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Chinese state-controlled media has accused the Trump administration of bullying and hooligan logic after the U.S. President threatened to thwart TikToks deal with Oracle and Walmart if its Chinese parent ByteDance retains control, highlighting the challenge the companies face in getting approval both from the U.S. and Chinese government.

Chinese State media has asked Beijing to reject the TikTok U.S. deal.

The state-controlled Global Times initially called the deal reasonable after news emerged on Saturday that Oracle and Walmart have agreed to acquire a combined 20% stake in a new U.S. based entity called TikTok Global that would operate the video-sharing platform.

However, both Trump and Oracle pushed back against assertions that ByteDance will hold an 80% stake in the newly formed company, insisting that the Chinese firm will need to further dilute its stake or risk the deal being rejected.

Following this flip-flop, an editorial in the Chinese paper slammed the deal as unfair adding that China will not yield to US intimidation and will not accept an unequal treaty that targets Chinese companies.

On Monday, ByteDance put out a statement on the Chinese blogging platform Toutiao, where it tried to play down speculation that it was giving up control of TikTok, asserting that it will continue to hold an 80% stake in TikTok Global after the deal is complete.

However, speaking to Fox News, Trump said that ByteDance will have nothing to do with it, and if they do, we just wont make the deal. Its going to be controlled, totally controlled by Oracle and if we find that they dont have total control then were not going to approve the deal.

Signaling that Beijing may reject the deal being touted by Trump, the Global Times editorial states, It's hard for us to believe that Beijing will approve such an agreement. Any deal will require approval from the Chinese government, ByteDance said last week. This is because the Chinese government added AI technologiesincluding personalized content recommendation tools like the one used by TikTokto its export controls list last month.

On Saturday, Trump asserted that the companies involved in the deal have agreed to commit $5 billion towards a fund for the U.S. government which he plans to use to "educate people" about the "real history of the country. But in its blog post, ByteDance contested Trumps claim. ByteDance argued that Trumps $5 billion figure was simply an estimate of the amount of taxes the new company, TikTok Global, would pay over several years if the business is successful.

The confusion around the nature of the proposed TikTok deal stems from contradictory statements made by the key players. On Saturday, TikTok announced that Oracle and Walmart agreed to acquire a 20% stake in TikToks global business as part of a pre-IPO financing round, moments after President Donald Trump told the press that he had given his blessing to the deal. As part of this deal, Oracle has agreed to acquire 12.5% of the video-sharing platform, while Walmart will hold a 7.5% stake, but that now looks to be at risk. In a statement shared with Forbes, Oracle executive vice president Ken Glueck echoed Trumps position statingAmericans will be the majority and ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global, without offering any additional details. Meanwhile, as Trump insists Oracle will control TikTok, the company doesnt appear to have a seat on TikTok Globals new board as ByteDance says the board will include its founder and current directors, along with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. Glueck's belief that Americans will control TikTok Global comes from the fact that U.S. citizens make up the majority of the board, while U.S. investors in ByteDance, Walmart and Oracle may end up holding a majority stake in the newly-created company, according to CNBC.

Trump, Oracle Push Back Against ByteDances Claim Of 80% Ownership Of TikTok Global (Forbes)

TikTok deal puts U.S. owners in charge, but Chinese parent company still has some say (CNBC)

Link:
Chinese Media Calls On Beijing To Reject TikTok Deal As Trump Seeks U.S. Control Of App - Forbes

CHATHAM, NJ - The Chatham Board of Education president, district superintendent and board members all urged residents to knock off the "shaming" on social media at its regular meeting held Monday night in the Chatham High auditorium.

BOE President Jill Critchley Weber, Superintendent Michael LaSusa and board member Ann Ciccarelli all urged people to back off on criticism of students and parents following a non-school party that prompted a spike in Coronavirus cases and sent CHS into an "all-virtual" mode.

"I know it's been super stressful for people, but I really urge everybody to think twice before they are posting on social media," Ciccarrelli said. "The social medial frenzy since this happened has been absolutely out of control. These kids have been shamed, these parents have been shamed andfalse statements have been made.

