The indictment of 13 Russians for interfering with the Presidential election has intensified the pressure put on Facebook, which uncovered about three-thousand Russian-linked ads on its platforms before and after November 2016. Cheddar Senior Reporter, Alex Heath, breaks down the the latest developments.
Facebook's Vice President for ads, Rob Goldman, tweeted about Russia's disinformation effort. President Trump then cited him. Facebook did not intend for Goldman’s tweets to be quoted by Trump. They thought the tweets would only be seen by a contextually-aware audience of techies and media types who follow Goldman.
Heath believes that the tweeting from Goldman and other execs is part of a carefully orchestrated PR campaign by Facebook to make itself appear more transparent and relate-able through engaged spokespeople on Twitter.
The tech giant announced a slew of new products and software for Alexa-enabled homes, betting that the voice assistant becomes the entryway into the company's ecosystem for many households. Among the new Echo devices: a microwave, a wall clock, and the Echo Auto.
Thursday's IPO, with shares priced at $23 near the high end of its range, implied a valuation of nearly $1.8 billion. By midday, the stock was trading over $37. Julia Hartz, Eventbrite CEO, said the company's relentless focus on the "mid-market" protects it from competition from Ticketmaster or Facebook.
What does crypto have to do with journalism? Civil Media thinks it can be the answer to some of the field's woes, from eroding trust to a collapsing business model. As CEO Matthew Iles explained, the start-up's token sale can help build an infrastructure that will serve as a new economy for newsrooms.
Eventbrite, the online "do-it-yourself" ticketing agency, went public on the NYSE Thursday with shares priced at $23. By midday though, the stock, trading under the ticker EB, was at $37. The company's Chief Brand Officer Brian Irving joined Cheddar to discuss the debut.
The one-time Beatle is back at #1, and he didn't do it solely by selling albums. Austin Powell, managing editor at The Daily Dot, explains how McCartney was able to use the new music economy dominated by Spotify and Apple Music to his advantage.
The difference between the wild valuations and stock moves in the nascent pot industry and those of the turn-of-the-century dot-com stocks (Pets.com, anyone?) is that cannabis "is a market that actually exists," said financier Terry Taouss of cannabis financing company Tidal Royalty.
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Naz Aletaha, head of esports partnerships for Riot Games, said that the "priceless" experiences with new global sponsor Mastercard will start with the world championships in October, offering premium content and behind the scenes access to the biggest event for esports lovers.
Raymond Wong, senior tech correspondent at Mashable, shares his thoughts on Apple's new iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR.
Shares of Tilray, the Canadian cannabis company, popped 50 percent Wednesday after the DEA cleared the way for its cannabis imports as part of a clinical trial. Those trials are the backbone of Tilray's strategy, said Bethany Gomez, director of research at Brightfield Group. As more countries permit medical marijuana research, Tilray is putting itself in pole position.
