Top News:
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Ozy Media says it is shutting down, after coming under scrutiny for its business practices in recent days — The digital media start-up had come under scrutiny for its business practices in recent days following articles in The Times. — Read in app
Discussion:
Insider, @hunterw, TVNewser, The Wrap, Associated Press, @karidotpeters, Adweek, @charukasturi, @charukasturi, @charukasturi, @charukasturi, @charukasturi, @charukasturi, @charukasturi, @charukasturi, @katie_robertson, @sharonwaxman, @sharonwaxman, @sharonwaxman, @sharonwaxman, nexttv.com, Ad Age, @mmasnick, @clarajeffery, Vanity Fair, The Verge, Forbes, @bigblackjacobin, @ashleyfeinberg, Insider, @thekeenanwire, @robtornoe, @hayesbrown, @reckless, @tweetermeyer, @joshuatopolsky, @axios, @wsteaks, @glennf, A Scammer Darkly, @petersterne, @louoftheville, @kerrymflynn, @mikeorren, @neontaster, @danprimack, Matt's Newsletter, @jbenton, @petersterne, @mikeisaac, @danielpmalloy, @backlon, @deray, @rebeccajarvis, @sarafischer, @jbarro, @katie_robertson, @danielpmalloy, @sarafischer, @timkawakami, @pamelacolloff, @bgrueskin, @neontaster, @film_girl, @daveweigel, @harrymccracken, @jbillinson, @charlesarthur, @maghielse, @aaschapiro, @jayrosen_nyu, Ineptitudes, @jatayler, @megan, @nycsouthpaw, @byronyork, @jeffjarvis, @daveweigel, @alexweprin, Bloomberg, @edmundlee, @jonathanvswan, @sree, @rachelmetz, @nichcarlson, @ashleyfeinberg, @timjhogan, @film_girl, @nancyromm, @davidfolkenflik, @mimms, @rafat, @charlesarthur, @megan, @ejacqui, @kromandavid, @sharonwaxman, @daveleeft, @alexweprin, @danielnazer, @thedavidmurphy, @film_girl, @sarafischer, @juliacarriew, @genepark, @danprimack, @markyarm, @sarafischer, @britnidwrites, @jasonschreier, @sharonwaxman, @danprimack, @dougheye, @geedee215, @marceelias and The Hill
Discussion:
Insider: 18 current and former Ozy employees say there've been widespread internal doubts about the company's stated audience, 80-hour work weeks, and a ‘cult of Carlos’
Hunter Walker / @hunterw: I know a lot of folks are enjoying the coverage of Ozy's demise but it's important to remember that these dysfunctional media companies can really hurt well meaning employees.
A.J. Katz / TVNewser: Carlos Watson's Ozy Media Is Shutting Down
Antoinette Siu / The Wrap: Inside Ozy Media's Meltdown: Carlos Watson's ‘Fake Crying’ And 5 Days to Sudden Collapse (Exclusive)
Kari O-Peters / @karidotpeters: @benyt I will truly miss reading about this media outlet I never knew existed until last week.
Charu Kasturi / @charukasturi: I resigned a day later, but offered to work until next week to help with editorial transitions, as many of our colleagues were — understandably — quitting. At the time, I didn't think the company would survive, but I did not expect it to sink within a week.
Charu Kasturi / @charukasturi: I'm devastated, angry and feel betrayed by the top leadership. They let a top quality bunch of journalists and a very special vision down in the most horrendous and indefensible way.
Charu Kasturi / @charukasturi: We could do that because we had the most wonderful, brilliant and diverse team possible — people I am so, so, so proud of calling colleagues and friends, people I've learned from, grown with, cried with. People who ANYONE would be privileged to work with.
Charu Kasturi / @charukasturi: Correction (pardon me, there might a few, I'm writing this while battling anger, frustration, exhaustion and much more): None of the senior managers knew of any of what had happened in Feb. until the news broke.
Charu Kasturi / @charukasturi: We were blindsided by @benyt's original NYT article last Sunday. The Board told Ben they were proud of how “Carlos' team” handled the Samir Rao/YouTube impersonation scandal. But “Carlos' team” — not even senior managers — knew of any of what had happened until the news broke.
Charu Kasturi / @charukasturi: But I'm as proud as ever of the fantastic journalism that our team did over so many years. We won awards, forced the biggest companies to change policies, innovated all the time and introduced our audience to every part of the world in rich, diverse ways that others ignored.
Charu Kasturi / @charukasturi: So this is how it ended — OZY, an idea/company many of us journalists have given our heart and soul to, our lives to, shut down without giving us a chance to save our contacts and work, without a chance to say goodbyes to everyone we've been in the trenches with. (THREAD) 👇
Charu Kasturi / @charukasturi: For the past two days, we weren't hearing anything from the top leadership, so those of us still there were preparing mentally for the worst. So where does all this leave someone who has worked 16 hour days (often 20 hrs) for 4+ years for an idea he believed in?
Katie Robertson / @katie_robertson: Five days after @benyt's column on Ozy Media, the company is shutting down, its board says https://www.nytimes.com/...
Sharon Waxman / @sharonwaxman: That was Monday. On Friday his demeanor was different: “Carlos was upset,” said one person who was present at the Friday meeting, in an interview with TheWrap. “He seemed beaten down by all of it. He seemed distracted.”
Sharon Waxman / @sharonwaxman: In a defiant interview with TheWrap shortly after the publication of the expose, Watson said he was the target of a “a bulls— ad hominem attack” in the New York Times because “Ozy's rising.”
Sharon Waxman / @sharonwaxman: It was a stunningly sudden end to a media company that only Sunday Watson told TheWrap had made $50 million in revenue in 2020 and turned a profit. A company that he claimed had been offered $250 million to be acquired by Buzzfeed in 2019.
Sharon Waxman / @sharonwaxman: “I know this isn't anything that any of us wanted,” Watson said, according to those present. “I'm very sorry to say that the board has voted, given everything that's happened, to suspend operations and to close Ozy as of today.”
Jon Lafayette / nexttv.com: Ozy Media Suddenly Announces It Will Be Shutting Down
Mike Masnick / @mmasnick: Whoa. A week ago I'd never heard of Ozy, and then I learned about the millions of dollars it had somehow raised... and now it's gone https://twitter.com/...
Clara Jeffery / @clarajeffery: Now THIS is a kicker https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Caleb Ecarma / Vanity Fair: Ozy Media's Swift Collapse Followed a Flurry of Resignations and Accusations
Jemima McEvoy / Forbes: Ozy Media Shutting Down Amid Accusations Of Misrepresentations About Its Business
Edward Ongweso Jr / @bigblackjacobin: ok now let's hear about those exit packages who's getting a golden parachute and who's getting a lead one https://twitter.com/...
Ashley Feinberg / @ashleyfeinberg: this is still the funniest part to me https://fortune.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Edward Keenan / @thekeenanwire: As they say where I'm from: Ben Smith Gets Action... https://twitter.com/...
Rob Tornoe / @robtornoe: I would say that @benyt killed Ozy, but I'm not convinced it existed in the first place. Just.. wow. https://twitter.com/...
