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☆ The Big Number: 818,000
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The U.S. labor market has been less resilient than was initially believed. On Wednesday, the Labor Department said that the economy had added 818,000 fewer jobs than it had previously reported for the 12 months that ended in March. The number means employers had overstated job growth by about 28 percent per month, especially in industries like hospitality and professional services. This adjusted number is an initial estimate of an annual revision, in which monthly employment figures from the Labor Department are reconciled with more accurate state unemployment reports. “We’ve known that things on net were probably moving gradually in the wrong direction,” said Guy Berger, director of economic research at Burning Glass Institute, a labor market research and data firm.

Persons: “, ”, Guy Berger Organizations: Labor Department, Glass

☆ The Big Number: $8.4 Billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Disney reported revenue of $8.4 billion for its theme park unit for the three months that ended in June. While that was a 2 percent increase from the previous year, it was lower than expected, in a sign that stubborn inflation and high interest rates were weighing on Americans’ ability to sail on Disney cruise ships and visit parks like Disney World. Disney, in its earnings report on Wednesday, blamed a “moderation of consumer demand.”Robert Iger, Disney’s chief executive, has called its theme parks “a key growth engine.” And for the past decade, the company has relied on the parks to help offset losses in other divisions, as it has spent billions on its streaming services while revenue in its cable television business has declined. Disney’s streaming service turned a profit in the quarter for the first time, but since April 1, the company’s stock has fallen around 29 percent. “The lower-income consumer is feeling a bit of stress, and the higher-income consumer is traveling internationally a bit more,” Hugh F. Johnston, Disney’s chief financial officer, said Wednesday on a conference call with analysts.

Persons: Robert Iger, Hugh F, Johnston Organizations: Disney

☆ How Media Outlets on the Left and Right Covered Biden’s Withdrawal
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-22 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Political media across the spectrum devoted wall-to-wall news coverage and analysis of President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. Depending on what outlet you watched, the decision was either exceptionally honorable or evidence of a “coup” by Democratic politicians. Conservative outlets were predictably more critical of Mr. Biden’s presidential legacy and his decision. Some said Democrats’ entreaties to him, encouraging his withdrawal, suggested the decision was a “coup” by party elites. Commentators also attacked his mental fitness and called for him to step down from the presidency immediately, months before the conclusion of his term.

Persons: Biden’s, ”, Mr, Biden, Kamala Harris, ’ Organizations: Democratic, Liberal, Democratic Party, Conservative

☆ How News Outlets on the Left and Right Are Covering Kamala Harris
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-12 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since President Biden’s poor debate performance last month, many news outlets have pondered who could supplant him on the Democratic ticket if he were to step aside. Media organizations across the political spectrum have pointed to Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential replacement — although a risky one. Many liberal news outlets have been hesitant to anoint a potential successor. But as they discuss the possible outcomes, some have started playing up Ms. Harris’s perceived strengths compared with Mr. Biden’s. Conservative publications have stepped up their criticisms of Ms. Harris, admonishing her record as vice president as well as making racist attacks, claiming she would be a disaster for the country if elected.

Persons: Biden’s, Kamala Harris, Harris’s, Donald J, Trump, Harris, admonishing Organizations: Democratic, Media

☆ The Big Number: $5 Billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-28 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Volkswagen, the German car company, said this week that it would invest up to $5 billion in Rivian, the American electric vehicle manufacturer that makes electric pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and delivery vans. The deal will help Rivian, which has never turned a quarterly profit, make more electric vehicles and help convince investors of its stability. Rivian, which was founded in 2009 as Mainstream Motors, had billions in investments by 2021, including from Amazon, BlackRock and Ford. But as the case with many new electric vehicle companies, Rivian has also experienced hiccups in trying to ramp up to production, made harder by supply chain issues during the pandemic. In March, Rivian said it would pause construction of a $5 billion factory in Georgia to save money.

Persons: Rivian Organizations: Volkswagen, Motors, Amazon, BlackRock, Ford Locations: Rivian, Georgia, Normal

☆ What Media Outlets on the Right and Left Are Saying About the Debate
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Partisan media outlets have fixated this week on Thursday night’s first presidential debate — and how their preferred candidate could prevail. Many conservative media outlets have parroted former President Donald J. Trump by questioning the fairness of the debate, which CNN will host, as well as President Biden’s fitness for it. Many also repeated Mr. Trump’s baseless claim that Mr. Biden would be under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs during the event. Liberal outlets criticized Mr. Trump and his campaign for making the claims about CNN and for the barbs about medication, saying both were lobbed out of desperation. They also suggested the debate could show Americans that Mr. Trump was an erratic candidate.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden Organizations: CNN, Liberal

☆ How Media Outlets on the Left and Right Have Covered Fauci’s Book Tour
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the former government scientist, has been on something of a media spree in recent weeks, and liberal and conservative media outlets have used very different tones to cover his appearances. This month he also testified before Congress in a contentious hearing about the origins of the coronavirus. Progressive publications have praised Dr. Fauci, quoting extensively from his book and taking the opportunity to criticize Mr. Trump for his policies on Covid. Conservative outlets have largely ignored Dr. Fauci’s book and focused more on his testimony in Congress. They painted Dr. Fauci as a villain and falsely accused him of helping start the pandemic.

