Mediagazer: A look at blue-collar influencers, including a trucker, a shepherd, and a fisherman, who have amassed large audiences by posting short videos of their workday (Steven Kurutz/New York Times)

12:15 PM ET, October 30, 2023

Top News:

RSF investigation into the death of Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon: one car had clear “press” markings and two strikes occurred ~30 seconds apart — Organisation: — RSF_en — Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has released a video reconstruction of the tragedy …

Discussion: @rsf_inter, @pressgazette, @guinnesskebab, @malonebarry, @ionacraig, @mehdirhasan, @rsf_inter, @malonebarry, Agence France-Presse, @antoinette_news, @mehdirhasan@threads.net and Reuters

Mark Bendeich / Reuters:

The Israel Defense Forces tells Reuters and the AFP that the safety of their journalists in Gaza cannot be guaranteed, after the outlets sought assurances — Israel's military has told international news organisations Reuters and Agence France Presse that it cannot guarantee the safety …

Discussion: @kevincollier.bsky.social, @angelcomrade.bsky.social, @punksoda.bsky.social, @vegetablegremlin.bsky.social, @blackamazon.bsky.social, Digital Journal, Caitlin Johnstone and The Hill

Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath / Axios:

Some reporters in Gaza have been able to give intermittent updates via satellite connections, as a communications blackout since October 27 cuts off the Strip — - “If we all got killed in Gaza ... no one will know,” Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad said in a post she was able to upload …

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, NPR, The Guardian, @naomizeveloff, @pressfreedom, @middleeasteye, @joyce_karam, Washington Post, Middle East Eye, Associated Press, The Guardian, Politico, TIME, Rolling Stone and ABC7

Jillian Deutsch / Bloomberg:

Meta plans to offer Instagram and Facebook users in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland an ad-free option for €9.99 or €12.99 per month, alongside free with ads — - Plans cost €9.99 per month on the web, €12.99 on mobile — The model follows increasing EU regulations on data access

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, TechCrunch, Meta, The Verge, Engadget, @arrington, BGR, Politico, @sarthakgh and @jason_kint, more at Techmeme »

Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:

Meta plans to temporarily suspend showing ads to all users under 18 in the EU and parts of Europe starting on November 6, to comply with EU regulations — Ad changes for Instagram and Facebook owner are aimed at navigating EU rules about targeted ads — Meta Platforms will stop showing adverts …

Discussion: Associated Press, @samschech, @hoofnagle and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:

Most of the 700 NYT tech staff plan a half-day work stoppage today, accusing the outlet of unilaterally implementing a return-to-office plan without negotiating — - News giant's Tech Guild plans half-day work stoppage Monday — Workers include software engineers and product managers

Discussion: Reuters, @anastasiakeeley, @josheidelson, @josheidelson and @beep@follow.ethanmarcotte.com

David Montgomery / YouGov:

YouGov survey of 29,397 Americans: 85% own at least one physical book, 20% own one to 10, 14% own 11 to 25, and 13% own 26 to 50; 9% say they own 100+ e-books — Whether you sort your books by genre, author's name, the Dewey Decimal System, or the color of the spine, you're in the minority.

Discussion: @yougovamerica, @dhmontgomery, @michellemanafy@journa.host, @dhmontgomery, @markwgilson, @zjayres and @dhmontgomery

Max Tani / Semafor:

Sources: at a private meeting with bank executives last week, Biden fumed at the NYT for saying that an Israeli airstrike was behind the Gaza hospital explosion — The Scoop — President Joe Biden raged against The New York Times in a private White House meeting early last week …

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Post, @danielyrubin, @brianstelter and Politico

Reuters:

Graphic pro-Israel ads are appearing in kids' video games, including Angry Birds, in the UK and elsewhere; Israel has spent $1.5M on online ads since October 7 — Maria Julia Cassis was sitting down to a meal in her terraced home in north London when her 6-year-old son ran into the dining room, his face pale.

Discussion: @xzherron, @samiranadkarni and @leenavand, more at Techmeme »

Digiday:

GroupM North America CEO Kirk McDonald plans to leave at the end of 2023 after three years, replaced by Mindshare CEO Adam Gerhart on an interim basis — Kirk McDonald, who has served as the CEO of GroupM North America for the past three years, is leaving his position.

Discussion: Ad Age, Variety, MediaPost, @michaelburgi and Insider

Steven Kurutz / New York Times:

A look at blue-collar influencers, including a trucker, a shepherd, and a fisherman, who have amassed large audiences by posting short videos of their workday — A new crop of popular social media personalities includes a trucker, a shepherd and a commercial fisherman.

