Top News:
Reuters:
Sources: Elon Musk has a new Twitter CEO lined up and offered monetizing ideas, like charging websites for quoting or embedding tweets from verified accounts — Elon Musk told banks that agreed to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) that he could crack down on executive …
Discussion:
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Discussion:
Aaron Rupar / @atrupar: Elon Musk reportedly wants to restore the Twitter accounts of Trump and Holocaust denier Charles Johnson and make transphobia okay on the platform https://www.wsj.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Casey Newton / Platformer: Inside Twitter's emotional Friday all-hands
Aaron Stewart-Ahn / @somebadideas: Musk's big plan to monetize twitter that got his absurd loan: charging a fee for quote / embedding tweets?? That's easier to defeat than right click saving an NFT? From https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Reed Albergotti / Washington Post: Who's the boss? At Musk's companies he is, but also young loyalists.
Danlesac.Oof / @danlesac: You don't become a billionaire by fixing things, you become a billionaire by exploiting the faults in systems. https://twitter.com/...
Mehdi Hasan / @mehdirhasan: A related issue: how on earth is an accused Holocaust denier able to text directly with Musk's chief of staff? What should that tell us? https://twitter.com/...
Ashton Pittman / @ashtonpittman: Of course he does. As I've said, Elon Musk's vision of a “free speech Twitter” is a place where disinformation runs rampant, rich politicians can incite violence and hateful people are given a free base to bully, harass and abuse marginalized people (such as trans people). https://twitter.com/...
@nastyoldwomyn: “Musk had to convince the banks that Twitter produced enough cash flow to service the debt he sought. In the end, he clinched $13 billion in loans secured against Twitter and a $12.5 billion margin loan tied to his Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) stock.” https://twitter.com/...
Kim Masters / @kimmasters: This doesn't bode well. https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: Wait did Jack Dorsey incept Elon Musk into paying a huge premium for his Twitter shares in order to reverse content moderation policies he created? https://twitter.com/...
Lisa Boothe / @lisamarieboothe: Ha 🤣 “Mr. Dorsey asked Mr. Musk to choose a single tweet to represent himself. ‘I put the art in fart,’ replied Mr. Musk, then 48 years old.'” https://twitter.com/...
Clara Jeffery / @clarajeffery: 1/ so much utterly gross and mutually reinforcing/aggrandizing behavior on display. Tl;dr: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men https://www.wsj.com/...
Lisa Boothe / @lisamarieboothe: “To a public-relations consultant who urged him to keep a lower profile on the platform, Mr. Musk in 2018 wrote in an email subsequently made public in litigation, ‘Will tweet as I wish and suffer the consequences...so it goes.’” 🤣 https://www.wsj.com/...
Jennifer Hayden / @scout_finch: Far more sinister than I thought https://twitter.com/...
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: It really is a shame Jack Dorsey never had any influence over Twitter's direction https://twitter.com/...
@rcvgenderfucked: I don't think a lot of people who weren't around for livejournal/tumblr/etc understand how easy it is to totally obliterate a social media site It's not a question of “are you moving if musk takes over”, the question is “how long will twitter *last* if he takes over” https://twitter.com/...
@grandmoffjoseph: @cmpriest @mediagazer My wife: Dear, why are you rooting around in the storage racks in the garage? Me: Looking for my box of webrings and the floppy disk set with my old Geocities page. Might need it again here soon.
Edmund Lee / @edmundlee: When Johnson (who was banned from Twitter for saying he was going to “take out” BLM activist @deray) saw @elonmusk would buy Twitter, he texted Musk's No. 2 (Jared Birchall) and asked: “When do I get my Twitter account back?” The reply: “Hopefully soon” https://www.wsj.com/...
Chris Maddern / @chrismaddern: spoiler: I'm @elonmusk's pick for twitter ceo https://www.reuters.com/...
Peter Kafka / @pkafka: “One former Twitter executive said Mr. Dorsey would sometimes appear to space out in meetings because he was messaging Mr. Musk during the workday.” https://twitter.com/...
Anthony DeRosa / @anthony: Friends of Elon Musk who disliked Twitter's direction—including Peter Thiel—secretly pushed him to launch a bid for the platform. Twitter executives say they became aware of his budding friendship with then-CEO Mr. Dorsey https://www.wsj.com/...
Victor Hernandez / @toliro: @mediagazer Charging a fee for quoting? Nobody will use Twitter anymore. That's the worst possible way for monetizing Twitter. Or... People will simply make screenshots and no money will be generated.
Samantha / @electrotriple11: tumblr if you got rid of that stupid ban then a quarter of the people on here would willingly leave https://twitter.com/...
@kt_so_it_goes: this is one of the faster ways I can think of to kill twitter's cross-media dominance https://twitter.com/...
Jon Rosenberg / @jonrosenberg: Free speech is going to cost money https://twitter.com/...
@fakeericverrone: Burying to lead to me: he allegedly pitched cutting jobs. That aside, why would websites pay in embed Tweets when they could just copy the text and paste it with quotes? In that case, they wouldn't even link back to Twitter, which feels like it would just limit traffic? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Joshua Raclaw / @joshraclaw: Can't wait for Elsevier to steal this idea and charge authors for citations https://twitter.com/...
Amy Gaeta / @gaetaamy: anyone who pays to quote tweet will be, rightfully, bullied off of this app https://twitter.com/...
