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disappointing takeaway from both BuzzAngle 's and Nielsen 's reports is the lack of women among the top-selling artists and songs of both 2019 and the past decade — suggesting that progress towards gender equality in recorded music over the past five to ten years has been incremental at best .
Gender inequities vary somewhat by musical genre .
The upper echelons of the pop charts tend to be more inclusive — with the likes of Ariana Grande , Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift reigning in 2019 — but the top of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ male-dominated .
BuzzAngle 's report reveals that all of the top-consumed hip-hop songs and albums of 2019 were performed by men .
With the exception of Lizzo , Nielsen 's hip-hop/R & B year-end charts were also completely male , and not a single woman made it onto Nielsen 's top country and rock charts for the year .
While disruptive in a commercial sense , the advent of streaming has not necessarily made this gender split any better .
According to BuzzAngle , with the exception of Cardi B 's `` Bodak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Havana , '' all of the 25 top-streamed songs over the past five years were by male artists .
These findings parallel more longitudinal studies carried out by institutions such as the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative , which found that female artists accounted only for 16 % of the top 500 charted country songs from 2014 to 2018 .
Artists like Jennifer Nettles Glamour have been speaking out against these inequities for years , yet they still play out across streaming , physical and radio formats , as well as in the live @ @ @ @ @ @ @ women headliners from this year 's Coachella lineup ) .
It may be a new decade , but the music business is still rife with ingrained biases and gatekeeping practices that prevent women and other minority groups from accessing key exposure , revenue and career opportunities — let alone appearing on year-end industry reports .

The Past Year, And Decade, In Music Listening: Video Rules, The Boy's Club Remains
Enlarge this image toggle caption Kirsty Lee / EyeEm/Getty Images/EyeEm Kirsty Lee / EyeEm/Getty Images/EyeEm
As we ease into the 2020s, data about the music industry's growth is more abundant than ever.
Within the last week, BuzzAngle and Nielsen Music — the two central, competing, public-facing music-data firms in the U.S. — released their annual reports on music listening trends. BuzzAngle powers Rolling Stone's charts and is owned by Penske Media, the parent company of Rolling Stone, Variety and Deadline; Nielsen Music was acquired by Valence Media, the parent company of Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, in December 2019.
The two reports differ on some details, but are directionally similar. Both put the total number of music streams in the U.S. last year over one trillion for the first time, representing a 15% growth in streams year-over-year. Both note that on-demand streaming accounted for over 80% of total consumption in the U.S., and that audio streaming in particular continued to register solid annual growth (from Nielsen's 24% to BuzzAngle's 32%).
Nielsen's report in particular sheds light on the artists who dominated the past decade. Drake, Eminem and Taylor Swift were the only three artists to rank in the top 10 for the most album sales and streams last decade — country stars like Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Toby Keith lead the radio airplay charts over the same time period. Interestingly, while Adele had the two best-selling albums of the decade — 21 and 25, respectively, both released in 2015 or earlier — she's nowhere to be found on any decade-end streaming charts.
In general, music listening is accelerating: According to BuzzAngle, last year's streams alone accounted for more than 30% of all streaming activity over the past six years. But beneath the "one trillion streams" headlines are some deeper truths about the current state of the music business — some of which reflect the industry's stubborn resistance to change, and others of which provide a sign of the global transformation to come.
Audio streams might rule the U.S., but video streams rule the world
Audio-streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music tend to suck up much of the air when talking about the modern music industry, at least in the U.S. But zoom out to a global level and it's actually video — not audio — that reigns supreme.
Nielsen Music and BuzzAngle both found that audio accounted for around 70% of total on-demand streams in the U.S. in 2019, with video comprising the remaining 30%. But Nielsen's worldwide streaming data flips that ratio on its head: Out of the 5.1 trillion on-demand music streams generated globally in 2019, including U.S. plays, 66% came from video, while the remaining 33% came from audio.
