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☆ Spain holds regional elections ahead of year-end national vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez appears after he casts his vote at a polling station during Regional elections, in Madrid, Spain, May 28, 2023. REUTERS/Juan MedinaMADRID, May 27 (Reuters) - Spanish voters head to the polls on Sunday in regional and municipal elections, the results of which will serve as a barometer for an end-of-year general election. Voting is taking place in 12 regions and 8,000 towns and cities, most currently run by the governing Socialist Party (PSOE). Polls are predicting gains for the conservative People's Party (PP), which if replicated later in the year could unseat the current left-wing coalition. Voting opened at 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) and will close at 8 p.m. Over 35 million people are eligible to vote.

☆ Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill rolling back child labor laws in response to business owner complaints over labor shortages. Iowa's unemployment rate was under 3% last month.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kim Reynolds signed into law a bill rolling back child labor protections. The bill is one of many targeting child labor laws across the nation, signed largely by GOP governors. Businesses have increasingly reported labor shortages since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed over 1,127,000 Americans since 2020, according to the World Health Organization. The Iowa Governor's decision to roll back child labor laws is an apparent response to business owners who say they cannot find enough workers. Arkansas' unemployment rate was 2.8%, New Hampshire's was 2.1%, and New Jersey's was 3.5% — the only state that has recently rolled back child labor protections with a higher average than the nationwide 3.4% unemployment rate.

☆ Fact Check-Five Donald Trump statements examined after CNN town hall
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Former U.S. President Donald Trump took questions from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and audience members during a televised town hall on Wednesday, with the 2024 Republican front-runner pressing for a second White House term. Trump received 74.2 million votes in the 2020 presidential election, surpassing former President Barack Obama’s record number of votes for an incumbent candidate. State governments, courts and members of Trump’s administration have repeatedly rejected claims made by the former president that the 2020 election was stolen (here). CLAIM“We were energy independent” during the Trump administration. For more details on the U.S. border wall during the Trump administration, see (here).

☆ Heather Armstrong, mommy blogger also known as Dooce, dies at 47
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Heather Armstrong, an influential writer whose blog Dooce helped popularize mommy blogging, has died, her partner, Pete Ashdown, confirmed to CNN. “Heather B. Hamilton (Armstrong) was a brilliant, funny, compassionate writer who struggled with mental-health and alcoholism,” Ashdown said in a statement to CNN. In 2004, Dooce became the first personal website to start accepting a notable number of paid ads, the New York Times said. Toward the end of her life, Armstrong was characteristically frank with readers about her struggles with alcoholism. “Calling Dooce a mommy blogger was always an inadequate description of her breadth, her style and her early influence on blogging,” New York Times reporter Katie Rogers tweeted.

☆ MTV News to shut down as Paramount slashes US workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Liam Reilly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Paramount Media Networks announced Tuesday it will shutter MTV News and slash its US workforce by 25%, bringing to an end the iconic music video network’s news division that once covered a range of issues from pop culture to politics and became a household name for Generation X and Millennial adolescents. During the ’90s, MTV News also provided an alternative to traditional cable news that appealed to young Americans. In addition to MTV News, some units in the company are being eliminated altogether, most of which are operations, a Paramount spokesperson said. CNN, The Washington Post, NPR, Gannett, Vox Media, NBC News and others have also cut their workforces in recent months. The Paramount Media Networks division is cutting staff by 25%.

☆ Software engineers are panicking about being replaced by AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AI has already begun to threaten the job security of software engineers. In a separate post, a Blind user created a poll asking whether young software engineers are screwed. Earlier this year, Semafor reported that OpenAI had begun teaching its AI software engineering, and Insider previously reported that AI advancements like ChatGPT have already begun to threaten the job security of software developers. Still, some users are optimistic that AI will be beneficial to software engineers. We made it, it didn't make us," a Microsoft worker wrote in response to the fate of software engineers.

☆ Vice Media cancels its flagship ‘Vice News Tonight’ program as it makes ‘painful’ layoffs and restructures the company
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Vice Media will cancel its acclaimed program “Vice News Tonight” as part of a broad restructuring that will result in painful cuts across the organization, the company said Thursday. The restructuring will have major implications on news teams at Vice Media. The company will sunset the Vice World News brand and fold its operations under the Vice News umbrella, giving the company a singular news brand. The restructuring comes as Vice Media, once the darling of the industry, explores a sale. CNN, The Washington Post, NPR, Gannett, Vox Media, NBC News, and others have also cut their workforces in recent months.

☆ Jerry Springer, American Ringmaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( James Poniewozik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

There is a point there: Springer, especially in the early years of his show, seemed to engage with his guests, however outrageous. Even trash TV operates on moral assumptions — “The Jerry Springer Show” accepts that being a candidate for “The Jerry Springer Show” is not a badge of honor — but programs like Springer’s gave the audience permission to enjoy the grotesquerie. But his show also demonstrated that TV populists, like all populists, aren’t just reflecting broad, unmediated reality. Springer didn’t invent the trashification of TV and pop culture. (The early, issues-oriented incarnation of “Springer” didn’t do well in the ratings.)