Nilay Patel / @reckless: There's a YouTube traffic botfarm operator there that's like, damn there goes our Q4 https://twitter.com/...
E.W. Niedermeyer / @tweetermeyer: Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level snark stretches far away https://twitter.com/...
Joshua Topolsky / @joshuatopolsky: Life comes at you fast https://www.nytimes.com/...
@axios: Ozy told Axios earlier this year that it had 75 full-time employees, all of whom now seem to be out of a job. Go deeper: https://www.axios.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Will Steakin / @wsteaks: .@benyt's first Ozy story was on Sunday... less than a week later: https://twitter.com/...
Glenn Fleishman / @glennf: Ozy come, Ozy go.
Colin Sholes / A Scammer Darkly: Forgive and Forget — PPP — When Congress passed the Paycheck Protection Act …
Peter Sterne / @petersterne: @edmundlee The reason so many reporters dug into Ozy, and the reason they were able to publish articles about it so soon after Ben's initial column, is because the whole enterprise was a house of cards. There was hardly anything that could be salvaged.
Lou Robinson / @louoftheville: I'm seeing a thousand tweets about Ozy media shutting down and I have no idea what it is/was and I guess I'll never know.
@kerrymflynn: Ozy staffers were called into a team meeting Friday shortly after 5pm ET where CEO Carlos Watson told them the company would be shutting down Here's some of what he said: https://www.cnn.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Mike Orren / @mikeorren: Suggests to me that the (excellent) reporting on the scam this week only scratched the surface of how big a wreck this was. https://twitter.com/...
@neontaster: Ozy Media is basically the reverse Fyre Festival. The latter tried to swindle regular people by pretending they had lots of rich people on board, and the former tried to swindle rich people by pretending they had lots of regular people on board.
Dan Primack / @danprimack: Ozy Media has made more consequential decisions so far this week than has Congress.
Joshua Benton / @jbenton: Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed https://www.nytimes.com/...
Peter Sterne / @petersterne: @edmundlee I think it was all the follow-ups. Ozy probably could have survived Ben's column. But within days, journalists from a wide variety of publications had uncovered serious issues related to everything from a toxic work environment to fake TV development deals and digital ad fraud.
Rat King / @mikeisaac: holy shit. notes app screen shot to shut down a company. not even a period at the end of the sentence https://twitter.com/...
Daniel Malloy / @danielpmalloy: I hope the journo world embraces the reporters and editors who pulled off this strong work the same way it has others who have been part of mismanaged or now-defunct newsrooms. The work was real, even if trendy media types didn't see it in the moment.
Rebecca Jarvis / @rebeccajarvis: Which is sadly how it always seems to go in these instances https://twitter.com/...
Sara Fischer / @sarafischer: Flagging again that ~75 people worked at Ozy. I've been on the phone w lots of them. They're reading all of the stories & tweets. This is very hard for them. A lot of them did great work. It's unfair to say Ozy was a “sham.” The correct framing is that it was woefully mismanaged. https://twitter.com/...
Katie Robertson / @katie_robertson: The full story on the swift collapse this week of Ozy Media, from @benyt and me https://www.nytimes.com/...
Daniel Malloy / @danielpmalloy: This needed to happen. But anyone looking for talented reporters and editors you've now got incredibly strong ones on the market: @CharuKasturi @tracymoran @bartlettkate @EromoEgbejule and many more https://twitter.com/...
Sara Fischer / @sarafischer: A few things we learned today: — Execs told staff about Series D raise at this summer, but never specified from who or how much — Unclear whether Samir Rao actually took time off in February after the incident. Employees say if he did, they didn't notice. https://www.axios.com/...
Tim Kawakami / @timkawakami: Even in a high-velocity media landscape, this has been stunning to watch. https://twitter.com/...
Pamela Colloff / @pamelacolloff: This is the journalism dream: drop an explosive story at the beginning of the week, achieve 100% impact by Friday, take the weekend off. https://twitter.com/...
Bill Grueskin / @bgrueskin: Wait, Ozy has the staff of a medium-sized metro paper? https://twitter.com/...
Christina Warren / @film_girl: Has a NYT columnist ever caused the shutdown of a company in ~5 days before? Ben is the GOAT. https://twitter.com/...
Dave Weigel / @daveweigel: The feeling I get from reading @benyt's Ozy stories is the feeling the rest of you must be getting from “Ted Lasso.”
Harry McCracken / @harrymccracken: For all the travails we know about—and the ones we don't know about yet—Ozy employed some talented journalists who did good work. https://twitter.com/...
Josh Billinson / @jbillinson: Maybe they should've stuck with the conventional interpretation of the poem https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Charles Arthur / @charlesarthur: It is so fabulous that they called themselves “Ozy” after Ozymandias, the poem, and when they were told about its meaning they insisted it was about being humble. “round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away” https://twitter.com/...
Ross Maghielse / @maghielse: If even 25% of the “investment” money that continuously pours into random digital media companies went toward new organizations with an actual sustainable vision but lack of funds to achieve it, we'd live in a smarter world AND some people would be richer. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Avi Asher-Schapiro / @aaschapiro: Would be interesting to learn more about what happened with the deals Carlos Watson worked on while he was global head of education investment banking at Goldman Sachs.
Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: “When the end came, it came swiftly, five days after The New York Times published an article that raised questions about the company and its leadership team.” https://www.nytimes.com/... The board — which failed in its oversight duties — said today, “we are closing Ozy's doors.”
Lindsey Brown / Ineptitudes: The Internet — Each day I start out with good intentions. But then I read the morning news.
@jatayler: It'll never not be funny that Ozy named itself after Shelley's Ozymandias based on a total misread of the poem https://twitter.com/...
Megan McCarthy / @megan: If Ozy was about more than just promoting its founder, then it could probably have ridden this out further. But it just seems like every example of their latest work was centering Carlos Watson, the brand, instead of Ozy, the brand. https://twitter.com/...
Byron York / @byronyork: House of cards. It took five days from @benyt piece to the total collapse of Ozy Media. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Jeff Jarvis / @jeffjarvis: That was quick. Don't mess with @benyt. CNN: Ozy Media is shutting down after a week of scrutiny into its business. https://www.cnn.com/... via @GoogleNews
Dave Weigel / @daveweigel: Hands up if you were rooting for Ozy to go down as soon as they put out that “he was doing fraud for mental health reasons, how dare you criticize him” statement.
Alex Weprin / @alexweprin: @petersterne @edmundlee Not sure I agree. Through it all, the most damning thing IMO was the impersonation of the YouTube exec. Potentially criminal! Eventually it would have come back to haunt them.
Edmund Lee / @edmundlee: took 6 days ... the fastest media clock i've ever seen https://twitter.com/...
Jonathan Swan / @jonathanvswan: Need more Ozy content. 💉
Sree Sreenivasan / @sree: Five days after @benyt's exposé and a day after his second piece. While Carlos Watson and Samir Rao should be punished for what they did, I feel bad for the innocent journos and others who worked there. Sigh. https://twitter.com/...
Rachel Metz / @rachelmetz: can u imagine what would have unfolded if it had lasted through next week? https://www.cnn.com/...