This is because YouTube is the preferred consumption platform and marketing machine for several international music genres, from K-pop in Korea to Bollywood in India (YouTube alone accounts for 40% of Indian labels' revenues). Unlike Spotify Premium or Apple Music, YouTube is free and doesn't require a login, raising its appeal for music markets whose consumers might have lower per-capita incomes or haven't yet warmed up to the concept of a paid streaming subscription.
More songs than ever are in the 500-million-streams club, but power is still concentrated
Comparing the reports also outlines a dual narrative with respect to whether the music industry is really becoming a more-level playing field.
On one hand, more artists and songs are participating in the "top 1%" of the industry. According to BuzzAngle, 31 songs were streamed over 500 million times in 2019, up from 21 such songs in 2018. A tier below, nearly 900 songs were streamed over 100 million times last year, up from 525 in 2018.
But that doesn't mean the distribution of power has gotten any more equitable. BuzzAngle found that the 1,000 most-streamed songs in 2019 accounted for 18% of all streams, while the top 500 album titles were responsible for 30% of all album sales — same as the year before.
Major labels also dominate nearly all of the top artist, album and song charts in both reports. With the exception of YNW Melly's "Murder On My Mind," the top 25 songs, albums and artists of 2019 in BuzzAngle's report were all owned and/or distributed by a major label. Nielsen Music found that Universal Music Group, the largest record label by annual revenue, saw little change to its dominant market share, controlling 38.7% of the market in 2019 versus 38.1% in 2018 .
This isn't necessarily to say that the music business is stale, or hostile to disruption. Consider "Old Town Road." Within just one year, the song that Lil Nas X made with a $30 beat and then strategically seeded onto platforms like Triller and TikTok ended up becoming the most-streamed song of the past 10 years, beating ubiquitous hits like "Despacito," "Rockstar" and "Uptown Funk." But even "Old Town Road" arguably could not have gotten to its historic peak without major-label backing — in this case, a distribution deal with Columbia Records, which helped Lil Nas X land remixes with Billy Ray Cyrus, Young Thug, Mason Ramsey and RM from BTS. Not only did these high-profile celebrities help promote the single, the remixes' streams also counted toward the original song's tallies, helping the track make history as the longest-running No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Vinyl might be having a "revival," but CDs still account for the vast majority of physical albums
Album and song sales continue to wane across the board, seeing a 20% to 25% decline year-over-year in 2019, per BuzzAngle and Nielsen, respectively. Yet vinyl album sales continue to grow, by 11% to 15% annually (BuzzAngle and Nielsen, respectively). According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), revenues from vinyl records are poised to surpass those from CDs within the next few years.
But there's one important caveat: In terms of units, vinyl is not the top physical music format — far from it, in fact. In 2019, CDs still accounted for 74% to 80% of physical album units sold, according to BuzzAngle and Nielsen, respectively. (Absolute numbers differ between the two reports; BuzzAngle pegs the number of CDs sold last year at 44.9 million, while Nielsen Music reports 54.8 million.)
In contrast, vinyl constituted only around 17% to 19% of physical units sold last year — 10.7 million per BuzzAngle and 18.8 million per Nielsen. While vinyl might be providing the music industry with a growing source of revenue, it doesn't come close to achieving the reach of the CD market. The vinyl market also skews the oldest out of all music formats; six out of the top-10-selling vinyl albums of 2019 were released before 2000, and 67% of vinyl sales overall last year came from catalog (i.e., music older than 18 months), according to Nielsen.
Remember: album sales aren't all created equal
Since streaming now accounts for the vast majority of music listening in the U.S. (again, about 80%), it's natural to assume that those plays are an appropriate proxy for consumer behavior across other formats. But a closer examination of the Nielsen Music and BuzzAngle reports reveals that that could not be further from the truth.