@libshipwreck: Making people pay for this site really would be a great way to stop people from using it... https://twitter.com/...
@chx: This Musk idea reminds me of something... The screenshot (which of course would be totes doable with tweets too) is from @doctorow 's seminal DRM speech at Microsoft. https://craphound.com/... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@ovtrvn: [paying $3 to QT dunk on a NYT Opinion columnist resulting in an overdraft fee of $35] lol look at this dummy https://twitter.com/...
Carolyn Hinds / @carriecnh12: I already have sites like @BuzzFeedNews taking my tweets and making monetized content from them, for which I never get a red cent, and now that clown wants to do the same thing?! 😒 https://twitter.com/...
Paris Marx / @parismarx: If Musk turns Twitter into one of those web3 social media concepts where you pay every time you do anything, it'll die immediately. But he won't do that because he needs Twitter to feed the cult, keep the headlines flowing, and manipulate the stock market. https://www.reuters.com/...
Mat Honan / @mat: Remember when tweets weren't embed-able and so nobody ever took screenshots of them and put them in their stories https://twitter.com/...
Alex Howard / @digiphile: Musk may plan to grow @Twitter revenue by monetizing viral tweets or those with key info, perhaps by charging to embed tweets by @verified users: https://www.reuters.com/... Paying influencers to tweet unlikely to change UX: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... 🔒@TwitterBlue subscriptions could. https://twitter.com/...
Karissa Bell / Engadget: Jack Dorsey: ‘Nothing that is said now matters’
Craig Calcaterra / @craigcalcaterra: On the one hand this is stupid. On the other hand it will put an end to the practice of media companies publishing articles that are nothing but people's tweets and headlines like “Twitter reacts to [whatever event]” https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Bill Grueskin / @bgrueskin: Twitter revenue idea: Charge $5 to delete a tweet https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Katyanna Quach / The Register: Elon Musk flogs $8.4bn of Tesla shares amid Twitter offer drama
Cherie Priest / @cmpriest: @mediagazer oh ffs ::dusts off blog::
@vogon: every article that's just “here's 20 tweets about a topic” would dry up overnight if he did this, and those articles are in practice 100% lead generation for twitter because they get people onto the service and posting about topics du jour in the hope of becoming microfamous https://twitter.com/...
@sharkhand: @mediagazer Asking why do people use this thing, and then putting a toll in front of it is the only idea Silicon Valley techbros ever had. Expensive middlemen.
Rob Manuel / @robmanuel: He's talking about news publications paying to quote tweets in articles but almost every take dunking on this is taking it to mean “users paying to retweet”. Not saying I agree with the idea either but please at least argue about the right thing. https://twitter.com/...
Italian Elon Musk / @xoxogossipgita: what's a screenshot https://twitter.com/...
Chris Levesque / @chris_levesque_: Just another example of how he fundamentally doesn't understand social media. Even if you could get people to pay for Twitter use, they won't pay for these features. https://twitter.com/...
Andrew Tarantola / @terrortola: it's adorable that he thinks we'll pay to embed tweets instead of simply not embedding tweets anymore https://twitter.com/...
Jeff Labrecque / @jefflabrecque: I am rooting for Twitter to charge fees! It's the only solution to make me quit. https://twitter.com/...
Philip Bump / @pbump: Free speech — but, hear me out, what if speech cost money? https://twitter.com/...
Richard Lawler / The Verge: Every ridiculous thing we learned today about Elon Musk's plan to take over Twitter
@stitchmediamix: “Ideas he brought up included charging a fee when a third-party website wants to quote or embed a tweet from verified individuals or organizations.” He also supposedly wants to reduce dependence on ads so uh... I can imagine the tradeoff in content... https://twitter.com/...
Southpaw / @nycsouthpaw: The genius plan is you will write the tweet and then Elon Musk will charge Jeff Bezos $0.08 to embed it on the Washington Post's website. https://twitter.com/...
Greg Otto / @gregotto: This is how you know he absolutely has Online Brain™️. He has read every shitposter that has tweeted “This website is free” and made that his business plan. https://twitter.com/...
@gorthan_sir: So this is how Twitter will turn into Tumblr, gone and forgotten 😭😭😭😭 https://twitter.com/...
Paul Tassi / @paultassi: this is, no exaggeration, one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard as someone who embeds tweets in articles now, to get around this you'd just...screenshot the tweet, or quote the text with a link to the tweet https://twitter.com/...
Eriq Gardner / @eriqgardner: Maybe they should have ran Musk's acquisition of Twitter past a copyright lawyer. I'm skeptical of this idea, though as I said on @MattBelloni podcast, there may be other revenue-generating schemes like using the platform to serve legal papers on someone. https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Warren Kinsella / @kinsellawarren: He can't. The copyright over the content belongs to the author. All he owns is the presentation. https://twitter.com/...
William Vaillancourt / Rolling Stone: Elon Musk Is Considering Charging a Fee to Embed or Quote Tweets
@cfidd: Is it weird that I actually feel a sense of relief, knowing that these changes would absolutely be the end of Twitter? We all know we'd be better off without it https://www.reuters.com/...
@th1rt3en_tm: Huh, so he's gonna make money off of content created by the users? Any revenue sharing planned? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@ioonaevis: we'll all have ads that play right before u start reading a tweet https://twitter.com/...