Nicholas Carlson / @nichcarlson: And long live @benyt https://twitter.com/...
Ashley Feinberg / @ashleyfeinberg: all I can think about is how the fuck the Ozy guy managed to not have a panic attack every single minute of the day https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Tim Hogan / @timjhogan: They are shuttering an outlet with a three sentence statement. My god. https://twitter.com/...
Christina Warren / @film_girl: @sree @benyt Honestly, it's better they get out now while they can leverage it into a good story/opportunity than letting it languish Mic/Vocativ or whatever style. Plus, Ozy had cut salaries 20%. Always sorry to see people lose jobs but in this case, it's better it be quick than dragged out
Nancy Rommelmann / @nancyromm: And the denouement (for now!), Ozy announcing they're out. Great work by @benyt. Also, are we laying bets on how long before Carlos Watson starts his new venture? https://www.nytimes.com/...
David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik: That statement from Ozy board - which, according to a source with knowledge, consists solely of Ozy CEO & Co-founder Carlos Watson and of Silicon Valley investor Michael Moe.
Sarah Mimms / @mimms: Wow. Thoughts with the journalists at Ozy who had nothing to do with any of this. https://twitter.com/...
@rafat: To blame VC money or that the digital media model is broken are wrong conclusions to draw out of Ozy debacle. Fraud is always the wrong model, irrespective.
Charles Arthur / @charlesarthur: HAAAAAA. I thought it could take four weeks in this morning's @theoverspill. Does that make me too optimistic, or pessimistic? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Megan McCarthy / @megan: So @benyt who are you writing about next week?
@ejacqui: The Ozy story had so many different plot points in the last week. It's been a riveting ride if you put aside the whole “everybody loses their jobs” part.
David Kroman / @kromandavid: Not my favorite news outlet Ozy, which I definitely read even once https://twitter.com/...
Sharon Waxman / @sharonwaxman: Exclusive: “People on the call said Watson's crying appeared ‘fake’ and ‘theatrical,’ an individual with knowledge of the meeting told TheWrap.” A must-read on the 5-day-collapse of @OzyMedia by @antoinettesiu: https://www.thewrap.com/...
Alex Weprin / @alexweprin: Let the record show that the poem Ozymandias ends with this line: “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Daniel Nazer / @danielnazer: Theranos clung to life for almost three years after Carreyrou broke the story. Ozy lasted five days. https://twitter.com/...
Christina Warren / @film_girl: @edmundlee Absolutely. It was clearly a house of cards waiting to collapse but for it to be THIS fast indicates they also probably lied about how much money they raised.
Sara Fischer / @sarafischer: Ozy Media is shutting down, amid fraud allegations Ozy told Axios earlier this year that it had 75 full-time employees, all of whom now seem to be out of a job. https://www.axios.com/...
Julia Carrie Wong / @juliacarriew: one thing that I love about the ozy thing is that media people have either never heard of it before this week or have been quietly filing away evidence of its apparently obvious fraud for years and there is no middle ground
Gene Park / @genepark: honestly I feel for the people who got tricked into working there. no surprise, I'm larger than the @ozy twitter account, but an audience editor was still posting thru today. can't imagine what this day is like. I'm genuinely sorry and I hope you can shelter somewhere else https://twitter.com/...
Dan Primack / @danprimack: Really do feel awful for these Ozy employees. One week ago, they had jobs and the belief that their stock options could eventually have value. Many of those options were fully vested. Today, that's all gone.
Mark Yarm / @markyarm: If you're an Ozy staffer who just lost your job, please hmu re the possibility of freelancing for @inputmag. DMs open; email in bio. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Sara Fischer / @sarafischer: It's unclear what happens to Ozy's assets, including a Series D funding round that CEO Carlos Watson told employees was raised earlier this year. https://twitter.com/...
Britni Danielle / @britnidwrites: This escalated quickly. Ozy's CEO went from talking about their strength, to being ousted, now this. https://twitter.com/...
Jason Schreier / @jasonschreier: A bunch of reporters are losing their jobs because clueless grifter management inflated stats and scammed investors... today, Ozy truly became a digital media company
Sharon Waxman / @sharonwaxman: I said it before, I'll say it again. DO NOT MESS with @bensmith. Can't be bought, bullied or fooled. Five days ago Ozy Media was a fully functioning media company. https://twitter.com/...
Dan Primack / @danprimack: (even Theranos stuck around for several months)
Doug Heye / @dougheye: The speed in which this happened, especially given their funding, is unprecedented. There were Ozy posters on H St NE in DC last week. May be a coincidence, but they were gone yesterday. https://twitter.com/...
Vaxton P. Hartnabrig / @geedee215: no one will ever convince me that Ozy was not just Carlos Watson frantically running from landline to landline switching identities like the climax of Mrs. Doubtfire
Marc E. Elias / @marceelias: Am I the only person on Twitter who had never heard of Ozy Media before this week?
Jordan Williams / The Hill: Ozy Media shutting down
RELATED:
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Ozy CEO Carlos Watson resigns as a corporate director of NPR, just before the board's governance committee had been set to meet to weigh his future with NPR — Carlos Watson resigned as a corporate director of NPR on Friday after the spectacular public meltdown of the digital media company that he leads and co-founded.
Discussion:
@benyt, @stphnfwlr, @lwoodhouse, @davidfolkenflik, @mikeisaac, @hunterw, @davidfolkenflik, @hunterw, @hunterw, @davidfolkenflik, @lwoodhouse, @ckrewson, @genepark, @benedictevans, New York Times, @brandyljensen, The Wrap, @ddayen, @gingergibson, @davidfolkenflik, @williamturton and midrange.tedium.co
Discussion:
Ben Smith / @benyt: Ozy's board announces it is “closing Ozy's doors”
Stephen Fowler / @stphnfwlr: This Ozy story just keeps getting wilder and wilder!!! As someone who is both a millennial and incredibly online, it's still so puzzling to me that I've never heard of the supposed millennial-focused online outlet... https://www.npr.org/...
Leighton Woodhouse / @lwoodhouse: LOL Carlos Watson was on NPR's board? https://www.npr.org/...
David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik: Starting with NYT's story Sunday night, Watson and his media company, Ozy, have been accused of misleading the public, advertisers & investors about the performance of the buzz-hungry digital outlet. Watson called NYT story a hit job. Each day has brought new allegations.
Rat King / @mikeisaac: watson has somehow been involved in every major media entity for years without anyone going “huh wha?” and it is extremely funny to watch everyone hit eject at the same time https://twitter.com/...
Hunter Walker / @hunterw: .@benyt's second story gets to this a bit. Big money investors and the execs who bilk them aren't at the same level of risk of employees who waste time and energy at dysfunctional outlets. https://www.nytimes.com/...
David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik: NEWS: Ozy CEO & co-founder Carlos Watson has resigned from NPR's board of directors after a week of scandal. His resignation, in a letter to NPR's board chairman, arrived shortly before NPR's governance committee was set to meet to determine his status. https://www.npr.org/...
Hunter Walker / @hunterw: @WilliamTurton It's the demise of more than that though William. It's not something to enjoy.