Sales-oriented music charts, like the Billboard 200, calculate artists' rankings using formulas that convert stream counts into approximate "album equivalents." For example, as of summer 2018, the Billboard charts register one "album unit" for every 1,250 paid audio streams, 3,750 ad-supported streams or 3,750 video streams. BuzzAngle, meanwhile, has a simpler, unweighted formula, adding one "album project unit" for every 1,500 on-demand streams, regardless of the streams' source or financial value.
Under these formulas, if only one song on a ten-track album was streamed a million times, with the remaining tracks receiving zero activity, that would count just as much towards an album ranking as every track receiving 100,000 streams each.
As of this month — this week, in fact — the Billboard 200 chart is also now incorporating YouTube data into its formula, which puts even further weight on an album's biggest single(s) rather than on all the project's tracks as a whole. In short, album equivalent units often don't reflect actual album consumption, let alone physical album purchases — a nuance that's difficult to communicate in the context of a surface-level chart.
Radio listening and album sales paint a completely different picture of popularity than streaming
Let's compare the top artists on streaming versus terrestrial radio in both reports.
Unsurprisingly, hip-hop/R&B was the top genre for on-demand streaming in 2019, accounting for nearly a third of total on-demand streams. Moreover, rappers accounted for over half of the top ten most-streamed artists and songs of the year, according to Nielsen. BuzzAngle reported an even stronger skew in favor of hip-hop/R&B, with the genre accounting for 80% of the top 25 artists of the year (by on-demand streams).
In contrast, Nielsen's radio airplay charts are almost completely devoid of hip-hop. Towards the end of Nielsen's report, there are four lists of the top artists and songs by airplay spins and audience reach for the decade ending 2019, encompassing 40 total slots. Only five of those slots went to hip-hop/R&B artists, with country and rock dominating nearly all others.
Isolating album and song sales presents a similar story. Country and rock accounted for 14 of BuzzAngle's top 25 artists by album sales from 2015–2019, while only two rappers make an appearance in Nielsen's top 10 artists of the decade by album sales and song sales — Drake and Eminem.
Once disparate, the demographics of streaming, album sales and terrestrial radio listeners are now starting to blur
Listeners of all ages, including parents and seniors, are adopting smart speakers and other voice-enabled devices at a rapid pace, helping revivify back catalog in the streaming era. And it's not just the old guard who can benefit from selling vinyl: Colorful physical products like vinyl records can potentially help an artist stand out in the crowded streaming landscape — and, when bundled with a digital download, can even help them climb the charts (as long as they stick to the rules). In general, the physical market is also increasingly online, with nearly half of all physical album sales in 2019 happening via online e-commerce stores, according to BuzzAngle.
Perhaps the most surprising case study: While Billie Eilish may be a streaming darling, she also has a much more solid track record in vinyl sales than most of her modern-pop peers. In 2019, 19% (BuzzAngle) to 26% (Nielsen Music) of physical units sold for Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go were vinyl LPs. In contrast, only 6% of physical sales for Taylor Swift and 9% of those for Harry Styles came from vinyl.
The upper echelon of music is still a boy's club
A disappointing takeaway from both BuzzAngle's and Nielsen's reports is the lack of women among the top-selling artists and songs of both 2019 and the past decade — suggesting that progress towards gender equality in recorded music over the past five to ten years has been incremental at best.
Gender inequities vary somewhat by musical genre. The upper echelons of the pop charts tend to be more inclusive — with the likes of Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift reigning in 2019 — but the top of the hip-hop, country and rock charts remain male-dominated. BuzzAngle's report reveals that all of the top-consumed hip-hop songs and albums of 2019 were performed by men. With the exception of Lizzo, Nielsen's hip-hop/R&B year-end charts were also completely male, and not a single woman made it onto Nielsen's top country and rock charts for the year.
While disruptive in a commercial sense, the advent of streaming has not necessarily made this gender split any better. According to BuzzAngle, with the exception of Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" and Camila Cabello's "Havana," all of the 25 top-streamed songs over the past five years were by male artists.
