Thompson on Hollywood

Tech Watch: Is Twitter a Media Company or a Social Network? Google Buys Zagat

While the social network that prides itself on instant updates was always guarded about updating its numbers, Twitter now claims 100 million active users--tweeting, following, and reading content on the network. Tech Crunch (whose own AOL future post-Michael Arrington is in some turmoil) reported that Twitter is looking to increase the presence of "promoted tweets."

By Maggie Lange
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September 9, 2011 5:32 AM
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Media Watch: Fox Sets Up Sub Paywall, Time's High Digital IQ, Facebook vs. Nirvana, Google+

On Tuesday, Fox announced that it will stop free next-day streaming of its TV shows on Fox.com and Hulu.com, unless viewers subscribe to the services. Cable and satellite users will need to submit a user name and password; the shows will be available for free viewing eight days after their initial release date.

By Maggie Lange
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July 27, 2011 4:03 AM
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Media Watch: AP to Link to Newspapers with Scoops, Hulu Worth Nothing without Exclusive Content

The AP has decided to give some credit where it’s due; they will acknowledge (and maybe even direct traffic to) news organizations that break big stories. Starting August 1, when the AP uses a local story, they will link back to the original. Nieman Lab disclosed the AP staff memo and reports: “because the AP is a cooperative, it has no legal obligation to credit its members. But ‘that’s a legal point, not a journalistic one,’ said Mike Oreskes, AP’s senior managing editor.”

By Maggie Lange
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July 21, 2011 9:46 AM
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Social Media Watch: Facebook Employees Sign Up for Google+, Most Active Users at Twitter or Facebook

While Google+ hopes to replace Facebook as a social media site that allows you to compartmentalize your image, high-ups at Facebook have been signing up in droves for Google's new platform. See the complete list of Facebook employees using Google Plus at All Facebook, including founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, vice president Christopher Cox and vice president of human resources, Lori Goler. So far, Google+ has accumulated 10 million users in just two weeks, good progress but nowhere close to Facebook's 750 million. Perhaps Facebook's principals are conducting some competitive research at Google+ or maybe this is a friendly gesture to say that all social media can coexist together?

By Maggie Lange
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July 20, 2011 8:00 AM
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TMZ Sex Professor Harvey Levin Explains It All to You

Do you know what soaking is? As TMZ's Harvey Levin (@HarveyLevinTMZ) promoted a TMZ Live story on Twitter, he felt called upon to define--to those who were not in the know--what sex-forbidden Brigham Young University kids mean when they say that "soaking" is not sex. He started out tweeting thus: This is the most fun I've ever had doing @TMZLive today.. talking about soaking and how BYU students do it to get around the no-sex policy

By Anne Thompson
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July 13, 2011 9:58 AM
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Master of Horror John Carpenter Answers Your Tweets

Yesterday Barack Obama, now John Carpenter (the director whose iconic horror films have likely scared you witless) will answer your questions live on Twitter, Friday from 2:00 to 3:30 PST.

By Maggie Lange
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July 8, 2011 7:07 AM
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Spike Lee Can’t Get Funding, Ashton Kutcher vs. Village Voice in Social Media Brawl

Spike Lee can’t get financing for his films, even with Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster joining a follow-up to Lee’s most successful feature, Inside Man. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Lee griped about everything from Do the Right Thing’s Academy snub in 1989 and making a film with LeBron James to his hesitancy about acting and Obama’s reelection. Lee's difficulties acquiring backers are countless, but he's particularly peeved that due to his 2008 financial disaster, the World War II period piece Miracle at St. Anna, even though Inside Man was his most successful film, "we can’t get the sequel made. And one thing Hollywood does well is sequels. The film’s not getting made. We tried many times. It’s not going to happen.”

By Maggie Lange
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July 2, 2011 3:49 AM
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Quentin Tarantino: If Smith and Elba Are Out, Foxx is Right for Django Unchained

It's not just the great performances Jamie Foxx has given, from Any Given Sunday to his Oscar-winning role in Ray, or his sweet crooning to Oprah at her farewell blast, or his duet at Cannes this year with Kanye West, that make him the right guy to star in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.

By Anne Thompson and Sophia Savage
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June 22, 2011 5:33 AM
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Top 25 Newspapers on Twitter; David Carr Beats LA Times

The top 25 newspapers on Twitter, according to The Wrap's media columnist Dylan Stableford, are led by the New York Times-- ahead by a large margin but not growing as fast as many others--followed by The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and in fifth place, The Los Angeles Times.

By Anne Thompson
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April 5, 2011 6:49 AM
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Good Advice on Changing from Print to Digital Model

It's tough for newspaper owners and execs to recognize that the days of large staffs and high exec pay are gone. That's why so many publications hang onto print for dear life, because the ads are worth so much more than online advertising. But I have never forgotten what Marc Andreessen once said to Charlie Rose: every newspaper should stop printing NOW and figure out how to survive online. Journal Register Company (JRC) CEO John Paton (@jxpaton) addressed newspaper execs via "Ten Tweets to Transform Newspapers":From MediaXchange 2011 stage my Ten Tweets To Transform Newspapers - starting now #naamxc11 #jrc jxpaton March 26, 2011 at 7:48