While it’s been evident for quite some that the future of cable TV rests on shaky ground, we are now seeing clear signs of the disruption the introduction of streaming and shifting viewing habits has had on the industry.
The challenges that lie ahead were laid bare in the recent standoff between Disney and Charter Communications that experts said risked unraveling the lucrative business of cable TV. The two sides eventually came to an agreement.
Now, another TV company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is once again testing the limits of the business with the launch of CNN Max, which airs several hours of programming that CNN carries on its linear channel, running the risk of violating the contracts the network holds with distributors.
This is yet another example of companies walking a fine line trying to maintain their lucrative cable contracts while also strongly positioning themselves for the future with streaming.
The Disney-Charter Deal
Earlier this year, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Charter Communications CEO Chris Winfrey, which owns Spectrum TV, got into a public dispute that left Charter customers unable to watch Disney channels, including ESPN, and the company threatened to exit the business altogether.
[...]
TV Companies Are Treading A Fine Line
Nielsen data also showed that for the first time in July, broadcast and cable TV combined made up for less than 50% of total viewership, a record low.
Amid the inevitable reality of changing viewer habits and more Americans cutting the cord, TV companies must strike a delicate balance: develop their streaming platforms and garner more customers while maintaining the lucrative old cable TV contracts that have allowed them to fund their streaming ambitions.
Could the end of cable TV as we know it be coming down the pike? If the Disney/Spectrum dispute that later got resolved (which led to Freeform being dropped from Spectrum) is any indication, then it could be a reality within 10 years.
Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia (dir. Salima Koroma).
CNN's documentary on the viral game show's spectacular downfall chronicles all the usual beats about the absurdity of startup life. Framed mostly through comedian and former HQ Trivia host Scott Rogowsky's rollercoaster experiences witnessing the meteoric success and subsequent turmoil, we learn more of the lurid details behind the mobile app's flawed management through its dysfunctional work culture and problematic co-ounders who also created Vine.
The thing with news sources and deciding what's trustworthy and what's not is that when you see criticism of Aljazeera (which to be clear is not a great news source about anything other than Palestine) is that they completely neglect to mention that each regional section of Al-Jazeera has different people in charge of it, different contributors, different sources.
By all means, analyze your sources and understand what information you're getting but to say outright that ALL of what AlJazeera reports EVER is wrong is inherently meant to discredit Palestinian journalists in a way that no other journalist who is not Palestinian and NOT directly experiencing the war in Gaza has been discredited. Surprisingly (not really but), a lot of Palestinians in Gaza are employed by AlJazeera because it's difficult for them to find employment elsewhere.
And again, I do not love AlJazeera. I think they do plenty of faulty journalism and reporting and I actively avoid them for most news sources. But RIGHT NOW with everything going on in Gaza, they're probably one of the most trustworthy ones because of their first hand accounts and willingness to publish Palestinian voices, which many, MANY news stations refuse to do. I especially encourage the Arabic version of AlJazeera!
Like Haartz has like... 4 Palestinians on their editorial team max, and they have EVEN LESS people on the ground in Gaza whereas we have dozens of reporters from Gaza on Al-Jazeera, many of which have died. The way to fact check your news is you find how many times they link factual evidence (like videos of experiences, primary accounts, primary quotes) and compare it with circumstance of publishing.
Here are some ways to fact check and questions to ask, even when looking at Al Jazeera:
Is this a first hand account? If not, does it name a person who experienced this first hand?
If they cite/name a person who experienced it first hand, are they a trustworthy person? What are their ties to the situation? Why would they report this, have they reported situations like this in the past?
What would the person reporting gain from reporting this? A Palestinian with an Instagram post about their life in Gaza has much less to gain than an Israeli soldier publishing their experience in Gaza, for example.
In the first hand account, are there actions or evidence that is corroborated? IE: There was a video of an Israeli soldier abducting a blonde Palestinian, and there was a Human Rights Org that reported child abductions from evidence gather by an on the ground reporter. There is less of a chance that this is false, therefore.
If you don't see other news sources reporting this (ie, you don't see CNN/NYT/BBC/Fox/any other western-led media outlet) then ask: Why would they not report it? Does that mean it's false? Maybe not. Many Euro-american sources spend MONTHS before they talk about an issue (think: Washington post article "questioning" the evidence of Hamas in Al-Shifaa hospital more than a month after the raid happened)
Defining "Trustworthy":
What is their history on reporting events? Are they someone who is well known in whatever community they represent?