These findings parallel more longitudinal studies carried out by institutions such as the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which found that female artists accounted only for 16% of the top 500 charted country songs from 2014 to 2018. Artists like Jennifer Nettles Glamour have been speaking out against these inequities for years, yet they still play out across streaming, physical and radio formats, as well as in the live sector (e.g. the absence of women headliners from this year's Coachella lineup).
It may be a new decade, but the music business is still rife with ingrained biases and gatekeeping practices that prevent women and other minority groups from accessing key exposure, revenue and career opportunities — let alone appearing on year-end industry reports.


npr--2020-01-14--As Philippine Volcano Belches Ash And Lava, Authorities Warn Of New Eruption

As Philippine Volcano Belches Ash And Lava , Authorities Warn Of New Eruption The Philippines remained on alert Tuesday as authorities declared a `` calamity zone '' around Taal Volcano , which began spewing ash and lava over the weekend .
They warned of indications that it could be on the cusp of a new , more powerful eruption .
Authorities said they feared the possibility of an event similar to the massive 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo , which killed hundreds and blanketed large swaths of the countryside , causing massive mudslides and large-scale economic hardship .
On Tuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into the sky along with a towering plume of volcanic ash — punctuated periodically by flashes of static lighting .
Since the eruption on Sunday , authorities have set the alert level at 4 .
Level 5 , the highest , is reserved for an eruption in progress .
In hardest-hit Batangas province , the government declared a calamity zone — a move meant to smooth coordination between levels of government .
Forty miles to the north in Manila , a bustling city of 13 million was at a virtual standstill , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deserted streets after businesses , schools and government offices were closed .
The city 's international airport , shut down on Monday , partially resumed flights on Tuesday after some 500 were canceled .
Taal , a popular tourist site situated on an island surrounded by a freshwater lake , sprung to life on Sunday , forcing the evacuation of some 30,000 people from a 9-mile radius around the volcano .
Even so , that exclusion zone is home to about 560,000 people , and the effort to relocate them , amid the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appears to be far from complete .
Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana , who is also the head of the country 's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council , recalled that in the Pinatubo eruption , `` the entire mountain collapsed . ''
`` That 's what we 're fearing , that the eruption would cause the entire island to rise and scatter debris on the nearby areas , '' he said .
`` Hopefully this wo n't happen .
We can never predict the actions of this volcano . ''
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its warning that an explosive eruption could happen in hours or days .
It said there were several new fissures in the ground near the volcano — that , and about 50 volcanic earthquakes in an eight-hour period on Tuesday indicated that magma was rising underground and that another eruption was possible .
`` The speed in the rise of magma is important ( in determining ) when the volcano will have a strong eruption and if it will slow down and freeze , '' the institutes 's chief , Renato Solidum , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` As of now , we do n't see activities slowing down and the earthquakes still continue . ''
`` We have to make sure that people understand and , of course , government , that this is not an activity that will just be [ over ] in a short while , '' Solidum said .
Authorities said that an eruption could also trigger a tsunami across the lake that surrounds the volcano .
Agoncillo and Lemery , two towns southwest of Taal , were coated in thick ash .
The mayor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DZMM radio that some of the town 's buildings had collapsed under the weight of the ash accumulating on their rooftops .
The vice governor of nearby Talisay Batangas , Mark Leviste , was quoted by Reuters as saying the region had no power or water and that people were in need of face masks to protect them from the choking ash .
President Rodrigo Duterte is planning to visit the affected areas on Tuesday .
He 'll be wearing a portable air purifier when he arrives .
The Philippines lies at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fire , '' where seismic and volcanic activity due to the Earth 's shifting plates are pronounced .
Taal last erupted in 1977 , one of some 30 times in the past five centuries .
In 1911 , an eruption killed 1,500 people .
