Media

Interview with American political commentator and podcast host, Tim Pool

Tim Pool is a well-known political commentator and podcaster who gained fame for live streaming the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protest.
He worked for Vice Media and Fusion TV before going solo on YouTube and other platforms.
Pool started as an activist, then an actor, and now considers himself a journalist.
He was a Bernie Sanders supporter but has since changed his political views and supported Trump.
The interview covers a wide range of topics, including Kanye West's firing of Nick Fuentes and replacing him with Milo, Tucker Carlson's controversies, and Vice's potential bankruptcy.
Pool's background is in punk rock music, which made him politically aware, and he worked for non-profits before joining the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Pool's experience in the hacker community led him to information activism, which he realized was journalism.
Pool's increasing notoriety led to people recognizing him and attacking him, forcing him to switch to commentary and podcasting.
Pool left high school at 14 because he found it a waste of time and focused on programming websites, making video games, and skateboarding.
Pool's parents were blue-collar workers, and his mom ran a coffee shop that failed due to corporate competition and street construction.
Pool believes that children should learn from adults and not from other kids, and he plans to homeschool his future children.
Pool and the interviewer, Patrick Bet-David, discuss their similar stories of leaving school early and pursuing alternative education and career paths.Temple on Journalism, Citizen Journalism, and the Decline of Vice
The speaker discusses the changes in journalism and how it has evolved over the years.
He talks about the impact of technology on journalism and how it has affected the way people consume news.
The speaker mentions the importance of understanding the perspective of a 14-year-old in today's world and how it affects their views on the world.
He talks about the rise of citizen journalism and how it has been viewed by traditional corporate media.
The speaker explains how the term "citizen journalism" was initially used as a derogatory term to undermine the work of independent journalists.
He argues that the term "independent journalism" is a more appropriate term to describe the work of non-corporate journalists.
The speaker discusses the decline of Vice media and how it went from being a successful media company to facing bankruptcy.
He explains how Vice's success was largely due to its long-form documentaries that were uploaded to YouTube and recommended by the platform's algorithm to compete with Netflix.
The speaker notes that Vice's documentaries often focused on sensational topics, such as sex and drugs, and were not always representative of the company's values.
He talks about how Vice shifted from being a show about wild adventures to a news magazine with a focus on diversity.
The speaker mentions that he worked for Vice and Fusion, and that they never explicitly told him what to say, but he felt that he was not always aligned with their values.
He argues that the decline of Vice was due to the company becoming too corporate and losing its connection to its audience.Insight into Vice Media's Culture and Financial Troubles
The author worked at Vice Media and experienced roadblocks due to a friend of the boss being incompetent.
Shane Smith, the CEO of Vice Media, was valued at $1.6 billion at the company's peak in 2017 and owned 28% of shares.
The ideal profile of a Vice employee was described as a confident and capable outsider.
The company was known for its hipster-ish and post-punk culture, but changes occurred when they received $70 million from Murdoch and began firing original staff.
Shane Smith was skilled at boosting morale and making employees feel like they were part of the greatest media empire on the planet.
The company was sold to top lenders Fortress Investment and Soros Fund for $400 million, which would wipe out other investors and impair outstanding debts.
Vice Media has $280 million in debt, including $30 million in debt financing from Soros earlier this year.
There were accusations that Shane Smith was cooking the books by using clever language to make it seem like the company had added a billion dollars in revenue when they had actually done a long-term deal.
The author quit Vice Media and shocked the media industry, but now sees the company's financial troubles as predictable.
Shane Smith is still worth over $50 million and is not believed to be unhappy.
Vice Media's culture changed as the company expanded and became more corporate, leading to a separation between the leader and subordinates who generated no confidence.
The author heard good things about Shane Smith and Vice Media, but saw warning signs when the company began spending tens of millions of dollars without a long-term plan.Discussion on Media Manipulation and Financial Fraud
Many contests that offer a chance to win a million dollars actually provide an annuity instead, which pays out a smaller amount over a longer period.
Annuities are often used in lottery winnings to reduce tax liability.
Media companies used to engage in ad rights assignments or sales, where they would buy the rights to sell ads on low-quality websites to artificially inflate their own views and ad revenue.
This practice is fraudulent and misleading to advertisers who think they are buying ad space on a high-quality website.
The trend in media is moving towards transparency, with platforms like Instagram allowing comments and YouTube cracking down on fake views and likes.
The current administration has been accused of lying and manipulating information, with little pushback from the media.
The concern is who is picking up media companies, with many left-leaning ones being bought by George Soros.
Some companies are putting their money on the line to compete with Soros's media control.
Fox News recently fired Tucker Carlson, possibly because he was becoming bigger than the brand and a threat to their reputation.
There are theories that Rupert Murdoch was threatened by Carlson's growing popularity or that Carlson's ex-fiancé called him a prophet.
Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots was comfortable with Tom Brady and other big personalities overshadowing his own brand, but not all CEOs are the same.
Elon Musk bought Twitter at the worst possible time for $44 billion.