The New York Times / Matthew Goldstein, David Yaffe-Bellany and Stuart A. Thompson
Where are the Trumpiest ads? All over Truth Social. →“An examination by The New York Times found that the company, which is a major source of Mr. Trump’s wealth, is increasingly reliant on revenue from an obscure corner of the ad market: a niche, sometimes called ‘the patriotic economy,’ that caters to hard-core Trump fans and Christian conservatives.”
Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt
Rest of World / Stan Alcorn
How Spotify started — and killed — Latin America’s podcast boom →“This is one small example of the global fallout from Spotify’s haphazard rush into — and out of — podcasting… In Latin America, the company was so dominant that its name is synonymous with the podcast boom itself, as well as the bust that podcast producers find themselves in today.”
Columbia Journalism Review / Priyanjana Bengani
The non-profits and PACs that spent $14 million on the Metric Media network in 2021-22 →“A new Tow Center analysis of campaign finance records and nonprofit filings reveals four political action committees and four nonprofit organizations paid a network of
partisan pay-for-play news sites controlled by Metric Media over $14 million in 2021-2022. The investigation demonstrates millions more flowing to partisan ‘pink slime’ news sites than previously reported. The payments can be traced to organizations tied to conservative megadonors, including shipping magnate Richard Uihlein, billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, and oil and gas billionaire Tim Dunn.”
The Atlantic / Charlie Warzel
Dad is on the ballot →“All of these posts celebrate and elevate a particular idea of a person: a normal guy who is uncomplicated and decent. He isn’t cool, and he knows it—a self-awareness that brings a kind of liberation. From a strategic standpoint, the Harris campaign seems to understand that the Dad is exactly the right meme to counter the alienating and extremely online tendencies of the right wing.”
Financial Times / Stephen Morris and Hannah Murphy
Google and Meta struck secret ads deal to target teenagers →“The Instagram campaign deliberately targeted a group of users labelled as ‘unknown’ in its advertising system, which Google knew skewed towards under-18s, these people said. Meanwhile, documents seen by the FT suggest steps were taken to ensure the true intent of the campaign was disguised.”
The Boston Globe / Aidan Ryan
The New York Times / Michael Grynbaum
CNN’s media chronicler strikes out on his own →“Darcy’s new venture,
called Status, will be similar to the daily media digest that he helped lead for four years at CNN, with a mix of reporting and analysis. Topics will range from Silicon Valley to presidential politics to the effects of artificial intelligence technology on news consumption.”