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Pro Wrestling
Media Man/Media Man Int X Coverage Of AEW Worlds End Sees Some X Twitter Posts Exceed 3000!
Pro Wrestling
WWE Internet Based Buzz re potential new Paul Heyman New Faction aka modem day version of:
"The Dangerous Alliance". Or "America's Most Hated"?!
Led by Paul Heyman, the faction may consist of for example:
CM Punk
Brock Lesnar
Logan Paul
Grayson Waller
Austin Theory
Media Man: This is speculative in nature however there has been numerous Internet based rumors and buzz for a number of months. The rumours and buzz have not diminished so we are covering this now to help further prepare the WWE fanbase for what may develop in early to mid 2024. The dynamic has changed greatly in The Bloodline and a shuffling of the deck would help keep things fresh. Surely Roman Reigns would be aware of these rumours by now, and if not, perhaps he is now.
Fans, be sure to keep checking the WWE YouTube channel as well as the X and even the Paul Heyman/Heyman Hustle channels as you never know what other clues may be disclosed. Raw and SmackDown are forecast to remain appointment viewing and red hot in 2024.
Pro Wrestling News
WWE News - January 2024
WWE Raw Day 1 will be the first event to kick off WWE’s New Year’s Knockout week, celebrating the first week of 2024. Scheduled for the New Year's Day show is Seth Rollins defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre and Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defending against Ivy Nile.
In addition of NXT’s New Year’s Evil event next Tuesday, next Friday will see WWE SmackDown New Year’s Revolution. That show will be headlined by a three way match between AJ Styles, LA Knight, and Randy Orton where the winner will challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WWE Royal Rumble on January 27.
WWE News - January 2024
Monday, January 1 - RAW: DAY ONE on USA
Tuesday, January 2 - NXT: NEW YEAR’S EVIL on USA
Wednesday, January 3 - Best of THE BUMP on YouTube
Thursday, January 4 - Best of WWE 2023 (4pm ET) and a live WWE 2024 Preview Special (8pm ET) on Peacock
Friday, January 5 – SMACKDOWN: NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTION on FOX
AEW Worlds End
MJF vs Samoa Joe. AEW Title
"Didn't expect so many people on Long Island chanting Joe's name.. smart" Taz
"Going to be a tough one for MJF.. he's banging up" Taz
Promo: "Our scumbag"
Fans: "He's our scumbag"
"There's another problem too. The left shoulder of MJF" Tony Schiavone
"Thumbing Joe in the eye..the advantage" Excalibur
"I'm telling ya, Max is in a lot of trouble here tonight" Taz
"It is the last thing Max wanted" Excalibur
"He's in deep you know what right now" Taz
"Max has felt this muscle buster"
"Max is hurt. He's going for those quick covers" Taz
"Kangaroo kick"
"Didn't work"
"Going to skin the cat"
"Tried to skin the cat,. couldn't do it" Tony Schiavone
"He landed on the back of his head did Max" Taz
"Dragon Suplex, landed on the top of his head"
"Muscle buster on the outside"!
"He came down on the left shoulder" Taz
"A hell of a night for him" TS
"1, 2,.3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,.9, 10" fans
"He wants this kangaroo gimmick" Taz
"Collapsing under the weight of the opponent" Excalibur
"He's thinking heat seeker here"
"The story written all over the face of MJF" Excalibur
"Now the salt of the earth"
"He got red handed through" Excalibur
"There goes the ref"
"Max knows the refs down" Taz
"Got to get a cover" Taz
"MJF is calling for the ring"
"He's looking for it"
"Joe transitions"
"What a struggle this has been" TS
"Ring the bell, that's it"
"Choked him out" Taz
Media Man: So pumped for this historic professional wrestling match. MJF makes history again, as does Joe. Much credit to both, as well as for the AEW team for making this possible. Social media channels are going off the hook. Expecting a very strong PPV number from TrillerTV
@FiteTV
and the like.
The AEW YouTube Channel is going to get further hammered once the powers that be release more footage from today's Worlds End.
AEW Official YouTube
http://youtube.com/aew
#AEWWorldsEnd #WorldsEnd #MJF #SamoaJoe #TheDevil #AdamCole #prowrestling #wrestling #AndNew #EntertainmentNews #PopCulture #showbiz #trends #trending #buzz #X #media
Image credit: AEW
All Elite Wrestling @AEW
A Le Sex Gods Reunion? Sammy Guevara & Chris Jericho address their pasts! | 12/29/23, AEW Rampage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owgfbdGtSu0&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
"Hey, hey, Hey. Well, alright. You guys are hot in O-Town tonight. Welcome to Rampage. We had a huge night on Dynamite last Wednesday, when Sammy Guevara quit The Don Callis Family"... Chris Jericho
and more great AEW footage via the AEW Official YouTube Channel
www.youtube.com/@AEW
#AEWRampage #AEW #LeSexGods #SammyGuevara #ChrisJericho #prowrestling #wrestling #entertainment #popculture #broadcast #broadcasting #trends #trending #buzz #TV #media
Image credit: AEW
All Elite Wrestling Facebook
AEW Worlds End is stacked. The Devil is in the detail. Nic? Kevin? Booked via TrillerTV (KFA FITE).
UFC: A Win-Win-Win. A win for promoters, fighters and fans. Sean "Tarzan" Strickland is our 'Fighter Of The Year'.
WWE 'Moment Of The Year. We'll buy that suggestion. Classic turn with months teasing and the big pay off at the Royal Rumble PLE.
Wrestlers Passed In 2023
Some of the wrestlers we lost this year
Shiek Adnan Al-Kaissie aged 84
Exotic Adrian Street aged 83
The Iron Sheik aged 81
Jerry Jarrett aged 80
Superstar Graham aged 79
Terry Funk aged 79
Butch Miller aged 78
Joyce Grable aged 70
Lanny Poffo aged 68
Jeff Gaylord aged 64
Brett Wayne Sawyer aged 63
"Mantaur" Mike Halac aged 55
Droz aged 54
Jay Briscoe aged 38
Bray Wyatt aged 36
Pro Wrestlers Passed In 2023
Some of the wrestlers we lost this year
Shiek Adnan Al-Kaissie. aged 84
Exotic Adrian Street. aged 83
The Iron Sheik. aged 81
Jerry Jarrett. aged 80
Superstar Billy Graham. aged 79
Terry Funk. aged 79
Butch Mille.r aged 78
Joyce Grable. aged 70
Lanny Poffo. aged 68
Jeff Gaylord. aged 64
Brett Wayne Sawyer. aged 63
"Mantaur" Mike Halac. aged 55
Droz. aged 54
Jay Briscoe. aged 38
Bray Wyatt. aged 36
Media Man Int YouTube
Pro Wrestling. Terry Funk tribute
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yG2Mqig9OD4
Wrestling Legends. Terry Funk. RIP
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jqfX7SWxap0
#prowrestling #prowrestlers #professionalwrestling #RIP #BrayWyatt #WindamRotuna #TerryFunk #AdrianStreet #IronSheik #JerryJarrett #BillyGraham #ButchMiller #JoyceGrable #LannyPoffo #Droz #JayBrisco #RestInPeace #media #mediaman #mediamanint
Pro Wrestling
Get Ready for All Elite Wrestling @AEW Worlds End
Updated Intel
8 Man Tag
Chris Jericho, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, & Sting vs AEW World Tag Champions Big Bill & Ricky Starks and The Don Callis Family (ROH World Television Champion Kyle Fletcher & Powerhouse Hobbs)
Videos via the Official AEW YouTube Channel
The Don Callis Family celebrates Boxing Week with surprising results! | 12/27/23, AEW Dynamite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHfYiBHaMHE&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
Set Your Reminder For Zero Hour!
ZERO HOUR: AEW Worlds End Pre Show | LIVE - Saturday, December 30 | 6:30e/3:30p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwbP1EAbSXU&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
Set Your Reminder For The Media Scrum!
AEW Worlds End Media Scrum | 12/30/23
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ7MUAiqF5I&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
Continental Classic Final: Jon Moxley v Eddie Kingston | AEW Worlds End, LIVE Tonight on PPV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88yM1kOvrjg&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
AEW World Championship: MJF v Samoa Joe | AEW Worlds End, LIVE Tonight on PPV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKDXY2TMFyc&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
AEW World Championship: MJF v Samoa Joe | AEW Worlds End, LIVE Tonight on PPV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKDXY2TMFyc&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
Booked via TrillerTV @FiteTV (previously known at FITE)
Who is "The Devil"? Could it be Nic Nemeth or Adam Page?
#AEWWorldsEnd #WorldsEnd #MJF #SamoaJoe #TheDevil #EddieKingston #JonMoxley #ChristianCage #AdamCopeland #RRatedSuperstar #ChrisJericho #DarbyAllin #SammyGuevara #Sting #NicNemeth #Ziggler #AdamPage #prowrestling #wrestling #entertainment #popculture #PPV #PayPerView #TrillerTV #trends #trending #buzz #media
Image credit: AEW
Pro Wrestling
All Elite Wrestling @AEW
Worlds End
ZERO HOUR: AEW Worlds End Pre Show | LIVE - Saturday, December 30 | 6:30e/3:30p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwbP1EAbSXU&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
Broadcasting Now!
Kris Statlander vs Willow Nightingale
Hook vs Wheeler Yuta. FTW Rules match for the FTW championship
20 man battle royal for an anytime, anywhere TNT title shot!
#AEWWorldsEnd #WorldsEnd #AEWZeroHour #AEW #ZeroHour #KrisStatlander #WillowNightingale #Hook #WheelerYuta #FTW #BattleRoyal #prowrestling #wrestling #entertainment #popculture #broadcast #broadcasting #TrillerTV #YouTube #wrestlingnews #sportsmedia #sportsnews #trends #trending #buzz #media
Image credit: AEW
Pro Wrestling
AEW @AEW Official YouTube Channel
Worlds End Zero Hour is broadcasting now!
ZERO HOUR: AEW Worlds End Pre Show | LIVE - Saturday, December 30 | 6:30e/3:30p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwbP1EAbSXU&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
"We are just under 20 minutes away"
"Who is The Devil"?
"Is it better to be first, or is it better to be first"?!
"It is FTW Rules. Anything goes"!
AEW World Championship: MJF v Samoa Joe | AEW Worlds End, LIVE Tonight on PPV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKDXY2TMFyc&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
#AEWWorldsEnd #WorldsEnd #ZeroHour #MJF #SamoaJoe #TheDevil #EddieKingston #JonMoxley #ChristianCage #AdamCopeland #RRatedSuperstar #ChrisJericho #DarbyAllin #SammyGuevara #Sting #NicNemeth #Ziggler #AdamPage #Hook #FTW #FTWRules #prowrestling #wrestling #entertainment #popculture #PPV #PayPerView #TrillerTV #broadcast #broadcasting #trends #trending #buzz #media
Image credit: AEW
Mixed Martial Arts
UFC @UFC
World's leading MMA promotion, the UFC, highlights 'Year Of The Fighter'; Big thumbs up from fans and sports media says Media Man
PS: Sean Strickland, UFC Middleweight champion is our 'MMA Fighter Of The Year' award winner!
Year of the Fighter - Daniel Cormier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THQzZsSW4Ks&t=6s&ab_channel=UFC
Year of the Fighter - Max Holloway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ7MUAiqF5I&ab_channel=AllEliteWrestling
Year of the Fighter - Israel Adesanya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh6iH0Rbq1s&t=2s&ab_channel=UFC
UFC Official YouTube Channel
www.youtube.com/@ufc
Media Man Int
UFC News (Media Man Int)
https://www.mediamanint.com/articles/ufc_news.html
#UFC #YearOfTheFighter #DamielCormier #MaxHolloway #IsraelAdesanya #ufcnews #ufcmedia #mmanews #mmamedia #YouTube #YT #highlights #moments #interview #interviews #feature #spotlight #trends #trending #buzz #media
Image credit: UFC
I Have Some Things to Say, Please Read, By Maxwell Jacob Friedman
I don’t usually do stuff like this but I have sh*t to get off my chest.
I’m wrestling Samoa Joe for the world title on Saturday night, and I have no idea what’s going to happen after that. You’ll probably hear some stories about me over the next few days, about my contract, about the injuries I’ve been dealing with, about the condition my body is in, about who knows what else. I’m sure it’ll all leak. That’s fine.
But AEW turns FIVE on Monday — January 1st, 2024. And that f*cking means something to me. And since everything beyond Saturday feels so uncertain, I want to share my thoughts on it now. I want our fans to hear from me ahead of whatever comes next.
1.
There’s a reason that “workers rights” get brought up so often in conversations around AEW: It’s because we have a lot goddamn more of them now. This sh*t isn’t rocket science. Competition = bad for management, good for labor. There used to be one major American wrestling company, now there’s two. That f*cking matters. It matters for the wrestlers who work here, since we all have jobs that literally didn’t exist five years ago. But it also matters for the wrestlers who don’t work here. For everyone in WWE, AEW means not having to work in monopoly conditions. It means more options, which means more leverage, which means more money. (And I’ll take a wild guess and say better treatment.) And for wrestlers outside those two companies, AEW matters not just because it exists, but because of how it exists. Listen … if you google me, I think it says I’m 5'11" — but we all know that’s horsesh*t. I’m like 5'8", guys. And this is a place where, simply put, a 5'8" Jew can be world champ. If you know wrestling history then you know that’s a big deal and why.
So while I welcome anyone being critical of AEW (God knows I am)..... if you’re actually actively rooting against us? Against us EXISTING? Guess what, you’re the f*cking worst. You’re rooting against workers. And that’s the truth. Because out of all the incredible things that AEW has done over these last five years, #1 with a bullet is “put MJF on TV.” But #2 is “make the wrestling industry just a little bit better to work in.”
2.
Cody took a chance on me and put me on the card at All In. Then Tony took a chance on me and signed me to AEW full-time. But let’s not kid ourselves: I was pretty much brought in to be the guy you disliked — who didn’t stand a chance against the guys you loved. You know those wrestling moments we all grew up on, where some legend comes out to talk to the crowd, but then a younger guy interrupts them, is an asshole, and eats a fist to the face? I think that’s what they saw me as when we started. Just look at Double or Nothing 2019, our first-ever PPV. They had Bret Hart come out to unveil the AEW World Title. They had Hangman Page come out to get Bret’s co-sign and look cool. Me??? I said a few words, got booed, and took a punch. I wasn’t looked at as being a potential top guy.
But I’ll never forget the moment before I went out there. I mean, picture it: I’m 21, barely a few years into the business, and I’m being told to cut a promo on Bret Freaking Hitman Hart. Over 10,000 people in the arena, something like 100,000 watching on PPV. So before I walk out, I ask Tony and those guys what feels like a pretty f*cking good question: “Ummm…... what do I say??” And they just look at me for a second with these blank-ass stares. And they’re like, “........what do you mean? You know how to talk.” That’s when I realized what AEW was going to be like — and that it’s where I was meant to wrestle. Because, yeah, O.K., they brought me in as fodder. Tough luck. But they also gave me a chance to make my own luck. You know what I mean? Like — they threw me into the deep end, floaties off, and said sink or swim. Get over with our fans or don’t. And I’ll take that any day compared to the other way it’s been done in our business, historically, which is: they place you gently in the shallow end, floaties on, no actually you can’t take them off (it’s a rule), also you never get over because you look f*cking ridiculous with floaties on, but you don’t sink so that’s good, and oh yeah you’re fired.
Trust me, though, AEW isn’t for everyone. “Sink or swim” cuts both ways like a motherf*cker. If you watched us in Year One, you know that. I won’t name any names. But suffice to say, there were guys who had all the buzz in the world coming in at the start — and it turns out it was just that. Buzz. Seriously, there were guys who no one could shut up about. Oh my god, so and so, that dude is a MASSIVE star. Then you’d hear someone mention Darby Allin and it’s like, Yeah, Darby’s cool and all … but he’s little. He’s not REALLY gonna get over. You know who the GUY is? It’s so and so.
But here’s the thing: It wasn’t so and so. It was f*cking Darby, who was supposed to be too small and too weird. (And is a b*tch who I’ve beaten twice with a headlock takeover — but still.) And it was f*cking Penta and Fenix, who definitely got dismissed by a lot of people at first as just these “run-of-the-mill” luchas. And it was f*cking Kingston, who is a BUM sure but got crazy over just by being himself, a dude from Yonkers. And it was f*cking me — who was meant to top out at “Cody’s sidekick” or the douchebag of the month or whatever. (And then of course you’ve got someone like Hangman, who everyone said would be great and he was. Prick!)
Bottom line: AEW = opportunity in every sense of the word. If you’re good, it’s an opportunity to show that. If you’re mid, it’s an opportunity to show that. If you’ve still got it, it’s an opportunity to show that. If you’re washed as f*ck, it’s an opportunity to show that.
And if you’re a generational talent (me), it’s an opportunity to show that.
3.
I want to say a few things about the people who helped build this place.
Tony — yeah he’s my boss, yeah he’s a billionaire’s son, no one wants to hear about him, I’ll be brief. 1. Most billionaires’ sons, as I understand it, are rude idiots who watch Netflix all day on mountains of drugs while siphoning money from Mommy and Daddy. Tony isn’t that. So on a baseline level I guess I respect him for being a nice guy who gives a sh*t and loves this sport. 2. Tony honors contracts. If you think that’s a low bar, cool. Welcome to wrestling.
Cody — we have a beautiful friendship, in a business where friends are like unicorns, and I’ll just leave it at that.
Kenny and the Bucks — I always hear how “polarizing” they are and my response is thank f*ck. Literally every performer worth caring about is polarizing. Every athlete who I’d buy a ticket to watch, every artist who doesn’t put me to sleep. I can probably count all the genuinely punk rock moments in recent wrestling history on two hands. And those dudes betting on themselves and winning is one of them.
