Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
I happened to listen to “This Is America,” the new single by Childish Gambino, a.k.a. Donald Glover, before I saw the eloquent, ultra-violent accompanying video concocted by Glover and the director Hiro Murai. One of the song’s three strands is set to a benign Afrobeat rhythm, with Glover and a backing choir echoing old, edifying…
Earlier today, Jezebel published a look at the people behind Lil Tay, a 9-year-old girl and controversial Instagram personality, whose fame is the result of participating in some extremely adult beefs. Shortly after the story was published, Alex Goller Gelbard, who works with Tay in some kind of management capacity, answered a few questions we…
Photo: Screenshots via YouTube Social media stardom is a brutal Darwinistic competition, a craven and utterly shameless battle for space on our screens and in our brains carried out by a phalanx of influencers, thinkfluencers, beauty vloggers, charlatans, health quacks, spiritual phonies, and unhinged vegans. Recently, Lil Tay entered into this fray. Tay is—as far…
Google disclosed how it will help publishers obtain tracking consent from users during a call last week with the IAB Europe GDPR Transparency and Consent steering committee, and its approach could spell trouble for media and ad tech companies. The consent gathering tool, called “Funding Choices,” is in beta with some DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP)…
close story-meta Photo Patrick and SpongeBob in “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Credit Nickelodeon When a yellow sponge in rectangular pants came to children’s TV in 1999, who could have guessed that it would lead to “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical,” which was nominated this week for 12 Tony Awards? With the musical on a slate that includes…
Joshua Topolsky, the chief executive of the Outline, doesn’t want his digital-media company to get too big too fast. The startup has closed a $5.15 million fundraising round, the company’s second, Mr. Topolsky said. The new financing values the Outline at $21.15 million, he said, up from the company’s $11 million valuation from the last…
As publishers prepare to woo the advertising industry next week, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has released a new report making a case for media buyers to spend big on digital video. The study, released Thursday, touts the size, diversity and purchasing intentions of viewers of original web video and says they’re somewhat more receptive to…
Michael Bloomberg, former New York mayor and president and CEO of Bloomberg LP. (Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA) Bloomberg, my former employer, is reportedly moving to a paywall. If that turns out to be true, I can’t say I’ll be surprised. When I announced that I was leaving Bloomberg View for the Post Opinion section in February, many longtime…
Screenshot: Count Dankula (YouTube) Last month, Scottish YouTube comedian Mark Meechan was found guilty of a hate crime after posting a video of his girlfriend’s pug Buddha raising its paw to the words “Sieg Heil.” Though Meechan argued that the motivation behind the anti-Semitic video was simply to prank his girlfriend, he has been fined…
Graphic: Michael Harriot (The Root; photo via iStock) Every so often a new phrase emerges that encapsulates the cunning Caucasian ability to keep power and dominance within their clutches by painting themselves as the oppressed class. Whether it is “reverse racism,” “Make America great again” or “separate but equal,” coining catchphrases as a means of…