Persons: Anthony S, Fauci, “, Donald J, Mr, Trump, Fauci’s Organizations: National Institute of Allergy, Covid, Trump, Conservative, Quinnipiac University

☆ U.S. Success in Cricket Tournament Is Latest Boost to Sport’s Profile
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His destination was the United States, where cricket had long struggled to gain any kind of mainstream visibility, and professional opportunities were typically sparse. Mr. Singh and the U.S. team defeated Pakistan during a Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup match on June 6, shocking the sport. The United States next plays on Wednesday against South Africa in Antigua, the first of three matches in the second stage. The team’s success has been the latest event to help boost cricket’s profile in the United States, where the sport has seen a surge in investment in recent years. Cricket still faces notable obstacles in trying to attain more widespread popularity, some of which have been highlighted by the tournament.

Persons: Harmeet Singh, Singh Organizations: Indian, —, U.S, cricket team, U.S ., Pakistan, United, South, Cricket Locations: India, United States, America, South Africa, Antigua

☆ How Media Outlets on the Right and Left Covered the Latest Inflation Numbers
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Prices rose 3.3 percent in May from a year earlier, according to data released Wednesday, a lower number than expected. Partisan media outlets covered that number very differently. But they also used the announcement to criticize President Biden’s handling of the economy, saying the figure was too high to begin with. Some liberal sites celebrated the news as a victory for Mr. Biden’s economic agenda. And for most voters, their assessment of the economy mirrors the media landscape: Democrats tend to approve of Mr. Biden’s handling of the economy, while Republicans disapprove of his job on the issue.

Persons: Biden’s

☆ Supreme Court Ruling in Starbucks Case Curbs Labor Regulation
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Santul Nerkar | Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Starbucks on Thursday in a challenge against a labor ruling by a federal judge, making it more difficult for a key federal agency to intervene when a company is accused of illegally suppressing labor organizing. Eight justices backed the majority opinion, which was written by Justice Clarence Thomas. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a separate opinion concurring with parts of the majority opinion, dissenting from other portions and agreeing with the overall judgment. The ruling came in a case brought by Starbucks over the firing of seven workers in Memphis who were trying to unionize a store in 2022. The company said it had fired them for allowing a television crew into a closed store, while the workers said that they were fired for their unionization efforts and that the company didn’t typically enforce the rules they were accused of violating.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, “ Organizations: Starbucks, National Labor Relations Board Locations: Memphis, Tennessee

☆ How Partisan Media Outlets Covered Trump’s Guilty Verdict
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Partisan news media’s reaction to the historic conviction of former President Donald J. Trump was swift. Conservative websites and commentators blasted the verdict as a sham, intensifying and escalating the attacks on the prosecution and the judge that they lobbed throughout the seven-week criminal trial in Manhattan. Several websites misleadingly referred to the trial as “rigged” and “corrupt.”Liberal outlets, though, couldn’t quite agree on what to make of the verdict, even if they broadly welcomed it. While some mocked Mr. Trump for the potential loss of his right to vote in November’s election, several outlets also called the verdict “unsatisfying” and potentially “irrelevant.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, couldn’t Organizations: Conservative, Liberal Locations: Manhattan

☆ The Big Number: $6 Billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Mr. Musk founded xAI last July, and so far, it has released a chatbot, Grok, which can be used on Mr. Musk’s platform, X. In a statement, the company said the investment would go toward developing new products and research and development. Mr. Musk said on X that the company’s valuation was $18 billion, before counting the new money. Mr. Musk has an ambivalent history with A.I. He was a founder of OpenAI but left in 2018 over philosophical differences.

Persons: Musk Organizations: OpenAI

☆ U.S. Accuses Hyundai and Two Other Companies of Using Child Labor
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Santul Nerkar | More About Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Labor Department said that through the employment of children at its supplier, Hyundai was in violation of the “hot goods” provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which prevents the interstate commerce of goods “that were produced in violation of the minimum wage, overtime or child labor provisions” of that law. “Companies cannot escape liability by blaming suppliers or staffing companies for child labor violations when they are in fact also employers themselves,” said Seema Nanda, the Labor Department’s chief legal officer, in a statement Thursday. The suit comes after investigations by Reuters and The New York Times documented the use of child labor by the suppliers of car companies. In 2022, Reuters found that Smart Alabama had used child labor at its facility, and that Kia, which is part of the same South Korean conglomerate as Hyundai, had also used child labor in the South. The United Automobile Workers union has said it hopes to organize workers at Hyundai’s Montgomery plant.