Jericho — it’s really fun to sh*t on him, I know. (Trust me, I do it all the time.) But people have the weirdest, shortest memories when it comes to who he is and what he represents. Like: I respect Tony and the EVPs a lot. (See above.) But if AEW at the start had just been those guys, plus a ragtag group of indie wrestlers with zero TV exposure (myself included)?? Sorry…… but no. We would have been dead in the water. Chris gave us a legitimacy that people take so f*cking for granted now it’s insane. And he didn’t just make AEW feel legit — he also made AEW’s world title feel legit. Which might seem like the same thing but it’s different. (It’s harder.) And let’s be clear: Chris also gave legitimacy to MJF. I mean, when he decided to deal with me for a YEAR?? I was already doing well, of course, but his buy-in cemented me. To our fans, to my bosses, to myself. It was like, Yeah, go ahead and get invested in this MJF guy. He’s for real. He’s worth a year of CHRIS JERICHO’s time. I assure you I’m forgetting no one when I say: Chris was the biggest star AEW had at its inception, and most likely still is (besides me, duh).
Moxley — the thing you have to understand with Mox is that he chose AEW. Maybe that sounds obvious, but it’s not. It’s hard to explain. It’s like people have these weird emotional scars about wrestling, from so many years of there being only one game in town. Where it’s like..… Ok. You wrestled classics in Ring of Honor? You were a top guy on the indies? You sold out arenas in Mexico? You were (literally) “big in Japan”? Cool…… have you ever said “Welcome to Monday Night Raw,” though?? I just think there’s a segment of fans who would always assume, no matter what, that WWE was Plan A. But Jon took a f*cking sledgehammer to that assumption. He was part of WWE’s Plan A. He headlined there for half a decade. Was their world champ, was in their biggest stable, drew money, drew ratings, moved assloads of merch. And in the absolute prime of his career he said, Thanks for the memories, thanks for the gigantic offer. But I’mma try this other thing over here. That’s the sh*t a lot of guys will TALK about doing. Jon is the one guy who actually went out and did it. Dude has my infinite respect.
The Originals — Jericho and Moxley, they’re the blueprint for established guys coming in and understanding AEW from Day One. Someone like Bryan, he’s a blueprint for coming in later and doing the same. But this won’t shock you: Not everyone has been like them. Other established dudes came in, thought of us as a parachute between forgettable WWE runs, and didn’t respect what this was built on — or who it was built by, or why it was built in the first place. And while it would be so fun to write a few names down right now, what’s even more fun is I really don’t have to. Because guys like that, their laziness comes out in the wash. It shows up in the f*cking work. Doesn’t mean they’re bad people!! I just don’t respect them. They never understood what Mox or Jericho or Danielson understood, or what The Elite understood, which is that the core of AEW’s success came from two places: 1. Our fans, and 2. The Originals. And it gets easier and easier to overlook the work the Originals put in, the further we get away from it. But I f*cking remember. I remember how we just tried sh*t in Year One. I remember how we not only stayed afloat in the pandemic — we came together and flourished. I remember how influential so many of our ideas were, and how shamelessly they all got copied, because they were new and different and good. Bottom line: Growth is important…… but so is what made that growth possible. I’m proud of the Originals and proud to be one.
Our fans — they’re the best. F*cking sue me. They’re smart, they’re passionate (which is usually code for “lunatic” but not in this case) (mostly), and simply put they love this sh*t. And I don’t mean “love” as in blind loyalty, or “love” as in mark behavior. “Love” as in love. “Love” as in, embracing our best stuff: Swerve and Hangman’s deathmatch. Darby’s stunts. Eddie Kingston’s promos (still a bum). “Timeless” Toni Storm. The f*cking bangers that Jamie Hayter was putting on. MJF-Cole. MJF-Cody. MJF-Bryan. MJF-Punk. MJF-Kenny. MJF-Joe. MJF’s promos. MJF’s body. Wardlow being a pig and betraying MJF. (I’m sure I’m forgetting a few things.) But also “love” as in, holding us accountable: When there’s too much of something. Or when there hasn’t been enough (look at the responses Swerve is getting right now; I don’t like him but come on!!!). Or when we forget what we’re supposed to be about. I’m sure some people will roll their eyes at this but (guess what???) I don’t care: I grew up a fan, I’m still a fan. AEW only works because of our fans. I’m also aware that there’s a contingent of fans who are frustrated with me right now. And you know what?! Those sick f*cks are still the best. They didn’t magically wake up and go from loving to hating me. It happened because they hold me to the highest standard. And I’m GLAD I’m held to that standard — I hold them to the same. If I’m ever missing the mark, I want to know. And I want them to know that when I miss the mark, the next time I’m out there I’m going to hit the living piss out of it. And that for as long as I’m in this company I will give them my all.
It’s weird. During my time in AEW, I’ve had the highest highs — so high they’re untouchable for anyone else in this business (no offense!!). But I’ve also had the lowest lows — so low, with such stupidly bad timing, that I honestly sometimes think I’m cursed. Like I think maybe the wrestle gods were trolling one day and said, “Alright. Let’s create this dude who’s a GOAT on the mic, up there with anyone bell-to-bell, looks electric in a Burberry scarf, is unnecessarily good at singing, and is easily the most exciting performer of the biggest boom period in decades. But every time he does something great let’s have this other dude (note: whom I wish the best!!!) eat a f*cking muffin. Or let’s have someone get injured. Or let’s have someone else do some other dumb sh*t.” It’s like all of my best moments have come with a bad moment attached.
Not sure why it’s worked out like that…. but you play the hand you’re dealt. And while I’m proud of a lot of things I’ve done in AEW, near the tippy top of the list is the fact that I’ve never made an excuse. Not one single time. No matter how much bullsh*t has come my way (and so much bullsh*t has come my way). No matter how much pain I’m in behind the scenes (and sometimes I wish you guys knew). No matter what, man. I’ve just done my job. What a concept.
4.
Top five title defenses of the MJF era (in no order):
Danielson in San Francisco. Bell-to-bell, Bryan is the best wrestler alive — and for my money the best who’s ever done it is him or Eddie Guerrero. That match was such f*cking validation, and it always will be. For whatever reason (the reason is they have brainworms) people love to use my mic skills against me as an in-ring performer. As if being a great promo must mean I can’t hang as a wrestler. I despise that perception of me. And I wrestle with a chip on my shoulder because of it. So when I went 60 minutes with the GOAT? To me that wasn’t just me vs. Bryan. It was me vs. the people who think they know what I’m capable of. It was me saying, Motherf*ckers I walk the walk. And I walk it with more swag than anyone you’ve ever seen.
Four Pillars in Vegas. Speaking of chips on shoulders. Go ahead and think what you want about “four pillars” as a concept — but getting to headline a PPV with those three dudes, when none of them had main-evented a PPV before? That was a big deal to me. And of course we heard what people were saying in the lead-up to it: Why is Sammy in the main event? Why is Jungle Boy in there? (Darby on the other hand..… everyone loves that emo c*nt.) And honestly that offended me and Darby as much as it offended Sammy and Jack. It was like, who is anyone to tell us who belongs in a match? And then of course those dudes all wrestled like the f*cking Michael Jordan “.....I took that personally” meme, and it was one of the best world title matches in AEW history. And afterwards everyone was like, Huh. Well…. THAT was incredible. Sammy, Jungle Boy, who knew? Umm, I knew. We knew.
Kenny at Mohegan Sun. Kenny has a lot of detractors and none of them can lace up his boots. (Well, his kick pads, but I digress.) (Thanks, Taz.) I think people fear change, and fear what they don’t know. And Kenny wrestles a style that confronts those people with the fact that what they don’t know could fill ten f*cking oceans. Is it MY style, personally?? No. But I appreciate that it comes from genius, and that guys like Kenny are how we evolve. Also holy sh*t I loved wrestling him.
Cole at Wembley. Oh, look, another example of me doing something incredible and the big story afterwards being “old man gets in fracas.” In seriousness: To main-event Wembley Stadium at all would have been something I was proud of. But what meant even more is that 1. I did it with Adam, who’s become a really good friend, and 2. We did it in a match that actually felt worthy of main-eventing Wembley Stadium. It SUCKS how Adam got injured — he was insanely good this summer and deserved to have it all play out. But I’m glad we got that match. It’s forever and it f*cking ruled.
Joe at Arthur Ashe. I’m putting this one in as a placeholder until Saturday. Joe is a monster, an athletic freak, a legit tough guy in a world full of pretend “tough guys,” a living legend, and this makes no sense but I think he’s the best he’s ever been. And there’s a reason why we had to run that match back with a sequel: It was way too good not to.
5.
I’m tired.
I know that’s not what you’re supposed to say as a professional wrestler — especially not before a big world title defense in your hometown. I know I should take my vitamins, brother, order up an expensive coffee to the five-star hotel room I’m staying in (thanks, Tony), and end this article by cutting an ’80s good guy promo about the evil Samoa Joe. Let’s sell some Pay-Per-Views!!!!!!! But I don’t know, man. I’m just so, so, so tired. That’s the God’s honest truth. My hip is a mess. My arm won’t lift above my head. I’m on painkillers, which are not my thing. I can’t sleep.
But like I said earlier…… I know it’s not only me who’s tired. I know our fans are a little tired of this run I’ve been on. And for the first time since this company started, I know there’s some MJF fatigue. Which is fine, by the way — no one stays hot forever.
Right now, though, as I'm writing this? It’s Wednesday morning. It’s three days before Worlds End.
It’s five days from five years of MJF in AEW.
And I don’t know what comes next.
Here’s what I do know. Wrestling in the main event of a card at Nassau Coliseum as AEW world champ? That sh*t means everything to me. Really. EVERYTHING. People are always telling me how Long Island is a part of my “character” — nope, f*ck you, it’s home. I’m a short kid with learning disabilities from Long Island. Not a character. People are always telling me how getting bullied is a part of my “backstory” — nope, f*ck you, it happened. Kids threw quarters at me and told me to “pick it up, Jew Boy.” Not a backstory. And if you think this is that ’80s good guy promo I was teasing a couple of paragraphs ago, it isn’t. Actually … you want to know the truth? Sometimes I wonder if standing up to antisemitism would even be a “babyface move” anymore. No, for real — I legit wonder. I wonder if being a proud Jew like I am, in 2023, has actually made me LESS popular as a wrestler. And if deep down, when someone says they have “MJF fatigue,” what they really mean is “enough with the Jewish stuff already.” I honestly don’t know the answer to that … and I’m sure I’ll get sh*t for even asking the question. But that’s where my thoughts are right now. It’s “fear the worst.” I’m a Jew in America and I’m f*cking soul sick.
Allow me to say this, straight up, point blank: I don’t support terrorism, Zionism, genocide, war, bombs, genocidal governments, dead innocent Palestinians, dead innocent Israelis. I don’t support people — any people — dying because of hate. I’ll tell you what I do support, and what I definitely am: I’m anti-hate. I’m sick to my stomach that people are calling for the death of Jews over something that’s happening on the other side of the world. And I’m sick that Hamas, a literal terrorist organization, has fans on this side of the world — as on a daily basis I’m having to read antisemitic sh*t from all kinds of people: celebrities (hi, Kanye), strangers, even people I know. It’s just very sad. We’re all human, man. We all deserve rights, we all deserve freedom, we all deserve happiness and respect. (I really wanted to clarify these things and I hope I have. These are the serious conversations I have with the very hot woman I’m in love with, who by the way is Palestinian.)
Sorry — I got off track. This thing was supposed to be about “AEW turning five” + the PPV.
Here’s the last thing I’ll say about my Jewishness: If you’re over it, tough sh*t. If you feel like it’s a political statement, I can’t help you. If it makes you uncomfortable, good I’m glad. If you think I should tone it down, no I won’t. If you hate me for other reasons, yeah that’s fair.
Here’s the last thing I’ll say about Worlds End — and don’t worry it’s toxic: I will tear the f*cking house down against Joe or I will LITERALLY DIE TRYING. Do not celebrate that sentence, it’s so stupid. If I was being smart I’d sit this one out. I’m not being smart. I only get one first title reign, and one first title defense in my hometown. I won’t tell you my entire career has been building to this because my entire life has been building to this.
And then finally…. here’s the last thing I’ll say about AEW: Happy birthday, you f*cking weirdo. To everyone who’s helped us succeed, THANKS. And to everyone who hoped we would fail — Yikes!!!!! Sorry for your loss, my condolences truly. Order the PPV though it will be sick.
— Max
Movie News
North American Box Office
1. Wonka - $24 million
2. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - $19.5 million
3. Migration - $17.2 million
4. The Color Purple - $13 million
5. Anyone But You - $9 million
6. The Boys in the Boa - $8.3 million
7. The Iron Claw - $5 million
8. Ferrari - $4 million
9. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes - $2.9 million
10. The Boy and the Heron $2.5 million
Media Man Int
Entertainment News (Media Man Int)
https://www.mediamanint.com/news4.html
Box Office (Media Man Int)
https://www.mediamanint.com/articles/box_office.html
Movies (Media Man Int)
https://www.mediamanint.com/movies.html
#movienews #BoxOffice #popculture #SHOWBIZ #Wonka #Aquaman2 #Migration #MigrationMovie #TheColorPurple #AnyoneButYou #TheBoysInTheBoat #TheIronClaw #IronClaw #VonErich #VonErichs #Ferrari #FerrariMovie #TheHungerGames #TheBoyAndTheHeron #moviebiz #entertainmentindustry #trends #trending #buzz #media
‘Masterpiece’ Collection Fetches More Than $500k in Coinbase Drop
08-18-2023
"Masterpiece"—a digital art collection curated by Coca‑Cola—brought in $543,660 this week during Coinbase’s “Onchain Summer” event celebrating the launch of the cryptocurrency exchange platform’s Base blockchain.
During the 72-hour sale, collectors snatched up more than 80,000 minted iterations of the eight digital artworks, which mash up timeless masterpieces like "The Scream" by Edvard Munch and "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Johannes Vermeer with contemporary creations from emerging talents like Fatma Ramadan, Aket, Vikram Kushwah, Stefania Tejada and WonderBuhle.
Each collectible intertwines with the Coca‑Cola bottle for a one-of-a-kind convergence of iconic brand imagery, classic art and contemporary creativity in the digital realm. The NFT (non-fungible token) collection draws inspiration from the global Coca‑Cola “Masterpiece” campaign and hero film, which depicts art students sketching select paintings on display in a gallery. When one student appears uninspired, an arm from a painting reaches across the gallery to grab the Coke bottle from Andy Warhol’s pop-art masterpiece. From there, it’s relayed from works including JMW Turner’s “The Shipwreck”, “The Scream” and Van Gogh’s “Bedroom in Arles” before finally landing with “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, whose subject opens the bottle for the student in need of inspiration and refreshing upliftment. The film bridges the worlds of classical and contemporary art by featuring work from emerging creators from Africa, India, the Middle East and Latin America.
Coca‑Cola curated the collection to celebrate artistic diversity and the dynamic convergence between art, technology and human connection. “Masterpiece” invites art enthusiasts and Coca‑Cola aficionados alike to explore the blurred boundaries between physical and digital art.
“At Coca‑Cola, we have a long history of collaborating with the artist community, and now technology and innovation allows us to continue creating with artists in new and interesting ways,” said Pratik Thakar, Senior Director of Generative AI at The Coca‑Cola Company. “We chose to release our Coca‑Cola Masterpiece digital collectibles collection during Onchain Summer with Coinbase because they are leaders in the Web3 and crypto space."
Coca‑Cola entered the metaverse in 2021 by auctioning off its first-ever NFT collectibles on International Friendship Day, with the company’s cut of the proceeds donated to Special Olympics International. In July 2022, the company released 136 collectibles to commemorate Pride Month.
NFTs are one-of-a-kind digital assets that can be bought and sold like any other piece of personal property but have no tangible form. Like cryptocurrencies, NFTs are created on a digital ledger commonly known as a blockchain. Collectors and crypto investors purchase NFTs—which are created as tokens, a type of certificate of ownership—via online marketplaces.
Donald Trump Just Dumped $2.4 Million of Crypto
The former president still has $2.2 million of crypto to his name, however.
Former president Donald Trump, who recently accelerated his push into the $9 billion non-fungible token (NFT) space with the launch of a “Mug Shot” digital collection, has dumped $2.4 million worth of ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.
Since launching his third NFT trading card collection, Trump is now switching gears and divesting from ethereum, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham.
Trump had acquired the $2.4 million ETH from royalties from sales of his NFT collections. Arkham’s data shows that in the previous three weeks, the former commander-in-chief reportedly sold $2.4 million, or 1,075 ETH, from royalties he collected.
Trump, however, still has $2.2 million of crypto to his name. These digital asset holdings include $1.4 million ETH, $649,000 WETH, $167,000 MAGA coins, $340 Pepecoin, and $145 in JESUS coins.
The former president initially entered the NFT space in December 2022, and his first set of digital collectibles earned him approximately $4.5 million. At the time, Trump had unveiled 45,000 cards priced at $99 apiece, all of which sold out in less than 24 hours. According to the marketing blitz around the NFTs at the time, Trump’s digital trading cards offered “amazing art of [Trump’s] life and career,” while also claiming to be “very much like a baseball card but hopefully much more exciting.” Fans could choose among cards of Trump dressed as a wrestler, astronaut, racecar driver, or as a footballer. Every card was emblazoned with Trump’s presidential number: 45.
The success of the first NFT cards spurred the Trump team to launch a second set in April of this year. The second batch of NFTs were sold for a little less than $99 apiece, and that was quickly followed up by the latest iteration this December – a “Mugshot Edition” of 100,000 NFTs, complete with a piece of Trump’s suit worn while he was arrested in Georgia. But the Mugshot Edition NFTs ended up depressing the floor price of the first two NFT collections, making them seem like a bad investment altogether.
In fact, Trump’s latest collection of NFTs has yet to sell out – to date, the former president has only sold less than half of the 100,000 NFTs minted for the collection.
Content creators concerns rise with the new AI features in Bing and Google; Search and AI minefield. Humans vs bots?
Media Man Int
Content Creation (Media Man Int)
https://www.mediamanint.com/articles/content_creation.html
Content Live (Media Man Int)
https://www.mediamanint.com/articles/content_live.html
#content #contentcreators #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #bing #google #search #searchengine #searchengines #humans #bots #tech #news #trends #GPT #SEO #SEM #authority #expert #PopCulture #trends #trending #buzz #X #media #mediaman #mediamanint
Pro Wrestling
AEW @AEW
AEW Worlds End Media Scrum | 12/30/23
https://youtube.com/live/yZ7MUAiqF5I?si=Vge6OTLlXp15hvN
Media Man:. We're loving Joe's attitude and style of communication.