Discussion: @jamesafmorse, @gw_gallery and @seangraf, more at Techmeme »

Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:

Ad holding company Omnicom agrees to acquire Flywheel, the digital commerce arm of UK-based B2B media company Ascential, for a net cash purchase price of ~$835M — Flywheel, part of Cannes Lions owner Ascential, aims to help brands sell on digital marketplaces such as Amazon

Discussion: MediaPost, @bd2k, @megancgraham, Adweek, PR Newswire and Reuters, more at Techmeme »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 12:15 PM ET, October 30, 2023.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

Energy Markets Reporter, London — WSJ

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Multimedia Journalist, PA — Observer-Reporter

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

Senior Media Editor — Digiday

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Staff Reporter, CA — Daily Kos

Data Editor, NY — ProPublica

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
Elon Musk says X posts corrected by Community Notes will be “ineligible for revenue share” in order to “maximize the incentive for accuracy over sensationalism”

Discussion: @nezua.bsky.social, @therabbithole84, @howardlindzon, @stokel, @djsnm, @shayan86, @elonmusk, @blackamazon.bsky.social, The Information, @paultassi, @autismcapital, @keemstar, @wallstreetsilv, @shaykhsulaiman, @pitdesi and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
The UK's culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, wants to bolster internal regulatory structures at the BBC as part of a review set be released in the coming weeks

Discussion: @anjliraval and GB News

New York Times:
AI fakes related to the Israel-Hamas war have been limited and unconvincing, but the possibility of such fakes circulating leads some to dismiss genuine content

Discussion: @LukaszOlejnik@mastodon.social, @katestarbird.bsky.social, @edsu@social.coop and Rolling Stone

Washington Post:
A look at the hard right tilt of X, which once served as the hub of real-time news and global debate, and how its political shift could intensify business woes

Kristin Robinson / Billboard:
Sources: BMG terminated ~40 employees on October 27; memo: the layoffs effectively “discontinued” its international marketing department for recordings and more

Discussion: CMU and @meetmusiclovers

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Instagram head Adam Mosseri says Threads is working on an API, despite concerns that “it'll mean a lot more publisher content and not much more creator content”

Earlier Picks:

David Zweig / Silent Lunch, The David Zweig Newsletter:
How a mistranslation and copying bad reporting may have led to wide coverage that 500+ people died in the Gaza hospital blast; no outlet quoted a primary source

Daniel Frankel / Next TV:
Morgan Stanley projects that Google will lose $1.204B in the 2023 season of YouTube TV's NFL Sunday Ticket, and $1.409B annually by the 2029 season

Discussion: The Streamable, @tvgrimreaper, New York Post, Awful Announcing, @minddestroyedx, The Verge, The Desk, @mikeozanian, @tuxedokirby, @burt_mo, @bsmstaff, @mediafinance, @badgerhugh, Sportico, The Streamable and Cord Cutters News

Todd Spangler / Variety:
A360Media-owned Soap Opera Digest discontinues its weekly print run; the daytime drama magazine launched in 1975 and saw its circulation peak at 1.5M in 1991

Discussion: MediaPost, @lauren_a2000, @metsfaninphilly, @mstracymartin, @writerguy5, @donaldjrpeebles, @berrymichael, @mattfarris, Soap Hub and Soaps.com

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA and studios plan to keep talking over the weekend; thousands of union members signed a letter saying they'd rather keep striking than take a bad deal

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Deadline, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, @sagaftra, @feliciaday, @therati, @aysrick, AllYourScreens.com, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, NBC News, Reuters and Deadline

Emma Roth / The Verge:
X adds a $16/mo. Premium+ plan with no ads in For You or Following and the “largest reply boost”, and a $3/mo. Basic plan with a “small boost” but no checkmark

Discussion: @premium, @david_leavitt, @lindayax, @tomwarren, @tailosivetech, @harrymccracken, @wazzcrypto, @premium, @minimaxir, MediaPost, @sfdb@mastodon.social, The Information, @BrendanSinclair …, TechCrunch, @ernie@writing.exchange, @2xaught7.bsky.social and Engadget

From Techmeme:

Gavin Anderegg / anderegg.ca:
Bluesky is working to become fully decentralized but it could take years amid financial concerns as it makes money only by selling domains for usernames

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: ByteDance is valuing itself at about $300B as part of a recent buyback offer, one of its highest valuations ever

GovTech:
US DHS issues guidance on adopting AI in critical infrastructure, identifying AI-driven attacks, targeted attacks on AI systems, and design flaws as core risks

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page