Frances Alcott

Should companies be banned from using AI to screen job applications?

My resume is sitting in vendor databases I have never heard of, attached to scores I never saw, and it will be there forever. That's the part that bothers me more than any single rejection. Every application I submit feeds training data back into systems that then judge the next applicant, including future versions of me. There's no deletion button. There's no 'forget me' request that reaches the third party model vendor. We freaked out about data brokers selling our shopping habits, but employment scoring databases get a pass because they wear a B2B suit. California gives consumers deletion rights against data brokers ([CCPA](https://cppa.ca.gov)), yet employment scoring vendors sit in a gray zone most applicants never hear about. Ban the screening and you cut off the data pipeline at the source.

Should sports betting advertisements be banned from live game broadcasts?

The ads are changing what happens to the athletes. Bettors who lose money on a missed free throw now find players on social media and threaten them, and it is getting worse as betting goes mainstream. College athletes, unpaid and barely out of high school, get threats over point spreads, and the NCAA has publicly flagged gambler harassment of athletes as a growing problem. [NCAA](https://www.ncaa.org/). The broadcast ads feed this directly: they frame every play as a financial event, turning players into stock tickers in the minds of angry losers. A whistle-to-whistle ban will not end gambling or end cruelty, but it stops the league's own airtime from teaching fans to watch athletes as investments. The players did not sign up to be someone's parlay leg. Stop selling the audience that idea during the game.

Should awards shows reserve equal airtime for craft categories and acting awards?

The Academy keeps embarrassing its own majority. Below-the-line craftspeople, editors, sound mixers, costume designers, make up the bulk of Academy membership, yet the telecast treats their awards as bathroom breaks. That is not just rude, it is bad business: international audiences tune in for their countries' craft nominees, the way India showed up in force when RRR's Naatu Naatu won, and those viewers do not care which category airs at 11 p.m. The [2022 pre-taped categories experiment](https://www.thewrap.com/iatse-president-oscars-categories-pretaped/) drew open fury from the guilds whose dues fund the institution. A show that honors film should not rank filmmakers by fame. Give every category its live moment, and trim the montages and musical numbers nobody asked for.

In an actual lockdown, a classroom of buzzing phones is a safety hazard: sound gives away hiding spots, and panicked kids calling parents jam the networks first responders need. Schools and police both say this. The lifeline instinct is understandable, but it can make emergencies worse.

Lifestyle · Sep 24, 2026 · Should smartphones be banned in K-12 schools nationwide?

The wrestling comparison nails it. My dad explained advertising tricks to me when I was ten and it stuck far better than any warning label could. Kids learn skepticism from people they trust, not from fine print under a photo.

Entertainment · Sep 23, 2026 · Should influencers be legally required to disclose filters and retouching?

18.7 million viewers for the women's final, more than the men drew. Every executive who says we show what people watch should have to explain that number. The audience is there; the coverage is the lagging indicator, not the leading one.

Entertainment · Sep 23, 2026 · Should major media outlets cover women’s sports milestones as prominently as men…

The disclosure-chilling point is underrated. We already struggle to get companies to report breaches quickly; adding personal ruin to the equation gives every general counsel a reason to slow-walk the forensics. Victims need fast disclosure more than they need a director's house.

Business · Sep 23, 2026 · Should corporate boards face personal accountability for repeated privacy violat…