"Try that to my face"! Samoa Joe
"We got the right belt" Joe
"We are definitely in some cross promotions" Joe
#AEWWorldsEnd #WorldsEnd #AEW #aewmedia #aewnews #MediaScrum #SamoaJoe #quotes #AndNew #prowrestling #wrestling #combatsports #Goat #Legend #WrestlingLegend #wrestlingnews #popculture #entertainmentnews #showbiz #promotion #promotions #crosspromotion #WBD #WarnerBros #WBGames #movies #movienews #gamenews #gamingnews #YouTube #TY #socialmedia #broadcast #broadcasting #trends #trending #buzz #media
Image credit: AEW
Search Engine Journal
Google On Knowing If Best SEO Was Applied
Google's John Mueller answers a question about being assured of having done the best effort for SEO
In a recent Google office hours recording, Google’s John Mueller answered a question about how one knows if their SEO coverage is complete and if there are any tools that can spot something that they might have missed.
That question the way it was originally asked sounds somewhat strange and that may be because of a language translation issue. The person asking the question has an Indian name so it’s quite possible that the oddness of the question (how do I know my SEO is perfect) was due to language.
That the question makes more sense if it’s understood as how does one know that their SEO is optimal and that nothing was left undone. That’s a legitimate question and fits into the idea of SEO that is free from flaws, given that the definition of “perfect” is being as free as possible from flaws.
Here’s the question and answer as read by John Mueller:
“Charan asks: How to know if my SEO is perfect? Are there any tools, apps or websites available for it?”
What the person asking the question appears to be asking is if there are any standards or best practices to measure their SEO efforts against.
That’s why they also asked if there are any tools or websites that could offer a support in that direction.
Mueller answered the question as asked, without taking into account that the person asking the question may have had a different intent apart from the literal meaning of the question.
Mueller Offers “Disappointing” Answer
John Mueller offered what he self-described as a disappointing answer.
Given that there may have been a language issue, maybe answering the literal question of “what is perfect SEO,” wasn’t the most nuanced approach.
Here’s Mueller’s response:
“Sorry to disappoint, Charan, but your SEO is not perfect. In fact, no SEO is perfect.
The Internet, search engines, and how users search is always changing, so SEO will evolve over time as well.
This includes both technical elements, like structured data, as well as considerations around quality. Just because you can’t do perfect SEO shouldn’t discourage you though!”
Social Media
Greg Tingle
SEJ's Roger with an insightful and almost perfect summary article on best effort SEO. I'm not disappointed at all in the findings and revolutions. The imperfections make and prove us human, along the same train of thought and similar scribes to greats such as Rick Rubin, Albert Einstein. To aim or expect for absolute perfection ala perfect result in search engine optimization and other related disciplines may be a frugal and totally unrealistic approach and mindset. The Internet with its Google algorithm updates, core changes, trade secrets and all means it's dynamic in nature and the goal posts are ever changing. Best effort for best result to help ensure one doesn't go totally mad in the process of seeking out the Holy Grail of Internet SEO. And as per journals, sometimes 2nd or 3rd place can even be better than an official 1st in some categories or platform situations, so no need to stress too much. Business/work - life balance to win the day and a sustainable business model. Follow Google protocols and guidelines and smile all the.way to the bank or crypto exchange says media scribe. Winning with priceless SEJ tips. Happy New Year to all.
Searching for the Holy Grail of The Internet meets media/digital media/online publishing
#holygrail #search #internet #web #web3 #worldwideweb #onlinemedia #onlinepublishing #onlinepublisher #SEO #SME #expert #authority #code #webcode #thematrix #biz #business #Sustainability #searchengines #popculture #digitalnews #digitalbiz #niche #nichenews #nichemedia #nichemarketing #formula #mathematics #frequency #ads #businessmodels #world #worldnews #sportsnews #sportsbiz #trends #buzz #media #mediaman
How Search Engines Work
Want to optimize your site the right way and set yourself up for success? Then it’s critical to know how search engines operate today.
Search engines are a significant factor in everyday life. From recipes to the news, from images to videos, we use search engines like Google to help us with information. But what are search engines, really? How do they work? What actually is the process for information retrieval?
Search engines have to review millions of web pages to provide the most useful information for each search query. They must then decide how to organize that information and present it to the search user.
Google and other search engines prioritize their search users’ experience over anything. Therefore, their goal is to provide the best results for every query.
So for search users, it’s simple. They enter their query, and search engines look through their index of web pages to find the best matches. Those matches are then ranked by an algorithm and displayed in search engine results pages (SERPs).
For marketers, search engines are tools for getting eyes on your content or on your products. But how can you optimize your site to set it up for success? What is the difference between crawling, indexing, and ranking, and why do you need to know?
Google and other search engines work using a variety of different elements. First, they use web crawlers to crawl pages to get data. Next, they index them to be retrieved in future search queries.
Ultimately, they rank the indexed content based on a variety of factors. These factors are part of the algorithm to determine what results are relevant and which results are quality.
Over time, search engines have become more complicated. They can answer questions directly on search engine results pages, surface different content types, and even change the SERPs to reflect queries.
They’ve also been able to understand more diverse web sites. All of this has created an answer engine ecosystem that changes daily.
In 2020, Google ran over 600,000 experiments to make improvements to the Search algorithm. Live traffic experiments allow Google to test new search features before they are rolled out globally.
Understanding how these algorithms and features work is fundamental to making sure your content gets seen on Google. It will also help you understand the results you see when you perform searches yourself.
How Search Engines Work, written by VIP contributor Dave Davies, tackles the following questions:
What are search engines crawlers? How do search engines use crawlers?
How do crawlers discover and index new pages?
What is rendering, and why is it important to search?
What are search algorithms, and how do they play into search?
What do you need to know about ranking? How do algorithms measure factors like quality and relevance?
How do search engines answer questions?
Media Man Web Tips
Modern link building is ultra aggressive: It’s all about using the opportunities when you see them, and sometimes creating your own. Seize the day and make those deals webbys!
#link #linkbuilding #text #textlink #textlinks #linking #seo #searchengineoptimization #expert #authority #entertainmentnews #popculture #combatsports #gonzo #showbiz #SEM #authority #SERPS #onlinenews #onlinebiz #algorithm #algorithms #web #web3 #webtips #bizdev #seonews #seotips #top10 #agent #agency #network #onlineads #trend #trends #buzz #news #newsbiz #media #mediaman #mediamanint
How To Manage Crawl Budget For Large Sites
Optimize your site so Google will find your content faster and index your content, which could help your site get better visibility and traffic.
The Internet is an ever-evolving virtual universe with over 1.1 billion websites.
Do you think that Google can crawl every website in the world?
Even with all the resources, money, and data centers that Google has, it cannot even crawl the entire web – nor does it want to.
What Is Crawl Budget, And Is It Important?
Crawl budget refers to the amount of time and resources that Googlebot spends on crawling web pages in a domain.
It is important to optimize your site so Google will find your content faster and index your content, which could help your site get better visibility and traffic.
If you have a large site that has millions of web pages, it is particularly important to manage your crawl budget to help Google crawl your most important pages and get a better understanding of your content.
Google states that:
If your site does not have a large number of pages that change rapidly, or if your pages seem to be crawled the same day that they are published, keeping your sitemap up to date and checking your index coverage regularly is enough. Google also states that each page must be reviewed, consolidated and assessed to determine where it will be indexed after it has crawled.
Crawl budget is determined by two main elements: crawl capacity limit and crawl demand.
Crawl demand is how much Google wants to crawl on your website. More popular pages, i.e., a popular story from CNN and pages that experience significant changes, will be crawled more.
Googlebot wants to crawl your site without overwhelming your servers. To prevent this, Googlebot calculates a crawl capacity limit, which is the maximum number of simultaneous parallel connections that Googlebot can use to crawl a site, as well as the time delay between fetches.
Taking crawl capacity and crawl demand together, Google defines a site’s crawl budget as the set of URLs that Googlebot can and wants to crawl. Even if the crawl capacity limit is not reached, if crawl demand is low, Googlebot will crawl your site less.
Here are the top 12 tips to manage crawl budget for large to medium sites with 10k to millions of URLs.
1. Determine What Pages Are Important And What Should Not Be Crawled
Determine what pages are important and what pages are not that important to crawl (and thus, Google visits less frequently).
Once you determine that through analysis, you can see what pages of your site are worth crawling and what pages of your site are not worth crawling and exclude them from being crawled.
It manages its crawl budget by informing Google not to crawl certain pages on the site because it restricted Googlebot from crawling certain URLs in the robots.txt file.
Googlebot may decide it is not worth its time to look at the rest of your site or increase your crawl budget. Make sure that Faceted navigation and session identifiers: are blocked via robots.txt
2. Manage Duplicate Content
While Google does not issue a penalty for having duplicate content, you want to provide Googlebot with original and unique information that satisfies the end user’s information needs and is relevant and useful. Make sure that you are using the robots.txt file.
Google stated not to use no index, as it will still request but then drop.
3. Block Crawling Of Unimportant URLs Using Robots.txt And Tell Google What Pages It Can Crawl
For an enterprise-level site with millions of pages, Google recommends blocking the crawling of unimportant URLs using robots.txt.
Also, you want to ensure that your important pages, directories that hold your golden content, and money pages are allowed to be crawled by Googlebot and other search engines.
4. Long Redirect Chains
Keep your number of redirects to a small number if you can. Having too many redirects or redirect loops can confuse Google and reduce your crawl limit.
Google states that long redirect chains can have a negative effect on crawling.
5. Use HTML
Using HTML increases the odds of a crawler from any search engine visiting your website.
While Googlebots have improved when it comes to crawling and indexing JavaScript, other search engine crawlers are not as sophisticated as Google and may have issues with other languages other than HTML.
6. Make Sure Your Web Pages Load Quickly And Offer A Good User Experience
Make your site is optimized for Core Web Vitals.
The quicker your content loads – i.e., under three seconds – the quicker Google can provide information to end users. If they like it, Google will keep indexing your content because your site will demonstrate Google crawl health, which can make your crawl limit increase.
7. Have Useful Content
According to Google, content is rated by quality, regardless of age. Create and update your content as necessary, but there is no additional value in making pages artificially appear to be fresh by making trivial changes and updating the page date.
If your content satisfies the needs of end users and, i.e., helpful and relevant, whether it is old or new does not matter.
If users do not find your content helpful and relevant, then I recommend that you update and refresh your content to be fresh, relevant, and useful and promote it via social media.
Also, link your pages directly to the home page, which may be seen as more important and crawled more often.
8. Watch Out For Crawl Errors
If you have deleted some pages on your site, ensure the URL returns a 404 or 410 status for permanently removed pages. A 404 status code is a strong signal not to crawl that URL again.
Blocked URLs, however, will stay part of your crawl queue much longer and will be recrawled when the block is removed.
Also, Google states to remove any soft 404 pages, which will continue to be crawled and waste your crawl budget. To test this, go into GSC and review your Index Coverage report for soft 404 errors.
If your site has many 5xx HTTP response status codes (server errors) or connection timeouts signal the opposite, crawling slows down. Google recommends paying attention to the Crawl Stats report in Search Console and keeping the number of server errors to a minimum.
By the way, Google does not respect or adhere to the non-standard “crawl-delay” robots.txt rule.
Even if you use the nofollow attribute, the page can still be crawled and waste the crawl budget if another page on your site, or any page on the web, does not label the link as nofollow.
9. Keep Sitemaps Up To Date
XML sitemaps are important to help Google find your content and can speed things up.
It is extremely important to keep your sitemap URLs up to date, use the <lastmod> tag for updated content, and follow SEO best practices, including but not limited to the following.
Only include URLs you want to have indexed by search engines.
Only include URLs that return a 200-status code.
Make sure a single sitemap file is less than 50MB or 50,000 URLs, and if you decide to use multiple sitemaps, create an index sitemap that will list all of them.
Make sure your sitemap is UTF-8 encoded.
Include links to localized version(s) of each URL. (See documentation by Google.)
Keep your sitemap up to date, i.e., update your sitemap every time there is a new URL or an old URL has been updated or deleted.
10. Build A Good Site Structure
Having a good site structure is important for your SEO performance for indexing and user experience.
Site structure can affect search engine results pages (SERP) results in a number of ways, including crawlability, click-through rate, and user experience.
Having a clear and linear structure of your site can use your crawl budget efficiently, which will help Googlebot find any new or updated content.
Always remember the three-click rule, i.e., any user should be able to get from any page of your site to another with a maximum of three clicks.
11. Internal Linking
The easier you can make it for search engines to crawl and navigate through your site, the easier crawlers can identify your structure, context, and important content.
Having internal links pointing to a web page can inform Google that this page is important, help establish an information hierarchy for the given website, and can help spread link equity throughout your site.
12. Always Monitor Crawl Stats
Always review and monitor GSC to see if your site has any issues during crawling and look for ways to make your crawling more efficient.
You can use the Crawl Stats report to see if Googlebot has any issues crawling your site.
If availability errors or warnings are reported in GSC for your site, look for instances in the host availability graphs where Googlebot requests exceeded the red limit line, click into the graph to see which URLs were failing, and try to correlate those with issues on your site.
Also, you can use the URL Inspection Tool to test a few URLs on your site.
If the URL inspection tool returns host load warnings, that means that Googlebot cannot crawl as many URLs from your site as it discovered.
Wrapping Up
Crawl budget optimization is crucial for large sites due to their extensive size and complexity.
With numerous pages and dynamic content, search engine crawlers face challenges in efficiently and effectively crawling and indexing the site’s content.
By optimizing your crawl budget, site owners can prioritize the crawling and indexing of important and updated pages, ensuring that search engines spend their resources wisely and effectively.
This optimization process involves techniques such as improving site architecture, managing URL parameters, setting crawl priorities, and eliminating duplicate content, leading to better search engine visibility, improved user experience, and increased organic traffic for large websites.
SEJ's Winston on some helpful and useful tips re having websites ready for optimal site indexing by the search engine king, Google. Our summary of this for online news media and pop culture themed sites:
Relevant content to the core business
Indexed content helps the business
Update with fresh news
Links to be relevant to content
Pages to contain relevant images
Niche articles can have infographics
Follow Google policy and guidelines
Do own internal testing when possible
We're not pretending to know every single "secret"/technique for success in their field however we did use some of these approaches to help get one of our Media Man themed websites into the HitwiseeTop 10 (entertainment/personality categories). Number 3 position was our peak. This is an extension of the sought after pop culture category. Trust this summary will prove helpful and useful to others, just as Search Engine Journal tips frequently help us in search of the Internet Holy Grail. Back to the webcode.
#sej #searchenginejournal #seo #sem #searchengine #searchengines #index #indexing #sitemap #websites #content #contentnews #contentmarketing #onlinepublishing #onlinenews #digitalnews #technews #media
Search Engine Journal
SEO Best Effort For Best Results
SEJ's Roger with an insightful and almost perfect summary article on best effort SEO. I'm not disappointed at all in the findings and revolations. The imperfections make and prove us human, along the same train of thought and similar scribes to greats such as Rick Rubin, Albert Einstein. To aim or expect for absolute perfection ala perfect result in search engine optimization and other related disciplines may be a frugal and totally unrealistic approach and mindset. The Internet with its Google algorithm updates, core changes, trade secrets and all means it's dynamic in nature and the goal posts are ever changing. Best effort for best result to help ensure one doesn't go totally mad in the process of seeking out the Holy Grail of Internet SEO. And as per journals, sometimes 2nd or 3rd place can even be better than an official 1st in some categories or platform situations, so no need to stress too much. Business/work - life balance to win the day and a sustainable business model. Follow Google protocols and guidelines and smile all the.way to the bank or crypto exchange says media scribe. Winning with priceless SEJ tips. Happy New Year to all.
Pro Wrestling
Worlds End
MJF vs Samoa Joe. AEW Title
"Didn't expect so many people on Long Island chanting Joe's name.. smart" Taz
"Going to be a tough one for MJF.. he's banging up" Taz
Promo: "Our scumbag"
Fans: "He's our scumbag"
"There's another problem too. The left shoulder of MJF" Tony Schiavone
"Thumbing Joe in the eye..the advantage" Excalibur
"I'm telling ya, Max is in a lot of trouble here tonight" Taz
"It is the last thing Max wanted" Excalibur
"He's in deep you know what right now" Taz
"Max has felt this muscle buster"
"Max is hurt. He's going for those quick covers" Taz
"Kangaroo kick"
"Didn't work"
"Going to skin the cat"
"Tried to skin the cat,. couldn't do it" Tony Schiavone
"He landed on the back of his head did Max" Taz
"Dragon Suplex, landed on the top of his head"
"Muscle buster on the outside"!
"He came down on the left shoulder" Taz
"A hell of a night for him" TS
"1, 2,.3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,.9, 10" fans
"He wants this kangaroo gimmick" Taz
"Collapsing under the weight of the opponent" Excalibur
"He's thinking heat seeker here"
"The story written all over the face of MJF" Excalibur
"Now the salt of the earth"
"He got red handed through" Excalibur
"There goes the ref"
"Max knows the refs down" Taz
"Got to get a cover" Taz
"MJF is calling for the ring"
"He's looking for it"
"Joe transitions"
"What a struggle this has been" TS
"Ring the bell, that's it"
"Choked him out" Taz
Media Man: So pumped for this historic professional wrestling match. MJF makes history again, as does Joe. Much credit to both, as well as for the AEW team for making this possible. Social media channels are going off the hook. Expecting a very strong PPV number from TrillerTV
@FiteTV
and the like.
The AEW YouTube Channel is going to get further hammered once the powers that be release more footage from today's Worlds End.
AEW Official YouTube
http://youtube.com/aew
#AEWWorldsEnd #WorldsEnd #MJF #SamoaJoe #TheDevil #AdamCole #prowrestling #wrestling #AndNew #EntertainmentNews #PopCulture #showbiz #trends #trending #buzz #X #media
Image credit: AEW
Search Engine Journal
Media Man SEO Research Continued
All roads lead back to Google and Search Engine Journal! Almost without exception says media scribe...
