TechNewsLit Explores

Check out our new photography page

October 7, 2025

National Guard troops and MRAP battle vehicle in Washington, D.C., Aug. 2025. Alamy frame and watermarks.

National Guard troops deployed to Washington, D.C. Aug. 2025. Photo available in the TechNewsLit portfolio at the Alamy photo agency.

Alan Kotok, CEO, Technology News and Literature (technewslit.com)

6 Oct. 2025. Photography is the core of TechNewsLit.com, and we’ve got the pictures to prove it.

We redesigned our photography page and reconfigured it on our web site, to better display our top images available from the Alamy stock photo agency. The page gives examples of news, feature, wildlife, and street photography.

We’ll continue updating our photo page as new images are added.

Kitchen cabinet tariffs forecast in July photo-shoot

September 26, 2025

L-R: Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke at the 16 July 2025 news conference with the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance. These photos are available from the Alamy photo agency’s D.C. Notables collection.

Alan Kotok, CEO, Technology News and Literature (technewslit.com)

26 Sept. 2025. President Trump announced yesterday new 50 percent tariffs on imported kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities in a Truth Social post. U.S. manufacturers asked for these tariffs in a July 2025 news conference. I photo'd that news conference, with images of two key lawmakers now in our Alamy portfolio.

On 16 July, the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance or AKCA invited Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), and the news media to hear industry executives tell of cheap imported cabinets, severely undercutting domestic manufacturers. The industry speakers, from small family-owned businesses in the U.S. South, called for an investigation of these Chinese imports on national security.

Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act allows for investigations of imports that may affect U.S. national security. At the July news conference, the executives asked for a section 232 investigation of kitchen cabinet imports. And their national security connection? American-made kitchen cabinets are used in military family base housing.

In Trump's post yesterday he said the reason for the tariffs is “large-scale 'FLOODING' of these products into the United States by other outside Countries. It is a very unfair practice, but we must protect, for National Security and other reasons, our Manufacturing process.” He did not elaborate.

Sports gambling is a bad bet, especially for sports

September 15, 2025

Caitlin Clark and women’s basketball teammates at a University of Iowa campus rally, 14 Apr. 2023. (Photo: A. Kotok)

Alan Kotok, CEO, Technology News and Literature (technewslit.com)

15 Sept. 2025. Sure, sports are a business and have been for a long time, but betting on sports is a business nobody needs, particularly the athletes themselves. A batch of new cases this month shows how betting is perverting the sports it targets. And one of my recent photoshoots shows how the rapid spread of gambling now worries those in charge of the play.

If sports can generate big money, that's fine. Sponsorships, naming rights, merchandise sales, and endorsements bring in more revenues for teams and leagues at all levels. And why not? Sports are a form of entertainment, and people putting on the show deserve to be paid.

What makes sports entertaining is the athletes' skills and performance. Caitlin Clark's play in college and the pros has brought millions of new fans to women's basketball, and she deserves every dollar earned in pay and endorsements. Clark of the WNBA Indiana Fever is celebrated not only for her dead-eye shooting from almost anywhere on the court, but also for the way she plays the game, finding teammates and feeding them the ball in the split-seconds they're open. (Disclosure: Clark went to University of Iowa, where I got my B.A. degree, but in a previous century.)

Welcome to TechNewsLit Explores

July 29, 2025

Alan Kotok, CEO, Technology News and Literature (technewslit.com)

29 July 2025. Welcome to TechNewsLit Explores, occasional ideas on the state of news and media. This blog continues the essay series posted on the Technology News and Literature web site at technewslit.com/explores starting in May 2024.

TechNewsLit Explores seeks to offer guidance for surviving and navigating today's flood of content served up by online news and social media. Much of the advice here is based on practices I've developed over the years, to keep myself well-informed while maintaining a semblance of sanity.

If you find my experiences helpful, that's great. If not, you're free to find your own way. I won't be insulted.

Please note, I put a premium on clarity and brevity. I value my time, so I assume you do too.

About Alan Kotok

I'm a journalist since 2003, first as managing editor of the Careers section at Science magazine, where I also did some first-hand reporting. Beginning in mid-2010, I began publishing Science & Enterprise, a daily report on the intersection of business and science, six days a week through 2023.

At Science Careers, I was responsible for art and photography, which led to my still-growing interest in visual storytelling. Since 2019, I've been photography chair at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and I contribute images to the Alamy photo agency in London.

About Technology News and Literature

Technology News and Literature is a digital publishing company in Arlington, Virginia, providing visual storytelling services for companies and organizations. At the bottom of each TechNewsLit web page are links to our social media.