Persons: ”, Seema Nanda Organizations: Smart, Best Practice Service, Labor Department, Hyundai, Fair Labor, Act, Labor, Reuters, The New York Times, Smart Alabama, Kia, The Times, General Motors, Ford Motor, The United Automobile Workers Locations: South Korea, Georgia, Hyundai’s Montgomery

☆ The N.C.A.A. Agreed to Pay Players. It Won’t Call Them Employees.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-25 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The immediate takeaway from the landmark $2.8 billion settlement that the N.C.A.A. and the major athletic conferences accepted on Thursday was that it cut straight at the heart of the organization’s cherished model of amateurism: Schools can now pay their athletes directly. But another bedrock principle remains intact, and maintaining it is likely to be a priority for the N.C.A.A. : that players who are paid by the universities are not employed by them, and therefore do not have the right to collectively bargain. That stance came under greater legal and political scrutiny in recent years, leading to the settlement, which still requires approval by a judge.

Persons: ” John I, Jenkins Organizations: University of Notre Dame

☆ Raw Milk’s Risks Don’t Stop Right-Wing Commentators From Defiantly Pushing It
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Health officials are warning Americans not to drink raw milk as bird flu spreads through American cows. Commentators on sites like Infowars, Gab and Rumble have grown increasingly vocal about raw milk in recent weeks. “They say: ‘Bird flu in milk! Bird flu in milk! He added: “They’ll just make raw milk illegal.

Persons: “, Owen Shroyer Organizations: ”, Centers for Disease Control

☆ How Media Outlets Are Covering Justice Merchan in Trump’s Criminal Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Conservative media has been preoccupied for weeks with Justice Juan M. Merchan, the New York judge presiding over the Manhattan criminal trial against former President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump has long attacked Justice Merchan and his family in social media posts and on his campaign website. Since then, right-wing commentators, most prominently on Fox News, have condemned the judge nearly daily in their coverage of the trial. Liberal outlets have focused less on Justice Merchan, instead centering their coverage of the trial on the charges against Mr. Trump and the figures in his orbit. But some smaller outlets have praised Justice Merchan for clamping down on Mr. Trump.

Persons: Juan M, Donald J, Trump, Merchan, Merchan’s Organizations: New, Manhattan, Fox News, Democratic, Liberal, Mr Locations: New York

☆ Caitlin Clark Is Here. Can the Business of the W.N.B.A. Flourish?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Jacob Meschke | Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And the start of the 2024 W.N.B.A. season has many wondering if the sport is entering a new economic era. The arrival of stars like Caitlin Clark, the former University of Iowa phenom who is now a rookie with the Indiana Fever, has boosted interest and ticket sales. But there are still obstacles the league needs to overcome before attaining the kind of stature that other professional sports leagues have. The league has long had stars, but it has struggled to market their skills and personalities to a mass audience.

Persons: Caitlin Clark, capitalizes Organizations: University of Iowa, Indiana Fever

☆ How Media Outlets Are Covering Michael Cohen’s Testimony
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The country’s liberal and conservative media outlets seemed to agree on one thing this week: Michael D. Cohen, the government’s star witness in its case against former President Donald J. Trump, was worth belittling. Conservative outlets painted Mr. Cohen, a former lawyer for Mr. Trump, as a traitor to the conservative cause. Liberal outlets focused on Mr. Cohen’s testimony about how he would do anything to impress Mr. Trump. But there was also one bigger difference about their coverage of Mr. Cohen’s testimony. Numerous conservative outlets downplayed much of what he said in court.

Persons: Michael D, Cohen, Donald J, Trump, Mr Organizations: Liberal

☆ Melinda French Gates to Resign From Gates Foundation
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Santul Nerkar | More About Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Melinda French Gates, one of the world’s most influential philanthropists and the ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, announced Monday that she was resigning from the foundation that she and her husband founded. In a post on X, Ms. Gates said she was “immensely proud” of the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which she and Bill Gates started in 2000. As one of the biggest donors at the World Health Organization, it exerts a considerable level of influence over the policies in developing countries, especially in health and education. Mr. and Ms. Gates announced their plans to divorce in May 2021, after 27 years of marriage. The foundation at the time said they would remain co-chairs of the organization.