Aim for best effort and results; Perfect doesn't really exist in this corner of The Internet
Roger from SEJ finds more gold for webbys across the globe...
Here’s John Mueller’s response:
“Sorry to disappoint, Charan, but your SEO is not perfect. In fact, no SEO is perfect. The Internet, search engines, and how users search is always changing, so SEO will evolve over time as well. This includes both technical elements, like structured data, as well as considerations around quality. Just because you can’t do perfect SEO shouldn’t discourage you though!”
#sej #searchenginejournal #google #seo #SearchEngineOptimization #sem #searchenginemarketing #authority #expert #seonews #seomarketing #Algorithm #digitalnews #internet #theinternet #web #web3 #digitalbusiness #technews #AI #media
Pro Wrestling
AEW Worlds End: Media Scrum Notes
Great vibe once the media scrum commenced. Lots of positive achievements - Media Man
"The gate. It was a big gate. It was a sell-out".."Just around, close to 10,000 in earshot" Tony Khan
AEW Top Brass Tony Khan gives in-depth detail on current state of the companyz industry and where they are heading.
"It is a company that has that challenger spirit" Tony Khan
"I believe 2024 being the most important year of the company.. we're in a great position" TK
"We've been having hard hitting great matches with the great women and men week after week".."We've been focussing on wrestlers that the crowd believes in" TK
"I believed, the Continental Classic..I think the fans will. Money where their mouth is and they did. Clearly demonstrated. That worked"..TK
"We had to develop new stars. We've had new faces step in"
"Constantly improving"
"This year was a huge year. It was our biggest year ever on Pay-Per-View, so thank you for the platform to talk about that. It's a big risk for a company to expand the Pay-Per-View calender the way that we did, and talk about being rewarded, and tonight as a great example of that"..
"It was a big risk to expand from 5 to 8 (PPVs) but holy cow did it work"
"All the new events this year did really well".
"The word that we've always thrown around a lot in the back..punk rock, If you lose that punk rock feel then I think you lose what AEW is" Tony Khan
"Right now can't comment on the future of MJF and AEW, other than to say we're very grateful for everything that he's done to this point to get us here. MJF's been a big part of AEW now for 5 years and he is one of the people who helped build this place"...
"I also wanted to thank all of you. Giving us your time, staying here to cover this"
"I believe our presence has changed pro wrestling. I think AEW has done great things for the wrestling business and none of it would be possible without all of you"...
"When we launched this company we didn't have any TV"..."the buzz you helped create"
"Helped get us on TBS. Helped us get on TNT. Now we've been there over 4 years"
"You've all been very fair to us. Thank you very much" Tony Khan
Vale John Pilger
Pilger has died aged 84.
The award winning journalist and documentary maker helped demonstrate the difference between real aka authentic news and fake news, well before those terms became freqently thrown around. Much of his work contained both strong opinion, first hand accounts, as well as pure truths that many in government and politics would have prefered it if they never had seen the light of day.
He told us, "The best compliment that a journalist can ever receive is to be banned". We felt in great company. Not quite "banned", but close enough by a few publications that are little more than propaganda outlets.
It will not surprise anyone that "truth tellers" (those who speak and write the truth) are not on the Christmas card list of many in government.
John, thank you for your wisdom and courage. Your light shines on.
Authentic news day again.
Media Man Group management
Media Man Int
The Power of the Documentary: Breaking the Silence
https://www.mediamanint.com/articles/the_power3.html
#JohnPilger #JohnPilgerRIP #RIP #journalism #journalism #realnews #authenticnews #truthteller #filmmaker #documentarymaker #thepowerofthedocumentary #worldnews #media #mediaman
John Pilger, controversial campaigning journalist, has died - January 1, 2024
At his best, Pilger would take an obscure subject, meticulously research it and make unforgettable television.
John Pilger, who has died aged 84, was a journalist and documentary maker for whom the word uncompromising might have been invented; he was also probably the only one to inspire his own neologism; in 1991 the Oxford English Dictionary of New Words included the verb “to Pilger”, which it defined as “to conduct journalism in a manner supposedly characteristic of (Australian author and journalist) John Pilger”.
The term had been coined by the conservative journalist and satirist Auberon Waugh, who explained that “it means when anybody who wants to make a good argument shouts and waves his arms about a lot and, oh, vaguely blames you for murdering Vietnamese babies.” For AA Gill it was “a particularly monotonous, self-righteous, partial and ism-bound view of the world, posing as journalism”. It should perhaps be pointed out, for students of etymology, that Waugh also coined the terms pilgerism, pilgered, pilgering, pilgerish, pilgerise, pilgeristic, pilgeresque, pilgerite, pilgeration and even pilgerama.
Yet, many regarded Pilger as the finest crusading journalist of his generation. He did much to draw world attention to some of the most notorious human rights abuses of the late 20th century, winning a slew of humanitarian and journalism awards, including Journalist of the Year (twice), the United Nations Media Peace Prize, the Bafta Richard Dimbleby Award for factual reporting, the Sydney Peace Prize and numerous honorary doctorates.
In 1970 his World in Action documentary, The Quiet Mutiny, exposed a rebellion within the US army at the time of the Vietnam War. From the late 1970s, in articles in the Daily Mirror and in his documentary Cambodia Year Zero (1979), he was one of the first to reveal to the world the full horrors of the “killing fields” of Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, helping to kick-start a global humanitarian response.
Similarly, his harrowing documentary Death of a Nation (1994), helped to galvanise international support for the people of East Timor, then brutally occupied by Indonesia, while another documentary, Stealing a Nation (2004), revealed how British governments of the late 1960s and early 1970s had secretly and brutally expelled the entire indigenous population of the Chagos Islands to make way for an American military base.
At his best Pilger would take an obscure subject, meticulously research it and, through the personal histories of those on the receiving end of state-sanctioned brutality, make unforgettable television.
According to Pilger’s critics, the trouble was that he was never content to let the facts speak for themselves. The title of one of his books was Hidden Agendas, about the power structures that “really” run the world. For Pilger the “real” story was nearly always about American (and/or British) imperialist dirty tricks.
In many situations, there was evidence to support this narrative. But in his demonisation of western leaderships (he once described the American political class as “the Third Reich of our times”), Pilger never had a stop button. Thus the important thing about the killing fields of Cambodia for Pilger was not so much the murderous regime of the Khmer Rouge as his tendentious theory that their role in Cambodia had been sustained by British and American backing.
In a New Statesman article in 1991 he described Pol Pot (then holed up with his supporters on the Thai border) as one of the Bush administration’s “acceptable aggressors”, maintaining that “in the spirit of the new age the Bush administration no longer recognises the killing of a million and a half Cambodians under Pol Pot as genocide”.
He presented a similar message in a documentary, Cambodia: The Betrayal (1990). What he omitted to mention was that Pol Pot was a communist who had been lionised by the Left at exactly the time he was sending millions of Cambodians to their deaths. During the period 1975-78, when the killing was at its height, Left-wing apologists tended to equate opposition to the Khmer Rouge with anti-communist zealotry.
Nor did Pilger’s historical amnesia stop there. In praising the “remarkable achievement of the Cambodian people” under the Vietnam-backed (and therefore praiseworthy) Hun Sen government, which came to power in 1978, he forgot to mention that Hun Sen and many other members of the ruling clique were former members of the Khmer Rouge who had held senior positions of power when the killing fields were filling with corpses – and that they were still being accused of human rights abuses.
Similarly, in his 2007 film The War on Democracy (which won Best Documentary at the 2008 One World Media Awards), about the damage done to Latin American countries by the US’s foreign policies, Pilger’s interview with the Left-wing Venezuelan demagogue Hugo Chavez was described in the normally sympathetic New Statesman as “one of the most toe-curlingly obsequious episodes in modern cinema, putting to shame any run-of-the-mill Hollywood political toadie”.
Pilger was contemptuous of that shibboleth of British journalism, the objective news story. His approach was to adopt a view about a situation and then find the interviews, facts and images to back it up. His critics, however, complained that when the facts did not say what Pilger wanted them to say, he was prepared to invent them.
In 1982 the Daily Mirror printed a dramatic story by Pilger about a young Thai girl, called Sunee, who had been forced to work as a slave in appalling conditions before being rescued by Pilger and reunited with her grateful family in a village outside Bangkok. But soon after, the Thai press claimed that Sunee the slave girl did not exist.
As the story began to unravel (Auberon Waugh gleefully claimed that Pilger had been hoaxed), Pilger at first blamed a CIA plot to discredit him. But the truth was more pedestrian. Sunee, it turned out, was the daughter of a taxi driver whose “identity” as a child slave worker had been fabricated by a local “fixer” hired by Pilger’s research team.
In his 1990 documentary about Cambodia, Pilger alleged that the British Government was providing “direct” assistance to Pol Pot and had sanctioned the training by the SAS of Khmer Rouge forces in minelaying and other techniques. Subsequently, two SAS officers identified in the report as having been involved accepted “very substantial” libel damages in the High Court. An investigation by the Evening Standard established that Pilger had neither met nor spoken to the men before he faced them in court.
Yet child labour did exist in Thailand, and in 1991 John Major’s government was forced to admit that the SAS had indeed been involved in training Cambodian guerrilla groups (though not, it seems, the Khmer Rouge). The irony was that underneath what one critic called Pilger’s “Dave Spartism”, there was usually a good story struggling to get out. But Pilger was always so obviously grinding axes that his message was easy to resist.
Noam Chomsky once said that people mocked Pilger because they were uncomfortable with the awful reality of US foreign policy; but the journalist William Shawcross, who himself did much to expose the Nixon-Kissinger “secret war” in Cambodia, felt that Pilger was “dangerous to the causes which he claims to espouse”. Comparing Pilger to Henry Kissinger, he observed that “both men enjoy a ‘fabulous’ reputation; each … has a record for ‘greatness’ which, in my view, does not withstand examination.”
For Auberon Waugh, meanwhile, Pilger was simply “just another conceited hack like the rest of us.”
John Richard Pilger was born on October 9 1939 in Sydney, Australia. His father, from a German family, had worked as a boy in the coal mines; his mother was a schoolteacher and the descendant of a convict. Pilger grew up in Bondi and was educated at Sydney Boys’ High School, where he swam and rowed for the school and started a newspaper.
At 17 he joined the Sydney Sun as a junior reporter, but became the story himself on his second day when, sent to report on a swarm of bees, he was stung between the eyes. The following day a rival newspaper carried a photograph of the rookie journalist with his head in his hands under the banner headline “Bees Terror: Man Hurt”.
From the Sun, Pilger moved to the Sydney Daily Telegraph, but within a couple of years was on his way to Europe. He freelanced in Italy for a while before settling in London where, in 1963, he got a job on the Daily Mirror, then a campaigning and highly successful newspaper under Cecil King and Hugh Cudlipp. He worked for the paper for 23 years until he was sacked following the arrival of Robert Maxwell.
Pilger became a feature writer on the paper, then special correspondent and chief international correspondent. He reported from all over the world and covered numerous wars. Still in his 20s, he became the youngest recipient of the Journalist of the Year award (for his reporting on Vietnam), then the first to won the award twice (for his reporting on Cambodia).
During the eight years he covered the Vietnam War Pilger divided his time between there and the US, where he marched with civil rights campaigners from Alabama to Washington following the assassination of Martin Luther King. He was in the same room when Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June 1968.
He was banned from South Africa in the 1970s for his attempt to expose the reality of apartheid and reported on racism in London.
In 1970, he began a parallel career in British television, starting with the ITV current affairs series World in Action, and later making freelance documentaries. By the end of his life he had made more than 60 films.
But the main focus of his anger remained the United States, which could never do right in Pilger’s book. In his exposé of the situation in East Timor he accused the US and its allies of knowing about the massacres that took place following the Indonesian invasion of 1975 and of acting shamefully in their decision to do nothing about them. But, following the 2003 coalition intervention in Iraq to depose the murderous regime of Saddam Hussein, he launched a two-page rant in the Daily Mirror illustrated with a front page montage of Tony Blair with “blood” on his hands.
He later called for Blair (“Britain’s Henry Kissinger”) to be prosecuted as a war criminal for his part in precipitating a conflict which had “resulted in the deaths of more than a million people” (an estimate which has been widely criticised as grossly exaggerated).
In 2014, the BBC came under attack from Tory MPs and from some BBC journalists for an edition of the Today programme on Radio 4, guest-edited by the musician PJ Harvey, in which Pilger was given airtime to attack David Cameron and Barack Obama. Pilger had suggested that the corporation should not have broadcast tributes to Nelson Mandela from Obama because he had failed to close Guantanamo Bay, or from Cameron because he had visited South Africa during the Apartheid era.
In a seven-minute diatribe against the “criminal power of our government”, Pilger also suggested that the centuries-old conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims had been caused by the British and American invasion of Iraq.
In 2018, when Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned in Salisbury, Pilger told the Russia Today channel: “This is a carefully constructed drama as part of the propaganda campaign that has been building now for several years in order to justify the actions of Nato, Britain and the United States towards Russia. That’s a fact.”
The following year in The Dirty War on the National Health Service, Pilger argued that governments beginning with that of Margaret Thatcher had waged a secret war against the NHS with a view to privatising it.
In his writing and documentaries, Pilger rarely showed much in the way of a sense of humour. But those who met him found a gentle, quiet, rather dapper individual at odds with the image of the scourge of international capitalism.
His marriage to the journalist Scarth Flett, with whom he had a son, Sam, a sportswriter, was dissolved; he also had a daughter, Zoe, a novelist and art critic, with the journalist Yvonne Roberts.
(The Telegraph London)
MMA News
"Ladies and gentlemen, a happy New Year to you all. I would like to announce the return date for myself, 'The Notorious' Conor McGregor. The greatest comeback of all time will take place in Las Vegas for International Fight Week on June 29th"
And the opponent, Michael Chander. And the weight, Mr. Chandler, is 185lbs.
"I always said I wanted you at your biggest, your baddest and your best. 185 would look good on me" - Conor McGregor
McGregor is the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion and holds notable wins over Eddie Alvarez, Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, Jose Aldo, and Chad Mendes among others.
Chandler is the former Bellator lightweight champion and holds notable wins over Benson Henderson, Eddie Alvarez, Patricky Pitbull, and Brent Primus among others.
Sources: Conor McGregor, X, BJ Penn, Figure 4, News Corp and Wires
#ConorMcGregor #McGregor #quote #quotes #MMA #UFC #Fightweek #MichaelChander #McGregorChandler #combatsports #PPV #PPVS #PayPerView #legend #legends #Goat #Goats #sportsnews #sportsmedia #trends #trending #buzz #sportsbetting #mmabetting #wager #LasVegas #vegasnews #media
MMA News
Conor McGregor announces ‘greatest comeback of all time’
Conor McGregor will fight in the UFC for the first time in two years with the former world champion’s next fight announced.
Conor McGregor has announced he will make his UFC return on June 29 against Michael Chandler.
McGregor took to social media on Monday morning to say he will fight Chandler on International Fight Week after months of speculation.
And with a menacing laugh he claimed the bout will be at the 185lb middleweight limit — a career heaviest for the pair., The Sun reports.
Holding a glass of red wine, said: “Ladies and gentlemen, a happy new year to you all.
“I’d like to announce the return date for myself, The Notorious Conor McGregor for the greatest comeback of all time will take place in Las Vegas for International Fight week on June the 29th.
“Come a little closer... and the opponent is Michael Chandler. And the weight, Mr Chandler 185 pounds.”
McGregor, 35, has been out of action since July 2021 after he broke his leg in round one against Dustin Poirier, 34.
But he made a full recovery and returned to training with comeback rumours shortly following.
Having been out of the UFC’s year-round random drug testing pool, McGregor was required to re-enrol.
But he only did so in October and would need six months of clean testing before he was eligible to make a return.
By that time, he had already coached against Chandler on reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter.
As time went on, concern was raised over whether the fight would go ahead or a new opponent would be found.
But McGregor and UFC president Dana White insisted it would be Chandler, 37, to welcome the MMA icon back to the cage.
White recently revealed he was going to meet with McGregor in the Middle East to finally confirm his long-anticipated comeback.
And The Notorious revealed he would make a fight announcement on New Year’s Day - although he appeared to go a day early.
The UFC are yet to announce the fight and McGregor has been known to make premature announcements.
And his last fight was also at lightweight - two below middleweight - while he has never fought above welterweight.
McGregor and Chandler were frontrunners to headline UFC 300 on April 13.
But, it looks as though they could instead target the annual International Fight Week.
News
Search Engine Journal
Google On Knowing If Best SEO Was Applied
Google's John Mueller answers a question about being assured of having done the best effort for SEO
In a recent Google office hours recording, Google’s John Mueller answered a question about how one knows if their SEO coverage is complete and if there are any tools that can spot something that they might have missed.
That question the way it was originally asked sounds somewhat strange and that may be because of a language translation issue. The person asking the question has an Indian name so it’s quite possible that the oddness of the question (how do I know my SEO is perfect) was due to language.
That the question makes more sense if it’s understood as how does one know that their SEO is optimal and that nothing was left undone. That’s a legitimate question and fits into the idea of SEO that is free from flaws, given that the definition of “perfect” is being as free as possible from flaws.
Here’s the question and answer as read by John Mueller:
“Charan asks: How to know if my SEO is perfect? Are there any tools, apps or websites available for it?”
What the person asking the question appears to be asking is if there are any standards or best practices to measure their SEO efforts against.
Social Media
Greg Tingle
SEJ's Roger with an insightful and almost perfect summary article on best effort SEO. I'm not disappointed at all in the findings and revolutions. The imperfections make and prove us human, along the same train of thought and similar scribes to greats such as Rick Rubin, Albert Einstein. To aim or expect for absolute perfection ala perfect result in search engine optimization and other related disciplines may be a frugal and totally unrealistic approach and mindset. The Internet with its Google algorithm updates, core changes, trade secrets and all means it's dynamic in nature and the goal posts are ever changing. Best effort for best result to help ensure one doesn't go totally mad in the process of seeking out the Holy Grail of Internet SEO. And as per journals, sometimes 2nd or 3rd place can even be better than an official 1st in some categories or platform situations, so no need to stress too much. Business/work - life balance to win the day and a sustainable business model. Follow Google protocols and guidelines and smile all the.way to the bank or crypto exchange says media scribe. Winning with priceless SEJ tips. Happy New Year to all.