Think: Ghassan Abu-Sitta, a world renowned doctor. When he reports something with his name attached, he is putting his entire reputation on the line. Therefore, it is more likely he is telling the truth.
Are they someone who has any real, structural power over the situation? Maha Hussaini, for example, cannot change her circumstances because a ceasefire relies on other people separate from her, a journalist. Therefore, she has less of a reason to lie about things happening to her.
For the news source: what are their ties to the situation? CNN, for example, has stated they have their content reviewed by the IDF. Wael Al-Dahdouh, before he was evacuated, was providing first hand accounts of situation, meaning its difficult for him to fake anything or misrepresent.
What else has this person/news source reported? What are their political leanings — not just left/right, but what are their general stances on a variety of issues?
How many people who are part of the community impacted are part of reporting on this (IE: How many Palestinian POVs are shared, how many Israeli POVs are shared, what are the POVs of the people shared in general?).
Can someone I personally trust vouch for this person? If not, can I ask someone I trust to look over this person/agency and tell me their opinion?
There's for sure more I'm forgetting but these are some ways I personally check my facts and information as a quick rundown. And I see this issue of not knowing how to fact check happen ALL OVER the place, on both sides. So I really, highly encourage everyone to engage with sources more honestly!
You'll make mistakes, everyone does! I do as well! But try to be vigilant about these things so we can ensure that we're spreading accurate information and try to correct information when possible! There's no 100% unbiased source so I encourage you to compare/contrast information and your understandings of the world to fully comprehend the situation!
Please use these questions when checking ANY news source, even Al-Jazeera!
Glitch: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia Review- A By the Numbers Documentary Film
In the early 2000s, there was a boom in websites and startup companies that popped up. Just as many failures as well. People had all kinds of ideas for apps and so forth. Two young men, Colin Kroll, and Rus Yusupov, at the time, created an app called Vine where anybody could do six-second videos. It was very popular and the people who owned Twitter bought it for thirty million dollars. After a…
Bill Maher Jokes on CNN's 'Overtime' Debut: 'Are They Gone Crazy?'
Longtime HBO host Bill Maher feigned shock when his post-show segment “Overtime” debuted as a standalone program on CNN.
“Overtime,” the additional segment in which Maher and his weekly HBO “Real Time” guests answer questions from the audience, first aired at 11:30 p.m. ET as part of last Friday’s episode of “CNN Tonight.” aired.
“Are we really on CNN now? CNN, what, are they going crazy for…
"Bottom line: When CEOs complain about customers pulling back, beware the messenger. Executives wouldn’t want to admit publicly that their customers simply no longer like their products, which have become more expensive with virtually no added value in the past few years. They certainly wouldn’t want to tell shareholders that the reason demand is soft is because even the entry level version of what they’re selling feels like it’s not worth our time."
1. the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.
2. great admiration or devotion shown towards a person or principle.
I have a lot of thoughts about Carlos Sainz Jr and it's about time i shared them. I'm trying to write a fanfic but i'm finding it difficult to articulate my ideas, this was is test run of sorts to see if I can communicate a message in a way that makes sense. Enjoy. Credits under the cut.
‘Hope is the biggest of our foolish things’ -Alfred de Vingy // Mark Thompson for Getty Images // Carlos Sainz believes he deserves F1 seat // ‘To wish was to hope and to hope was to expect’ -Jane Austen // Carlos Sainz’s last race with Toro Rosso // ‘Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack’ -Brandon Sanderson // Sky Sports // Marina And The Diamonds, Oh No! // It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story’ -Patrick Rothfuss // Medium // An ode to my father, the matador // ‘Maybe if you sleep where another person sleeps and do what that person does, then eventually you’ll start turning into that person’ -Jack Cheng // Ferrari, one name two destinies // Jos and Carlos Sr on their sons’ rookie seasons // ‘Christianity is a religion built around a father who does not rescue his son. It is the story of a son whose father is a ghost’ -Terrance Hayes // Carlos Sainz poses with his father // Jos and Carlos Sr on their sons’ rookie seasons // ‘Perhaps it’s impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be’ -Orson Scott Card // Sky Sports // Junior status; Sharing dad’s name a mixed bag // ‘Who did I think we were. Who did I think I could make you. This is the oldest mistake, to confuse wanting with magic.’ -Marty McConnell Emily Kagan Trenchard // Sainz thrilled with first podium after Hamilton penalty // The Crane Wives, The Moon Will Sing // ‘If you spent your life concentrating on what everyone else thought of you, would you forget who you really were? What if the face you showed the world turned out to be a mask... with nothing beneath it?’ -Jodi Picoult // Top Gear // Carlos Sainz: the boy who became a man // Motorsport.com // Mikky Ekko, Who Are You Really? // ‘Sometimes we want what we want even if we know it’s going to kill us’ -Donna Tartt // RacingNews365 // Max Verstappen tells Carlos Sainz ‘I felt sorry for you’ // Racefans // Carlos Sainz has openly discussed his contract regulations // CNN // Sainz wins thrilling Singapore GP // ‘Who wouldn’t want you? Whose most demonic appetite could you possibly fail to answer?’ -Louise Glück // Sky Sports // Carlos Sainz Sr Wikipedia // 'Do you still believe myths can save you? Foolish creature. Let me be clear: every version of the story ends with you being slaughtered' -Tory Adkisson // Sydney Morning Herald // Planet F1 // Luvbug, Icarus // ‘Sometimes I prayed so hard for God to materialize at the foot of my bed it would start to happen; then I’d beg it to stop, and it would.’ -Marie Howe, // ‘Click here to be saved’, unable to find original author // ‘God’s favorite follower’ by Tumblr user quiet-plaything // ‘God is fucking with my oblivion. If he wants forgiveness, he shouldn’t have given us memory’ -Vi Khi Nao // ‘What you have to understand, is your father was your model for God’ -Chcuk Palahniuk // John Mayer, In The Blood // ScuderiaFans //
hello! I just finished watching the agggtm tv show and I have some thoughts. Here are some warnings before you read below the cut.
I have literally only watched the show and (and read) book once so not every detail will be accurate. If I think I got something wrong, I will make it known.
This is my opinion!!! If you hated or loved the show with all your heart, don’t make that my problem!
I’m not British so I can’t comment on Emma Myers accent.
and finally because they are always some lurking in fandom, racists DNI
spoilers for the rest of the agggtm trilogy below
Alright so to start I think the show, on its own, is good television. It’s got intrigue and the pacing is good and the humor is pretty good at some parts however. I have three main issues with how it deviates from the book.
Show don’t tell.
what many shows have trouble with is telling the audience something instead of showing it. In the books, Pip pretends to be a CNN reporter and e-mails old students of the school about drink spiking. She’s told that it happened to quite a few female students. She hears that Andie sold roofies. She was told by Jesse that Becca got the morning after pill and wouldn’t tell who she slept with. She was told by Andie’s friend (or Becca’s, I do not remember) that Jason was controlling and pit them against each other often.
So pip makes the connection that Becca was raped by Max Hastings and found out that Andie was the one who sold the drugs. Pip is the one who connects the dots that Becca must’ve confronted Andie and it went awry. But in the show Pip is just told outright to protect her drink and that Becca was raped. I think the show did a lot of this, cutting Pip’s slow process of unraveling the murder in exchange for quick answers to immediate questions. It also dials down how clever yet morally questionable Pip is.
Cut cast and scenes
I get that a show with a low budget probably won’t be able to afford as many actors or sets as a high budget show but I’m genuinely shocked how many side characters (or interviews) were cut or down sized in the show. Stanley Forbes is the most obvious one because he plays a much larger role in the second season. Andie’s best friends too-in the book it was specifically mentioned how she could be emotionally manipulative and terrible. It showed how, while everyone thought that Andie was perfect and Sal was the villain, Andie was actually awful. It plays to the trilogies bigger theme of stories never being what they seem from the outside. The show did not show this as well.
Pip x Ravi took front and center
I get that BookTok prioritizes ships and romances and that well liked tropes and hot couples can be a great aisle of advertising. But what the fuck? Everyone on BookTok also talks about how much the romance as a subtle yet powerful thing was so beautiful. I don’t have a good enough memory but I really feel like way too much emphasis was but on their relationship, pushing away Pips love for her friends and family and even Ravi’s family. Was it just me but who else thinks it’s really weird that they cut the scene where Ravi’s parents passionately thank Pip for clearing Sal’s name? It showed how much the family had been freed from being the “shun” “scum” family.
Thank you for reading. Go watch the show if you want. Emma Myers was adorable. Good day ✌🏽
It has been widely reported that occupation forces are using sexual assault as a form of torture against Palestinian detainees at Sde Teiman detention camp. Multiple Palestinian men have been sexually abused using metal rods, in addition to suffering beatings, amputations without anaesthesia, attack-dog assaults, and electric shocks. One man’s testimony described the death of another detainee due to being raped with a “hot metal stick.”