Brendan Morrow / The Week: Elon Musk reportedly eyes new ways to monetize tweets as he lines up next Twitter CEO
Jashvina Shah / @icehockeystick: This is dumb and if anyone gets money from their tweets being embedded, IT SHOULD BE THE PEOPLE WHO WROTE THEM https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@hkesvani: lol wouldn't this effectively tank the Daily Wire and other right wing news sites who love getting mad at tweets https://twitter.com/...
Bulletin: Friday, April 29, 2022 — Note to email readers: Some clients will cut off our rundown due to length.
Issie Lapowsky / Protocol: Teen protection online will require big redesigns
Nilay Patel / @reckless: There isn't a celebrity in the world that's going to post *more* on Twitter, which is already toxic, if there's looser content moderation. They are all too smart and too savvy now, and want absolute control. Especially Taylor lol https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Ariel Zilber / New York Post: Twitter's ‘chief censor’ making $17M per year could be fired by Elon Musk
Apex Hern / @alexhern: It is extremely funny that musk's first big idea is so transparently based on his own incredibly weird experience of twitter. “Whenever I tweet, people write news articles about it. Therefore, there's value on charging newspapers to write about tweets” https://twitter.com/...
Tom Warren / @tomwarren: every website will just screenshot tweets instead of embedding them 🙃 https://twitter.com/...
Tyler Baum / The US Sun: Elon Musk to slash costs at Twitter with crack down on executive pay and making money from your tweets
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch: Elon Musk has reportedly lined up a new Twitter CEO, shared ideas for monetizing tweets
American Press Institute: Need to Know: April 29, 2022 — TOP NEWS THIS WEEK — On Monday, Elon Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion.
Linette Lopez / @lopezlinette: He can fire all the content moderators he wants, but that still won't save this business if it's paying $1B of interest on debt from this deal every year. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Jody Serrano / Gizmodo: Musk's Brilliant Idea to ‘Unlock’ Twitter's Potential: Charge for Embedded Tweets
Max Tani / Politico:
Some White House correspondents complain that Biden Administration storylines, while important and substantive, are “boring” and don't create star journalists — Washington reporters have long considered the role of White House correspondent to be the crown jewel of American political journalism.
Discussion:
@jerrydunleavy, @hc_richardson, @reedfrich, @mathewi, @connieschultz, Breaking the News, Associated Press, @maxabrahms, @tanzinavega, @donnabrazile, @mgerrydoyle, @alexandermccoy4, @sam_d_1995, @glcarlstrom, @ktumulty, @adamblickstein, @corb_the_lesser, @karlbode, @nancylevine, @ericmgarcia, @jackshafer, @davidlarter, @elianayjohnson, @soledadobrien, @curtishouck, @melaniesill, @dankennedy_nu, @robertmaguire_, @mattdizwhitlock, @joelockhart, @lisatozzi, @bencjacobs, @heather_muse, @brianmackey, @andrewpdyer, @adamblickstein, Breitbart, @uticaeric, @jerrydunleavy, @elainejgodfrey, @benlabolt, @brianschatz, @froomkin, Mediaite, Fox News, Press Watch, Insider and Washington Post
Discussion:
Jerry Dunleavy / @jerrydunleavy: This is the most pathetic thing I have ever read. https://www.politico.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Heather Cox Richardson / @hc_richardson: @froomkin This is infuriating. We finally have smart, well-informed officials who are producing reams of information. Reporters have the access to engage in serious discussions about huge questions, and instead they say they want cartoon drama?
Reed F. Richardson / @reedfrich: This Politico piece about how White House correspondents aren't cashing in anymore during the Biden era is truly execrable. And the anonymous quotes...oof...they speak to a whole other level of pathology about careerism undermining journalism's true purpose. https://www.politico.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Mathew Ingram / @mathewi: I've seen a lot of pieces that make journalists look bad, but this one takes it to a new level. “I liked Trump better because covering the White House is boring now.” You should be ashamed of yourselves https://www.politico.com/...
Connie Schultz / @connieschultz: @HC_Richardson @froomkin This piece is an embarrassment.
James Fallows / Breaking the News: Nietzsche Goes to the Nerd Prom
Will Weissert / Associated Press: White House correspondents' gala offers political normalcy despite COVID
Max Abrahms / @maxabrahms: Of course this is because Biden gives no access and when he does says nothing. https://twitter.com/...
Tanzina Vega / @tanzinavega: I can't...journalism isn't supposed to be a cosplay fantasy. Its real life work with real life implications. This is why the industry is struggling. https://twitter.com/...
Donna Brazile / @donnabrazile: Amazing. This is what the #WHCD has come to — reliving the past and unconcerned about the future. Today's Journalists are on the front lines reporting on the border between democracy vs autocracy. Do your job reporting the news. Leave the punditry to opinionated partisans. https://twitter.com/...
Gerry Doyle / @mgerrydoyle: this seems like a media problem not a white house problem https://twitter.com/...
Alexander McCoy / @alexandermccoy4: This is everything that has been wrong about the White House Press Corps https://twitter.com/...
Sam / @sam_d_1995: this perfectly encapsulates everything that's wrong with the modern political media ecosystem: a focus on juicy palace intrigue, gossip, and celebrity over serious policy analysis and the tangible impacts they would have on people https://twitter.com/...
