In this issue: Bezos to Miami / Corporate social statements / Subscriptions for everything + more!
Welcome to Context Collapse, the world’s best comms newsletter. I’m Neal Ungerleider. I run Ungerleider Works and used to work as a reporter for Fast Company, write op-eds for the LA Times, and work as a senior copywriter for R/GA. This newsletter helps readers navigate the weird new world of media and gleefully ignores all the conventional wisdom about journalism, public relations, marketing, and advertising.
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May you live in interesting times.
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“Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos said he was moving to Miami from the Seattle region, relocating to be closer to his parents and the Cape Canaveral operations of Blue Origin LLC, his space exploration company.
Bezos — the world’s third-wealthiest man, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — made the announcement Thursday via Instagram, which included video of him in his Seattle garage where he founded Amazon in 1994.”
”As companies, Coca-Cola doesn’t care about whether Roe v. Wade was overturned, Nike doesn’t care about gun violence, Starbucks doesn’t have a true belief about the war in the Middle East, and Comcast doesn’t have a belief about whether or not fascism is good or bad. Companies can’t actually believe or care about things. Individuals at those companies can, and they can shape policy and communications decisions, sure. But corporations in and of themselves? No. In the end, most companies’ public statements are business decisions in support of the almighty Brand Image, and nothing more.”
”The subscription business model has expanded from traditional products, such as newspapers and gym memberships to software, streaming media, vegetable boxes, shaving kits, makeup, clothes and support for creative types via Patreon or Substack. We should all be asking ourselves, if so many people are paying not to go to the gym, what else are we paying not to do?”
”Chalan tells me about the terrible living conditions in Gaza. “I sleep on the street with a blanket,” he explains. “Many journalists sleep in public spaces.” He tells me people can't shower because there is too little water, that it’s difficult to find a toilet, and the same goes for food and water. “There are long queues for food,” he says. “You can have small meals for a lot of money and you don't even know if the ingredients are spoiled. You get a small bottle of water for twice the price it used to cost.”
”Reporters often have inside information that could help them predict winners and losers in professional sports. They know more about potential trades, injuries, locker room dynamics, and who might go where (and when) in the draft process than the general public. Reporters even cast votes that help determine awards like Most Valuable Player, All-Star Game appearances, and the Hall of Fame. And, unlike professional athletes and team employees, there are few formal rules barring journalists from using that info for financial gain.
As sports betting explodes in popularity and goes online in more than half of U.S. states, newsrooms have leaned into providing up-to-the-minute info for gamblers as well as diehard fans.”
”Yet, despite its very different political-economic DNA, the blogosphere has become enshittified as clearly as Facebook, Google, or Amazon. Not just at the level of aging software, but at the level of the aging people who inhabit it, maintain it, and continue to churn out content on it, though at a rapidly decelerating rate.”
“The United Association for Studies and Research, or UASR, a think tank established in Chicago in 1989, is the brainchild of Musa Abu Marzook, a senior Hamas operative based in Doha, Qatar, who is now the organization’s second in command.
Over the years, UASR organized events and joint publications with prominent U.S. universities. Scholars affiliated with Duke, Johns Hopkins, Fordham and the University of Maryland sat on the editorial board of its quarterly, the Middle East Affairs Journal. UASR’s executive director Ahmed Yousef returned to Gaza in 2005 to become senior adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Mr. Yousef used his experience with American media to place op-eds with the New York Times and other Western publications.”
”Ideo has since confirmed to Fast Company that it’s eliminating 32% of its headcount this year, and says that “all levels of the company are impacted” by cuts. Employees laid off will receive severance “commensurate with their experience.”
”Paramount Global beat Wall Street analysts’ estimates in the third quarter, thanks in large part to streaming flagship Paramount+, which added 2.7 million subscribers to hit 63 million globally.”
”Fox Corp reported a near 33% drop in first-quarter profit on Thursday due to a slowdown in political advertising and higher expenses stemming from the broadcast of the women's soccer World Cup as well as investments in its digital platform.
The results are the first from Fox since Rupert Murdoch stepped down as chairman, solidifying his son Lachlan's role as the leader of the media empire.”
”Mint, the budgeting app owned by Intuit, is shutting down. Intuit announced on Tuesday that Mint will get absorbed into Intuit’s other service, Credit Karma, when it officially goes away on January 1st, 2024 (via Bloomberg). But it’s still not clear whether Credit Karma will get the budgeting features that Mint is known for.”
”In the upcoming Sims 4 For Rent Expansion Pack, players can have their Sims relive all the joys and annoyances of renting life. Players can build multiunit housing in a tropical, vaguely Southeast Asian-inspired town called Tomarang, and units can be anything from basement apartments to duplexes.
Aspiring landlords, take note: the game expansion allows you to try your hand at managing rentals by becoming a property owner. Landlord Sims can make money from their savvy investments and can live on-site or have their home on a separate lot away from tenants.”
Social media connects people in a superficial way.
An "influencer factory" in Indonesia😳😳😳
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