Search Engine Journal
How To Manage Crawl Budget For Large Sites
Optimize your site so Google will find your content faster and index your content, which could help your site get better visibility and traffic.
The Internet is an ever-evolving virtual universe with over 1.1 billion websites.
Do you think that Google can crawl every website in the world?
Even with all the resources, money, and data centers that Google has, it cannot even crawl the entire web – nor does it want to.
What Is Crawl Budget, And Is It Important?
Crawl budget refers to the amount of time and resources that Googlebot spends on crawling web pages in a domain.
Search Engine Journal
Social Media
Greg Tingle
SEJ's Winston on some helpful and useful tips re having websites ready for optimal site indexing by the search engine king, Google. Our summary of this for online news media and pop culture themed sites:
Relevant content to the core business
Indexed content helps the business
Update with fresh news
Links to be relevant to content
Pages to contain relevant images
Niche articles can have infographics
Follow Google policy and guidelines
Do own internal testing when possible
We're not pretending to know every single "secret"/technique for success in their field however we did use some of these approaches to help get one of our Media Man themed websites into the Hitwise Top 10 (entertainment/personality categories). Number 3 position was our peak.
This is an extension of the sought after pop culture category.
Trust this summary will prove helpful and useful to others, just as Search Engine Journal tips frequently help us in search of the Internet Holy Grail. Back to the webcode.
#sej #searchenginejournal #seo #sem #searchengine #searchengines #index #indexing #sitemap #websites #content #contentnews #contentmarketing #onlinepublishing #onlinenews #digitalnews #technews #media
Pro Wrestling
WWE
Internet Based Buzz re potential new Paul Heyman New Faction aka modem day version of:
"The Dangerous Alliance". Or
"America's Most Hated"?!
Led by Paul Heyman, the faction may consist of for example:
CM Punk
Brock Lesnar
Logan Paul
Grayson Waller
Austin Theory
Media Man: This is speculative in nature however there has been numerous Internet based rumors and buzz for a number of months. The rumours and buzz have not diminished so we are covering this now to help further prepare the WWE fanbase for what may develop in early to mid 2024. The dynamic has changed greatly in The Bloodline and a shuffling of the deck would help keep things fresh. Surely Roman Reigns would be aware of these rumours by now, and if not, perhaps he is now.
Fans, be sure to keep checking the WWE YouTube channel as well as the X and even the Paul Heyman/Heyman Hustle channels as you never know what other clues may be disclosed. Raw and SmackDown are forecast to remain appointment viewing and red hot in 2024.
Mining industry to spend $24m to derail IR laws - October 25, 2023
Mining companies expect to spend up to $24 million to bury the Albanese government’s new industrial relations laws, surpassing the cost of the industry’s campaign to kill off Labor’s resource super profits tax in 2010.
The Minerals Council of Australia revealed to the Senate inquiry into the Closing Loopholes Bill that Rio Tinto, BHP and Glencore were the top contributors to the campaign, which includes radio, print, television and social media advertisements.
The resources industry has warned that the bill’s requirement for companies to pay labour hire workers at least the same as direct employees will cost it billions of dollars through complex administration and threaten the viability of projects.
“At this stage the MCA’s campaign spend in 2023-2024 is anticipated to be $20-$24 million,” the council said in a document posted last week in response to the Senate’s request for more particulars about its spend.
BHP has estimated the labour hire laws will strip at least $1.3 billion from its annual earnings and significantly more if they also cover service contractors, as they currently do.
MCA chief executive Tania Constable said that “the intention of the campaign is to raise awareness and understanding of the damaging nature and wide implications of the bill”.
“Our expectation is that the government will wisely go back to the drawing board on the policy,” she said.
Super-profits tax
The industry spent $22 million to stop the former Rudd government’s super-profits tax in a campaign that dominated the airwaves for two months before Julia Gillard took over from Kevin Rudd as prime minister and negotiated a compromise.
The MCA’s IR campaign has no set period and is expected to get even bigger over the coming months. The bill is expected to go to a vote of the Senate as early as February.
Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus said “it’s time to choose a side”.
“The opposition can either be on the side of the Minerals Council of Australia, spending vast sums of money to protect their bottom line. Or the side of the workers – who desperately need these loopholes closed to get wages moving in a cost-of-living crisis.”
Mining and Energy Union general secretary Grahame Kelly said: “We are not surprised at big mining companies spending tens of millions trying to bully governments through misleading scare campaigns – it’s what they do.”
“We are surprised at how bad the ads are. They do nothing to explain or justify the loophole that lets them pay thousands of labour hire mine workers less for doing the same job,” he said.
‘Bad legislation’
“It’s a $24 million waste of money that could have been better spent looking after local communities or paying workers fairly.”
Rio Tinto has argued in submissions to the Senate inquiry that the laws are bad legislation that will anchor productivity at record lows, while gold miner Newmont says it will leave some Australian projects unviable.
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting feared the laws would force the company to share its generous “chairman profit share” bonus – up to 30 per cent of an employee’s salary – to “our entire supply chain”.
Unions have argued that because the labour hire laws only apply to sites with enterprise agreements, most of the mines in WA will not be covered as bargaining was “virtually non-existent” in the Pilbara.
However, the Australian Workers Union has recently started negotiating with Citic Mining’s Sino Iron for an agreement, and this week got a protected action ballot approved – paving the way for the first industrial action in the iron ore sector for more than a decade.
(AFR)
Mavericks on top of the Business People of the Year list - December 2023
This year’s list reflects a world in which Australia’s biggest companies took a cautious approach to investing and deal-making in an uncertain economic environment.
The choice of Gina Rinehart as The Australian Financial Review’s 2023 Business Person of the Year duly recognises a lifetime of independent business success and achievement.
Her famous father, Lang Hancock, who pioneered the opening up of Western Australia’s Pilbara and Australia’s great iron ore export trade with Japan in the 1950s and 1960s, was named as one of the seven entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who most shaped modern Australian business over the previous seven decades when the Financial Review celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2022.
Yet the father never made the leap from prospecting and staking out iron ore claims to mining the stuff. This year’s record shipment from the Roy Hill iron ore mine established by the daughter underpinned the $5 billion profit of the once-bankrupt company Mrs Rinehart inherited, and has entrenched her No. 1 position on the Financial Review’s Rich List for the fourth year running.
With its $38 billion of assets beyond iron ore and across multiple interests in mining, energy and agribusiness industries, Mrs Rinehart has built her Hancock Prospecting empire into by far the nation’s biggest private company.
The annual AFR Business Persons of the Year list recognises Australia’s top leaders, builders, pioneers and stirrers. Mrs Rinehart – who is an earthy political standout with her own views in an ESG social licence-constrained corporate world – fits all these criteria.
Her eclectic dealmaking and investment profile in the past 12 months span a hard-fought battle to win control of WA gas developer Warrego Energy; a kingmaker role in Australia’s new critical minerals boom that blocked the takeovers of lithium miners Azure Minerals and Liontown Resources; buying iconic Aussie bush outfitters Driza-Bone; and her well-progressed plans to become Australia’s biggest truffle farmer to help sate the growing local and overseas appetite for gourmet foods.
The Business Person of the Year awards are often dominated by the top echelons of blue-chip corporate Australia. As Chanticleer columnist James Thomson writes, this year’s list reflects a world in which Australia’s biggest companies took a cautious approach to investing and deal-making in the uncertain economic environment of higher inflation, rising interest rates and greater geopolitical risk.
That has opened the way for the entrepreneurial mavericks who have successfully ridden the big transformational themes of the global economy, from the energy transition to big data and artificial intelligence.
Consider the story of AirTrunk founder and chief executive Robin Khuda. Less than eight years ago, he struggled to get meetings with bankers and funders shocked at the size of the start-up’s hyper-scale data centre plans. But having picked that the move to the cloud, streaming and generative AI would call for super-sized digital infrastructure, and having gone from zero to becoming one of Australasia’s biggest data centre operators, Mr Khuda makes the list for sealing this year’s biggest global debt deal – $4.6 billion – for data centres, which more than 40 investors piled into.
Forty years ago, medical technology company Pro Medicus CEO Sam Hupert was a Melbourne GP wanting to introduce computers into medicine to help manage doctors’ practices. In today’s world of cloud-based hospital systems and post-pandemic remote work, Pro Medicus imaging software, which lets radiologists and doctors view scans anywhere, has secured a string of big contracts with American healthcare groups and a 40 per cent share price jump in the last six months.
Colourful Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze has earned her place on the list not just for having built Lynas into the world’s biggest producer of geo-strategically critical rare earths outside China, but for successfully traversing the world’s most treacherous geopolitical territory. Managing to get Beijing to seemingly withdraw its covert opposition to the company’s Malaysian processing plant, while also getting the Pentagon to back Lynas’ processing plant in Texas, is a rare feat indeed.
Chief investment officer Mark Delaney is on the list for having overseen from the start AustralianSuper’s rise into Australia’s $310 billion industry superannuation giant with the power to single-handedly block Brookfield’s mega $20 billion takeover bid for Origin Energy, which has confirmed that big super is now the dominant force in Australia’s capital markets.
And Boral CEO Vik Bansal rounds out this year’s top five for coming back from his exit from Cleanaway over his old-school leadership style and for shaking up and revitalising one of the pillars of Australia’s old postwar manufacturing base by bringing a new age style of decentralised management and accountability to the building materials and concrete supplier.
What our top CEOs read, watched and listened to in 2023 - December 27, 2023
Feminist icons, inspirational leaders, sports stars and punk rock got Australia’s top chief executives excited this year.
Like billions of other movie goers, Lynas Rare Earths boss Amanda Lacaze had a “road to Barbie Land” moment in 2023.
“When I had my daughter it was my intention that there would be no Barbies in our house. After all, who could ever aspire to look like Barbie? I will admit I was singularly unsuccessful and we ended with a very large collection of Barbies and associated items which gave Tessa great joy,” she says.
“But Barbie has always been more than stereotypical Barbie and the Barbie movie has illustrated that. I love that Barbie is now such a firm feminist icon. The movie shows that women can choose their own paths, including non-traditional and traditional roles.
“I have been amazed at how many women have identified with the different characters in the movie and rejoice in the diversity of that response.”
The Chanticleer team couldn’t agree more – we’re still thinking Barbie and its myriad messages months after seeing it.
But our annual Chanticler CEO poll revealed a slew of thought-provoking books, podcasts, movies and TV shows that top business leaders enjoyed this year.
Apple TV’s all-time classic Ted Lasso scored highly again with Treasury Wine Estates chief executive Tim Ford, NIB’s Mark Fitzgibbon, South32’s Graham Kerr and Mirvac’s Campbell Hanan.
“It’s as good a tutorial on leadership as I’ve encountered – ever,” Fitzgibbon says.
Two more sports-related picks were Netflix’s documentary on football star David Beckham (a lesson in performance under pressure, according to Westpac’s Peter King) and the streamer’s Formula 1 series, Drive to Survive (nominated by GrainCorp’s Robert Spurway).
Looking for something more weighty on the ways of the world? NAB’s Ross McEwan devoured David Enrich’s Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction, while Xero’s Sukhinder Singh Cassidy enjoyed Better not Bitter, by Yusef Salaam, one of the Exonerated Five who were wrongly convicted in the Central Park jogger case and went to prison as teenagers for between seven and 13 years.
Andrew Harding, boss of logistics giant Aurizon, appropriately picked The Box, How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, by Marc Levinson, while Worley’s Chris Ashton plumped for From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman. TPG Telecom boss Iñaki Berroeta loved How Fascism Works by Jason Stanley.
Naturally, our top leaders love stuff on leadership and had some good picks in this area.
Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson drew inspiration from the many podcast appearances made by mindset coach Ben Crowe, who famously helped tennis champion Ash Barty.
“I liked his perspective on learning from adversity, keeping a positive mindset and focusing on the things you can control, which can be hard to do in the moment,” Hudson says.
Newmont’s Tom Palmer and Telstra’s Vicki Brady got to meet their favourite authors.
Palmer met US Admiral William McRaven and loved his book Make Your Bed, while Brady re-read Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella’s tome Hit Refresh.
“I love his approach of not being a ‘know-it-all’ but a ‘learn-it-all’. This comes from a person who knows a lot, and he wants to keep learning. It really was one of the most inspirational reads and discussions of my year,” she says.
Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott rocked out to When The Birdmen Flew, George Munoz’s illustrated history of seminal punk band Radio Birdman, while Woodside’s Meg O’Neill loved Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
“I think the main character, Elizabeth Zott, is a great role model – independent, intelligent and resilient,” she says. “I particularly loved seeing a woman excelling in STEM as a protagonist and inspiring others.” Chanticleer would add that the Apple series based on the book is brilliant, too.
When Seven Group’s Ryan Stokes wasn’t watching Frozen for the 57th time – and being chastised by his daughter for not singing along – he was visiting the National Gallery’s Emily Kam Kngwarray exhibition. “I commend it to everybody. It celebrates the timeless art of a pre-eminent Australian artist, one of the world’s most significant contemporary painters.”
Finally, Chanticleer simply had to mention the excellent recommendation from Endeavour Group’s Steve Donohue.
“I’m lucky to be a Collingwood supporter, and I’ve enjoyed watching the replay of the AFL Grand Final a few times over. Credit to Craig McRae and the whole Collingwood team for giving Pies supporters a wonderful season.”
Amen, Steve. Amen.
(AFR)
WBD acquires BluTV - December 29, 2023
In a move that will further bolster its growing streaming business, with the international rollout of Max beginning in the next few months, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has acquired BluTV, a subscription video-on-demand service in Turkey.
The announcement follows three years of extensive partnership, which started in 2021 with the launch of discovery+ on BluTV and an investment by Discovery Inc that made the company a 35 per cent shareholder of BluTV. One of the components of the partnership was the option to invest further in BluTV, which has now resulted in the acquisition of the rapidly growing SVoD service.
Since its launch in 2016, BluTV has demonstrated a strong growth trajectory thanks to its focus on original content and content library, offering over 10,000 hours of leading local and international series and movies. As part of the strategic partnership, discovery+ was made available on BluTV in 2021, giving subscribers access to content from WBD’s iconic brands such as Discovery Channel, TLC, DMAX and ID in a dedicated discovery+ branded area. In addition, viewers can enjoy live sports with Eurosport 1 and 2.
In February 2023 the parties deepened their partnership by adding HBO content and the kids channels Cartoon Network and Cartoonito to BluTV, offering their members an even wider variety of global content and hit series such as The Last of Us, Game of Thrones, Sex and the City and Tom & Jerry.
“We are very excited for this new chapter,” declared Jamie Cooke, GM CEE, Middle East & Turkey of Warner Bros Discovery. “Turkey has been an important investment territory for us for over 20 years and the acquisition of BluTV brings Turkey’s first local SVoD player into our portfolio. The combination of compelling Turkish content and a broad range of the best international series and shows from Warner Bros Discovery is an unbeatable recipe to be locally relevant and successful. Together we bring Turkish audiences the most compelling viewing experience and expand the reach of Turkish content globally.”
“As BluTV, we are very happy that our strategic partnership with Discovery Inc, which started in 2021, has resulted in us becoming one of the Warner Bros Discovery brands today,” added Deniz ÅžaÅŸmaz Oflaz, CEO of BluTV. “As Turkey’s leading local subscription video platform, we are proud that our steady growth since day one has made us a part of one of the largest media companies in the world. From now on, we will blend the best local stories we have ever presented to our viewers with the world’s best global content to curate Turkey’s strongest streaming platform and bring our most successful local stories to the world.”
(Advanced Television)
Stumble Guys adds new Tetris-inspired course - December 22, 2023
Stumble Guys is adding another new way to play as the Tetrimino shapes from the world-famous Tetris game are used to create an all-new level mechanic in the frenetic and highly social party battle royale game. In addition to the new course, Tetris-themed cosmetics and flair will be rotating and fitting in perfectly throughout the Stumbleverse.
Stumblers will jump into a brand new Tetris experience as they compete to be the last stumbler standing while navigating over and through Tetrimino-shaped objects in the latest wonderfully wacky experience that can only be found in Stumble Guys.
The all-new in-game level brings the fun and chaos of surviving on an active Tetris Matrix, where players must be careful not to be blasted by Line-Clearing events or Tetriminos falling in place. As the board clears, players can be blasted off the map while Tetriminos start falling, moving, and rotating faster and faster until more players are eliminated.
“It has been terrific collaborating with the Tetris team to create an entirely new level of Stumble Guys. Integrating such a beloved experience into Stumble Guys will give players a bit of nostalgia and a whole lot of fun as they try to finish the course before Tetriminos fall into place,” said Naz Amarchi, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Stumble Guys at Scopely.
“This collaboration is truly a unique experience that blends the timeless appeal of Tetris with the lively, engaging environment of Stumble Guys,” added Maya Rogers, CEO of Tetris. “This is more than just a merging of two fan-favourite games, but also a celebration of creativity and fun we believe players around the world will love. As we head into 2024, we’re excited to announce our collaboration with Stumble Guys to kick off the Tetris brand’s 40th anniversary.”
Study: News broadcasters must adapt to keep Gen Z engaged - December 18, 2023
Vizrt, a specialist in real-time graphics and live production solutions for content creators, has released research signifying a shift in the viewing habits of Gen Z when it comes to news consumption.
As the first generation born into a fully digital world, this age group according to a new global study is no longer interested in traditional news formats where dynamic on-screen graphics are underutilised.
The research shows a stark shift to social-first content formats, with the majority of Gen Z now opting to consume news on social media; with Instagram (60 per cent), TikTok (38 per cent), and Facebook (38 per cent) identified as the most popular sources for keeping up to date with news and current affairs.