New reporting further corroborates this horrifying abuse, revealing details of a Palestinian man who was transferred for emergency medical care after being gang-raped by 9 Israeli soldiers.
The victim of the gang r/pe, reportedly a Palestinian man in his thirties, was moved to a public Israeli hospital several weeks ago after suffering sexual assault while held at the Sde Teiman camp. As the detention camp itself has a medical facility, his transfer to a public hospital indicates that his injuries required specialist internal medical attention.
Without the detainee being treated at a public hospital, it is likely that his specific story would have gone unreported and without consequence.
After the story was widely reported in the Israeli media, Israel detained nine soldiers in connection with this specific incident. Following the detention, a crowd of Israelis stormed the Beit Lid base in an attempt to free nine occupation soldiers being held there.
Israeli officials are now debating the legitimate use of rape against Palestinians as a tool. The legal aid organisation representing four of the implicated soldiers has claimed the rape was an act of self-defence.
Far-right Israeli ministers have described the rapists as “heroes” and “holy.”
Let’s be clear. R/pe is always a crime. That fact should not be debatable.
👉 EMAIL YOUR ELECTED OFFICIAL NOW! USE THE FREE TEMPLATE IN @humantiproject’s bio or visit HumantiProject.org 👈
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Sources: CNN, The Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), Middle East Monitor, The Times of Israel, a quoted tweet by Max Blumenthal
This is not a problem I expected to have, early in 2022.
Back then, the quality of TV shows was so disappointing, I considered writing one of those cranky, old-school critic’s columns complaining about how the glut of shows in our modern, streaming-fueled media environment was ruining everything.
I should have just waited around a bit. Because, even though I was mightily disappointed by some of the biggest TV projects on the docket – everything from CNN+ to Lords of the Rings: Rings of Power (the repetition in the title should have been warning enough) – lots more TV shows surprised and delighted me this year. Too many to fit on a top ten or top 12 list.
In fact, there were too many to fit on this excellent roundup prepared by me and five other critics at NPR.org (we each got about eight choices). And I will fess up now – I didn’t vibe with FX’s Reservations Dogs in its first season, so I didn’t keep up with the second and it’s not on my list. Many apologies to devoted fans of a show I’m very glad exists and so many love. But I’m not among you devotees (at least not yet).
Here's my list of fave shows from 2022, in no particular order. It’s by design very subjective, so I welcome debate, but it’s about what touched ME on TV this year:
Andor (Disney+) – Started slow, but turned into a masterful reinvention of the Star Wars universe, focused on the gritty, merciless beginnings of the Rebel Alliance. Who knew a Star Wars show with no lightsabers, no Jedi Knights and no Force could be just what the franchise needed? REVIEW
Atlanta (FX/Hulu) – The last two seasons, both released this year, weren’t nearly as impactful as its first two. But this show remains an excellent showcase for creativity and ambitious storytelling in portraying the lives of a quartet of Black millennials.
Here’s a Q&A I moderated w/Atlanta cast and producers at SXSW
youtube
Better Call Saul (AMC) – This Breaking Bad spinoff stuck the landing in series finale that capped both the origin AND ending stories of criminal lawyer Saul Goodman. REVIEW
Abbott Elementary (ABC) – Sidesplitting mockumentary-style comedy about teaching in a Philadelphia school that is so good, because it’s absurd humor is so close to the actual truth. PROFILE of star Quinta Brunson.
The Patient (Hulu) – Steve Carrell delivers his most impressive dramatic role as a therapist interrogating his own messy personal history while kidnapped and forced to help a serial killer. REVIEW.
The U.S. and the Holocaust (PBS) -- Star documentarian Ken Burns reveals how antisemitism in America busted the myth that the U.S. was always on the side of the angels as Adolf Hitler took power in Germany and began implementing his Final Solution.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+) – Focused on the Starship Enterprise 10 years before James T. Kirk would take command, it’s a welcome return to a rollicking, adventure-a-week series that recalls the spirit of the original Trek series better than any other modern reboot/revival. REVIEW
Severance (Apple TV+) - for review, click here
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) - REVIEW
Euphoria (HBO) - for review, click here
A League of Their Own (Prime Video) -REVIEW
This is Us (NBC) - interview w/creator Dan Fogelman here
Sidney (Apple TV +) - REVIEW here
Under the Banner of Heaven (FX/Hulu) - for review, click here
We Own This City (HBO) - for interview w/EP David Simon, click here
Barry, season three (HBO) - for review, click here
Stranger Things (Netflix) - REVIEW
We Need to Talk About Cosby (Showtime) - PCHH discussion here