NPR 's Julie McCarthy in Manila contributed to this report .

As Philippine Volcano Belches Ash And Lava, Authorities Warn Of New Eruption
Enlarge this image toggle caption Eloisa Lopez/Reuters Eloisa Lopez/Reuters
The Philippines remained on alert Tuesday as authorities declared a "calamity zone" around Taal Volcano, which began spewing ash and lava over the weekend. They warned of indications that it could be on the cusp of a new, more powerful eruption.
Authorities said they feared the possibility of an event similar to the massive 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which killed hundreds and blanketed large swaths of the countryside, causing massive mudslides and large-scale economic hardship.
On Tuesday, Taal was spurting lava a half-mile into the sky along with a towering plume of volcanic ash — punctuated periodically by flashes of static lighting.
Since the eruption on Sunday, authorities have set the alert level at 4. Level 5, the highest, is reserved for an eruption in progress.
In hardest-hit Batangas province, the government declared a calamity zone — a move meant to smooth coordination between levels of government.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Dante Diosina Jr./Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Dante Diosina Jr./Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Forty miles to the north in Manila, a bustling city of 13 million was at a virtual standstill, with ash casting a gray pall over nearly deserted streets after businesses, schools and government offices were closed. The city's international airport, shut down on Monday, partially resumed flights on Tuesday after some 500 were canceled.
Taal, a popular tourist site situated on an island surrounded by a freshwater lake, sprung to life on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of some 30,000 people from a 9-mile radius around the volcano. Even so, that exclusion zone is home to about 560,000 people, and the effort to relocate them, amid the imminent threat posed by the volcano, appears to be far from complete.
Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who is also the head of the country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, recalled that in the Pinatubo eruption, "the entire mountain collapsed."
"That's what we're fearing, that the eruption would cause the entire island to rise and scatter debris on the nearby areas," he said. "Hopefully this won't happen. We can never predict the actions of this volcano."
Inside the Taal Volcano Main Crater taken on January 12, 2020. The eruption was captured by PHIVOLCS IP camera at 5-minute interval from 1 PM to 3 PM. #HandaAngMayAlam #TaalVolcano #TaalEruption2020 pic.twitter.com/kA2HZ4aYQs — PHIVOLCS-DOST (@phivolcs_dost) January 12, 2020
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reiterated its warning that an explosive eruption could happen in hours or days. It said there were several new fissures in the ground near the volcano — that, and about 50 volcanic earthquakes in an eight-hour period on Tuesday indicated that magma was rising underground and that another eruption was possible.
"The speed in the rise of magma is important (in determining) when the volcano will have a strong eruption and if it will slow down and freeze," the institutes's chief, Renato Solidum, said at a news conference Tuesday. "As of now, we don't see activities slowing down and the earthquakes still continue."
"We have to make sure that people understand and, of course, government, that this is not an activity that will just be [over] in a short while," Solidum said.
Authorities said that an eruption could also trigger a tsunami across the lake that surrounds the volcano.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Dante Diosina Jr. /Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Dante Diosina Jr. /Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Agoncillo and Lemery, two towns southwest of Taal, were coated in thick ash. The mayor of Agoncillo, Daniel Reyes, told DZMM radio that some of the town's buildings had collapsed under the weight of the ash accumulating on their rooftops.
The vice governor of nearby Talisay Batangas, Mark Leviste, was quoted by Reuters as saying the region had no power or water and that people were in need of face masks to protect them from the choking ash.
President Rodrigo Duterte is planning to visit the affected areas on Tuesday. He'll be wearing a portable air purifier when he arrives.
The Philippines lies at the edge of the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where seismic and volcanic activity due to the Earth's shifting plates are pronounced. Taal last erupted in 1977, one of some 30 times in the past five centuries. In 1911, an eruption killed 1,500 people.
NPR's Julie McCarthy in Manila contributed to this report.