Hunter Walker / @hunterw: I have dealt with exploitative and grifty places at least three times in my life. It wasn't as ridiculous or absurd as Ozy necessarily but it makes me cognizant people are really affected by this.
David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik: “I've always interpreted it as, ‘Think big but be humble’,” Watson once told NPR, alluding to the poem that inspired Ozy's name. “Our ambition is to help people see more and be more, introduce them to the new and the next, but make sure... they're a little bit humble about it.”
Leighton Woodhouse / @lwoodhouse: This guy is truly the Elizabeth Holmes of media.
Chris Krewson / @ckrewson: Yeah. https://www.npr.org/... https://twitter.com/...
Gene Park / @genepark: media executives not savvy or smart enough to recognize very-obvious grifters explains everything about everything imo https://twitter.com/...
Benedict Evans / @benedictevans: Looking at Ozy this week reminded me a bit of looking at restaurants in Vegas. They know all the signals that say ‘good restaurant’ and they built that, and the restaurants look great, but the actual food is terrible. Ozy *looks* like a pretty good site, but... https://twitter.com/...
Katie Robertson / New York Times: Carlos Watson, the chief of Ozy Media, resigns from NPR's board.
Brandy Jensen / @brandyljensen: i think most of those employees are pretty okay with everyone dunking on the bosses who exploited them https://twitter.com/...
Brian Welk / The Wrap: Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson Resigns From NPR Board
David Dayen / @ddayen: Statement from NPR Board chair LaFontaine Oliver: “Earlier today, [OZY CEO] Carlos Watson submitted his resignation from the NPR Board of Directors. I have accepted his resignation on behalf of the Board. Mr. Watson's resignation is effective as of today.”
Ginger Gibson / @gingergibson: Ozy recruited good journalists, some who aren't in journalism anymore because of them. https://twitter.com/...
David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik: Before joining the NPR board in 2016, Watson had a nearly year-long collaboration with NPR, including a weekly appearance on Weekend All Things Considered and cross-posting of Ozy articles. https://www.npr.org/...
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Ozy built a TV interview show for CEO Carlos Watson based on false claims it was for A&E and that it would then be a YouTube Original, its ex-producer says — Producers say they were led to believe they were making a talk show for A&E, which said no to the program.
Discussion:
@avakofman, @benyt, @choire, @jeffjarvis, @elisewho, @danprimack, @markdistef, @digiphile, @jonathanvswan, @sonnybunch, Garbage Day, @libbycwatson, @eisingerj, @greta, @caseyjohnston, @benyt, @nick4iezos, @robertwolf32, @ursulaperano, Variety, @lachlan, @kairyssdal, @hamiltonnolan, @owillis, @jeffjarvis, @caro, @jonathanvswan, @nick4iezos, @barry, BBC, @espiers, The Wrap, @jduffyrice, @briancgrubb, @davidfolkenflik, @dannygroner, @kimberlynfoster, @justinbaragona, @albertburneko, @mtill50, @awprokop, @byjoelanderson, @jbouie, @byjoelanderson, @byjoelanderson, @ismat, @byjoelanderson, @arthur_affect, @kfile, @zachstafford, @thegarance, @stuartathompson, @byjoelanderson, @carlquintanilla, @devlinbarrett, @thrasherxy, @franklinleonard, @kevinmaddendc, @jakesherman, @cliffordlevy, @mattzeitlin, @arlenparsa, @sonnybunch, @edmundlee and @simonowens
Discussion:
Ava Kofman / @avakofman: In 2014, a friend emailed Ozy looking for freelance work. This was the company's response. https://twitter.com/...
Ben Smith / @benyt: New from me, with a lot of insight from former producers: Ozy Built a TV Show on a False Claim, Says Its Former Producer https://www.nytimes.com/...
Jeff Jarvis / @jeffjarvis: .@benyt is a dog with a juicy bone: Ozy Built a TV Show on a False Claim, Says Its Former Producer https://www.nytimes.com/...
Elise Hu / @elisewho: Man, these Ozy stories! You never want to be Theranos, but for digital media startups https://www.nytimes.com/...
Dan Primack / @danprimack: Ozy Media's Samir Rao has deleted/wiped his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Mark Di Stefano / @markdistef: Find a vein and stick every one of these stories directly in there. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Alex Howard / @digiphile: Maybe @ozy is modern art? https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Jonathan Swan / @jonathanvswan: as far as I can tell it's like Theranos but with extremely low stakes. The only victims are investment bros. https://twitter.com/...
Sonny Bunch / @sonnybunch: @jonathanvswan Or like a not-mean-spirited version of Borat, in that a ton of people were essentially pranked into appearing on a talk show that doesn't exist in order to boost the self-esteem of the company's founder. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day: Inside the utterly bizarre analytics of Ozy
Libby Watson / @libbycwatson: lots of great stuff to laugh at here but my personal favorite is “Are conservatives in Arkansas teaming up with Europeans? For instance.” https://twitter.com/...
Jesse Eisinger / @eisingerj: I don't think I've ever had 25-30 story ideas on anything ever, much less well-formatted term papers on forward-looking right-of-center ones. https://twitter.com/...
Greta Van Susteren / @greta: Terrible for those who worked there....and were deceived .. via @NYTimes @benyt https://www.nytimes.com/...
Casey Johnston / @caseyjohnston: “fast-forward trends” lmao every outlet is really trying to strategize around “a couple of times we lucked into talking about the perfect thing way before everything else. what if we did that on purpose every time” this is not a strategy!!!! it's impossible wishful thinking!!!! https://twitter.com/...
Ben Smith / @benyt: Belatedly, someone points out to me that Lasry was on the board of the Weinstein Company, so he has *a bit* of experience in crisis and investigations https://twitter.com/...
@nick4iezos: @AvaKofman By the time I applied in 2015, they didn't do this: but they did have everyone complete an in detail memo, a writing test and 3 interviews. C andidates often were then stonewalled, or forgotten about, for months. Staffers did get the 25-30 story ideas request every NYE though...
Robert Wolf / @robertwolf32: #Ozy has really been the most fascinating story to follow in business this entire year Thank you @benyt really incredible work https://www.nytimes.com/...
Ursula Perano / @ursulaperano: I talked to OZY about a job in 2020 and instead of a writing test they asked me to freelance a piece. When I said I couldn't freelance because of my then-job's contract, they suggested I write under a pseudonym, which seemed sketch (I wrote nothing) https://twitter.com/...
Michael Schneider / Variety: Ozy Media to Shut Down, Following Revelations of Questionable Business Practices
Lachlan Markay / @lachlan: It's only like the 5th or 6th most ridiculous detail in here, but this is such amazing exercise in bullshit marketing https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Kai Ryssdal / @kairyssdal: To that point, this great thread from @espiers https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Hamilton Nolan / @hamiltonnolan: Media companies are funded in large part by rich people who spend five minutes thinking about “what journalism needs” and come up with stuff like “are conservatives in Arkansas teaming up with Europeans?” and then completely lose interest. So I see why Ozy raised millions https://twitter.com/...