The intensity of news cycles, volume of negative stories and a growing loyalty in social first news brands are also broadly cited as reasons behind the significant shift in viewing habits.
“Our research highlights the importance of real-time data and on-screen graphics in retaining Gen Z and futureproofing newsroom content creation. Content creators, traditional broadcasters and newer online news outfits, must adapt to meet the evolving needs of news consumers as each generation becomes more digitally advanced. Immersive storytelling with AR and XR can quickly and easily break down barriers to news accessibility and drive audience engagement,” commented Ulrich Voigt, Global Head of Product Management, Vizrt.
On-screen graphics considered essential for broadcasters
The global report of thousands of UK and US respondents commissioned by Vizrt examined how Gen Z consumes news in comparison to other generations and revealed a significant reliance on on-screen graphics among the younger generation.
Gen Z is twice as likely to pay attention to content with on-screen graphics in comparison to other generations (31 per cent vs 14 per cent average of other generations), helping them to understand complex stories (51 per cent Gen Z vs 42 per cent average) read data clearly (48 per cent Gen Z vs 46 per cent average), and receive additional information not otherwise shown on screen (54 per cent Gen Z vs 50 per cent average).
Gen Z demands social-first formats
Despite Gen Z opting to consume news content on their phones, broadcasters are yet to adapt to meet their digital needs.
Over half (56 per cent) of those aged 18-25 find it challenging to watch content in this format due to horizontal content not being adapted for vertical viewing.
Another issue faced by almost half of respondents (45 per cent) is the lack of on-screen graphics when watching content on the go.
Vizrt reveals its research on the newsroom consumption habits of Gen Z and millennials after sharing research on the changing viewer habits of Gen Z and millennial sports fans earlier this year. The main findings of both studies prove that social media consumption via mobile phones is on the rise, and attentions are won over with engaging visual graphics regardless of demographic, whether it is news or sports.
UFC News
WHERE WE STAND: UFC 2024 DIVISION-BY-DIVISION GUIDE
Take A Look At Each Division To See Which Champs And Contenders Are Primed To Make Moves In 2024
BY ZAC PACLEB, ON X @ZACPACLEB • DEC. 31, 2023
The 2023 campaign started to feel like a “normal” type of year in the UFC, which is to say there were shocking and stunning upsets of historic proportions, legacies being created, defined and rewritten from moment-to-moment and eye-popping highlights throughout.
So, essentially, a year of MMA.
But it also gave a view into the UFC calendar and travel schedule post-2020. The Octagon landed in several cities across the globe for pay-per-views and fight nights alike, including returns to Australia, Brazil and Miami alongside the usual stops in New York City, Jacksonville, London and of course, the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. The action was good as ever, and undisputed titles changed hands nine times throughout the year.
As we look ahead to 2024, this is where each division stands at-present.
Women’s Strawweight
Champion: Zhang Weili
In The Mix: Yan Xiaonan, Tatiana Suarez
The championship carousel in the strawweight division was relatively inactive for the first time in a handful of years as Zhang Weili dominated en route to a second title defense and first since recapturing the belt in 2022. Meanwhile, a pair of title challengers emerged. Yan Xiaonan fought once and finished Jéssica Andrade in impressive fashion. The 34-year-old from China bounced back well from two consecutive losses to cement her spot in the title conversation. On the other side of the coin was the long-awaited return of Tatiana Suarez, who fought twice after four years away from competition. The injury-riddled layoff halted the momentum of the undefeated Suarez, but she picked up right where she left off and submitted Montana De La Rosa and Andrade.
The champion’s next fight isn’t set just yet, although some hoped Zhang and Yan would partake in an all-China title fight, but Suarez’s dominant return makes for an intriguing matchup, as well. Both fights could happen in 2024, which could see the instability at strawweight continue or Zhang establish herself as one of the best champions in the division’s history.
Names to Watch For in 2024: Mackenzie Dern, Amanda Ribas, Loopy Godinez
Women’s Flyweight
Champion: Alexa Grasso
In The Mix: Valentina Shevchenko, Erin Blanchfield, Manon Fiorot
Alexa Grasso of Mexico reacts after retaining her title with a draw against Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan in the UFC flyweight championship fight during the Noche UFC event at T-Mobile Arena on September 16, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Alexa Grasso of Mexico reacts after retaining her title with a draw against Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan in the UFC flyweight championship fight during the Noche UFC event at T-Mobile Arena on September 16, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Home of the biggest surprise of 2024, the women’s flyweight division has never looked more intriguing thanks to a handful of contenders coming into their own but mostly because of Alexa Grasso. Mexico’s first female champion shocked the MMA world with her submission win over longtime champ Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285. She shocked again when she fought Shevchenko to a draw at Noche UFC in the headlining bout.
Although the rematch did not provide a definitive conclusion to the Grasso-Shevchenko saga, it did leave the door cracked for a fresh face to enter the title picture. That’s where Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot come into the conversation. Blanchfield aced both her tests in 2023, first submitting Andrade in February - a real breakout performance for the 24-year-old - before outhustling Taila Santos in Singapore in the latter half of the calendar. The results stretched her UFC run to 6-0. Fiorot matched “Cold Blooded,” returning from injury to spoil Rose Namajunas’ flyweight debut in front of a raucous Parisian crowd, which also stretched “The Beast” to a perfect 6-0 in the Octagon. The two are scheduled to face off in Atlantic City in late-March, which likely determines the next title challenger while Grasso and Shevchenko each recover from injuries sustained in their Noche battle.
Names to Watch For in 2024: Maycee Barber, Rose Namajunas, Natalia Silva, Ariane Lipski, Tracy Cortez
Women’s Bantamweight
Champion: N/A
In The Mix: Julianna Peña, Mayra Bueno Silva, Raquel Pennington, Ketlen Vieira, Irene Aldana
Julianna Pena punches Amanda Nunes of Brazil in their UFC bantamweight championship bout during UFC 269
Julianna Pena punches Amanda Nunes of Brazil in their UFC bantamweight championship bout during UFC 269 on December 11, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
To say Amanda Nunes’ retirement in June left a power vacuum atop the bantamweight division would sell the situation short. “The Lioness” left more of a black hole that was left vacant for the remainder of the year. Former champion Julianna Peña, naturally upset with Nunes’ decision, clamored for a chance to regain her belt, but that chance goes to Brazilian upstart Mayra Bueno Silva, who will battle Raquel Pennington in Toronto at UFC 297. Pennington won her lone fight of 2023, defeating Ketlen Vieira to extend her winning streak to five. Peña did not compete in 2023 after losing to Nunes in their rematch at UFC 277. Bueno Silva, meanwhile, started 2023 off with a bang, submitting Lina Lansberg via kneebar in February. She passed her first main event test against former champion Holly Holm, but that victory was turned into a no contest after Bueno Silva failed a drug test. Even still, the performance was impressive, and she goes into her first title shot unbeaten in her last four fights. Ketlen Vieira and Irene Aldana each went 1-1 in 2023 and figure to be a win or two away from title shots themselves.
Names to Watch For in 2024: Karol Rosa, Pannie Kianzad
Flyweight
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
In The Mix: Amir Albazi, Brandon Moreno, Manel Kape, Kai Kara-France
“The Cannibal” cemented his spot as the flyweight champion with a steady decision win over Brandon Royval to close 2023. The Brazilian is eager to keep a busy schedule and welcomes all challengers familiar and fresh. His next challenger will likely distinguish themselves in February when two-time champion Brandon Moreno hosts Amir Albazi in Mexico City. A definitive win could give Moreno another shot at Pantoja while Albazi hopes to parlay a sixth UFC victory into his first crack at UFC gold.
Meanwhile, Manel Kape continues doing what he can to tout himself as the next champion. The 30-year-old from Portugal has had myriad unlucky situations during his time in the promotion, but Pantoja himself cited “StarBoy” as someone he would enjoy fighting again (Pantoja defeated Kape in Kape’s UFC debut). Kape was scheduled to fight Kara-France in September before a concussion kept “Don’t Blink” out of action. The Kiwi was only able to compete once in 2023, a controversial split decision loss to Albazi in June, and, despite back-to-back losses, Kara-France figures to play a major part in the 2024 title picture.
Names to Watch For in 2024: Brandon Royval, Matheus Nicolau, Muhammad Mokaev, Tagir Ulanbeknov, Tatsuro Taira
Bantamweight
Champion: Sean O’Malley
In The Mix: Marlon Vera, Merab Dvalishvili, Cory Sandhagen, Henry Cejudo
Sean O'Malley reacts after his knockout victory over Aljamain Sterling in the UFC bantamweight championship fight during the UFC 292 event at TD Garden on August 19, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC)
Sean O'Malley reacts after his knockout victory over Aljamain Sterling in the UFC bantamweight championship fight during the UFC 292 event at TD Garden on August 19, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC)
With a sweet right hand to Aljamain Sterling’s jaw, Sean O’Malley fulfilled his dreams of becoming the UFC bantamweight champion. The fan-favorite and Dana White’s Contender Series alumnus has the potential to go from star to superstar with a successful reign on the throne, and he gets to immediately right his lone loss in the Octagon at UFC 299. There, he will face Marlon “Chito” Vera in a rematch of 2020 bout which Vera won via TKO.
Although Vera picked up a solid win over Pedro Munhoz in 2023, it was his 2020 victory over “Suga” that did a lot of heavy lifting to get him the title shot. It’s a narrative everyone is intrigued with seeing play out, and the two are a couple of the most entertaining fighters on the roster, as well as mainstays in the stacked title picture. Meanwhile, Merab Dvalishvili and Cory Sandhagen will likely have to pick up another win as they make their slower treks to potential championship opportunities. “The Machine” dominated former champion Petr Yan in a main event while Sandhagen did the same against Vera and Rob Font, but a tricep injury against the latter sidelined Sandhagen for the early part of the calendar. Dvalishvili gets a chance to rack up another win over a former champion when he faces Henry Cejudo at UFC 298.
Names to Watch For in 2024: Petr Yan, Deiveson Figueiredo, Umar Nurmagomedov, Yadong Song
Featherweight
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
In The Mix: Ilia Topuria, Arnold Allen, Aljamain Sterling, Max Holloway
It’s a testament to the talent in the featherweight division that it can have a dominant champion like Alexander Volkanovski on top and remain one of the most intriguing weight classes in the UFC. “The Great” defended his belt once in 2023, besting Yair Rodriguez after “El Pantera” earned the interim title against Josh Emmett in the early part of the year while Volkanovski made his bid for double-champ status. Volkanovski will make his next defense against the undefeated and surging Ilia Topuria – who heeded Volkanovski’s advice to not fight Max Holloway while waiting – at UFC 298 in Anaheim.
Should Volkanovski win, the next in line hasn’t yet distinguished themselves. Arnold Allen lost a competitive main event to Holloway, but he can bounce back in January when he faces the undefeated Movsar Evloev in Toronto. Aljamain Sterling is set to make his featherweight debut at UFC 300 against Calvin Kattar, who returns from a major knee injury sustained in October 2022. A dominant win could catapult Sterling into the title talk against Volkanovski. Holloway remains stuck behind his Australian foil despite a pair of good wins over Allen and “The Korean Zombie.” The former champion has said he’d love to fight Justin Gaethje for the BMF belt, but he’ll likely be rooting hard for Topuria to open up a chance for a second “Blessed” title reign.
Names to Watch For in 2024: Calvin Kattar, Brian Ortega, Yair Rodriguez, Movsar Evloev
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Will Ospreay Wants IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship - December 12, 2023
“It is going to be defended around the globe, and there is no one better served to do that.”
New Japan Pro-Wrestling is introducing a new championship: the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
During yesterday’s World Tag League press conference, New Japan Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi announced that the new title will be on the line at the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom 18 event at the Tokyo Dome on January 4.
A three-way match at Wrestle Kingdom 18 between Jon Moxley, David Finlay, and Will Ospreay will determine the first-ever IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion. The title replaces the IWGP United States and United Kingdom championships, which Finlay destroyed last month at Power Struggle.
Instead of reintroducing the IWGP Intercontinental title, the decision was made to unveil a new championship. And before he becomes a full-time star with AEW, Ospreay wants to become the first-ever champion.
“It is going to be defended around the globe, and there is no one better served to do that,” said Ospreay. “I’m performing at the highest level around the world.
“This is my chance to cross-promote. That’s truly a special thing to have. I want to elevate the promotions I work with and my opponents in the ring. I am going to deliver the best possible matches I can deliver.”
While Ospreay and Moxley will demand the most attention in the buildup, it is Finlay who may leave the lasting impression. His work as leader of Bullet Club has been unheralded, yet extremely convincing. Wrestling fans will be treated to his superb style of pro wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom 18, which particularly shines against Ospreay, a longtime contentious foe.
“Me and Finlay, we’ve got a huge history,” said Ospreay. “We’re the same age, only a few days between us. I’m sure there is some underlying jealousy about my ascent in New Japan. But it just clicked for me. I just operate differently.
“It’s a real rivalry. Finlay is ruthless and one of the best wrestlers, learning that from his father. He’s got a different way of looking at the wrestling industry.”
The combination of Ospreay, Moxley, and Finlay should lead to an exceptionally compelling bout. Ospreay and Moxley have wrestled only once against one another in a singles bout, then once more in a four-way. In their singles match, which took place in April of 2022, Moxley emerged victorious.
“I want to walk out of New Japan defeating Finlay, but there is Moxley, too,” said Ospreay. “Moxley needs to understand something. We had one match, and that was in Chicago, and it was a botch by the referee, who f----- up on the three-count. Moxley can say whatever he wants, but that’s not going to happen in Japan.
“At Wrestle Kingdom, I am going to be in my element. They’re going to focus on violence, I’m going to focus on winning.”
(S.I)
Pro Wrestling
All Japan Pro Wrestling
On December 31st All Japan Pro Wrestling present its first New Year's Eve event live on TrillerTV
- it's MANIAx. The event features the Triple Crown Heavyweight Title match where the 71st champion Katsuhiko Nakajima makes his firts defense against Kento Miyahara.
Full Card:
Shotaro Ashino ＆ T-Hawk vs Kuroshio TOKYO Japan ＆ Seigo Tachibana
AJPW (Atsuki Aoyagi ＆ Rising HAYATO) vs DDT (Yuki Ueno & Tohei Kojima)
World Junior Heavyweight Title Match
El Linderman vs Dan Tamura
Special Single Match to determine the true Rookie of the Year
Jun Saito vs Rei Saito
Special 6-man Tag Match
Suwama & Hideki Suzuki & Hikaru Sato vs Minoru Suzuki & Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Hokuto Omori
Gaora TV Championship Preliminary Round 6-Man Tag Team Match
Black Mensore & Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe vs Minoru Tanaka & Shigeki Doi & Koji Iwamoto
*lineup subject to change
Despite Bellator purchase, PFL has a long way to go to catch up with UFC - November 28, 2023
There are people who still ask for a Kleenex when what they really want is a tissue. And there are people who tell coworkers they’re heading to the Xerox machine when what they mean is they’re going to the copier.
In the same vein, fight fans often refer to the sport of mixed martial arts as UFC.
It’s a sign that the UFC — one of hundreds of promoters of MMA shows active today — has hit the mainstream. When fans — not media, not fighters, not promoters, not publicists, not managers — think of major league MMA, they think of the UFC.
It doesn't help that when the Professional Fighters League completed the acquisition of Bellator last week, it put out a news release that was highly misleading.
A sub-headline on the release said, “PFL + Bellator Combined Fighter Roster Equal to UFC — Both Rosters 30% Top 25 World-Ranked,” which PFL spokesman Loren Mack said the promotion used the Fight Matrix rankings when coming up with that number.
But, that just doesn’t jive with what MMA media which covers the sport religiously reports. Yahoo Sports took the Top 10 from the divisional rankings of ESPN, Sherdog and MMA Junkie in the eight men’s weight classes and noted what organization the fighters compete with.
Of the 80 spots in ESPN’s rankings, 68 were UFC fighters, one was a PFL fighter, nine were Bellator Fighters and two were from ONE Championship. In Sherdog’s rankings, 72 were UFC fighters, none were from either PFL or ONE and eight were from Bellator. And in MMA Junkie’s, 67 were UFC fighters, two each were from PFL and ONE and nine were from Bellator.
One of the PFL fighters ranked by MMA Junkie was heavyweight Francis Ngannou, who has not fought for the PFL yet and hasn’t fought an MMA bout since January 2022. The only other PFL fighter ranked in the Top 10 by any of those three outlets was Derek Brunson, the middleweight who made his PFL debut Friday.
Pound-for-pound wise, it’s the same. ESPN’s Top 10 has 10 UFC fighters. Sherdog and MMA Junkie each have nine UFC fighters in its Top 10 pound-for-pound. Those fighters are essentially the sport’s top stars.
This, though, isn’t meant to bash any UFC competitor, including Bellator, PFL or ONE. Rather, it’s to point out they’re focusing on the wrong thing if they want to somehow reach equal footing with the UFC as MMA promoters. No MMA promoter is remotely close to the UFC now, not in revenue, not in sponsorships, not in quality of fighters, not in promotion, not in marketing, not in ticket sales, not in television ratings nor in terms of television production.
It’s good for a sport, and particularly for the athletes, to have an alternative, because it will create more opportunities. However, there is one major league in baseball, one in football and one in basketball and those athletes are doing extraordinarily well.
But in MMA, it’s good for fighters to have a choice, particularly if they somehow run afoul of UFC CEO Dana White. Brunson, for example, is a lot more significant to the PFL than he is to the UFC. ESPN and MMA Junkie have eight UFC fighters among their Top 10 middleweights, while Sherdog has nine. Until recently, Brunson was part of that UFC list.
But the UFC has so much depth that Brunson’s loss will hardly be felt. He will be an impact talent for the PFL, though. As a result, the PFL paid him more than the UFC would have given his relative value to the organizations. So having an organization like the now combined PFL and Bellator competing for talent with the UFC makes it better for the fighters who hit the market. While it’s one less bidder, the fact that the PFL now has all of those roster spots means there will be competition for available fighters.
That said, it seems unlikely any promotion is going to overtake the UFC as No. 1 in MMA in the near future.