☆ 2023 layoff tracker: The latest on which companies have announced job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

New York CNN —BuzzFeed, Lyft, Whole Foods and Deloitte all recently announced layoffs affecting thousands of US workers. With 11,000 job cuts announced in November and the 10,000 announced in March, Meta’s headcount will fall to around 66,000 — a total reduction of about 25%. The company announced in January that it was eliminating some 18,000 positions as part of a major cost-cutting bid at the e-commerce giant. IndeedJob listing website Indeed.com announced cuts of approximately 2,200 employees, representing almost 15% of its total workforce, the company said in March. The cuts come after the company announced several rounds of job cuts throughout the pandemic due to falling demand, followed by rapid hiring last year.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg grilled by angry employees who asked why executives received large bonuses during a year of layoffs and business turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He was grilled on pay for execs who received huge bonuses amid relatively poor business performance. Mark Zuckerberg last week took questions from angry employees who asked why executives at Meta seem to face no meaningful consequences for the decisions they've made which have led to thousands of layoffs, and counting. Zuckerberg also argued that Meta's performance overall negatively impacted the executives, meaning a reduction to their bonus was "baked in." According to Meta's proxy statement for 2022, each member of the C-suite received a bonus based on an individual performance multiplier. While an 85% multiplier would have shown they met expectations, all of the executives received a multiplier of either 125% or 165%, showing they are considered to have far exceeded what was expected of them.

☆ The layoffs are here for those who chose to 'learn to code'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But for those who chose to "learn to code," Vox reported the wave of layoffs in 2023 is challenging that notion. "If we look at 2023 layoffs, it's software engineers who have overtaken recruiters in layoffs," Ayas told Insider. This shift also signals a change in focus for company layoffs, Ayas said. Since then, Revelio's new data suggests that nearly 5% of tech company layoffs impacted recruiters — the position that saw the most layoffs after software engineers. What started as a wave of layoffs in the tech industry has now rippled to the finance and media industries as well.

☆ BuzzFeed Shuts Down Its Namesake News Division
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BuzzFeed is shutting down its namesake news division, which won acclaim for its journalism but fell prey to the punishing economics of digital publishing that has laid low many of its peers. Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s chief executive, said in an email to employees on Thursday that he was closing BuzzFeed News as part of a broader round of cuts at the company. About 60 people will be affected by the shuttering of the news division, some of whom will be offered jobs at other parts of the company. BuzzFeed’s decision is the latest in a series of financial setbacks faced by digital media companies. The media industry writ large has pivoted to focus on streaming, and digital advertising — a mainstay for digital publishing companies — is increasingly going to tech platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

BuzzFeed wasn't the only digital media company to announce layoffs Thursday. Miller added that going public is probably not the best strategy for digital media companies like Buzzfeed. The news comes during a tough period for digital media companies as publishers are cutting staff as advertisers reduce spending. BuzzFeed will lay off 15% of staff and shut down its news unit, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti wrote in an email to staff Thursday. The digital media company scaled back its news operation in an attempt to make BuzzFeed News profitable, resulting in the departure of several editors.

The tech company will begin its latest round of layoffs today, in its Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Reality Labs units, according to Vox, with up to 4,000 positions possibly set to go. Disney will cut thousands of jobs next week, as part of the C.E.O. Commentators and investors said the moves were a long-awaited recognition that Goldman should focus on its strengths. The online chatboard company told The Times that it would start making others pay to use its application programming interface, the method that allows outside entities to download its vast offering of user discussions. projects by tech giants — which must be trained on huge amounts of data — as a reason for the move.

☆ What intersectionality actually means and why it matters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Leah Asmelash | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Here’s what you should know about intersectionality – what exactly it means, and why it matters. Co-founder and executive director of the African American Policy Forum Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the phrase intersectionality in 1989. As part of that larger movement, terms like intersectionality and intersectional feminism became much more prevalent in left-leaning circles. People practice Judaism differently, and thus different sects may face different problems. In that group alone, there may be LGBTQ+ men, men from lower economic backgrounds or men with disabilities.

☆ 'Love Is Blind' is hell on earth: Contestants say producers deprived them of food and sleep, preyed on their anxieties, and refused to let them quit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Katie Warren | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

After the 10 days, cast members must decide whether they want to get engaged to another contestant sight unseen — or go home. The season-two contestant Nick Thompson said "Love Is Blind" didn't adequately support its cast members — during or after filming. Many cast members believed "Love Is Blind" would be a cut above other reality shows. The first evening in Cancún, producers told Ruhl she couldn't attend a party for all the newly engaged couples because they thought she might have COVID-19. In a later episode he again became infuriated and threatened to leave when Reed came home late from clubbing with other cast members.