Oliver Willis / @owillis: My big takeaway from this story is I don't lie enough https://twitter.com/...
Caroline Mccarthy / @caro: One of the grossest parts of all of this is the extent to which Ozy seems to have flagrantly exploited social justice trends and the industrywide push (especially in the ad industry) for support of Black-owned businesses and media companies. https://twitter.com/...
Jonathan Swan / @jonathanvswan: Bananas from top to bottom https://twitter.com/...
@nick4iezos: @AvaKofman Carlos's lack of care about valuing others' time is well described in this piece, and it trickled down to their absurd hiring process: https://www.entrepreneur.com/ ...
Barry Petchesky / @barry: Asking applicants for 25-30 pitches is a bigger scam than whatever they were trying to pull on Goldman Sachs https://twitter.com/...
Daniel Thomas / BBC: Ozy Media chairman quits after bombshell NYT report
Elizabeth Spiers / @espiers: This story just keeps getting crazier but all the craziness appears to revolve around one thing: the co-founders have lied repeatedly—about everything. https://twitter.com/...
Antoinette Siu / The Wrap: Ozy Media To Shut Down
Josie Duffy Rice / @jduffyrice: i am just built diff-e-rent than these people. even imagining telling this lie is making me hyperventilate https://www.nytimes.com/...
Brian Grubb / @briancgrubb: running an ad in a newspaper and then using your own language from that ad as the pullquote for another ad that you attribute to the first newspaper is... maybe the funniest thing I've ever heard? https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik: To date, Watson has refused my requests for an interview. His credibility is crucial. Many false and inflated claims cited by @benyt & by later reporting involve assertions by or about Watson. Claims on traffic, newsletters, shows and more. //con't https://www.nytimes.com/...
Danny Groner / @dannygroner: “It's common for companies to pay YouTube to place ads that pop up automatically onscreen before videos, which drives up the number of views. Tubular Labs suggests that Ozy may be using that tactic with its videos.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Kimberly Nicole Foster / @kimberlynfoster: I'm, frankly, amazed by the level of scamming this Black man has been able to pull off. Seems unprecedented. https://twitter.com/...
Justin Baragona / @justinbaragona: “In a farewell email to Mr. Watson and Mr. Rao, which he shared with The Times, he wrote, 'You are playing a dangerous game with the truth. The consequences of offering an A&E show to guests when we don't have one to offer are catastrophic for Ozy and for me.'” https://twitter.com/...
Albert Burneko / @albertburneko: the most darkly fascinating part of every fraud story is trying to imagine what kind of psycho has the energy and motivation for that shit https://twitter.com/...
Morgan Till / @mtill50: Just a blistering read. An apparent, giant fraud; and continually exposed by @benyt https://www.nytimes.com/... https://www.nytimes.com/...
Andrew Prokop / @awprokop: Mental health crisis or business model? https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Joel D. Anderson / @byjoelanderson: A conversation that I have had a thousand times, professionally: “Joel, do you know [black man in a suit]? He's a friend of a friend and I think you'd really like him. I should connect y'all!”
B-Boy Bouiebaisse / @jbouie: @byjoelanderson you are...not wrong
Joel D. Anderson / @byjoelanderson: Anyway. At this point, I need some hard proof that Carlos went to Harvard and worked at MSNBC and that his name is indeed Carlos.
Joel D. Anderson / @byjoelanderson: I wish I looked better in a suit, because I have no idea how I'm ever gonna get enough money for a down payment on a house.
Ismat Sarah Mangla / @ismat: @byjoelanderson I also had several back and forth convos with recruiters and editors at Ozy around 2017 and my spidey sense was like...erm, this is not for me.
Joel D. Anderson / @byjoelanderson: Jenee had a 15-minute interview with Ozy 5 years ago and by the time she came back to the car we were able to deduce that this was all a massive fraud.
Arthur Chu / @arthur_affect: This feels like a sitcom plot, one of those cynical meta shows about “the industry” https://twitter.com/...
Andrew Kaczynski / @kfile: In awe of the level of grift here. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Zach Stafford / @zachstafford: Okay who's making the podcast series about the rise (???) and dramatic fall of OZY media bc my coins are ready https://twitter.com/...
Garance Franke-Ruta / @thegarance: House of cards https://twitter.com/...
Stuart Andrew Thompson / @stuartathompson: god this saga is like if Theranos founded Vice https://twitter.com/...
Joel D. Anderson / @byjoelanderson: An observation: no offense to white people, but if a black man has attended the right school, can codeswitch, flatter y'all enough, and look nice in a non-shiny suit, he — and it's almost always dudes — can really finesse the hell out of y'all. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Carl Quintanilla / @carlquintanilla: “Another quote described Mr. Watson as ‘Anderson Cooper meets Oprah.’ That line, attributed to The Los Angeles Times, was drawn from an advertising supplement that Ozy ran in that newspaper.” (via @benyt) https://www.nytimes.com/...
Devlin Barrett / @devlinbarrett: The Merv Griffin set wasn't a tipoff? https://twitter.com/...
Dr. Steven W. Thrasher / @thrasherxy: “Another warning sign, Mr. Bessey said, was that one of the other producers pointed out that A&E had already scheduled “Hoarders” for the time slot that was supposedly meant for “The Carlos Watson Show."" https://twitter.com/...
Franklin Leonard / @franklinleonard: I am dumbfounded. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Kevin Madden / @kevinmaddendc: Amazing how closely Ozy followed the Jukt Micronics playbook. https://twitter.com/...
Jake Sherman / @jakesherman: Incredible story. https://twitter.com/...
Cliff Levy / @cliffordlevy: “You are playing a dangerous game with the truth.” Another executive says he was duped by Ozy Media, which promised him repeatedly that an Ozy show was headed to the A&E cable channel. But that was false, he told @benyt. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Matthew Zeitlin / @mattzeitlin: If you've seen an Ozy ad, you're at least geographically proximate to the media and marketing elite https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Arlen Parsa / @arlenparsa: Incredible. This whole @ozy media company seems like a cross between Fyre Fest and Enron... https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Axios:
Axel Springer says it gave up its Ozy board seat after investing $300K in its Series C in 2019, but Ozy listed Axel's rep as a director in a July 2021 filing
Discussion:
Sara Fischer / @sarafischer: NEW w @danprimack: — Axel Springer, an early Ozy investor, tells Axios that it gave up voting rights/board seat after only investing $300k in Series C, but Ozy continued to list Axel's rep as an active director in a July 2021 filing w the state of Florida https://www.axios.com/...
Sara Fischer / @sarafischer: 1/2 NEW, OZY: Axel Springer says person who was attending board mtgs in observing capacity for Axel was Jens Müffelmann, but “In light of current developments and accusations against Ozy, he has decided and informed the CEO of Ozy yesterday that he steps down from this function”
@nick4iezos: OZY cut 20% of its staff early in the pandemic, all good friends and colleagues of mine, as @axios reports: https://www.axios.com/... Which makes them securing this $3.75m PPP loan for “payroll” even more insulting. https://twitter.com/...