Gregg Carlstrom / @glcarlstrom: If your job is to cover the most powerful office in the world and you find it “a bore” because you don't get to do televised Kabuki theatre with the press secretary anymore, dunno, maybe find a new job? Captures so much of what is infuriating about DC https://www.politico.com/...
Karen Tumulty / @ktumulty: This story makes a lot of interesting points, but one it leaves out (I'm saying this as a former WH reporter, albeit one from another century) is that the most valuable WH reporting takes place OUTSIDE the briefing room. Thread to come. https://www.politico.com/... via @politico
Adam Blickstein / @adamblickstein: But seriously, if you're a DC based reporter and lamenting that after Trump you are no longer a central character in the political story then maybe you should rethink being a journalist in the first place
@corb_the_lesser: @HC_Richardson @froomkin Cartoon drama is way easier than those serious discussions. Also very likely what their editors are assigning. Says a great deal about what so much of corporate media seems to think about the people who watch and read their stuff.
Karl Bode / @karlbode: the very broken U.S. political press (and the ad-based engagement economy that props up the whole mess) hates substance, nuance, and a lack of controversy. like, say, significant benefits coming from an historic infrastructure investment package. https://www.politico.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Nancy Levine🇺🇦 / @nancylevine: Of course White House reporters are bored and frustrated. Drug withdrawal will do that to you. WH reporters were mainlining dopamine in Trump's pathological wake. Amirite @duty2warn? https://twitter.com/...
Eric Michael Garcia / @ericmgarcia: “You guys are obsessed with Trump. Did you used to date him? Because you pretend like you hate him, but I think you love him. I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you.”-@michelleisawolf https://twitter.com/...
Jack Shafer / @jackshafer: “There's no Maggie [Haberman]. Who's the Maggie of the Biden administration? It doesn't exist.” @maxwelltani on the journalistic vacancies at the White House. https://www.politico.com/...
David B. Larter / @davidlarter: I disagree with this conceit. The White House reporter job didn't die in the Biden Administration. It has been on life support for years and if all you plan to do is ask questions and get spin from the Press Secretary it's a worthless role. https://www.politico.com/...
Eliana Johnson / @elianayjohnson: .@maxwelltani please unmask the identity of the idiot who told you this!-"And the work is a lot less rewarding, because you're no longer saving democracy from Sean Spicer and his Men's Wearhouse suit. Jawing with Jen just makes you look like an asshole" - https://www.politico.com/...
Soledad O'Brien / @soledadobrien: This drives a lot of the coverage we see and read: https://twitter.com/...
Curtis Houck / @curtishouck: The level of arrogance and self-centeredness in this piece about how “boring” it is to be a White House correspondent under Biden is almost too much. Yes, it's because their friends are in power and thus it's one massive circle jerk https://www.politico.com/...
Melanie Sill / @melaniesill: If there ever was a piece that illustrates how broken the Washington press is, this is it. https://twitter.com/...
Dan Kennedy / @dankennedy_nu: Peak Politico. One damaging quote. One mildly embarrassing quote. Both unattributed. https://www.politico.com/...
Robert Maguire / @robertmaguire_: DC reporters are sad that covering the White House no longer feels like refereeing a cage match in an abandoned Waffle House https://www.politico.com/...
Matt Whitlock / @mattdizwhitlock: Washington news isn't boring .. the media is just less enthusiastic about the villains. https://twitter.com/...
Joe Lockhart / @joelockhart: This is a must read story for anyone who wants to understand the broken culture of America's media. Substance, truth and integrity is “boring”. Give us Trump back so we can be the stars againThe Rise and Fall of the Star White House Reporter https://www.politico.com/... via @politico
Lisa Tozzi / @lisatozzi: (I'm old, so I think the Clinton years really gave rise to this — and the most extra celebrity/politics/journalists thing I ever went to was a party during the 2000 Democratic National Convention)
Ben Jacobs / @bencjacobs: So many of the issues in this piece are because people seem to be conflating the profession of journalism with doing performance art https://www.politico.com/...
Heather Muse / @heather_muse: This should be required reading in intro journalism classes for what *not* to do. If “star” reporters can't find an interesting story in DC, they should question their “calling.” First-year reporters covering municipal meetings do this work every day. https://www.politico.com/...
Brian Mackey / @brianmackey: Reminded of a line from Val Kilmer's character in “Spartan” (2004): “That's not a cost, it's benefit.” https://www.politico.com/... by @maxwelltani/@politico:
Andrew Dyer / @andrewpdyer: I'm sorry it was so exciting covering Trump and now you're bored but who is supposed to care?
Adam Blickstein / @adamblickstein: Some reporters spent the four Trump years developing main character syndrome & now are sad normalcy has returned https://twitter.com/...
Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart: White House Press Corps Finds Work a ‘Bore,’ Now That a Democrat is President
Eric L. Robinson / @uticaeric: The TL;DR is a Kinsley gaffe: “Our ad revenue is directly correlated to chaos, therefore we choose chaos.” https://twitter.com/...
Jerry Dunleavy / @jerrydunleavy: BTW what possible good reason could there be for Politico to grant this reporter anonymity? also, it is Men's ***Wearhouse***, not Warehouse. excellent mix of snobbery & lack of attention to basic detail. https://twitter.com/...
