Mediagazer: Internal note: Twitter temporarily disabled signing up for Twitter Blue to “help address impersonation issues” affecting brands, politicians, and celebrities (Washington Post)

10:40 PM ET, November 11, 2022

Top News:

Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge:

Twitter reactivates its gray “Official” badge for select brands and outlets, after a wave of impersonations, hoaxing, and other chaos by purchased blue checks — Okay, so Twitter broke its own verification system by making the blue check — previously a signal that the account …

Discussion: @elonmusk, Washington Post, @jackmlawrence, @esthercrawford, @elonmusk, @esthercrawford, @agoldmund, Reuters, @mds, @mkbhd, CNET, New York Times, @caseynewton, @twittersupport, @esthercrawford, @macaesbruno, @senmarkey, @taylorlorenz, @freddyinspace, Engadget, Insider, The Hill, PC Gamer, CBS News, The Guardian, @robertwrighter, Gizmodo, Vanity Fair, @geoffreyfowler, Politico, Jezebel, @libyaliberty, Livemint, Polygon, @iambrandontv, @davidmackau, @davidmackau, @david_j_roth, Insider, @fmanjoo, @digiphile, @mattbc, @inihelene, @kurtwagner8, @coreypein, @oneunderscore__, @astrokatie, @craigmod, @aravosis, @alexhern, @mrjoncryer, @sewellchan, @earleyedition, @mathewi, @leahmcelrath, @krisgoldsmith85, TechCrunch, Associated Press, The Week, Barrett Media, Engadget, Media Matters for America, BleepingComputer, Philosophy bear, Rolling Stone, Polygon, New York Post, Reason, Music Ally, Gizmodo, The Wrap, Accidental Philosophy, Digital Journal and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:

Sources: Twitter's head of ad sales Robin Wheeler resigned, but Musk convinced her to stay; head of Trust & Safety Yoel Roth confirmed his resignation — Elon Musk, in his first address to Twitter Inc. employees since purchasing the company for $44 billion, said that bankruptcy …

Washington Post:

Internal note: Twitter temporarily disabled signing up for Twitter Blue to “help address impersonation issues” affecting brands, politicians, and celebrities — Twitter accounts impersonating celebrities and politicians spread on the site after the company rolled out paid check marks.

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:

In his first email to staff, Elon Musk says he wants subscriptions to account for half of Twitter's revenue — New Twitter Inc. owner Elon Musk emailed his workers for the first time late Wednesday to prepare them for “difficult times ahead” and ban remote work unless he personally approved it.

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Internal memo: Disney plans to institute a targeted hiring freeze except for “the most critical, business-driving positions” and make “some staff reductions” — KEY POINTS — Disney plans to freeze hiring and cut some jobs, according to an internal memo.

Discussion: MediaPost, Deadline, Ad Age, Variety, Insider, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Los Angeles Times, @sherman4949, @jeffmacke, @variety, @sherman4949, The Desk, @azalben, The Hollywood Reporter and IndieWire

Garett Sloane / Ad Age:

NBCUniversal Ad and Partnerships Chair Linda Yaccarino says “there is no surrogate for Twitter” and Elon Musk can learn advertising: “I think we can teach him” — Major media exec says ‘there is no surrogate for Twitter’ and she is not ready to bet against its new owner

Discussion: The Verge, Deadline, Bloomberg, @loupas, @garyblack00, @shannonzkiller, @garyblack00, @mcproulx, @joshtpm, @sarahnadav, @nicholasvinocur, @garettsloane and @garyblack00

Mia Sato / The Verge:

Memo: Omnicom, one of the world's biggest ad firms, recommends its clients like Apple, PepsiCo, and others “pause activity on Twitter”, citing brand safety risk — Omnicom, one of the world's biggest ad firms, representing brands like McDonald's, Apple, and Pepsico …

Discussion: @miarsato, @richburroughs, @mmasnick, @cryborg, @dbinkowski, AppleInsider, Breitbart, Quartz, @pkafka, @danlesac, @film_girl, CNN, Bloomberg, New Republic, Gizmodo and Observer, more at Techmeme »

The New York Times Company:

The New York Times hires Axios national political reporter Jonathan Swan for its politics team, describing him as “a gifted, dogged, and high-impact reporter” — The political reporter is joining the Politics team at The Times. Read more in this note from Politics Editor David Halbfinger …

Jack Queen / Reuters:

A Connecticut judge orders Alex Jones to pay $473M in punitive damages on top of the nearly $1B in defamation claims that a jury awarded to Sandy Hook parents — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay $473 million in punitive damages on top of a nearly $1 billion verdict handed down last month …

Discussion: Associated Press, @scalzi, @georgehahn, @katiephang, Bloomberg, Deadline and New York Post

Margaret Sullivan / Media Maelstrom:

Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post's former media critic, launches Media Maelstrom, a Substack newsletter about “what's wrong with the press and how to fix it” — Coming soon This is Media Maelstrom, a newsletter about what's wrong with the press and how to fix it.

Discussion: @sulliview, @mollyjongfast, @hamishmckenzie, @mathewi, @heerjeet, @markjacob16, @parkermolloy, @sulliview and The B-Roll

Jason Del Rey / Vox:

How Amazon's shopping experience, saturated with ads, impacts sellers and consumers, as its 2022 ad revenue surpassed revenue from Prime and other subscriptions — Inside the under-the-radar business that makes more money than Amazon Prime. — Type any random product into Amazon's search bar and look closely at the results.

Discussion: @glenngabe, @eric_seufert, @shiraovide, @joshsternberg, @thegrok, @retailgeek, Beyond Search and Next in Marketing, more at Techmeme »

Jennifer Maas / Variety:

An interview with HBO Max Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey on her mandate to grow Warner Bros. Discovery IP, canceling originals, and figuring out ratings — Sarah Aubrey definitely did not sign up for this. — In early 2015, when she ended her producing partnership with filmmaker Peter Berg …

Discussion: SlashFilm and ScreenRant

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