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The Chompsky Weekly #69

elizmizon.substack.com

The Chompsky Weekly #69

Nice. (And I'm kinda bailing from the newsletter for a bit, soz.)

Eliz Mizon
Aug 21, 2022
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The Chompsky Weekly #69

elizmizon.substack.com

Hello - this week, I’ve been mostly… working at my local newspaper, The Bristol Cable!

I’m excited to be there, to learn the ropes in a new job for the first time in years, and to deliver local news in an ethical, sustainable, in-depth way.

What it does mean, however, is that freelance work is going to take a backseat, at least while I settle in.

I plan to keep The Chompsky Weekly media news roundup each week, but I expect articles/analysis to be few and far between, if at all. We’ll just have to see what happens, and how much time/mental space I end up with.

Thank you so much for continuing to support the newsletter, I hope you find it useful and interesting. If you have any feedback, this interim period would be a good time for me to reflect.

Please take a short moment to comment below on why you subscribe to Power and Pop Culture, and what you’d like to see change, and stay the same, as I take it forward.

Thanks everyone,

Eliz (Writer and Comms Lead, The Bristol Cable)

Twitter avatar for @TheBristolCable
The Bristol Cable @TheBristolCable
Happy to announce that media writer @ElizMizon has come on board to be our new Comms person! As a former Cable director and freelance contributor, we know she'll be a fierce ambassador for what we've achieved, and what we're working towards. #communitymedia #freepress
Twitter avatar for @ElizMizon
Eliz Mizon @ElizMizon
🚨NEWS KLAXON: I am now working @TheBristolCable!🚨 The Cable is my local paper, 100% owned by its members. I signed up a decade ago when it launched, and it's renowned in the UK and abroad. I believe in it so much, I made them hire me. Check it out at https://t.co/CZ6R2FE6pe https://t.co/jt6JPWkBZx
11:44 AM ∙ Aug 17, 2022
5Likes5Retweets

Power and Pop Culture is a reader-supported publication. To receive all posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

It’s Sunday 21st Aug, 2022

Media News

  • A group of journalists and lawyers have sued the CIA over allegations the agency spied on them when they visited Julian Assange at Ecuador's embassy in London. (Reuters)

  • While maintaining criticism of its existing problems, Poynter has collected stories outlining the positive effects of Australia’s News Bargaining Code, the law that requires Google and Facebook to pay newsrooms for the traffic that their links bring the platforms. The report says that the Code delivered around AUD$200m (£116m) to newsrooms in its first year. (Poynter)

  • Mexico’s hostile environment for journalists continues. Already in 2022, 18 journalists have been killed (13 and 14 were recorded in total for 2021 and 2020, respectively). A human rights organisation has said this year could be “the worst year in a century” for journalists’ safety. (Reuters)

  • Plans to collapse the BBC’s domestic and global rolling news channel into one ad-funded ‘BBC News’ channel broadcast from Washington DC has been criticised by the NUJ and top BBC presenters. Martine Croxall has urged license fee payers, who would still be able to access the channel for free, to protest the plans. (iNews)

  • Though Netflix plans to introduce adverts to maintain its financial dominance, it’s reported that the streamer will not place ads in kids shows and movies. (Bloomberg)

  • A short time after the launch of both its flagship streaming services, Warner Bros. Discovery is to merge Discovery+ and HBOMax, losing a number of lower-profile items of content but saving $3bn in the process. (Engadget)

  • Reliable Sources, CNN’s influential liberal news show fronted by Brian Stelter, has been cancelled. Vanity Fair’s media reporter Joe Pompeo has chronicled the rumours that its lib-lean was out of step with the politics of the company executives, which they’ve denied. (Vanity Fair)

  • Publishing giants Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House are seeking to merge, something which the US Justice Department is trying to block. Their main argument is that it will make a huge dent in author royalties. (Bloomberg)

  • Award-winning journalist Saeed Taji Farouky was arrested and his devices confiscated at a Free Palestine rally by UK police, something he says has not happened before in 18 years of global conflict reporting. (@saeedtaji)

  • The New York Daily News Union has spoken out against the hedge fund that recently bought it, Alden Global Capital, saying it’s created unsustainable work conditions and driven an exodus of journalists:

    Twitter avatar for @NYDNUnion
    Daily News Union @NYDNUnion
    Twelve journalists have resigned from the Daily News over the last three months. That’s about 20% if our newsroom. Staffers are quitting in droves. Our owners — Alden Global Capital — don’t seem to care. New York City should care.
    4:08 PM ∙ Aug 18, 2022
    704Likes282Retweets

Power and Pop Culture is a reader-supported publication. To receive all posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Campaigns + Content

SUPPORT XR’s MEDIA CAMPAIGNERS

If you needed any more reason, check this out:

Twitter avatar for @TTTMediaXR
Media Tell The Truth XR @TTTMediaXR
This morning in the studios of @GMB activists held up a banner saying “ITV: stop your war on young”. Here’s why.
10:51 AM ∙ Aug 17, 2022
1,092Likes403Retweets

What happens when an oil company ‘benevolently’ steps in to serve a news desert? Molly Taft of Gizmodo went to find out:

Chevron Jumps Into Texas' News Desert With Stories About Puppies, Football, and Oil

And another chronicle of the ways in which local news is suffering at the hands of big business:

“How a Soviet-born developer and a West Virginia billionaire destroyed a 141-year-old Colorado newspaper”

End Times in Aspen: How to Kill a Newspaper

In the face of tightening belts and increasing competition, the streaming market has become the monster it purported to replace, says Axios media reporter Sara Fischer:

“The streaming era was supposed to give consumers more choice, but streaming options increasingly resemble the bloated cable bundles they sought to replace.”

The TV Bundle is back


Power and Pop Culture is a reader-supported publication. To receive all posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

This is cute, please enjoy it:

Twitter avatar for @Fox5DCJeannette
Jeannette Reyes @Fox5DCJeannette
When both of your parents are news anchors @Robert7News
9:26 PM ∙ Aug 14, 2022
459,858Likes66,997Retweets

That’s all folks.

Love.Eliz

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The Chompsky Weekly #69

elizmizon.substack.com
1 Comment
Sophie
Aug 25, 2022

Congratulations on the new job! Looking forward to seeing your face more :)

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