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"It's really, really counterproductive. I fearit's going to lead to other people not reporting if they do have positive results because people are afraid of what otherpeople in the community are saying about them. We all know the effects of social media comments, especially on these teenagers and adolescents and I think we need to be very conscious of their emotional well-being and the fact that shaming kids for having a virus, whether they made a poor decision or not, is not going to be productive for anybody. We really need to come together as a community and be kind to each other about this. This is not easy for anybody."

BOE president Weber acknowledged students who came forward to report the transmission: "We are not going to be punishing any students who reported."

Weber also urged a "We are Chatham" attitude when it comes to the pandemic in the video below.

LaSusa followed the advice of the health departmenton Sept. 11 and orderedChatham High Schoolstudents to switch toall-virtual instruction until Sept. 29.

The full video from the Sept. 21 BOE meeting can be viewed below.

Read the original here:
Chatham Board of Education Member on CHS Students Infected at Party: 'The Social Media Frenzy has been Out of Control' - TAPinto.net

The podcast landscape in Norway is still nascent, but news group Schibsted is gearing up an attempt to turbocharge that growth.

The publishing group which currently produces 40 podcasts across its handful of news titles in Norway has spent the last year integrating podcast publishing into its proprietary editorial technology platform, what it calls Core News Product. The effort has taken roughly 30 people across different parts of the business, including product teams, developers and content teams across its news titles. The goal: Learn more about podcast usage on its brands, experiment with how they drive subscribers and ultimately earn more ad revenue depending on the business model of each of the groups titles, which are mostly general news titles.

Using premium audio to drive subscriptions is a pretty underused tactic partly because it requires wonky tech workarounds, as Digiday has previously reported, especially as Apple, Google and more recently Spotify are globally the dominant podcast platforms. To take podcasts seriously, its becoming vital that publishers break away from platforms and build their own podcast models.

I do believe other news media companies would follow, said Schibsted product manager Erik Saastad. Its easy to see benefits. It has a lot of potential for strengthening the existing business models, but also to open for new revenue sources.

Schibsted has had its fair share of knocks by coronavirus. From April to June, the group generated 498 million Norwegian krone ($53.5 million), according to its financial statement, thats an 11% decrease year-on-year, due to the pandemic. Despite low ad revenue, for now, podcasts are playing a more central role in its content strategy. One of its most popular podcasts, Forklart (Explained), from subscription Norweigan general news brand, Aftenposten, is approaching 1 million streamed episodes every week.

Aftenposten has nearly 240,000 print and digital subscribers. Now, the title can publish certain podcast episodes behind the paywall for subscribers for a time frame before opening them up on third-party platforms like Acast and iTunes. Publishing podcasts on its own platform lets the publisher drill down into consumption habits, informing content, as well as how podcasts drive retention.Readers can also listen to podcasts while browsing news in the news apps.

For Schibsted specifically, podcast ad revenue has not been significant. The publisher expects podcast ad revenue to grow by 50% this year compared with 2019, (it wouldnt say from what base) driven by its native publishing of the format and the maturation of the market, which is fledgling. Estimates from Interbuss Kantar say 45% of Norways population (which totals 5.4 million) listen to podcasts once a month. Podcast platform Acast counts more than 11 million monthly listens in Norway.

Schibsted estimates Norway generates 4 million ($5.1 million) annually from podcast ad revenue. In the U.S., ad revenue is nearing the $1 billion mark, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. In July, Acast increased advertising revenues with 800% in Norway compared to the same month last year.

And with the new platform, ad buyers can book podcast campaigns using Schibsteds normal ad tools, in theory increasing the market. Before, sellers had to do this manually via Acast, which will still serve ads on Schibsted podcasts that are played on external platforms.

All the platforms have the problem that they are based on a business model of free podcasts at scale, and its insanely hard to fit premium podcasts into that, said media analyst Thomas Baekdal, who points to different models by Danish publisher Zetland and Dutch publisher The Correspondent. Not just from a technical and UX perspective, but more so from a business perspective. Spotify, for instance, is buying up podcasts to be featured exclusively on its platforms while also wanting creators to hand over podcasts for free. We are being used in a very unfair way by these platforms, he added.

