DrDrunkenstein’s Reign Of Terror
“DrDrunkenstein” is one of many aliases Magnus Carlsen has played under when he went on a killing spree across the speed chess tournaments of the internet. Carlsen has taken to livestreaming his games on a variety of platforms, which has provided a surprisingly entertaining window into the mind of an all-time great.
Iraq’s Social Media Martyrs
Huge nationwide protests against corruption have been making headlines, but these young millennials are taking on power in a different way, by celebrating beauty, fashion and rap. They’ve got millions of followers, but, as Unreported World finds out, fame can have deadly consequences.
The Twitter Electorate Isn’t The Real Electorate
For anyone interested in politics, Twitter is the closest thing to a global community center, or a small-ads section—the virtual room where it happens. All of this gives the social network outsize power to shape the political conversation. However, social media is distorting our sense of mainstream opinion.
How A TV Sitcom Triggered The Downfall Of Western Civilization
‘Friends’ signals a harsh embrace of anti-intellectualism in America, where a gifted and intelligent man is persecuted by his idiot compatriots. And even if you see it from my point of view, it doesn’t matter. The constant barrage of laughter from the live studio audience will remind us that our own reactions are unnecessary, redundant.
Creatives Call For Mental-Health Warnings On ‘Toxic’ Magazines
A creative team in London is hijacking the covers of celebrity and gossip magazines to raise awareness of the harmful impact that media can have on people’s mental health. They were inspired by news that hair salons across the UK have boycotted “toxic” gossip magazines following the death of presenter Caroline Flack.
How The Weather Channel Is Pioneering Mixed Reality For Live Television
The Weather Channel began investing in immersive mixed reality in late 2017 to respond to a growing demand for video across all platforms. The network has been recording about one mixed-reality segment per month since June 2018 and is getting ready to massively expand these efforts.
How ‘1917’ Was Filmed To Look Like One Shot
“1917” stars George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch and was filmed to look like one continuous shot. Cinematographer Roger Deakins explains how he and director Sam Mendes did it, from digging up a mile of trenches to attaching cameras to cranes and drones.
‘It Was One Problem After Another’: How Woodstock 50 Fell Apart
Woodstock 50 had nearly every resource a festival could ask for: a storied brand name, financial backing from a multinational communications company, and agents eager to sign up their artists for sizable paychecks. But it turned into a slow-moving train wreck. Where did it all go wrong?
“No Other Way To Say It”, A Comedy About Advertising
Director Tim Mason pulls the curtain back on the glamorous world of advertising in this short comedy about a voiceover actor trying to nail the right tone for a pair of indecisive ad creatives selling a fictitious children’s ice cream brand.
The Rise And Fall Of Marty Tirrell
From central Iowa radio pioneer to alleged scam artist. Money didn’t always belong to Tirrell, according to numerous court judgments against him. He defrauded eight people out of $1.5 million.
What Comes After TV?
A mobile-storytelling platform called Quibi has loomed on the content horizon, promising that, when its app launches this spring, it will be a home to a huge library of short-form shows made specifically for your phone. But Snapchat has been operating in that space for years. It’s harder than you’d think.
Inside HBO Max, The $4 Billion Bet To Stand Out In The Streaming Wars
Bob Greenblatt, Kevin Reilly and Sarah Aubrey — the executives leading the charge for WarnerMedia’s ambitious HBO Max streaming venture — outline their vision for a global platform to compete with Netflix, Amazon, Disney and others in TV’s new frontier of the direct-to-consumer cavalcade.
The My Generation: An Oral History Of Myspace Music
At Myspace’s height, the website changed the way artists and fans found each other and how record labels and buzz-seeking blogs found fresh meat. Artists like Panic! At The Disco, Arctic Monkeys, Soulja Boy, Lily Allen, and Colbie Caillat would become pop stars in part because of their presence on the site.
Inside The Booming Business Of Background Music
The background music industry – also known as music design, music consultancy or something offered as part of a broader package of “experiential design” or “sensory marketing” – is constantly deciding what we hear as we go about our everyday business. The biggest player in the industry, Mood Media, supplies music to 560,000 locations across the world, from Sainsbury’s to KFC.
How Facebook Works For Trump
During the 2016 election cycle, Trump’s team ran 5.9 million ads on Facebook, spending $44 million from June to November alone. He won the presidency by using the social network’s advertising machinery in exactly the way the company wanted. He’s poised to do it again.
Amnesty’s Syria Ads Prove Humankind Can Be Worse Than Natural Disasters
Amnesty International is known for its provocative ads for human rights. In its campaign for the freedom and democracy of Syria, war zones where housing and huge blocks of land are destroyed have been depicted in ads.
The Web We Have To Save
In the past, the web was powerful and serious enough to land me in jail. Today it feels like little more than entertainment. The rich, diverse, free web that I loved — and spent years in an Iranian jail for — is dying. Why is nobody stopping it?
Mister Rogers Had A Simple Set Of Rules For Talking To Children
The TV legend possessed an extraordinary understanding of how kids make sense of language. He insisted that every word be scrutinized closely, because he knew that children—the preschool-age boys and girls who made up the core of his audience—tend to hear things literally.
The Data That Turned The World Upside Down
How Cambridge Analytica used your Facebook data to help the Donald Trump campaign in the 2016 election. A then little-known British company sent out a press release: “We are thrilled that our revolutionary approach to data-driven communication has played such an integral part in President-elect Trump’s extraordinary win.”
The Danger Of Befriending Celebrities
Meryl Streep doesn’t call me every week to go bowling. In fact, she doesn’t call me at all. And that’s a good thing. I honestly can’t recommend becoming friends with celebrities, especially if you’re a long-running journalist like I am. It simply will not lead to a Hollywood ending.
Coldplay Sneaks Ads In Local Papers To Promote New Album
The band ditched a mega campaign in favor of fan letters and ads in the classified section of newspapers in Devon, North Wales, Sydney and more. Guitarist Jonny Buckland worked at the North Wales Daily Post – the newspaper of choice for this campaign.