Schwartz Media, publisher of the Saturday Paper, the Monthly and the Quarterly Essay, recently sold its 7am podcast to Solstice Media, with the promise its stable of journalists would still appear on the popular show. But just a month out from the deal, the Schwartz journalists have been told they can no longer talk on the podcast. The first episode published by the new owners was about Palestinians who were killed as they waited for aid, and a later Gaza-related episode interviewed the executive officer at the Jewish Council of…
Tag: Media
‘A new space to play in’: can vertical dramas save the UK’s TV sector?
They’re a Chinese cultural phenomenon which keeps millions of viewers glued to their phones, but the runaway success of “vertical dramas” is providing an unlikely source of employment for film and TV crews here in the UK. The bite-size melodramas have breathless titles such as A Flash Marriage with the Billionaire and My Firefighter ex-Husband Burns in Regret, and are chopped into one minute episodes for avid consumption on viewers’ vertically held smartphones. The UK is an increasingly popular location for these typically low-budget productions, reflecting the popularity of British…
Frequent TikTok users in Taiwan more likely to agree with pro-China narratives, study finds
Taiwanese people who spend large amounts of time on TikTok are more likely to agree with some pro-China narratives, a survey has suggested. The study, conducted by the Taiwan-based DoubleThink Lab, surveyed people across Taiwan in March, asking a series of questions about politics and democracy in Taiwan and China, and their views on unification of the two sides. It found that among the respondents, agreement with criticisms of Taiwan’s domestic issues, and with the prospect of unifying with China, rose as TikTok use increased, before dropping again among the…
Draining cities dry: the giant tech companies queueing up to build datacentres in drought-hit Latin America
It is a warehouse the size of 12 football pitches that promises to create much-needed jobs and development in Caucaia city, north-east Brazil. But it won’t have shelves stocked with products. This vast building will be a datacentre, believed to be earmarked for TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, as part of a 55bn reais (£7.3bn) project to expand its global datacentre infrastructure. As the demand for supercomputer facilities rises, fuelled by the AI boom, Brazil is attracting more and more tech companies. The choice of Caucaia is no accident. Several…
Hong Kong authorities trying to disrupt independent press with ‘strange’ tax audits
Hong Kong authorities have targeted journalists and media outlets with what are supposed to be “random” tax audits, in a move the industry union says adds pressure to waning press freedoms. The head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Selina Cheng, detailed what she said were “strange” and “unreasonable” accusations by Hong Kong’s inland revenue department. Requests or audits were made against the association, at least eight independent media outlets, and at least 20 journalists and their family members, including Cheng and her parents, she said at a press conference…
‘A cocktail for a misinformed world’: why China and Russia are cheering Trump’s attacks on media
Illustration: Hello Von/The Guardian As Donald Trump’s executive order in March led to the shuttering of Voice of America (VOA) – the global broadcaster whose roots date back to the fight against Nazi propaganda – he quickly attracted support from figures not used to aligning themselves with any US administration. Trump had ordered the US Agency for Global Media, the federal agency that funds VOA and other groups promoting independent journalism overseas, to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law”. The decision suddenly halted programming in 49…
Trump orders funding cut for public broadcasters NPR and PBS in fresh attack on media – US politics live
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Why is US threatening to ban TikTok and will other countries follow suit?
Joe Biden has signed into law a bill that requires TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell the social media app’s US operations or face a ban, after the Senate passed the legislation. The law, part of a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sets the clock ticking on a potential ban for a platform that is hugely popular in the US. Here is a guide to the TikTok legislation and what may happen next. How does the legislation pave the way for a sale or ban? The bill gives…
US-funded Radio Free Asia shuts down in Hong Kong over safety concerns
US-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) has closed its Hong Kong bureau over safety concerns for its staff in the wake of a new national security law known as Article 23. “Actions by Hong Kong authorities, including referring to RFA as a ‘foreign force’, raise serious questions about our ability to operate in safety with the enactment of Article 23,” its president, Bay Fang, said in a statement on Friday. The new law comes with stiffer punishments from several years up to life in jail for crimes including treason, sedition, state…
‘Flat and shallow’: Netflix’s 3 Body Problem divides viewers in China
Netflix’s big-budget adaptation of Three-Body Problem, a series of novels by the Chinese author Liu Cixin, has divided opinion on Chinese social media. The eight-episode series, 3 Body Problem, was released in full on Netflix on Thursday. It is based on the first book in Liu’s trilogy, an ambitious sci-fi series spanning civilisation from the 1960s to the end of humanity. The TV series was co-created for Netflix by the Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss, and the True Blood writer Alexander Woo, working with the director…