Talent is an important part of the equation, but it’s not everything. If the UFC and the combined Bellator/PFL group swapped rosters, the UFC would still come out on top because it does so many of those other things better than any MMA promotion you’d care to name.
So talent is important, but PFL should learn a lesson from the mistakes Bellator president Scott Coker made in his run. He relied far too much on older, veteran fighters who were mostly used up, thinking they’d attract attention. Instead, the PFL needs to find a way to get the elite young talent signed before the UFC and then develop it.
That’s only one part of the equation, though. PFL needs to continue to develop new markets, and create fans not just of MMA but of the PFL itself. It needs to succeed in merchandising and sponsorships and television production.
It needs to promote and market infinitely better and not just be a place for the disaffected UFC fans. It needs to learn how to turn fighters into stars. Who was the last fighter who didn’t have a lengthy run in the UFC who was widely recognizable and became a star? Tough question to answer, isn’t it?
There will be some interesting fights that could be put together between the champions at Bellator and PFL, but are there any that will get the juices flowing from fans around the world? At this stage, probably not.
The PFL has a lot of work ahead of it and it’s not going to be easy. It’s lapped in every category imaginable now.
But it’s wise to forget about comparing rosters and getting to work on building a product that actually makes it difficult for White to sleep.
As it stands now, he’s sleeping far too easily, with way too little to worry about from any competitor.
Pro Wrestling
Samoa Joe Captures The AEW World Championship - January 2024
AEW World Championship Match!
MJF (c.) vs. Samoa Joe!
The sold out arena chanted “He’s our scumbag! He’s our scumbag!”
MJF pointed to the entrance ramp and Adam Cole’s music hit, baybay! Adam Cole came down to the ring on crutches. Cole stood in his best friend’s corner, and MJF smiled.
MJF thumbed Samoa Joe in the eye and then kicked him. MJF charged at Samoa Joe, but Joe grabbed him and slammed him to the mat. MJF clutched his arm. Samoa Joe punched MJF in the shoulder and then stomped a mudhole into him. Samoa Joe hit a leg drop on MJF’s arm. Samoa Joe put a tight grip on MJF’s shoulder. MJF fought out of it with a series of chops. Samoa Joe booted the champ in the face!
“Max is in deep you know what right now,” said Taz.
Samoa Joe went for the muscle buster, but Max escaped. MJF grabbed an inside cradle for a near fall. MJF tried to schoolboy Samoa Joe and Joe kicked out of it. MJF went for the kangaroo kick, but Samoa Joe anticipated it and blocked it. MJF went to skin the cat, but as MJF was inverted, Samoa Joe kicked MJF in the head. Samoa Joe dived out of the ring with an elbow suicida and mowed down MJF.
Samoa Joe planted Max with a Death Valley Driver in the center of the ring. Joe nailed MJF with a German Suplex and then a dragon suplex. Samoa Joe followed up with a straitjacket suplex! Samoa Joe decimated MJF with a muscle buster on the ring apron! MJF landed directly on his injured left shoulder. Joe covered MJF but MJF managed to kick out at two.
MJF headbutted Joe. MJF connected with a rolling elbow strike to the back of Joe’s head. MJF chomped on Samoa Joe’s forehead. MJF tried for the kangaroo kick, but Samoa Joe booted Max out of the air. MJF thumbed Samoa Joe in the eyes. MJF tried to hoist up Samoa Joe, but MJF collapsed under the weight. MJF ran into Samoa Joe, throwing his body at Joe. MJF landed the heat seeker on Samoa Joe for a two-count! MJF applied the Salt of the Earth armbar on Samoa Joe. The challenger escaped and put MJF into an arm bar. Samoa Joe wrenched upwards. Adam Cole cheered on MJF, and MJF was able to reach the bottom rope to break the hold.
Samoa Joe applied a sleeper. MJF pushed backwards, inadvertently shoving Samoa Joe into the referee. The ref collapsed. MJF smiled. MJF stunned Samoa Joe with a low blow. MJF hoisted up Samoa Joe and pancaked him! The ref finally turned around and began to count the pin, but Samoa Joe kicked out at two! MJF signaled for the Dynamite Diamond Ring. Adam Cole had trouble finding it, and in the meantime, Samoa Joe grabbed Max from behind. Samoa Joe wrapped MJF in a deep submission. The referee lifted up MJF’s arm three times and MJF didn’t respond. MJF was choked out!
And new All Elite World Champion Samoa Joe!
(All Elite Wrestling)
ALL ELITE WRESTLING
AEW Revolution 2024
Date
MARCH 3, 2024
Venue
Greensboro Coliseum
City
Greensboro, NC
Elon Musk's X gets another valuation cut from Fidelity, By Dan Primack
Fidelity has again marked down the value of its shares in X Holdings, which the mutual fund giant helped Elon Musk buy for $44 billion when the company was known as Twitter.
By the numbers: Fidelity believes that X is worth 71.5% less than at the time of purchase, according to a new disclosure that runs through the end of November 2023 (Fidelity revalues private shares on a one-month lag).
This includes a 10.7% cut during November, during which time Musk told boycotting X advertisers to "go f**k yourself" during an on-stage interview with the New York Times.
In terms of publicly traded comps, Meta stock rose 4.9% in November while Snap shares climbed 38.2%.
The big picture: Fidelity began marking down its Twitter shares the first month after Musk's buyout. It increased the share value or kept it stable for a few months earlier in 2023.
Behind the scenes: Fidelity doesn't necessarily have much, if any, inside information on X's financial performance, despite being a shareholder in the privately held business. Other shareholders may value their X stock differently.
X News
Elon Musk’s X in political advertising push to offset revenue falls - December 20, 2023
Plans for new political ads team to hit $US100 million in sales ahead of US presidential election are met with industry scepticism.
London | A push by Elon Musk’s X to bring in $US100 million ($148 million) from political advertising in 2024 is being met by scepticism from industry insiders, hitting its hopes of offsetting revenue losses caused by big brands leaving the platform.
Earlier this year, X’s billionaire owner reversed a ban on political advertising instituted by former chief executive Jack Dorsey, a move designed to align with Musk’s stance as a “free speech absolutist”.
It has since increased its investment in the space, including hosting a recent event with about 100 existing and prospective political clients in Washington to promote its advertising services.
The company subsequently sent a message to some attendees saying it is “building the modern global town square – a place for causes & candidates to meet their constituents – and we are doing this with brand safety and election integrity at the forefront”.
The email, seen by the Financial Times, added that X had 92.4 million users in the US, 98 per cent of whom were of voting age.
Chief executive Linda Yaccarino has told industry figures she was aiming for the platform to bring in $US100 million annually in political ad revenues in a big election year, according to two people familiar with the projections.
X has set up a team of about 10 people that has held around 400 meetings and calls with digital marketers, strategists, campaigns and political action groups, according to those familiar with the operation.
X’s new political advertising sales team is headed by New York-based Sten McGuire, who has previously worked in political sales for Hulu and Walt Disney. X has hired Ms Yaccarino’s son Matthew Madrazo to manage Republican relationships.
Media advertising veteran Jonathan Phelps has been tasked with soliciting business from Democratic groups. Semafor first reported the sales target and some of X’s recent hires.
The company is also advertising more positions for its “growing” political ads sales team ahead of the “upcoming 2024 election cycle”, according to online job postings.
While X did not confirm the financial targets, it did confirm the communication related to the event and said it had been working on improving its targeting.
“On X, people can actively participate in vital discussions with elected officials, community leaders and fellow citizens,” said Joe Benarroch, X’s head of business operations. “That’s exactly why we’re constantly refining our policies and our products to ensure all communities have an open and secure platform for safe political discourse on X.”
The push has been met with scepticism by leading players in the US political advertising scene, particularly left-leaning groups.
During the 2018 midterm elections, X, then known as Twitter, brought in only about $US3 million in political advertising. As of December 11, the company had made about $US4.7 million from the start of 2023 from political ads, according to disclosure data that can be requested from the company.
One industry figure in US political marketing said that many in the sector believed X’s targets were too high, as the team lacked experience in Washington and the ads offering was not effective enough.
The company had previously touted a political advertising revenue target of $US200 million when pitching its plans but has since revised the figure, the person said. “Even $US100 million is unattainable,” the person said. “The numbers are misinformed and off.”
Mike Nellis, chief executive of Democratic ad group Authentic, which has run more than a dozen campaigns on the platform, said some of his clients were pulling back or refusing to spend on X.
“Our results on the site are weaker than they were in the first half of the year,” Mr Nellis said. “We believe this is because Elon is driving moderates and progressives off the site. If our target audience isn’t reachable on X, there’s no reason to spend any more.”
According to X’s data from earlier this month, US Republican presidential nominees testing the platform have ranged from spending a few cents on an individual ad campaign to tens of thousands of dollars.
The biggest spenders include Donald Trump’s campaign team, which has spent nearly $US36,000 in total, and Ron DeSantis, who has spent more than $US355,000.
Prominent Democratic politicians including Adam Schiff and Gavin Newsom have each spent close to $US100,000 on X. However, President Joe Biden does not appear to have run any ads on the platform.
Last month, Mr Musk told companies including Disney, IBM and Apple to “go f---” themselves, after the companies pulled their ad spending following his endorsement of an antisemitic post and the publication of research claiming to find some ads on X next to pro-Nazi content.
In 2021, the year before Musk’s takeover, X booked about $US5 billion in revenues mainly from advertising. In July, Mr Musk said ad revenues had dropped by 50 per cent, without giving precise details.
X has also outlined plans, first reported by the Financial Times, to focus on wooing small and medium-sized businesses to prop up its flailing ads business, alongside the political ads push.
Mr Dorsey banned political advertising in 2019 over fears that misinformation was rife in the space. Mr Musk’s decision to overturn the ban in August comes as he has worked with right-wing political figures, for example giving a platform to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to host his show, and helping Mr DeSantis launch his presidential bid via its Spaces audio feature.
Political marketers say X lends itself more to soliciting donations, collecting email addresses and efforts to boost voter turnout, rather than shifting opinions, as users of the platform tend to be entrenched in their political beliefs.
“Political campaigns will leverage it, particularly for fundraising and ‘get out the votes’,” said Grace Briscoe, senior vice-president of client development for Basis Technologies, but added that levels of interest from her clients were low.
Several political advertisers observed that the reach and performance of the services offered by Meta and Google-owned YouTube were superior to that of X.
Between October 12 and November 5, 79 per cent and 72 per cent of voters used YouTube and Facebook, respectively, while only 29 per cent used X, according to findings by Priorities USA, a progressive political action committee.
However, the head of one right-leaning outfit said the platform was becoming a more attractive place for Republicans, as the user base shifts towards their side of the political spectrum.
Courtney Weaver, executive vice-president at Washington digital marketer IMGE, said her company was pitching X to all clients looking to fundraise, adding that the platform had advantages such as the ability for brands to target “lookalike audiences”, which are similar to voters they may already have data for.
Democrats, however, are pulling away. “Many of the Democratic agencies are sensitive to the comments that [Mr Musk has] made that have degraded their candidates,” another industry insider said. “I think there is a genuine hesitation to jump back in again because many of them don’t trust the leadership.”
Backstage News On Takami Ohbari’s Departure As NJPW President, Ohbari and Kazuchika Okada Reportedly Had Heat
- December 29, 2023
Wrestling News
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
According to Dave Meltzer from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the departure of Ohbari, as well as other staff members, are a combination of external and internal factors contributing to this decision-making process. One section of the report reads:
“Ohbari and Nishizawa are gone for a number of reasons, both the external ones, New Japan and all of Japanese wrestling’s inability to fully recover from the pandemic, and internal ones not talked about.”
Later, Meltzer explains how Ohbari’s strained relationships within the company hurt his reputation, especially with top superstar Kazuchika Okada. This, on to of Ohbari’s general lack of understanding of the wrestling business, are reasons he is now gone.
“Another key reason has been that there were issues with staff members and Ohbari’s usage of power over them. Another major reason was that Ohbari had heat with a number of people, including the company’s top star, Kazuchika Okada. Okada was said to have wanted him out. Others said that Ohbari never really understood the wrestling business and didn’t respect the value of Okada. One person said that Ohbari saw Okada as the lead role actor in a touring show.”
Pro Wrestling
MLW - WWE News
Kasowitz Secures Settlement on Behalf of MLW Media Against World Wrestling Entertainment in Antitrust Suit
New York, NY, December 22, 2023 — Kasowitz Benson Torres, on behalf of professional wrestling promotion company MLW Media (MLW), has reached a settlement with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) over MLW’s antitrust and state law claims against WWE for monopolizing and attempting to monopolize the market for the sale or licensing of media rights for professional wrestling programming in the United States. On December 22, 2023, MLW filed a stipulation and proposed order of dismissal of its lawsuit against WWE with the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, notifying the court that the parties have entered into a settlement agreement.
The settlement follows MLW’s successful defeat of WWE’s motion to dismiss, as well as its successful motion to strike numerous affirmative defenses in WWE’s answer to the amended complaint. The parties agreed to resolve the matter on mutually acceptable terms.
The Kasowitz Benson Torres team representing MLW is led by partners Marc E. Kasowitz and Christine A. Montenegro and includes partner Nicholas A. Rendino.
USFL, XFL announce merger, formation of new spring football league: The UFL - January 2, 2024
The two spring football leagues have formally announced plans to merge and begin play in 2024
Spring football enters a new chapter in 2024, as the USFL and the XFL have formally announced plans to merge and begin play.
The combined league, to be known as the United Football League, will begin play on Saturday, March 30, 2024. Leadership of the new league will combine the operations of the former leagues. Russ Brandon, former president and CEO of the XFL, and Daryl Johnston, former USFL President of Football Operations, will serve in the same roles at the UFL. Dwayne Johnson, who helped found the new version of the XFL, is among other investors involved with the new league.
The initial game will feature the two champions of their respective leagues: the USFL's Birmingham Stallions and the XFL's Arlington (Texas) Renegades. Further teams to be imported over from the former leagues are yet to be announced.
Officials from both leagues have praised spring football as a way for certain players to showcase their skills for a potential jump to the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys' Brandon Aubrey and Kavonte Turpin, for example, both had successful USFL careers before leaping to the NFL. For other players, spring football offers an opportunity to get in one last season of football before transitioning to life off the field.
On a larger scale, though, spring football also has substantial value as a broadcast asset. Both Fox and ESPN are involved in broadcasting the UFL. The league will provide inventory for both Fox and ESPN during a relatively quiet time on the sports calendar, when baseball is still in its early days and the playoffs of the NBA and NHL haven't yet hit full speed. Factor in gambling, and spring football is a viable program, even if it does only a tiny fraction of the NFL's ratings numbers.
According to the Washington Post, five XFL teams — the D.C. Defenders, Houston Roughnecks, San Antonio Brahmas, St. Louis Battlehawks and Arlington Renegades — will join three USFL teams, the Birmingham Stallions, Memphis Showboats and Michigan Panthers.
That leaves several teams — the XFL's Orlando Guardians, Seattle Sea Dragons and Vegas Vipers, and the USFL's Houston Gamblers, New Jersey Generals, New Orleans Breakers, Philadelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers — will be dissolved, with the players under contract to those teams subject to a dispersal draft.
“From day one, our mission has been to expand the game of football and be a league of opportunity, culture and innovation," Johnson said in a statement announcing the new league. "As we come together to create the UFL, we can build something powerful, exciting and very cool for football fans — a spring league with lasting impact for all the players with a dream to play pro football and the ‘hardest workers in the room’ mentality to make their dreams come true.”
The first version of the USFL began play in the early 1980s, but dissolved following a failed attempt to move to the fall and go head-to-head against the NFL. The XFL began play in 2001 but quickly faltered; a second version of the XFL was obliterated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Crypto News - December 30, 2023
Cryptocurrencies gain more than half a trillion in value despite controversies
The global value of cryptocurrencies surged by more than $800bn (£631bn) in 2023 as investors continued to pile into the speculative assets despite a series of scandals, bankruptcies and tougher regulation.
After losing more than half their value in the 12 months to December 2022, digital coins rebounded over the last year – with the whole sector worth roughly $1.6 trillion at Christmas.
The price of Bitcoin, the most popular and valuable cryptocurrency, more than doubled, up more than 150pc over the course of the year. A single Bitcoin is now worth north of $42,000, its highest point in 18 months.
Ethereum, the second most popular cryptocurrency, increased its value by 88pc over the year.
Solana, another widely-traded coin, climbed more than 1000pc during 2023. The digital currency data came from Coinmarketcap, which is owned by cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Bitcoin’s previous high was just over $65,000, amid a buying frenzy in November 2021. High-profile investors including Elon Musk piled into cryptocurrencies, however much of its value was wiped out over the next 12 months.
Yet despite an ongoing series of controversies, cryptocurrencies rebounded in 2023.
These included the collapse of FTX, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange, in late 2022. The offshore trading house was found to have misused customer funds to prop up high-risk investments and luxury purchases for executives.
Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty in November of multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy that caused FTX’s bankruptcy.
That same month, the founder of Binance, the world’s largest digital coin exchange, agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges in a case brought by the US Justice Department over money laundering violations.
Changpeng Zhao said he would stand down as chief executive of Binance as part of a deal with prosecutors, while the exchange itself was hit by a $4bn fine.
However, despite the scandals, Matteo Grecco, an analyst at cryptocurrency investment firm Fineqia, said the shake-up at Binance had a “positive effect on the market”.
“The agreement between the largest digital asset exchange and US regulators diminished uncertainties, fostering a more optimistic outlook,” he said.
Regulators have also toughened up their stance against digital coins. In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority introduced new rules in October on how cryptocurrency companies can market to British consumers, ultimately blocking Binance from signing up new UK customers.
In the US, Coinbase, one of the largest digital currency exchanges with a popular app, has been sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The regulator accuses Coinbase of selling digital coins as unlicensed securities. Coinbase has disputed the claims and insists it does not sell securities.
Amid the crackdown, Coinbase’s stock was up more than 400pc over the course of 2023.
