Media & Youdia 🤳

+ Tucker Carlson is GONE, Bel Chimes In, & Charles Leclerc is making music now????

Good morning and happy hump day angels!!! Feels weird to be saying that after I’ve just had a day off (it was ANZAC day yesterday for my fellow Kiwis and Aussies.)

I firstly need to say a big HI to all the new besties reading this for the first time - gorg to have you here, please reply/drop a comment/ get to know us all!!

Next, I need to thank you for all the love on yesterday’s newsy - felt real good to just feel super strongly that I had to write about JUST ONE THING, and then… do it?? Might do it more often?? Either way, glad you’re into it.

We're Living in a World of Panopticontent 🎥

Thirdly, apols in advance for the amount of media nerdery I put into today’s edish, couldn’t help it!!!

Slay the day xoxox

• A few things have happened in the media since I’ve been away, let me catch you up!

  • BuzzFeed News to close

  • Tucker Carlson is OUT

• 🔔Bel Chimes In: Goals Goals Goals🔔

• When nothing is ‘wrong’ but it’s just not right

• Charles LePopstar???

• Today’s mundane poll: hot chips or fries?

A few things have happened in the media since I’ve been away, let me catch you up!

Hi!! Let me get on my nerdy media bullshit for a second plz!!

Buzzfeed News is joining the digital graveyard soon ˙◠˙

• CEO Jonah Peretti sent out a company-wide email saying that BuzzFeed ‘can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News’ and would also be looking to make substantial layoffs throughout the rest of the company.

• To announce these layoffs though, staff were invited to dial into a conference call hosted from a room called “Doomsday”, because the company likes to have ‘quirky’ names for their meeting rooms. Imagine going into a virtual room called Doomsday and then losing your job???

• Ok, so why tho?

• “He [Perretti] said the whole company had been hit by the pandemic, a troubled stock market listing, a tough economy, a declining stock market, a slowdown in digital advertising, and changing audience habits.”

• And he suggested that there may not be a sustainable business model for high-quality online news (this is why you gotta support the media you love!!!)

  • “I made the decision to overinvest in BuzzFeed News because I love their work and mission so much. This made me slow to accept that the big platforms wouldn’t provide the distribution or financial support required to support premium, free journalism purpose-built for social media.”

• I can’t lie - I liked Buzzfeed News!! It was one of their journos who coined panopticontent (which I wrote a whole thing on yesterday!) but it seems sad to me that they’re out here using AI to write SEO-coded articles, and getting rid of their award-winning journalists. Support the media you love folks!!!

Tucker Carlson is GONE from Fox News

• Famous douchebag and right-wing extremist, Tucker Carlson, will be leaving Fox News. Why? We aren’t sure yet, but it could be for a number of reasons:

  • “Perhaps it was related to ex-producer Abby Grossberg’s lawsuit against the network, which alleged rampant sexism and anti-Semitic behavior behind the scenes at Carlson’s show? Or perhaps it was profanity-laced remarks, some of which were redacted in the Dominion discovery documents, that Carlson privately made, disparaging his colleagues, including Fox brass? Or perhaps Rupert Murdoch, and his chief executive son Lachlan, wanted to send a message about who is ultimately in command at the company after having been embarrassed for months with the public airing of Fox’s dirty laundry?”

  • I think it was her fault:

Some other cuts:

• Don Lemon, the host of CNNs morning show announced himself that he’d been asked to leave: “I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned.” A good close reading of that here.

• ESPN is laying off an unspecified number of staff

• Insider is laying off 10% of its staff

• Disney’s news division is laying off 50 people at ABC News

And while we’re talking about the media, Dunc wrote about all the ppl in NZ trying to do what Shit You Should Care About are doing right now and what is it they say? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery etc etc etc?? Read it here!!

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🔔Bel Chimes In: Goals Goals Goals🔔

This section is written by my crush, the refreshing-as-a-house-chardonnay-on-a-steamy-day, Bel Hawkins. She also writes our Sunday newsletter ‘No News is Good News’ which all our paying supporters receive. Upgrade your plan to get her newsy here!

Morning crushes! Coming to you fresh and hot from a little holiday I took over the long weekend where I experimented with going out and not getting a hangover, flying in a crisp white shirt and finding an airport lounge pass in my phone to travel like a faux rich lady for a fleeting stint. 

Holidays are buzzy hey because they're SO GOOD (unless they're one of those cursed ones that happen every once in a while where everything goes wrong), especially if you do a full evacuate of your life and like, not look at emails, not mince around on social media and just lean into being someone and somewhere different for a while.

I saw this tweet the other day that was like, 'the goal is not to have an epic holiday once a year you don't want to end. It's to have a life you don't want to run away from'.

Ooof, eek, ugh, I know, it's giving inspirational stretch canvas energy, but look, it's a public holiday, and sometimes, well, sometimes, I think we should lean into these sorts of feelings. I did like this one particularly, and as I think more about it, isn't it kinda... true? We can fetishise a holiday, a poolside, a trilby hat and a sandal tan from somewhere different but what if there's more to it than that? 

Lol, it sounds like I'm encouraging you to quit your job and flee your life but I think it's about how you can build a holiday feeling into your life. Just thought I'd put that out there on your radar this week and see what comes back 🦋

PS. See you (~ paying subscribers ~) this No News Is Good News Sunday for your weekend dose of softcore philosophy, a stunning life tip I will share with you that's changed my life and another chaotic playlist for all the listening huns out there. Ily xx

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When nothing is ‘wrong’ but it’s just not right

“I spent a lot of time towards the end hoping they would do something so unforgivable so that I could have a tangible reason to end things, rather than that heartbreaking: "I just don't love you anymore."

So Taylor Swift (yes, she’s the queen of the break-up song which is why I’m bringing her up again) has this song called: ‘The Way I Loved You’ which is the best way I’ve seen this feeling of ‘nothing-being-wrong-but-it-just-not-being right’ described. Let me give you some examples of the lyrics:

“He opens up my door, and I get into his car

And he says, "You look beautiful tonight"

… And I feel perfectly fine”

“He's close to my mother

Talks business with my father

He's charming and endearing

… And I'm comfortable”

A bunch of you wrote to us about this exact feeling, which is why in this week's episode of Own The Feels we hear from people who feel like they just ‘fell out of love’ and how that can make a break-up even more confusing, for both you and your ex.

Breaking up when nothing really went wrong can be devastating - not just for you, but for your partner too! It can be incredibly hard to explain your own feelings, which means that they can be left with no closure - and that just sucks all around. BUT, you gotta look out for your number one (you) and trust your gut feelings (they’re your guardian angels) while also trying not to cause a bunch of pain to your partner!! 

If you feel like you’re in this situation - or you know someone else who might be, head to https://www.vice.com/en/topic/love-better for some help in managing these feelings,  and listen to this episode in our Culture Vulture feed, wherever you get your podcasts!

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Charles LePopstar???

I did not predict that Formula 1 hottie Charles Leclerc would be releasing music in 2023, but then again, Tucker Carlson just got fired (allegedly) so I guess anything is possible!

At first, I thought it was a prank, but last night I went on Spotify and Charles had released a song called ‘AUS23’??? To be fair, when I clicked on it it wouldn’t play, but then he kinda addressed that on Twitter:

I’ve heard ONLY SNIPPETS of the song (it’s like… a sad but pretty piano song), so will report back when it’s released on Spotify (or whether this is all a prank - any intel appreciated.)

PS: there are rumours about Fernando Alonso dating Taylor Swift????? No time to unpack that today….

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Today’s mundane poll:

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