Elaine Godfrey / @elainejgodfrey: Last tweet on this but: If you're complaining about how boring it is to cover Biden, who is the most powerful man in the world and whose first year has been...eventful, you should probably not do this job. https://www.politico.com/...
Ben LaBolt / @benlabolt: +1. There's a bit of PTSD from reporters that only covered Trump about communications needing to be an epic, contentious struggle at every turn. https://twitter.com/...
Brian Schatz / @brianschatz: This quote makes me nauseated. “Jen [Psaki] is very good at her job, which is unfortunate,” one reporter who has covered the past two administrations from the room said." https://www.politico.com/...
Dan Froomkin / @froomkin: They really do want Trump back, don't they? https://presswatchers.org/... 2/2
Tommy Christopher / Mediaite: WH Reporters Complain Biden Era a ‘Bore’ and ‘Jawing’ with Psaki ‘Makes You Look Like An A**hole’ in Politico Whinefest
Gabriel Hays / Fox News: Reporter tells Politico they're afraid to battle Psaki: ‘Makes you look like an a—hole’
Dan Froomkin / Press Watch: Whiny, “bored” White House reporters evoke no sympathy
Laura Bradley / The Daily Beast:
Former Netflix Tudum staffers describe a chaotic workplace with few metrics to measure their success and no planning around the site's goals and brand identity — TU-DUMPED — Netflix recruited a small army of journalists—mostly women and people of color—to run Tudum.
Discussion:
Insider, @tnwhiskeywoman, @peaksandpages, @juwanthewriter, @lpbradley, @thedailybeast, @chrishayner, @theheroofthyme, @thedailybeast, @ayeshaasiddiqi, @danielletbd, @kendrajames_, @thetinavasquez, @maryamshahlive, @thedailybeast, @gretchen_smail, @juwanthewriter, @blackamazon, @automaticzen, @elieraine, @biscuitkitten, @judyberman, @stitchmediamix, @kikutowne, @nonstoppop, @gncordova, @karnythia, @dreid63, @lisatozzi, @marlownyc, @natemcdermott, @violentlyepic, @gerrickkennedy, @thedailybeast and @kikutowne
Discussion:
Elaine Low / Insider: Netflix lays off Tudum writers months after ‘aggressively’ recruiting them for new fan site: ‘So many people left full-time jobs for this’
@tnwhiskeywoman: I don't have too much more to say right now other than I am definitely not talking to anyone from BF about what it means to have your team of mostly WOC laid off after dealing with poor transparency re: goals, a lack of support & marketing, and internal executive sabotage.
Amanda Mullen / @peaksandpages: The more I read about this entire situation, the angrier I get. https://twitter.com/...
@juwanthewriter: “Three former Tudum staffers... described a chaotic work environment in which they had few metrics by which to measure their success... The higher-higher ups, one source said, are “PR people” who have no real clue how to build a newsroom.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Laura Bradley / @lpbradley: Netflix hired a staff of journalists to create its fan site Tudum and axed at least 10 of them months later. Now they're fighting for better severance pay. Former staffers described a chaotic environment where metrics for success were very hard to pin down https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
@thedailybeast: “It's just like, this was all a f-king lie,” one former Tudum staffer said. “Why do all this? Did they just have money that they had to burn for tax purposes or something, and so they just hired us? They could have at least waited a year.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Chris E. Hayner / @chrishayner: A really interesting piece. But any journalist looking down on those who chose to accept potential life-changing money from Netflix needs to take their nose out of the air and get back in line. The media landscape is a hellish nightmare. We are all just trying to survive. https://twitter.com/...
Daniel Wheaton / @theheroofthyme: Cruel bait and switch: “But the unimaginable pay was an opportunity that was simply too good to pass up. The hourly pay ranges offered annualized to $124,800 to $176,800, according to an Insider report” https://twitter.com/...
@thedailybeast: Netflix recruited a small army of journalists—mostly women and people of color—to run Tudum. Months later, the streamer axed them with just two weeks' pay. So, they're fighting back. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Ayesha A. Siddiqi / @ayeshaasiddiqi: corporations will always do what they can get away with, i don't see how else to prevent this from continuing to occur without robust unions that protect workers like these. no one deserves to be treated so disrespectfully https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Danielle Turchiano / @danielletbd: This makes me sweat. Lack of support is the No. 1 issue I have encountered in this business. It doesn't matter how strong your ideas are or clean your copy is if you don't have the tools to do the rest of the job and to be competitive in an increasingly noisy market. https://twitter.com/...
Kendra / @kendrajames_: “Writers were also discouraged from writing critically about Netflix series and subjects, or even to quote critiques from the productions themselves, multiple sources said.” I feel this frustration in my bones. https://twitter.com/...
Tina Vasquez / @thetinavasquez: I thought my layoff and newsroom closure was weird... https://twitter.com/...