Schibsted says it knows from ongoing tests that it wouldnt share results on that publishing podcasts both in its own channels as well as on the external platforms increase the total listening.

For example, the publishers tabloid-style news brand VG, mostly funded by ads, but 24% of the population of Norway pay for access (according to Reuters Digital News Report 2020), has around 15 different podcasts and is planning to launch an additional five to 10 during the next few months. The most popular is true-crime podcast Krimpodden, which had 20,000 listeners on VG last week, making up about 25% of its overall listens (the rest came from other platforms like iTunes, Google and Spotify).

Partly, this increase is driven by Schibsteds podcast player integration improving the user experience, making podcasts more visible and cross-promoting with similar and related content. More podcast ad inventory and not having to cede control over to distribution platforms means VG can, in theory, charge higher ad rates for spot ads and podcast sponsorship.

This is both a necessity and a revenue opportunity, said commercial business developer podcasts, Helene Svab. This is the smartest way to be forward-facing in the market. We have the data and easy access to the tool and for us to use ourselves. Its an innovation that was necessary for opening up a larger chunk of the market and gives us more control.

Update: An earlier version of this article incorrectly omitted that podcast listens outside of VG come from platforms including iTunes, Google and Spotify.

https://digiday.com/?p=378309

See the article here:
Gives us more control: To grow revenue, Schibsted built its own podcast platform - Digiday

Quick Take

Viral social media posts falsely claim that no one has died at home from COVID-19, implying that poor medical care contributed to the deaths or that the disease is a hoax. Nearly 10,000 coronavirus victims have died in their homes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As the United States reached a grim milestone of 200,000 deaths from COVID-19, recent social media posts falsely claim that no one has died from the novel coronavirus in their homes implying that poor medical care contributed to their deaths or that the pandemic isnt real.

Not a single person with corona virus has been found dead in their home; every death has occurred at a hospital reads one of the posts. Some comments on the post speculated that victims were murdered in hospitals or nursing homes, while others claimed the pandemic is a hoax.

But contrary to the posts claim, nearly 10,000 people have died in their home due to COVID-19 as of Sept. 12, according to the provisional death count from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cities hit hard by the novel coronavirus also saw an uptick in home deaths. In Houston, officials saw a spike in people dying at home with an increasing number of deaths coming from COVID-19, according to a ProPublica and NBC News report from July.

Authorities in New York City saw a similar trend early on in the pandemic when 200 people were dying at home each day in the city in early April, according to Gothamist and WNYC. Prior to the pandemic, there were 20 to 25 at-home deaths per day in the city, the report said.

Although some commented on the false Facebook post that victims were murdered in hospitals, the mortality rate in intensive care units has fallen over the course of the pandemic. Improvements in care have come as doctors have gained more experience in treating the disease, Dr. Craig Coopersmith, director of Emory Critical Care Center in Georgia, told NPR.

Theres certainly nothing routine about the pandemic, Coopersmith said, but in terms of how were managing it, once you have taken care of something for the tenth time, it is normal.

Along with experience, Coopersmith told NPR studies showing the benefit of steroids for sick patients has improved COVID-19 patients chances of surviving a trip to the ICU.

A commenter claimed that hospitals are being paid $39,000 for each COVID-19 death and that theyre killing them for money. But FactCheck.org reported in April that while legislation pays hospitals higher Medicare rates for COVID-19 patients and treatment, theres no evidence of fraudulent case reporting.

Editors note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizationsworking with Facebookto debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be foundhere.

The New York Times. Covid in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count. Accessed 22 Sep 2020.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Provisional Death Counts. Accessed 22 Sep 2020.

Ornstein, Charles. Hixenbaugh, Mike. A Spike in People Dying at Home Suggests Coronavirus Deaths in Houston May Be Higher Than Reported. ProPublica and NBC News. 8 July 2020.

