Mediagazer: 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 (William Turvill/Press Gazette)

8:30 PM ET, October 1, 2021

Top News:

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: @hunterw, Adweek, The Wrap, nexttv.com, Ad Age, @karidotpeters, The Hill, @danielpmalloy, @jayrosen_nyu, @katie_robertson, @thekeenanwire, @maghielse, @byronyork, @markyarm, @katie_robertson, Vanity Fair, @jeffjarvis, Matt's Newsletter, Ineptitudes, The Verge, @kerrymflynn, Forbes, @film_girl, @mikeorren, @petersterne, @jbenton, @petersterne, @alexweprin, @danprimack, @geedee215, @sarafischer, @edmundlee, @aaschapiro, @megan, @film_girl, @charlesarthur, @backlon, @timkawakami, @sarafischer, @harrymccracken, Insider, @bgrueskin, @glennf, @danprimack, @charlesarthur, @alexweprin, @ashleyfeinberg, @axios, @tweetermeyer, @sarafischer, @film_girl, @genepark, @megan, @ejacqui, @sharonwaxman, @danprimack, @jasonschreier, @marceelias, @jatayler, @daveweigel, @hayesbrown, @daveweigel, @juliacarriew, @sarafischer, @thedavidmurphy, @neontaster, @louoftheville, @jbillinson, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, @davidfolkenflik, @joshuatopolsky, @bigblackjacobin, @robtornoe, @reckless, @wsteaks, A Scammer Darkly, @mikeisaac, @danielpmalloy, @deray, @rebeccajarvis, @jbarro, @pamelacolloff, @neontaster, @benedictevans, @nycsouthpaw, @jonathanvswan, @sree, @nichcarlson, @ashleyfeinberg, @timjhogan, @mimms, @kromandavid, @daveleeft, @danielnazer, @britnidwrites, @dougheye and Hollywood Reporter

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.

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, Variety, The Wrap, @benyt, @choire, @greta, BBC, @jeffjarvis, @elisewho, @danprimack, @markdistef, @digiphile, @jonathanvswan, @sonnybunch, Garbage Day, @libbycwatson, @eisingerj, @caseyjohnston, @benyt, @nick4iezos, @robertwolf32, @ursulaperano, @lachlan, @kairyssdal, @hamiltonnolan, @owillis, @jeffjarvis, @caro, @jonathanvswan, @nick4iezos, @barry, @espiers, @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

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” — New York (CNN Business)Around midnight one Saturday late last year, Eva Rodriguez, 24, had trouble breathing.

Discussion: CNN, @benyt, Insider, @sarafischer, New York Magazine, CNBC, Bloomberg, @lmoses, Entrepreneur, @gerryfsmith, @shannonpareil, @eevasita, @intelligencer, Fortune, Current, @silviakillings, @perlberg, @larakiara, @jbarro, @lisatozzi, @julie188, Sparrow One, @mediainsider, @saraashleyo, New York Post, @aprjoy, New York Times, @lollardfish, @markgongloff, @ktbenner, @mattbelloni, @priaribi, @keitholbermann, @clarajeffery, @davidgura, @moorehn, @russellbrandom, @peterhamby, @bobpickard, @parismartineau, @mslopatto, @janinegibson, @retheauditors, @danprimack, @phil_rosenthal, @danprimack, @ahess247, @caleweissman, @tonyajoriley, @brosandprose, @anhaiphung, @chaykak, @ahhensel, @heynottheface, @gnagesh, @fka_tabs, @bartlettkate, @elenainzafrica, @nick4iezos, @bartlettkate, @charukasturi, @shortformernie, @eevasita, @eevasita, @eevasita, @alextweeting and @kerrymflynn, more at Techmeme »

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: Axios, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @nick4iezos, @tomgara and @danprimack

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

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Ford, Airbnb, Goldman Sachs, and Target are among advertisers that froze their ad campaigns with Ozy Media

Discussion: Ad Age, @keithrhernandez, Press Watch, Mediaite, The Fix, @evanmcmurry and @dgisserious

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: CNN, Media Matters for America, New York Post, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Metro.co.uk, Mother Jones, Gizmodo, The Guardian, New York Times, @sebastianmurdoc, UPROXX, The Wrap, @wowt6news, @katiephang and @willsommer

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: The Daily Beast, @loudmouthjulia, @oliverdarcy, @loudmouthjulia, @e_alexjung, UPROXX, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, Vanity Fair and The Legit Korean

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: @reuters, Forbes, CNBC, The Verge, New York Post, Input, Decider, The Wrap, Light Reading, UPROXX, Variety, @seldo, @bergmayer and Insider, more at Techmeme »

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: Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

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: @jreidespn, The Wrap, Vanity Fair and @jemelehill

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

Scarlett Johansson and Disney settle the lawsuit over her pay for Black Widow, released on Disney+ at the same time as in theaters; source: deal is worth $40M+ — (Updated with more details) Just days after the first court hearing in Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow profits mega-bite lawsuit …

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: @domponsford, @risj_oxford, @wturvill, @heidilegg, @pressgazette, @simonowens and What's New in Publishing

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 and @iandenisjohnson

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.

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