Maryam Shah / @maryamshahlive: ‘"How are we the assholes?" they asked. “Fucking capitalism is the asshole. These companies are the assholes.”’ https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
@thedailybeast: Tudum launched as part of Netflix's marketing division with the goal of promoting the company's titles and writers were promised editorial freedom. Given everything they know now, however, former staffers feel like Netflix set them up to fail with a smile. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Gretchen / @gretchen_smail: There's a lot of great reporting here but this in particular is making me lose my mind a bit??? At that point....use Wordpress?! https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@juwanthewriter: “They all described feeling skeptical of the opportunity at first... But the unimaginable pay was an opportunity that was simply too good to pass up. The hourly pay ranges offered annualized to $124,800 to $176,800, according to an Insider report.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
@blackamazon: I am a systems and competence person so this ?!? “It didn't seem great, for instance, that no one at the top apparently thought to have a Twitter account for Tudum ready at launch—or, really, to promote Tudum and its content at” I am aghast https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
M.H. Williams / @automaticzen: Ohhhhh, Netflix had no plan whatsoever. Just FLYING BLIND. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Elie / @elieraine: “This was one of the most diverse teams that I have worked on in media, and I feel like this is a textbook thing where they put a Black woman in charge of something that they know they're not going to support—that they know they're going to sabotage—and then just let it fail.” https://twitter.com/...
Jill Blake / @biscuitkitten: I didn't even know Tudum existed until this week. Shady shit going down. I feel for all of these staffers/freelancers. https://twitter.com/...
Judy Berman / @judyberman: You have got to be kidding me https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@stitchmediamix: literally a nightmare like they didn't even give tudum and its writers a chance to thrive (again, no official handles?? really??) and took people from relatively stable positions only to drop them without notice and without significant severance? disgusting of them actually https://twitter.com/...
@kikutowne: Exact same vibe in other departments that I'm more familiar with, unfortunately. https://twitter.com/...
Will Harris / @nonstoppop: I'm just spitballing here, but I feel like the fact that the first time I'd ever heard of Tudum was when I saw an article about the site's layoffs is at least one pretty solid reason for why it wasn't a resounding success. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
@gncordova: I keep seeing tweets from writers who were laid off. This is fucked up. https://twitter.com/...
Deborah Reid / @dreid63: “This was one of the most diverse teams that I have worked on in media...and...they put a Black woman in charge of something that they know they're not going to support—that they know they're going to sabotage—and then just let it fail.” @netflix https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Lisa Tozzi / @lisatozzi: “If you start a publication and at four months after launch you have to start firing people, I think that's a pretty good indicator that you don't know what you're doing.” So much talent involved in this project. Everyone deserved better. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Marlow Stern / @marlownyc: Tudum writers cruelly laid off by Netflix speak out: “I felt like Adam Scott in ‘Severance’” https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Nathan McDermott / @natemcdermott: Literally just found out Tudum existed because the closing credits of Russian Doll recommended I go there. It's nuts how the various Netflix social accounts I follow never promotes it! https://twitter.com/...
@violentlyepic: genuinely one of the nastiest things i've ever heard of. i've been at companies that offered six months of severance with layoffs. two weeks is an insult and so cruel. i rly hate the state of media. netflix can afford it, too. they're ensuring this is a dying industry tbh https://twitter.com/...
Gerrick Kennedy / @gerrickkennedy: Glad to see pressure is being applied. https://twitter.com/...
Ax Sharma / Wired:
Hollywood's fight against VPN providers like ExpressVPN now goes beyond piracy, as a recent lawsuit alleges VPNs enable crimes like hacking, murder, and more — Beyond accusations of encouraging copyright infringement, film companies have begun accusing VPNs of enabling a slew of illegal activity.
Discussion:
@ax_sharma, @ax_sharma, @ax_sharma, The Desk, @ax_sharma, @dez_blanchfield, @kkomaitis, @eff, @charlesmok and Newslit Daily, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Ax Sharma / @ax_sharma: 'Child porn, bomb threats, hate speech—some of Hollywood's most bizarre arguments for forcing VPNs offline. Recently, TorGuard ‘settled’ with over 26 film studios by agreeing to block BitTorrent. And, VPN[.]ht additionally agreed to start keeping logs. https://www.wired.com/...
Ax Sharma / @ax_sharma: EFF's Senior Staff Attorney @MitchStoltz sheds light on what's legal here and what isn't, where each side falls, and what legal protections VPNs have in these matters.
Ax Sharma / @ax_sharma: And now, film studios have accused Kape companies ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access (PIA) of enabling online crooks that engage in all sorts of criminal activities via VPNs: illicit porn, hacking, and even encouraging violence and murder.
Matthew Keys / The Desk: Hollywood's charges against VPNs go beyond piracy
Ax Sharma / @ax_sharma: In the lawsuit docs, moviemakers call out personal political views and activities of those employed by these VPN companies—something that the lawyers representing the VPNs have asked the court to strike down. @EFF says Hollywood's demands are “extreme and not supported by law.”
Dez Blanchfield / @dez_blanchfield: Hollywood's Fight Against VPNs Turns Ugly ( film makers should go back to focusing on making and selling films for the love of god, and not ripping consumers off at every turn IMHO ) https://www.wired.com/...
Konstantinos Komaitis / @kkomaitis: 10 years ago, I met with policy folks from a bunch of Hollywood studios. At the meeting was myself and an engineer. To the question: “how do you feel about the internet”? The response always was: if we could, we'd kill it. Glad to see this hasn't changed https://www.wired.com/...
@eff: VPNs are an important tool for protecting privacy, and running one isn't illegal even if some users infringe copyright, EFF's @mitchstoltz tells Wired. https://www.wired.com/...