☆ Nike critics launch a 'burn bra challenge' and rail against its treatment of female athletes amid growing backlash for its work with a transgender influencer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney announced a partnership with Nike on Instragram this month. A Nike critic started a "burn bra challege" on TikTok last week. Last week, a TikTok user started a "burn bra challenge" and recorded herself lighting her Nike bra on fire, saying that Nike should be "ashamed of itself." "You chose a little boy with no breasts and some junk in his pants to represent real women," the TikTok user said, according to the New York Post. Nike has been criticized for several of its endorsement partners, including John McEnroe, Charles Barkley, Tonya Harding, and Colin Kaepernick.

☆ Vox Media announces new hosts of iconic Code Conference after Kara Swisher’s departure
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Vox Media is gearing up for its first Code Conference without Kara Swisher at the helm. The invite-only event, which attracts top technology executives and journalists, will be hosted by The Verge Editor-In-Chief Nilay Patel, Platformer founder Casey Newton and CNBC senior media and tech reporter Julia Boorstin, Vox Media told CNN on Wednesday. Swisher, the journalist who co-founded the news-making conference with reporter Walt Mossberg and hosted it for the past two decades, will still participate in the conference, albeit in a less outsized role. “This year, there will be more to discuss than ever,” Jim Bankoff, chief executive of Vox Media, told CNN. “Code will build on Kara’s legacy, and we’ll continue to evolve the conference to best serve its audience.

☆ Tim Cook shares a trick Steve Jobs used as Apple's CEO: It's 'one of the things I loved about him'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Since Tim Cook became CEO of Apple, he's worked to cement his own legacy — but he still admires his predecessor Steve Jobs' leadership style. "I knew I couldn't be Steve [when I became CEO]," Cook, 62, told GQ on Monday. But that doesn't mean Cook couldn't take a leadership trick or two from Jobs' book. Under his leadership, Apple has grown into a multitrillion-dollar company. Today, the Apple CEO still uses some of Jobs' old traditions, like 9 a.m. meetings every Monday, he told GQ.

☆ Even left-leaning publications are saying the Manhattan DA's criminal case against Donald Trump is anything but a slam dunk
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Many legal experts have said the indictment against Donald Trump is far from a slam dunk. Trump was charged by a Manhattan grand jury with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. In a Vox article, senior correspondent Ian Millhiser pointed out that there is "something painfully anticlimactic" about the indictment against Trump. The Nation's justice correspondent Elie Mystal said in his article that falsifying business records "is what prosecutors get you for when they don't have anything else." "We Finally Know the Case Against Trump, and It Is Strong," read its headline.

☆ News organizations say they won't pay for Elon Musk's Twitter Blue because 'verified checkmarks no longer represent authority and expertise'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some news organizations say they won't pay for their reporters to get Twitter Blue. The New York Times and LA Times said they won't pay to get their Twitter accounts verified either. One of his most contentious projects has been to drastically switch up Twitter Blue, the site's subscription service. Twitter Blue is also required for accounts to get blue checkmarks next to their names. "Now a Blue checkmark just says they are a Twitter Blue subscriber.

☆ News outlets, athletes, celebs — and the White House — don't plan to pay for Twitter Blue checks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Several news outlets and high-profile Twitter users have said they don't plan to pay for Twitter Blue. As of Saturday afternoon, the "legacy" checks appear to remain active across the platform. Individuals can subscribe to Twitter Blue for $8 per month. Several news outlets have said they don't plan to pay for the gold check. Others don't plan to reimburse journalists who pay for Twitter Blue, largely saying that since blue checks only convey a user paid $8, they no longer provide the credibility they once did, according to CNN.

☆ A Liberal Judicial Awakening?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Are liberals gaining new respect for the conservative judicial project to rehabilitate the separation of powers? See the amusing headline Tuesday from Vox: “Heartbreaking: The worst Supreme Court justice you know just made a great point.”The story praises a dissent by Justice Neil Gorsuch that criticizes a court-ordered prosecution of progressive martyr Steven Donziger . Readers may recall our editorials detailing how Mr. Donziger orchestrated a legal shakedown of Chevron over phony environmental crimes in Ecuador.

☆ News organizations reject Elon Musk’s demand of paying to keep checkmarks on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —News organizations have a message for Elon Musk: We are not going to pay you for checkmarks on Twitter. Historically, a blue checkmark placed next to the name of an account has indicated that the social media company has confirmed the identity of the person or business operating it. Musk earlier this year launched Twitter Blue, a subscription service that costs $8 a month. A blue checkmark. POLITICO additionally said it will not pay for Twitter Blue.

☆ Spain's conservatives seen winning general election, poll shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Spain's opposition People's Party (PP) leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo listens to Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speak during a session at the Spanish Senate in Madrid, Spain, September 6, 2022. The conservative PP would win 32.4% of the vote, or between 139 and 143 seats in the 350-seat lower house, largely in line with where it stood in the previous GAD3 poll in November. PP head Alberto Nunez Feijoo has said he would rather not ally with Vox in parliament, but may have no other option. In May, Spain will hold municipal and regional elections that will help gauge support for the main political parties in the general election to be held in December. Reporting by Inti Landauro, editing by Andrei Khalip and Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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