npr--2020-01-14--Here Are The Lawyers Who Will Defend President Trump Against Impeachment

Here Are The Lawyers Who Will Defend President Trump Against Impeachment President Trump is finalizing his defense team for his Senate impeachment trial as the process draws nearer .
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway outlined the leadership of the team on Friday while also teasing that more changes could come .
`` We 're ready for it , '' Conway said .
`` We have a defense team in place .
And our defense team will go on offense also . ''
Both White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow , a private attorney who represented Trump in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arguments before the Senate .
Others will likely rotate in and out .
Here are some of the lawyers expected to be in the room when the Senate trial begins , as well as some of the figures working behind the scenes .
Cipollone will lead the team .
He played a key role in the House impeachment inquiry , writing aggressive letters to House investigators to deny congressional subpoenas .
He mainly stayed out of public view , but he will now take a more prominent role .
`` I know that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president , '' said Ty Cobb , a former White House lawyer .
Trump picked Cipollone , who served as an outside adviser during the Mueller probe , to replace Don McGahn as White House counsel in October 2018 .
Sekulow is a personal attorney to Trump .
He was a key player in the president 's defense during former special counsel Robert Mueller 's two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election .
`` He 's probably the best constitutional lawyer who will be participating , '' said Cobb , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White House response to the Russia investigation .
Sekulow , the chief counsel for the firm American Center for Law and Justice , has also represented Trump on other matters , including the fight over the president 's tax returns .
He is known for his advocacy on religious liberty issues .
`` As the president 's private counsel , since I 've been involved in all of these inquiries since the beginning , we thought it was then appropriate , '' said Sekulow of joining the impeachment defense .
Pat Philbin is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Harvard Law School and former partner at Kirkland and Ellis , Philbin clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas .
Philbin later served in senior positions in the George W. Bush Justice Department .
As deputy assistant attorney general , Philbin drafted opinions on behalf of the Bush administration in 2001 , arguing that President George W. Bush had the authority under the Constitution to establish military commissions at Guantanamo Bay to try to punish people tied to the Sept. 11 attacks .
Mike Purpura is another deputy to Cipollone .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ joined the White House at the same time as Cipollone .
A former associate counsel in the George W. Bush White House , Purpura negotiated with witnesses who testified in the House impeachment inquiry .
For example , he met with Fiona Hill , Trump 's former top adviser on Russia and Europe , to discuss her plans to comply with a congressional subpoena .
Purpura later wrote a letter to Hill and her attorney outlining the White House 's expectations of how she would protect executive privilege .
Alan Dershowitz , professor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a book called The Case Against Impeaching Trump , last week told NPR 's Here and Now that President Trump had considered adding him to the team .
`` The reports are true , but I ca n't comment about whether or not I 've agreed to join his legal team .
But there 's been some discussion of that , '' Dershowitz said .
The White House is also considering roles for three of President Trump 's closest Republican allies in the House : Jim Jordan of Ohio , John Ratcliffe of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Decisions have not been finalized .
Pam Bondi , the former Florida attorney general , has been helping with the defense team 's communications strategy since October .
Bondi is a regular guest on Fox News and a longtime Trump supporter .
Tony Sayegh was hired at the same time as Bondi .
He is a Republican strategist and a former spokesman for Trump 's Treasury Department .
A former Fox News contributor , Sayegh helped craft a communications plan for Trump 's big tax overhaul in 2017 .

Starr, Dershowitz, Ray: Trump Leans On High-Wattage Lawyers For Impeachment
Enlarge this image toggle caption Win McNamee/Getty Images Win McNamee/Getty Images
Updated on Jan. 17 at 9:30 p.m. ET
President Trump has picked some high-wattage lawyers to round out his defense team for the Senate impeachment trial — a group of attorneys who are as comfortable in front of the television cameras as they are in courtrooms.
Ken Starr, a Fox news commentator whose special counsel investigations led to President Bill Clinton's impeachment, will join the team. Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz also will help deliver opening arguments.