@charlesmok: If copyright ends up (again trying to) partitioning the Internet, isn't that yet another threat to splinter the internet? Hollywood's Fight Against VPNs Turns Ugly Film companies have begun accusing VPNs of enabling a slew of illegal activity. https://www.wired.com/...
Jose Montes de Oca / Newslit Daily: 📸 Snapchat's Pixy selfie drone
Lachlan Markay / Axios:
The FEC unanimously rejects a complaint against Courier Newsroom that claimed the network of progressive news sites had to register as a political committee — The Federal Election Commission has unanimously rejected allegations that a network of progressive news sites had operated …
Discussion:
Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Geoff Morrell is out as Disney's chief corporate affairs officer after less than four months, replaced by Kristina Schake and General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez — After less than four months, there is another changing of the communications guard at the Walt Disney Company.
Discussion:
Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, @energycynic, @benjaminjs, @ethanwsj, @highsierraman, @davidlarter, @anthony, @loudobbs, @pkafka, @jbflint, Breitbart and PRWeek
Discussion:
@energycynic: Well would you look at that. Our old BP adversary. @mr_skilling https://twitter.com/...
Benjamin Siemon / @benjaminjs: I hope this is the beginning of a new and better direction. https://deadline.com/...
Ethan Smith / @ethanwsj: There's blaming the messenger—and then there's blaming *your own* messenger. https://twitter.com/...
Steven Gaydos / @highsierraman: For those keeping track of lines in stories about Hollywood that make me laugh, here's number one this week: “Morrell joined Disney in January from a post as the executive vice president of communications and advocacy at oil and gas company BP.” https://variety.com/...
David B. Larter / @davidlarter: Lol: Yes, it was Comms' fault. https://deadline.com/...
Anthony DeRosa / @anthony: Battered by the ongoing battle with Florida Gov. Ron De Santis as well as internal dissent, Geoff Morrell is out as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Disney https://deadline.com/...
Lou Dobbs / @loudobbs: Disney's Florida lesson? Disney dives deeper into their Full Woke Slumber: Geoff Morrell Out As Disney Communications Chief After Florida Fiascos; Biden & Obama vet Kristina Schake & Horacio Gutierrez To Split Role #TheGreatAmericaShow https://deadline.com/... via @Deadline
Peter Kafka / @pkafka: Disney CEO hired a Republican as his comms man. Now trying a Democratic woman instead. https://twitter.com/...
Joe Flint / @jbflint: That was fast. https://twitter.com/...
Amaris Castillo / Poynter:
A look at the American Mosaic Prize, which annually awards $100K each to two freelance journalists reporting on underrepresented and/or misrepresented US groups — The idea is, 'These are amazing leaders. These are people with incredible talent. Give them resources and let them decide what to do with them.'
Discussion:
@spj_tweets, @atompkins, @ifjglobal, @nbj914, @amariscastillo, @jcanales, @jcstearns and @pndblog
Discussion:
@spj_tweets: “In selecting such a large dollar amount for the American Mosaic Prize...they were hoping to enable these journalists to do important work & give them a lot of freedom, while also shining a spotlight on them & the significance of this kind of journalism.” https://www.poynter.org/...
Al Tompkins / @atompkins: God bless journalism freelancers and the publishers and funders who keep them going. Journalism depends on freelancers all over the world. https://www.poynter.org/...
@ifjglobal: 📢We commend this family foundation's initiative to distribute $100,000 to selected #freelance #journalists: “Give them resources and let them decide what to do with them,” says @HSFdn's communications director, Brian Eule. We need independent reporting.👏 https://www.poynter.org/...
Nicholas Jackson / @nbj914: A great look at a great program, the @HSFdn's American Mosaic Prize, a $100,000 grant awarded to two freelance journalists every year “for excellence in long-form, narrative or deep reporting about underrepresented and/or misrepresented groups.” https://www.poynter.org/...
Amaris Castillo / @amariscastillo: Photojournalist @rcjonesphoto was at his family's home when he got an email from the @HSFdn. He didn't think much of it, until he found out he was a recipient of the American Mosaic Prize — $100,000 of unrestricted money to select freelance journalists: https://www.poynter.org/...
Jim Canales / @jcanales: Nice coverage of @HSFdn American Mosaic Prize for journalism. So proud of my friend and former colleague @BrianE_Fdn for his vision and leadership (he'll be mad I just wrote that 😉). https://www.poynter.org/...
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SEC filing: Amazon values MGM's film and TV content library at $3.4B, and its “goodwill” value, referring to intangible assets like brand reputation, at $4.9B — Amazon had pegged its deal for MGM, which it closed last month, as worth around $8.5 billion.
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, @bradybrendan1, @xpangler, We Got This Covered, @alexweprin and The Wrap
Discussion:
Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter: How Much Is MGM's Movie and TV Library Worth? Amazon Discloses New Details
Brendan Brady / @bradybrendan1: MGM content = $3.4B MGM reputation = $4.9B Interesting https://variety.com/...