Kerry Flynn / CNN:
Some former Ozy employees say they were overworked to the point of exhaustion: “They brought in very talented, motivated, excited people and just used them up”
Discussion:
@benyt, CNN, @sarafischer, @lmoses, CNBC, Entrepreneur, New York Magazine, @gerryfsmith, @shannonpareil, @eevasita, Current, @silviakillings, @perlberg, @larakiara, Fortune, @jbarro, @lisatozzi, @julie188, Sparrow One, @mediainsider, @saraashleyo, Bloomberg, @aprjoy, @intelligencer, New York Post, The Fix, New York Times, @lollardfish, @markgongloff, @ktbenner, @mattbelloni, @priaribi, @keitholbermann, @clarajeffery and @davidgura, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Ben Smith / @benyt: Ozy chairman Marc Lasry just resigned: “I believe that going forward Ozy requires experience in areas like crisis management and investigations, where I do not have particular expertise.”
Sara Fischer / @sarafischer: 🚨🚨🚨Marc Lasry steps down from Ozy's board — Statement from PR flak https://twitter.com/...
Lucia Moses / @lmoses: new from @BusinessInsider: details from 18 current and ex staffers shed light on how how Ozy gaslit so many people and got away with it so long. great reporting by @perlberg @JPManga @aprjoy @claireatki https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
Jason Feifer / Entrepreneur: ‘Ignore Your Schedule’: The Bad Advice that Ozy Media's Carlos Watson Gave to Entrepreneur
Gerry Smith / @gerryfsmith: Ozy Media employees felt pressure from management to accept stock options instead of higher salaries. They describe a workplace culture of long hours and unrealistic demands that left them vulnerable to burnout. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Shannon Bond / @shannonpareil: now remembering when i wrote about Ozy's launch back in 2014 and Carlos Watson told me he was interested in branching out into Airbnb-style home swaps and ... dating? https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@eevasita: When I read that they decided to chalk up the impersonation incident to mental health I was absolutely appalled knowing that many of my former colleagues suffered mental health implications from working FOR THEM.
Tyler Falk / Current: Carlos Watson resigns from NPR board
Silvia Killingsworth / @silviakillings: Like these people, who were pressured to take stock options instead of pay raises https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Steven Perlberg / @perlberg: “I have never once told someone that I worked at Ozy and they've known what it is. Not once. That was concerning to me.” Inside the “cult of Carlos” with @aprjoy @JPManga @claireatki https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
Lara O'Reilly / @larakiara: “Another former employee's doubts began early, after a staff meeting in which Watson and Rao shared a pitch deck touting the company's diverse readership. Among the featured photos of six readers was one of Rao's relatives.” So many astonishing details in this account. https://twitter.com/...
Josh Barro / @jbarro: It's particularly galling to make your employees do a standing Sunday afternoon conference call when your publication is essentially fake anyway. Isn't one upside of being fake supposed to be that it's less work? https://twitter.com/...
Lisa Tozzi / @lisatozzi: Every day there is more wild Ozy news. @benyt really opened a hell of a floodgate on Sunday! https://www.cnn.com/...
Julie Bort / @julie188: 18 current and former Ozy employees say there've been widespread internal doubts about the company's stated audience, 80-hour work weeks, and a ‘cult of Carlos’ https://www.businessinsider.com/ ... latest scoop from @aprjoy @perlberg @JPManga and @claireatki
Sparrow Advisers / Sparrow One: The Emperor has no clothes — By now, you probably know more than you've ever wanted to about Ozy Media.
@mediainsider: After a bombshell New York Times report about media company Ozy, current and former staffers at the media start-up began trading messages of surprise — but not shock. Here's what they're saying. 👇 https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
Sara Ashley O'Brien / @saraashleyo: this. read @kerrymflynn's Ozy work culture story: https://www.cnn.com/... a lot of ppl end up being collateral damage, for lack of a better word. they buy into a charismatic leader w/ a lofty mission and don't want to let them down — even at the risk of their own health https://twitter.com/...
April Joyner / @aprjoy: My colleagues @perlberg @JPManga @claireatki and I spoke with 18 Ozy employees who told us about the company's “toxic” culture and questionable metrics from the start. https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
@intelligencer: Former Ozy staffers say that founder and CEO Carlos Watson's demands, expectations, and plans were often detached from reality, yet were enforced with an intensity that some felt bordered on cruelty. @ManvBrain reports https://nymag.com/...
Anton Protsiuk / The Fix: Weekly Digest: Ozy Media Scandal, More News From Russia
David M. Perry / @lollardfish: again, I had a positive experience in my one interaction with Ozy, but ... this is crap. https://twitter.com/...
Mark Gongloff / @markgongloff: OZY struggles to understand why its overworked employees don't want stock options instead of actual money - @gerryfsmith and @ClaraMolot https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Katie Benner / @ktbenner: I thought Lasry was on the board of the Weinstein company during the several months that NYT reporters were reporting and frantically calling everyone remotely related to the company regarding Harvey Weinstein's misconduct... https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Belloni / @mattbelloni: Hall of Fame resignation statement... https://twitter.com/...
Priyanka Aribindi / @priaribi: Lmao this company is 8 years old, how is their team just now figuring out it was a scam!!!! https://twitter.com/...
Keith Olbermann / @keitholbermann: Also: “if you need me I'll be in the Caymans” https://twitter.com/...
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Ford, Airbnb, Goldman Sachs, and Target are among advertisers that froze their ad campaigns with Ozy Media
Discussion:
@keithrhernandez, Ad Age, Press Watch, Hollywood Reporter, Mediaite, @evanmcmurry and @dgisserious
Discussion:
Keith Hernandez / @keithrhernandez: Really hope these brands reallocate their marketing spend into other Black-owned media businesses. https://twitter.com/...
Dan Froomkin / Press Watch: Once again, NYT's Congressional coverage overhyped conflict among Democrats and reached subjective, unsupported conclusions
Leia Idliby / Mediaite: Mediaite's Colby Hall: ‘Calling Ozy Media a Dumpster Fire is an Insult to Dumpsters and Fires’
Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Sharon Osbourne says Carlos Watson lied in a 2019 TV interview when he said Ozzy and Sharon invested in Ozy Media, after the Osbournes settled a trademark suit
Discussion:
@schwartzbcnbc, Mediaite, Newser, Forbes, @davidfolkenflik, @dougheye, @thedextriarchy, @parismartineau, @jeffihaza, @jenn_elias and @dcseifert
Discussion:
Brian Schwartz / @schwartzbcnbc: Scoop: Carlos Watson, the CEO of OzyMedia,came on CNBC in 2019 to claim that Sharon Osbourne and Ozzy Osbourne were investors into his company after a year-long legal battle. He said they were friends. Sharon Osbourne tells me none of that is true https://www.cnbc.com/...
Josh Feldman / Mediaite: Ozy Media Announces It's Shutting Down Just Days After Stunning NY Times Exposé
Jenn Gidman / Newser: Bombshell Report About Ozy Media Was Just the Start
Jemima McEvoy / Forbes: Ozy Media Founder Carlos Watson Resigns From NPR Board Amid Worsening Scandal
David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik: @schwartzbCNBC now reports Watson wrongly told cnbc viewers Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne had become investors. https://www.cnbc.com/... Media outlets are generally built on a foundation of credibility. Doesn't work when that unravels. My talk from last night: https://www.npr.org/...