The team will be led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow, a private attorney who represented Trump in the Russia investigation.
Here are more details about the team.
Pat Cipollone
Cipollone played a key role in the House impeachment inquiry, writing aggressive letters to House investigators to deny congressional subpoenas. He mainly stayed out of public view, but he will now take a more prominent role.
Cipollone served as an outside adviser during special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump picked him to replace Don McGahn as White House counsel in October 2018. Two of his deputies — Pat Philbin and Mike Purpura — will also play a role.
Jay Sekulow
Sekulow is a personal attorney to Trump. He was a key player in the president's defense during the two-year Mueller investigation. "He's probably the best constitutional lawyer who will be participating," said Ty Cobb, a former White House lawyer who worked closely with Sekulow on the White House response to the Russia investigation.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Rick Diamond/Getty Images Rick Diamond/Getty Images
Sekulow, the chief counsel for the firm American Center for Law and Justice, has also represented Trump on other matters, including the fight over the president's tax returns. He is known for his advocacy on religious liberty issues.
"As the president's private counsel, since I've been involved in all of these inquiries since the beginning, we thought it was then appropriate," said Sekulow of joining the impeachment defense.
Ken Starr
Starr is the former independent counsel whose investigation of Clinton led to the president's impeachment. Starr's probe focused on an affair between the president and White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Shortly after the news broke that Starr would join Trump's team, Lewinsky tweeted her reaction: "this is definitely an 'are you f***ing kidding me?' kinda day," she wrote.
A former solicitor general, Starr has argued 36 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a biography on his law firm's website.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Mark Wilson/Getty Images Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Alan Dershowitz
Dershowitz is a Harvard Law professor emeritus known for defending celebrities like O.J. Simpson and Mike Tyson. For the impeachment trial, he said his role will be limited to constitutional arguments. "I will not be involved in arguing the facts, nor will I be part of the defense team in the sense of strategy on the facts," he told All Things Considered's Mary Louise Kelly on Friday.
Dershowitz told Here & Now earlier this month that he believes Trump has not committed an impeachable offense. "I'm not opposed to impeachment, but I strongly oppose impeachment on grounds like obstruction of Congress or abuse of power," he said. "Those are not in the Constitution, and the framers would never have accepted that in the Constitution."
Politics Alan Dershowitz To Present Oral Arguments At Trump Impeachment Trial Alan Dershowitz To Present Oral Arguments At Trump Impeachment Trial Listen · 6:22 6:22
Dershowitz has recently come under scrutiny for representing accused child-sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who authorities say killed himself in prison while awaiting trial. One of Epstein's accusers has said Dershowitz abused her, too — allegations that Dershowitz denies.
Robert Ray
Ray is a prosecutor and former head of the Office of the Independent Counsel. He is known for the 237-page report he wrote on Clinton and Lewinsky. Now a white-collar criminal defense lawyer, Ray also makes frequent television appearances.
Jane Raskin
Raskin is a former federal prosecutor and veteran defense lawyer from the Miami area. She and her husband worked with Sekulow and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani during the Mueller probe. She has worked on many high-profile white-collar cases, including federal immigration agents suspected of extorting money from drug kingpins, reputed members of the mob and a contractor tied to the 1996 ValuJet plane crash in the Everglades.
Eric Herschmann
Herschmann is a partner at New York law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres. That firm is led by Marc Kasowitz, who represented Trump before he became president, and was briefly Trump's lawyer for the Russia probe.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Riccardo Savi/Getty Images Riccardo Savi/Getty Images
Pam Bondi
Bondi is the former Florida attorney general whom Trump originally picked to help with White House communications during the House impeachment inquiry hearings. Now, she will move to join the defense team. Bondi is a regular guest on Fox News and longtime Trump supporter who endorsed him during the 2016 primaries.
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Claudia Grisales contributed to this report.