Todd Spangler / @xpangler: Again, for @amazon, the deal for @mgmstudios was chump change — Amazon said acquisition-related costs “were not significant” https://variety.com/... via @Variety
Evan J. Pretzer / We Got This Covered: Amazon has a very low valuation of MGM's 4000-film back catalog
Corin Faife / The Verge:
Reuters parent company Thomson Reuters tells shareholders it is assessing the human rights impact of its software including Clear, used by US immigration agents — The announcement follows years of activism from the Canadian BCGEU, a minority shareholder in the company
Discussion:
Mijente / @conmijente: “The announcement of the impact assessment has been greeted with cautious optimism by groups like Mijente, a grassroots Latinx nonprofit organization that has led the #NoTechForICE campaign.” https://www.theverge.com/... via @corintxt
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Report finds Amazon and third parties collect data from interactions with Alexa through Echo speakers and share it with as many as 41 partners for ad targeting — Amazon and third parties use data from smart speakers to sell you stuff, says report — A report released last week contends …
Discussion:
9to5Mac, AI Supremacy, @tekaldas, @emmamashford, @rikefranke, @dtemkin, Today in Digital Marketing, @shonaghosh, @grahamvsworld and MediaNama
Discussion:
Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac: Report: Amazon and third parties use Alexa voice data for ads while Siri respects privacy
Michael Spencer / AI Supremacy: The Problem of Artificial Intelligence and Religious Freedom
Timothy E Kaldas / @tekaldas: I have refused to purchase a single electronic device that is Alexa enabled. It is the creepiest corporate invasion of privacy we have. I will continue to avoid Alexa and similar technologies as long as I can. https://twitter.com/...
Emma Ashford / @emmamashford: My most reactionary political view is that if you let one of these wiretaps into your house you deserve everything you get. https://twitter.com/...
Ulrike Franke / @rikefranke: This is my surprised face https://twitter.com/...
@dtemkin: Not one thing in this article is a surprise. Your $29 smart speaker cost a lot more than that to design and build.. like almost any other free or low cost item on the internet, YOU are the product for sale. https://twitter.com/...
Steph Gunn / Today in Digital Marketing: The Walls Have Monetizable Ears
Shona Ghosh / @shonaghosh: Gross. Once you've handed over hard cash to a company for a device, it shouldn't continue to extract value from you in other ways. https://twitter.com/...
Stuart McGurk / New Statesman:
A deep dive into GB News as the British outlet nears its one-year anniversary: lack of production experience, competition from Murdoch's talkTV, and low ratings — When Angelos Frangopoulos addressed his newly assembled staff in early May last year, the atmosphere was jubilant, giddy even …
Discussion:
Alan White / @aljwhite: When I say this @stuartmcgurk piece about GB News is incredible, I'm really, really understating it https://www.newstatesman.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Pascal / @pascallth: A fun long read on GB News' travails. Striking that not only some people refused to see what everyone else said it was (Farage TV) but that some today are still surprised when the truth becomes undeniable https://www.newstatesman.com/ ...
Liam Thorp / @liamthorpecho: This piece from @stuartmcgurk is every bit as brilliant and jaw-dropping as people are saying https://www.newstatesman.com/ ...
Scott Bryan / @scottygb: This article on @GBNews in the New Statesman is worth your time https://www.newstatesman.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@miffythegamer: “The same low rent guests” They were going to call GBeebies “Fox News”, but then they discovered the name had been taken. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@brexit_sham: How the dream mix of establishment broadcasting people and fire-breathing libertarian right-wingers at GB News ended up as a nightmare where problems came thick, fast, then thick again, none more so than Farage, Grimes, Phillips, Wootton and Oliver. https://www.newstatesman.com/ ...
Jessica Elgot / @jessicaelgot: This is honestly every parents' dream if their child is in journalism https://twitter.com/...
Jo Maugham / @jolyonmaugham: Alex “Phillips suspected people were stealing, incongruously, her orange squash from the fridge. Standing by the live desk, miked up and about to go on air, Phillips reportedly shouted, ‘Which c*** has had my squash?’” On life at GBeebies... https://www.newstatesman.com/ ...
Janine Gibson / @janinegibson: I didn't think I needed a long read about GB News and I was so wrong. This is thorough and detailed and deliciously written https://www.newstatesman.com/ ...
Hugo Rifkind / @hugorifkind: Weirdly, this exact same thing happened with @MattChorley at @TimesRadio. https://twitter.com/...
Rupert Myers / @rupertmyers: Great article - full of fascinating gems. Alex Phillips is bafflingly overpaid https://twitter.com/...
Otto English / @otto_english: An absolute gem this. A long read on GB News but all the better for it. Must read https://www.newstatesman.com/ ...
Henry Dyer / @direthoughts: 'One presenter told me that producers had taken to booking their own parents. As vox pops, I asked, for the person-on-the-street view? “No,” they said, “as guests. Someone will say, 'My mum's got a view on this.' ‘Has she? Is she free?’ That's happened at least twice."' https://twitter.com/...
Hadley Freeman / @hadleyfreeman: I thought I'd retweet this with screenshots of my favourite lines, but that would mean screenshotting the entire article. Pure comedic genius of the 'couldn't make it up' genre https://twitter.com/...
@pressgazette: Can GB News survive the launch of TalkTV? The @NewStatesman today published an in-depth investigation documenting the ups and downs of GB News' first year. It features claims of a “toxic” workplace and producers booking their parents as on-air guests. https://www.newstatesman.com/ ...
Jessica Toonkel / The Information:
Source: Vice Media is working with PJT and LionTree to explore the sale of its studio business, which is Vice's biggest business unit by revenue contribution — Vice Media is exploring the possible sale of its studio business, looking to take advantage of rising valuations for production companies in recent months.