Mediagazer: South Korean show Squid Game, topping Netflix charts in 90 countries, vindicates Netflix's strategy of creating franchises using content from around the world (Josef Adalian/Vulture)

7:45 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, nexttv.com, @karidotpeters, The Hill, @katie_robertson, The Wrap, Vanity Fair, The Verge, Matt's Newsletter, Ineptitudes, Forbes, Insider, @film_girl, @mikeorren, @petersterne, @petersterne, @alexweprin, @danprimack, @geedee215, @sarafischer, @edmundlee, @aaschapiro, @megan, @film_girl, @charlesarthur, @sarafischer, @harrymccracken, @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, @davidfolkenflik, @joshuatopolsky, @reckless, @mikeisaac, @nichcarlson, @benedictevans, @sree, @bigblackjacobin, @robtornoe, @wsteaks, @deray, @jbarro, @pamelacolloff, @neontaster, @timjhogan, @kromandavid, @danielnazer, @britnidwrites, @dougheye, @daveleeft, @mimms, @nycsouthpaw, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, A Scammer Darkly, @rebeccajarvis, @jonathanvswan, @ashleyfeinberg, Hollywood Reporter and Mediaite

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, 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, @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

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, @schwartzbcnbc, @sarafischer, Forbes, @nick4iezos, @tomgara and @danprimack

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, Insider, CNBC, New York Magazine, @sarafischer, Bloomberg, @lmoses, Entrepreneur, @gerryfsmith, @shannonpareil, @intelligencer, @eevasita, Fortune, @mediainsider, Current, @silviakillings, @perlberg, @larakiara, @jbarro, @lisatozzi, @julie188, Sparrow One, @saraashleyo, New York Post, Newser, @aprjoy, New York Times, @lollardfish, @markgongloff, @ktbenner, @mattbelloni, @priaribi, @keitholbermann, @clarajeffery, @davidgura, @dcseifert, @schwartzbcnbc, @moorehn, @russellbrandom, @peterhamby, @bobpickard, @parismartineau, @mslopatto, @phil_rosenthal, @danprimack, @ahess247, @caleweissman, @tonyajoriley, @brosandprose, @anhaiphung, @chaykak, @ahhensel, @heynottheface, @gnagesh, @fka_tabs, @bartlettkate, @elenainzafrica, @nick4iezos, @bartlettkate, @charukasturi, @shortformernie, @eevasita, @eevasita, @eevasita, @alextweeting, @kerrymflynn, @shortformernie, @monicatorrr, @kidnate, @bmorrissey, @nick4iezos and @jman23j, more at Techmeme »

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

Discussion: CNN, Ad Age, @keithrhernandez, Press Watch, The Fix, @evanmcmurry, @dgisserious and Hollywood Reporter

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 Magazine, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Metro.co.uk, Gizmodo, New York Times, The Guardian, @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, The Wrap, New York Post, Input, Decider, 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: The Wrap, Vanity Fair and @jemelehill

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, What's New in Publishing and @bmorrissey

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

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 …

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 …

Discussion: Facebook and endlessdigital's Newsletter, more at Techmeme »