Hogan, Gwynne. Staggering Surge Of NYers Dying In Their Homes Suggests City Is Undercounting Coronavirus Fatalities. Gothamist and WNYC. 7 April 2020.

Outcomes from intensive care in patients with COVID19: a systematic review and metaanalysis of observational studies. Association of Anaesthetists. 15 June 2020.

Harris, Richard. Advances In ICU Care Are Saving More Patients Who Have COVID-19. NPR. 20 September 2020.

Fichera, Angelo. Hospital Payments and the COVID-19 Death Count. FactCheck.org. 21 April 2020.

Read the rest here:
Nearly 10000 COVID-19 Victims Died at Home - FactCheck.org

A former CDC official criticizes the agency over its latest reversal, this time in guidance on how the coronavirus is transmitted. // Getty Images, Kevin C. Cox

As of now, both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization say the primary way the coronavirus spreads is by hitching a ride on respiratory droplets when people are in close contact.

Respiratory droplets form when someone sneezes, coughs, talks or sings, for example. They don't travel far and fall to the ground quickly.

But on Friday, the CDC website was modified to include smaller, aerosolized particles as a way the coronavirus is commonly spread. These are the tiniest particles expelled in breath that can linger in the air and travel distances farther than 6 feet.

On Monday, the agency took that update down, saying it was a draft that had been posted in error.

Dr. Ali Khan, who used to direct the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the CDC, says there was "nothing new" in the now-deleted update, which he characterized as saying "there's a minor role for airborne transmission."

The disease is "predominantly" spread by large particles from people near each other, he says. There's consensus in the scientific community that this seems to be the main mode of transmission.

Beyond that, Khan notes, there are a few other ways that people could, conceivably, contract the virus, researchers and health officials agree.

"Occasionally we get this disease from contaminated surfaces," Khan tells Steve Inskeep on NPR's Morning Edition. "And then there's a minor role, again, for these small particle aerosols. ... These are transmitted farther than 6 feet away, potentially around a corner, especially in poorly ventilated indoor spaces. And then, finally, there's a yet even more minor role, probably, for transmission via feces. So nothing new here."

Still, a number of environmental engineers and other infectious disease researchers have been critical in the past of both the CDC and WHO for, they say, being too slow to acknowledge the role this sort of fine aerosol might play in spreading the virus, especially indoors.

Khan is now the dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Here are excerpts from the interview:

What do you make of this unremarkable guidance being published and then withdrawn?

Confusing. So CDC's not perfect and certainly has made some mistakes this past year. But with due respect to the agency, it's hard to imagine that this is one of them, given the scrutiny that they've had in all of their messaging.

And for example, so just last week, we saw a flip-flop from CDC on testing of asymptomatic persons. We saw documented proof of manipulation of CDC's official publication. So, you know, it's not hard to understand people questioning that these changes may be deliberate interference by the [Trump administration]. ...

We've seen the deliberate undermining of public health over the course of this outbreak for political purpose. And we have seen numerous examples now of deliberate change of guidance that's not evidence-based.

Can we still trust what the CDC tells us then?

Unfortunately, it's becoming harder to trust what CDC tells us.

And this is extremely unfortunate because trust is the most important thing we need during a pandemic. As we tell people that, regardless of this minor role of aerosol transmission, we have the tools available to us today to stop this outbreak in its tracks with "test, trace, isolate." And please do our part [by] wearing a mask, washing our hands and socially distancing. And this trust is going to be even more important as we tell people to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated hopefully sometime at the end of this year and into next year.

I want to know if the practical advice after all of this confusion is still basically the same, so far as you see it: See people outdoors, rather than indoors; 6 feet apart; wear a mask. That sort of thing.

Correct. The guidance doesn't change. So there's lots of nice, sophisticated aerobiology studies now that look at what happens when you sneeze and cough and how far these particles go and whether there's virus riding along in them.

But we know that if we wear our masks and we couple that with the public health strategy of testing, isolating and tracing people, that we can get this disease under control.

Taylor Haney produced the audio interview.

Original post:
After Aerosols Misstep, Former CDC Official Criticizes Agency Over Unclear Messaging - Houston Public Media