Persons: Melinda French Gates, Bill Gates, Gates, Melinda Gates Organizations: Microsoft, Melinda Gates Foundation, World Health Organization

☆ Frustrated by Gaza Coverage, Student Protesters Turn to Al Jazeera
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Nick Wilson has closely followed news on the war in Gaza since October. But Mr. Wilson, a Cornell student, is picky when it comes to his media diet: As a pro-Palestinian activist, he doesn’t trust major American outlets’ reporting on Israel’s campaign in Gaza. Instead, he turns to publications less familiar to some American audiences, like the Arab news network Al Jazeera. “Al Jazeera is the site that I go to to get an account of events that I think will be reliable,” he said. Many student protesters said in recent interviews that they were seeking on-the-ground coverage of the war in Gaza, and often, a staunchly pro-Palestinian perspective — and they are turning to alternative media for it.

Persons: Nick Wilson, Wilson, “, “ Al Jazeera Organizations: Cornell, Al Locations: Gaza, Al Jazeera, “ Al

☆ Campus Protests Over Gaza Spotlight the Work of Student Journalists
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Their updates come in harried bursts. Real-time narrations of the scene at Columbia University’s protest encampment in Manhattan, interspersed with the calmer voice of a host in the studio, directing live on air the dozen or so student journalists covering the moment police officers in riot gear moved in to clear an occupied university building Tuesday night. “Do we have a field reporter over on Amsterdam? We have word that arrests are happening on Amsterdam, if we could get a field reporter over there.”“Sorry, Sarah, do you need to go?”“It’s getting really hard for us to report from this vantage.”The stream from the Columbia University student-run radio station, WKCR, was so popular that night that its website crashed. As pro-Palestinian demonstrators seized Hamilton Hall, theirs was one of the most extensive broadcasts from the scene because the school had limited access for professional journalists.

Persons: Sarah, It’s Organizations: Columbia University, Palestinian, Hamilton Hall Locations: Columbia, Manhattan, Amsterdam

Brown’s agreement will let students make their case and then have the Brown Corporation, the university’s governing body, vote on the matter in October. But Dr. Paxson’s initial offer did not include bringing a divestment proposal to a vote. That came after two university negotiators and six students involved with the Brown Divest Coalition, one of the groups behind the movement, reached a deal on Tuesday, the university and several students said. The agreement immediately gave the university control of its facilities in time to allow students to finish classes and hold in-person graduation ceremonies and an alumni reunion this month. One donor, an investor who has made sizable contributions to the university and describes himself as a supporter of Israel, said members of the administration had assured him that Brown wouldn’t ultimately divest from Israel.

Persons: William A, Marc Rowan, Christina H, Paxson, Brown, Brown wouldn’t Organizations: Wall Street titans, Democratic Party, Republican, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Brown Corporation, Coalition Locations: Israel, Gaza

Those quiet times, less than three years ago, soon became a whirlwind. The flurry of activity reflects new investments in a region of North Carolina that has lagged behind: the Triad. The average income in Randolph County, which includes Liberty, is $47,000, and some jobs at Toyota will offer an hourly wage comfortably above that. More people moving into the area could breathe life into Liberty’s downtown. Mr. Kidd worried that many local workers lacked the education and skills to work at the plant.

Persons: Scott Kidd didn’t, Kidd Organizations: Liberty, Toyota Locations: N.C, North Carolina, Randolph County, Liberty, Liberty’s, Greensboro, Winston, Salem

The first time Columbia University tried to shut down the pro-Palestinian encampment on its campus, two weeks ago, it called in the New York Police Department. The second time the university attempted to shut down the encampment, on Monday, it tried something different. It offered students who left by a deadline partial amnesty from punishment; if they refused, Columbia would suspend them. Instead, a subgroup of protesters took over a campus building, Hamilton Hall, in the middle of the night. Finally, on Tuesday evening, the university brought in the police again, to rout protesters from the building and encampment.

Organizations: Columbia University, New York Police Department, Columbia, Hamilton Hall

☆ For Fox News, Student Protests Are a Familiar Target
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Santul Nerkar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Well, House Speaker Mike Johnson crashed Hamas’s spring break at Columbia today.”That quip came from the Fox News host Jesse Watters, who was interviewing Mr. Johnson on his prime-time show Wednesday. In response to a standoff between student protesters and the university’s president, Mr. Johnson had visited Columbia University’s campus, where students had set up encampments in solidarity with Palestinians. “So many of them, Jesse, don’t know what the heck they’re talking about,” Mr. Johnson said. Mr. Johnson’s appearance on “Jesse Watters Primetime” embodied the chiding and often adversarial tone of conservative media toward the latest wave of protests on college campuses over Israel’s campaign in Gaza. “There’s a difference between educated people and smart people,” Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and Fox News host, said on the network Tuesday.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Jesse Watters, Johnson, Jesse, don’t, ” Mr, “ Jesse Watters, ”, “, ” Mike Huckabee Organizations: Fox News, Columbia University’s, Ivy League Locations: Columbia, Gaza, Arkansas

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