Doug Heye / @dougheye: Sharon Osbourne nails what everyone who had been anywhere near Ozy asked themselves, “What do you do?” https://twitter.com/...
Adi Robertson / @thedextriarchy: @dcseifert @TonyRomm well, it wasn't a conference call but i got pretty close https://www.cnbc.com/...
Paris Martineau / @parismartineau: inject this into my veins https://www.cnbc.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Jeff Ihaza / @jeffihaza: Seems weird that no one at CNBC looked into this for **two years** despite someone telling a flat out lie on live TV https://www.cnbc.com/...?
Sebastian Murdock / HuffPost:
Judge issues default judgments against Alex Jones in two Sandy Hook cases for routinely failing to comply with requests, making him liable for all damages — A judge issued default judgments — a rarity in the legal world — against Jones and Infowars after the conspiracy theorist failed to produce discovery records.
Discussion:
Aya Elamroussi / CNN: Infowars host Alex Jones is responsible for damages triggered by his false claims on the Sandy Hook shooting, judge rules
Timothy Bella / Washington Post: Alex Jones must pay damages to Sandy Hook families after calling shooting a ‘giant hoax,’ judge rules
Lauren Frias / Insider: A judge ruled that Alex Jones must pay damages to Sandy Hook families over his claims that the school shooting was a ‘giant hoax’
Jessica Glenza / The Guardian: Infowars' Alex Jones liable for damages in Sandy Hook lawsuits, judge rules
Sebastian Murdock / @sebastianmurdoc: This isn't the end of Jones' legal woes either. Seven other Sandy Hook families are currently suing him for the lies he spread about their dead children. https://www.huffpost.com/...
Will Digravio / Media Matters for America: Alex Jones emboldened after The Blaze helps him spread misinformation
Isabel Keane / Metro.co.uk: Infowars' Alex Jones responsible for damages caused by false claims about Sandy Hook shooting, judge rules
Chas Danner / New York Magazine: Alex Jones Must Pay Damages in Sandy Hook Cases
Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap: Alex Jones Legally Responsible for Damages From His False Claims About Sandy Hook, Judge Says
@wowt6news: The cases now head to trial for juries to determine the amount of damages Jones and the other defendants will have to pay the families. https://www.wowt.com/...
Gretchen Carlson / @gretchencarlson: I love this so much. It's the least these grieving Sandy Hook families can receive. Justice for all the lies Alex Jones promulgated and almost as bad was how his lies were propped up by so-called journalists who gave him airtime to spew his nonsense. https://www.huffpost.com/...
Christine Hauser / New York Times: Alex Jones Loses by Default in Sandy Hook Defamation Lawsuits
Tom McKay / Gizmodo: Alex Jones Loses Sandy Hook Defamation Suits With Rare ‘Death Penalty Sanction’
Brianna Wu / @briannawu: When Alex Jones unsuccessfully sued me for accurately citing a credible newspaper in a Tweet, his lawsuit was riddled with spelling errors, like seeking relief by “jury trail.” He just lost another lawsuit for failing to provide documents for discovery. https://www.huffpost.com/...
Jennifer Wood / UPROXX: Alex Jones Has Been Trounced In Two Lawsuits (By Default) For Spreading Lies And Conspiracy Theories About The Sandy Hook Shooting
Brian Welk / The Wrap:
Todd Boehly, co-founder and CEO of investment firm Eldridge Industries, has been appointed interim CEO of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has named hedge fund billionaire Todd Boehly as its interim CEO.
Discussion:
Brent Lang / Variety: Todd Boehly Named Interim CEO of Hollywood Foreign Press Association (EXCLUSIVE)
Chris Gardner / Hollywood Reporter: Todd Boehly Named Interim CEO of Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Sharon Waxman / @sharonwaxman: I'm sorry, am I the only person who thinks naming a billionaire white guy with a financial interest in the Golden Globes to run a non-profit that has publicly committed to diversity and cleaning up corruption is THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN? U must b joking. https://www.thewrap.com/...
Erik Pedersen / Deadline: HFPA Names MRC Chairman Todd Boehly As Interim CEO
RELATED:
Clayton Davis / Variety:
HFPA adds 21 members, increasing its membership by 20%, of which 48% identify as women, 29% as Black, 24% as Asian, 29% as Latinx, and 19% as MENA
Discussion:
@lachinarobinson, The Wrap, @danamo, @mariocinema, Vanity Fair, @jemelehill and @jreidespn
Discussion:
LaChina Robinson / @lachinarobinson: Wow! Major moves @KelleyLCarter! You are more than deserving! Congrats! https://twitter.com/...
Beatrice Verhoeven / The Wrap: HFPA Adds 21 New Members, Including Black and Latino Journalists
Danyel Smith / @danamo: 🔆🔆🔆🔆 🔆 yes @KelleyLCarter! congratulations 🗝 and they are lucky to have you 💕 https://twitter.com/...
@mariocinema: An honor to be invited from #HFPA to be part of their 2021 class. Let's be a bridge for Latinx talent and the Cinema & TV world. Art builds healthy communities. @goldenglobes https://variety.com/...
Anthony Breznican / Vanity Fair: “A First Step”: Golden Globes Overhaul Membership After Diversity Firestorm
Josef Adalian / Vulture:
South Korean show Squid Game, topping Netflix charts in 90 countries, vindicates Netflix's strategy of creating franchises using content from around the world — At your service. — This story also ran in Buffering, Vulture's newsletter about the streaming industry. Head to vulture.com/buffering and subscribe today!
Discussion:
Kevin Fallon / The Daily Beast: ‘Squid Game’ Is the Most Disturbing Show I've Ever Seen. How Is It So Popular?
@tvmojoe: The hottest show on TV right now is a dystopian drama from Korea called #SquidGame. Its success is a massive validation of Netflix's local language strategy, and I talked to global TV chief Bela Bajaria about how it happened. Read it now, only on @vulture: https://www.vulture.com/...
@jetgirl78: “The near-instant enthusiasm for Squid Game is all the more impressive because the series isn't based on any preexisting intellectual property.” I'd argue this may be seen a reason for its success. It is something new & we don't know where it's going. https://www.vulture.com/...
Julia Alexander / @loudmouthjulia: Netflix, and others, place their marketing budget around shows execs think are massive ROI winners for them. These often are big budget series, or unscripted programming that has a viral hook, but if Netflix wants you to know about something they will pay to ensure that happens.
Matthew Federman / @matthewfederman: Is it possible that studios have so over mined IP that the audience is actually hungry for a feeling of discovery? That same feeling they got when that old IP was once new and not based on anything? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@tvmojoe: @loudmouthjulia I asked that very question of Netflix. They did not! (But also, Netflix doesn't always market everything it has high hopes for internally. Some marketing spend is placating stakeholders' egos.) https://www.vulture.com/...
@zemthings: I love how shocked studios are every time something that doesn't have a preexisting fan base does well. https://twitter.com/...
Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy: “It also helps that, in addition to shelling out billions to produce its programming, Netflix invests millions more to make sure shows like Squid Game are easily watchable even for folks who don't speak the language used in them...” https://www.vulture.com/...
Dr. Steven W. Thrasher / @thrasherxy: I love that Squid Game is showing there is US hunger for new stories not based on existing IP. But I'm depressed that Parasite is being made into a US remake. When audiences flock to new stories from minoritized groups, it should lead to *more* stories—not remakes of one story! https://twitter.com/...
Julia Alexander / @loudmouthjulia: A question that comes up a lot when something like Squid Game pops up is: “Did Netflix expect this to be as big as it became worldwide?” For reference, there's a very quick way to answer this question. Do you remember seeing ads for it? On TV, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube?
@moltz: Please save comments such as this until *after* I've gotten my gritty reboot of “Jason of Star Command”. https://twitter.com/...
E. Alex Jung / @e_alexjung: how long until US execs try to adapt squid game “for america” https://www.vulture.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Jessica Howard / UPROXX: A Korean Man Is Getting 4,000 Calls A Day After His Actual Phone Number Was Featured In The First Episode Of Netflix's ‘Squid Game’
Julia Alexander / @loudmouthjulia: Yep. If I'm a Netflix exec, I'm watching the viewership rate in South Korea (and other territories) skyrocket. I'm watching it travel. I connect with the homepage team to boost it worldwide in the carousel. But remember: this all happened very, very fast. https://twitter.com/...
Julia Alexander / @loudmouthjulia: “Does this mean Netflix didn't think it would be big?” Nope. They saw something, and used highly in-demand talent in South Korea to make it a regional hit. But if Netflix thinks it's a global hit, you'll know they think so before it's even out. Because you'll be very aware of it
@nymag: #SquidGame is a social-media phenomenon and tops Netflix's popularity charts in 90 countries. @TVMoJoe reports on how the streamer's international strategy produced what might be its biggest new show ever https://www.vulture.com/...
Matt Akersten / @mattakersten: What a massive success. ‘Squid Game’ is the second time I have really loved one of @NetflixANZ's dubbed shows - I also enjoyed the Danish political drama ‘Borgen’, which is being revived for new episodes in 2022. https://twitter.com/...
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Substack is launching paid month-long stints for “writers in residence”, putting a spotlight on a new Substack user as they build their newsletter — Substack is launching a “Writer in Residence” program that will spotlight one new creator throughout their journey in building a Substack for one month.
William Turvill / Press Gazette:
An in-depth look at Google's News Showcase deals; sources: Australian outlets got better offers than outlets in other countries due to political pressure — It is one year this week since Google launched News Showcase, an aggregation service with a $1bn budget to spend with the global journalism industry.
Discussion:
@risj_oxford, @heidilegg, @wturvill, @domponsford, @pressgazette, @simonowens and What's New in Publishing
Discussion:
@risj_oxford: A @pressgazette investigation into Google News Showcase finds Australian publishers are being offered better deals than others, that traffic in many cases is minimal and that bugs make it difficult to work with -@wturvill https://pressgazette.co.uk/...
Heidi Legg / @heidilegg: Don't miss this detail: “Most significantly, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp - a long-standing and vocal critic of the tech giant @Google - has signed a deal thought by rivals to be worth around $50m a year. At least Murdoch plays hardball for news...his news. https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/ ...
William Turvill / @wturvill: Google News Shh-owcase: My @pressgazette investigation into Google's aggregation tool with a $1bn budget for news. We reveal: - Details of the payment formula - Individual deal figures - Claims Oz pubs are getting the best deals - US launch likely delayed https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/ ...
Dominic Ponsford / @domponsford: Press Gazette has investigated Google's $1bn network of deals with the global news industry. It is a story I don't think you will read anywhere else! https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/ ...
@pressgazette: The US launch of Google News Showcase looks set to be delayed as publishers push for better deals, reports @wturvill. “The biggest publishers in the US are the most attractive to Google, but also the biggest pain in the ass,” says a senior industry source https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/ ...
Simon Owens / @simonowens: An in-depth overview of Google Showcase, a product in which Google pays publishers to display their content. It doesn't send much traffic to publishers, and many industry watchers believe it's just a way for Google to pay off publishers to keep them happy https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/ ...
Joyce Lee / Reuters:
South Korean ISP sues Netflix over costs for traffic surge from hit shows, after a court said Netflix should “reasonably” pay ISPs for network usage — South Korean Internet service provider SK Broadband has sued Netflix (NFLX.O) to pay for costs from increased network traffic …
Discussion:
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@reuters: South Korean internet service provider SK Broadband has sued Netflix to pay for costs from increased network traffic and maintenance work because of a surge of viewers to ‘Squid Game’ https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Samantha Subin / CNBC: Netflix's ‘Squid Game’ is so popular a South Korean internet provider sued over the surge in traffic
Fletcher Peters / Decider: Netflix Sued by Internet Provider After Too Many People Watch ‘Squid Game’
Ian Carlos Campbell / The Verge: South Korean ISP SK Broadband sues Netflix for millions in bandwidth usage fees
Josh Kurp / UPROXX: ‘Squid Game’ Is So Popular That Netflix Is Getting Sued Over A Massive Surge In Internet Traffic
Todd Spangler / Variety: ‘Squid Game’: Netflix Installed Replica of the Show's Murdering Robot Doll at a Shopping Mall
Laurie Voss / @seldo: I'm sorry what? Your customers pay you to provide them with internet access. You do not get to then charge the internet companies for providing access to the customers. You already been paid. https://www.reuters.com/...
John Bergmayer / @bergmayer: Broadband providers got their wish in South Korea, and the result is that Netflix is being sued under a new law because it has a popular show that broadband customers want to use their broadband connections to access https://www.reuters.com/...
Keith Zhai / Wall Street Journal:
Chinese citizen journalist Chen Qiushi, whose videos showed Wuhan at the outset of the COVID outbreak, reappears more than 600 days after going missing — Chen Qiushi, whose viral videos offered a rare view from the coronavirus epicenter, reappeared on Twitter and YouTube but offered few details of his disappearance
Discussion:
@chrdnet: Chinese lawyer #ChenQiushi, who was forcibly disappeared by the Chinese government after reporting on the early stages of the COVID pandemic in 2020, suddenly has reappeared, apparently. He has announced that he will have a charity boxing match set for December 31st, 2021. https://twitter.com/...
Dali L. Yang / @dali_yang: “I have experienced a lot of things. Some of it can be talked about, some of it can't,” Chen Qiushi said in a letter posted to his account on Twitter. “I believe you understand.” https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Hearst UK reports a pre-tax loss of £13.4M in 2020 due to COVID, has laid off up to a fifth of its staff in 2021, and shut down Town & Country UK — The parent of magazine publisher Hearst UK has revealed pre-tax losses of £13.4m for 2020 due to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Allison Schiff / AdExchanger:
Facebook to update pre-campaign audience estimates to be less specific, showing a range instead of a number, after backlash for overestimating audience numbers — Pre-campaign reach estimates on Facebook are about to get less precise - on purpose. — In the coming weeks …
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