Podcast News List
The Diary Of A CEO
Hosted by serial entrepreneur and Britain's Dragon's Den investor Steven Bartlett, The Diary Of A CEO is an unfiltered, raw and emotional podcast exploring timeless leadership lessons and stories on a range of topics affecting aspiring leaders today, from psychology, to health, to business, and technology. Previous guests have ranged from well-esteemed industry stars such as Simon Sinek and Daniel Ek, to Richard Branson and Bozoma Saint-John.
The Ed Mylett Show
Hosted by business thought leader and coach Ed Mylett, this podcast allows you to take a peak into some of the greatest insights ever unveiled by other industry thought leaders, who share their expertise and journeys. Some easily recognizable guest names include Tony Robbins, Jim Kwik, and John Maxwell.
Joe Rogan
Three years after Joe Rogan signed with Spotify, he remains the biggest podcaster in the world. Will he renew his cushy licensing deal, find a new partner, or forge his own path?
For all of the changes Spotify has gone through over the past year, there is still more to come. Those three-year podcast deals the company struck are coming up for renewal, and what Spotify decides to do with them could have reverberations across the industry. The Joe Rogan Experience — the first, the biggest, and the most consequential — will expire in 2024. Today, after speaking with podcasters, producers, analysts, agents, and executives (mostly on background, though a few brave souls went on the record), I take a look at how the Spotify / Rogan relationship could play out.
Let me be clear: this is purely a thought exercise. I did not hear back from Rogan’s management, and Spotify declined to comment on negotiations. But what is clear from my conversations is that, despite his issues, Rogan is seen as a vital part of Spotify’s podcast business. If he walks or (less likely) if Spotify chose not to renew, it would be another massive blow to the company’s podcasting editorial operation. If they cut a deal, Spotify is in a better position to rebuild, or at least maintain, its podcast arm. If Rogan goes to another platform, he could essentially be a kingmaker. And if he decided to launch his own network, he would have no trouble attracting listeners, advertisers, and talent.
As you can see, there are a lot of ifs! But that’s the fun of it.
Spotify really needs to find a way to make it work
The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that it is in Spotify’s best interest to keep Rogan on board. After all the money the company has sunk into deals that went nowhere (Harry and Meghan) and acquisitions that were eventually dismantled (Gimlet), Rogan is still the best bet the company has ever made. He remains the top podcaster in the world, and it’s not close.
With Rogan, Spotify gets his very big and very loyal audience (though whether they have been able to translate those listeners into paying subscribers is up for debate). He is also a massive draw for advertisers, and there is an understanding in the industry that his presence on Spotify has a halo effect for ad sales on its other shows. And for all the hoopla over his scandalous comments on vaccines, race, and gender, he didn’t lose any earshare and Spotify didn’t lose subscribers.
But, and this is a big but, this is not 2020. Money is a lot tighter than it was several years ago — investors are pissed that Spotify’s podcast bet still is not profitable, and CEO Daniel Ek has pledged to focus on efficiency. Rogan’s current deal is reported to be worth as much as $200 million over three(ish) years. So then the question becomes whether Spotify can find the right price to keep him happy and mollify investors.
“It’s a situation where you are damned if you do, and you are damned if you don’t,” says Arete Research founder Richard Kramer. “If you do keep him, Spotify will be locked into paying Rogan as much or more than before, at a time when they need to contain costs. If you don’t keep him, then it’s really tough because your biggest property and source of sales within the ad business — walks.”
It is also worth keeping in mind that he will not be negotiating with the same team as last time. Dawn Ostroff, the former head of podcasting, is gone. So is Courtney Holt, who landed the deal in the first place. Spotify’s new head of podcasting, Sahar Elhabashi, worked closely with Ostroff, but unlike Ostroff, she reports up to chief business officer Alex Norstrom. Norstrom, who comes from the music side, is there as a check on wild podcast spending and has been unsparing in his cuts. How much Spotify will be willing to spend ultimately comes down to him. If competition from other platforms drives the price sky high, he may not have the tolerance for it.
Why Rogan could walk
Another thing agreed upon by the people I spoke with is that Rogan has the upper hand in this situation. He has a lot of power right now. Nobody has managed to knock him from his pedestal in the past several years, and it seems unlikely anyone will in the near future.
Rogan initially gained mainstream notice because of his ability to appeal across the ideological spectrum. I don’t think that is quite as true anymore, given his controversial statements and call to listeners to vote Republican in 2022. (Though it seems he may have found his weirdo independent of choice with RFK Jr.). But he does fill a gap in the media landscape. According to YouGov, Rogan’s listeners are overwhelmingly young men, many of whom say they reject politically correct stances, don’t trust traditional media, and really, really love to work out.
This is to say, he has a loyal audience who will follow him wherever he goes and are unlikely to have brand loyalty to Spotify. Rogan is the brand, and if he wants to expand that brand into a network, he has the money and influence to do so. He can develop new shows, promote them on his own, and likely transfer at least some of his audience. And with another presidential election coming up, there may be no better time to do so.
There is also the matter of exclusivity. Even as Spotify has loosened its grip on other shows, Rogan is still exclusive to the platform, minus promotional YouTube clips. And while Spotify has become one of the biggest players in the market (in no small part thanks to Rogan), it is still the podcast app of choice for only 17 percent of podcast listeners, according to a study from Cumulus, and continues to lose share to YouTube. His reach will be greater if he goes independent again, and he is a guy who likes to be everywhere.
If he isn’t all that interested in being independent, we could also see other platforms try to swoop in with more money than Spotify can afford. YouTube is finally making a big push into podcasting. It doesn’t have any major licensing deals yet, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t. Amazon could sneak in with some crazy money and fewer restrictions, as it has with shows like My Favorite Murder and SmartLess. Hell, Elon Musk could make a play for Rogan as he tries to make Twitter / X a creator platform. The two even reunited yesterday for an episode that was specially licensed to X.
Why Rogan could stay
This may be overly simple, but money is nice. Having a minimum guarantee during a period of turmoil is really nice. When that minimum guarantee is worth nine figures, it may be impossible to turn down, even for someone who already has more money than he knows what to do with.
For all of Rogan’s maverick cache, there is an ease to staying — all he has to do is show up and talk. Spotify has also made it clear that they will not place limits on anything he has to say. If they can come up with the cash to ward off competition and make it worth his while, it’s a sweet deal.
Rogan also values loyalty, according to those who have dealt with him. After his controversies in 2022, he was offered $100 million to switch to conservative streamer Rumble. He turned it down, saying that “Spotify has hung in with me, inexplicably.” That could also be a cover for not wanting to go to a dinkier platform / get sued, but there does seem to be a grain of truth to that.
I went into this thinking that, given all the options available to him, he couldn’t possibly stick with the same exclusive deal. Who needs another $100 million or two when you can bankroll your own thing and still make a boatload of cash? But Dan Granger, CEO of Oxford Road, made a point to me that made it seem shockingly simple.
“Rush Limbaugh stayed with Premiere Networks. Howard Stern has stayed with Sirius XM. And you better believe they had a lot of, you know, opportunities to leave,” he said. “But the house figured out how to keep them.”
Part of that could mean Spotify deciding to drop Rogan’s exclusivity with a renewal. The company has backed off exclusivity for most of its other shows and may figure there is more value (and certainly more ad revenue) in letting JRE distribute wide.
That model could be tweaked even further. With yesterday’s Musk episode, the licensing entailed making the first two hours available on X, with the last 45 minutes exclusive to Spotify. That is something that could easily be replicated on other platforms. It’s not the most elegant solution, but it does keep committed Rogan-heads coming back to Spotify.
Verdict
If I had to place money on it (not $200 million, but you know, $50), I would say Rogan and Spotify manage to strike a deal. It may not look the same — in fact, it seems likely that it will be more flexible than the current deal structure. But bumps aside, it has been a remarkably successful relationship. Short of YouTube or Musk swooping in with $500 million, I think it will stay intact.
Joe Rogan’s ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’: A Hub for Engaging Cultural and Political Discourse
In 2023, Joe Rogan’s podcast ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ on Spotify continued to be a hub for engaging political and cultural discourse. The podcast, one of America’s most popular talk shows, served as a platform for Rogan’s commentary on some of the most controversial issues paired with engaging conversations with a diverse roster of guests, ranging from writers and journalists to comedians and public personalities.
Rogan’s Takes on Cultural and Political Issues
One of the many highlighted moments from the show included Rogan’s humorous take on an article associating fitness with extreme right ideology. Rogan argued that the left could be encouraging unhealthy lifestyles to garner support, causing ripples of laughter among his audience. Another significant moment was his commentary on Bud Light’s backlash for creating transgender-themed beer cans. Rogan didn’t shy away from pointing out the significant market loss the company faced as a result of this marketing decision.
A Clash of Opinions: Rogan vs Maher
Rogan’s conversation with liberal talk show host Bill Maher was a noteworthy event, marked by a heated debate on the performance of President Biden and former President Trump. Rogan emphasized Biden’s perceived mental decline while Maher acknowledged Trump’s robust appearance. This episode underscored the podcast’s commitment to facilitating diverse perspectives and fostering meaningful dialogue.
Media, Politics, and the Ukraine Conflict
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine also surfaced in Rogan’s discussions, with him praising Trump for advocating peace and criticizing the media for attempting to sensationalize the issue. This commentary resonated with listeners, further emphasizing Rogan’s ability to dissect complex political issues and present them in a digestible manner.
Societal Obsession with Gender Issues
The societal preoccupation with gender issues was another recurring theme in Rogan’s podcast. Drawing comparisons to historical civilizations on the brink of collapse, Rogan and his guests reflected on how shifting societal norms and internal conflicts within civilizations could be intertwined.
(BNN)
The ‘Great Resignation’: A Break from Monotony or a Return to the Status Quo?
In an era where wellness practices have taken center stage, 2023 marked an intriguing trend in the labor market, often referred to as the ‘Great Resignation.’ It was a year when an unprecedented number of workers, an average of 4 million Americans per month and 130,000 Britons, chose to bid adieu to their routine work lives. Not driven by termination, but by a personal choice to break away from the monotony, the ‘Great Resignation’ unveiled a dramatic shift in the workforce’s mindset.
The Rise of Wellness Practices
Before delving into the labor trend, it’s important to highlight the societal shift towards prioritizing wellness. Throughout 2023, hobby-based movement classes, medicinal energy leveraging, wellness retreats, emphasis on gut health, and burnout sabbaticals gained traction. Even the importance of sleep hygiene was stressed. Amidst the hustle and bustle of work life, these practices offered a respite, a chance to recharge and rejuvenate.
The ‘Great Resignation’
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor, May 2023 saw more than 4 million workers quitting their jobs, signifying the onset of the ‘Great Resignation.’ This was not a wave of layoffs or terminations, but rather a mass realization among workers of the need to prioritize personal well-being over professional obligations. Many of these workers opted for wellness sabbaticals as a cure for burnout, leveraging the power of rest and relaxation to restore their mental and physical health.
Looking Ahead: 2024 and Beyond
As we step into 2024, the trend of prioritizing wellness is predicted to continue, if not intensify. More people are expected to seek relaxation and restoration by pausing work and other responsibilities. However, it’s crucial to remember that despite the rise of the ‘Great Resignation,’ the vast majority of workers have remained in their positions. They continue with their usual employment, perhaps contemplating alternative lifestyles but not yet ready to take the leap.
This dichotomy makes the term ‘Great Resignation’ a fascinating phrase. It signifies either a collective abandonment of tedious routines or, more accurately, a collective sigh and return to the status quo. So, while job opportunities are plentiful and the COVID-19 pandemic has fueled widespread job dissatisfaction, the reality is that most workers, despite their dreams and desires, continue to tread the familiar path.
MMA News
Israel Adesanya’s Potential Return at UFC 300: A Possibility?
Former Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, Chael Sonnen, has stirred the speculative winds around the likely return of former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya.
Following his loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293, Adesanya had announced an unexpected time-off until 2027. However, recent comments from Adesanya hint at a potential comeback at the ‘Day of Reckoning’ boxing event, fueling speculations of Adesanya’s return at the historic UFC 300 event in Las Vegas.
Adesanya’s Expected Return
The UFC community is buzzing with expectations as Sonnen’s commentary on his YouTube channel suggests a strong likelihood of Adesanya’s return.
While UFC President Dana White has yet to announce the lineup for the UFC 300 card, Sonnen believes that the winner of the contest between Strickland and Du Plessis will face off against Adesanya.
This speculation is rooted in Adesanya’s reputation for rising to any challenge and his preference for announcing his return before a winner is declared. This would prevent any misconceptions of Adesanya seeking a favorable matchup.
A Potential Matchup
Adesanya’s possible return to the octagon and participation in UFC 300 could be an event of mammoth proportions, considering his reputation and prowess. If Sonnen’s speculation holds true, the victor of the Strickland vs. Du Plessis bout will find themselves in the middleweight championship showdown against Adesanya.
This potential matchup is anticipated to generate widespread attention and excitement among UFC fans worldwide.
The Road Ahead
While Sonnen’s comments suggest a high probability of Adesanya’s return at UFC 300, official confirmation from the UFC or Adesanya is eagerly awaited. Until then, the potential matchup remains a tantalizing prospect for UFC followers.
As the UFC 300 event approaches, the anticipation will only continue to grow, fueling the excitement and suspense that characterizes the world of mixed martial arts.
Gaming News
Over 9,000 employees fired by video gaming firms in 2023
The video game industry saw several rounds of layoffs in 2023, affecting at least 9,000 employees globally.
In September, Fortnite game developer Epic Games announced that it will lay off 16% of its employees, impacting nearly 870 people, chief executive Tim Sweeney wrote to employees.
"We've been spending way more money than we earn. I had long been optimistic that we could power through this transition without layoffs, but in retrospect, I see that this was unrealistic," Sweeney said.
In November, French video game company Ubisoft, which published popular franchises like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, laid off about 124 employees as part of a corporate restructuring and reorganisation effort.
Embracer Group made headlines for its numerous purchases of gaming studios, media companies, and the IP rights to The Lord of the Rings. This year, it performed massive restructuring but in the aftermath of its failed investment strategy, it shut down three studios, cancelled several projects and laid off over 900 employees, The Verge reported.
EA laid off 6% of its workforce or around 780 people.
Other gaming companies like BioWare, Microsoft, Bungie, Naughty Dog,, Amazon, CD Projekt Red, Sega, Unity, and Activision Blizzard were also impacted this year.
What Is Stoicism? A Definition & 9 Stoic Exercises To Get You Started
Stoic Exercises, Wisdom, and More
For those of us who live our lives in the real world, there is one branch of philosophy created just for us: Stoicism. It’s a philosophy designed to make us more resilient, happier, more virtuous and more wise–and as a result, better people, better parents and better professionals.
Stoicism has been a common thread though some of history’s great leaders. It has been practiced by Kings, presidents, artists, writers and entrepreneurs. Marcus Aurelius. Frederick the Great, Montaigne, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Theodore Roosevelt, General James Mattis, —just to name a few—were all influenced by Stoic philosophy.
So what is Stoicism? Who were the Stoics? How can you be a Stoic? We answer all your questions and more below. Click the links below to navigate to a specific section or scroll and read the entirety of the page:
What Is Stoicism?
“Of all people only those are at leisure who make time for philosophy, only they truly live. Not satisfied to merely keep good watch over their own days, they annex every age to their own. All the harvest of the past is added to their store. ” — Seneca
The private diaries of one of Rome’s greatest emperors, the personal letters of one of Rome’s best playwrights and wisest power brokers, the lectures of a former slave and exile, turned influential teacher. Against all odds, some two millennia later, these incredible documents survive. They contain some of the greatest wisdom in the history of the world and together, they constitute the bedrock of what is known as Stoicism—an ancient philosophy that was once one of the most popular civic disciplines in the West, practiced by the rich and the impoverished, the powerful and the struggling alike in the pursuit of the Good Life.
Except to the most avid seekers of wisdom, Stoicism is either unknown or misunderstood. To the average person, this vibrant, action-oriented, and paradigm-shifting way of living has become shorthand for “emotionlessness.” Given the fact that the mere mention of philosophy makes most nervous or bored, “Stoic philosophy” on the surface sounds like the last thing anyone would want to learn about, let alone urgently need in the course of daily life.
It would be hard to find a word that dealt a greater injustice at the hands of the English language than “Stoic.” In its rightful place, Stoicism is a tool in the pursuit of self-mastery, perseverance, and wisdom: something one uses to live a great life, rather than some esoteric field of academic inquiry. Certainly, many of history’s great minds not only understood Stoicism for what it truly is, they sought it out: George Washington, Walt Whitman, Frederick the Great, Eugène Delacroix, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Jefferson, Matthew Arnold, Ambrose Bierce, Theodore Roosevelt, William Alexander Percy, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Each read, studied, quoted, or admired the Stoics. The ancient Stoics themselves were no slouches. The names you encounter on this site in our daily email meditations—Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca—belonged to, respectively, a Roman emperor, a former slave who triumphed to become an influential lecturer and friend of the emperor Hadrian, and a famous playwright and political adviser.
What have all these and countless other great men and women found within Stoicism that others missed? A great deal. Primarily, that it provides much needed strength, wisdom, and stamina for all of life’s challenges.
II. How Did Stoicism Begin?
Around 304 BC, a merchant named Zeno was shipwrecked on a trading voyage. He lost nearly everything. Making his way to Athens, he was introduced to philosophy by the Cynic philosopher Crates and the Megarian philosopher Stilpo, which changed his life. As Zeno later joked, “I made a prosperous voyage when I suffered shipwreck.” He would later move to what became known as the Stoa Poikile, literally meaning “painted porch.” Erected in the 5th century BC—the ruins of it are visible still, some 2,500 years later—the painted porch is where Zeno and his disciples gathered for discussion. While his followers were originally called Zenonians, it is the ultimate credit to Zeno’s humility that the philosophical school he founded, unlike nearly every school and religion before or since, didn’t ultimately carry his name.
III. Who Were The Stoic Philosophers?
Agasicles, king of the Spartans, once quipped that he wanted to be “the student of men whose son I should like to be as well.” It is a critical consideration we need to make in our search for role models. Stoicism is no exception. Before we begin our studies we need to ask ourselves: Who are the people that followed these precepts? Who can I point out as an example? Am I proud to look up to this person? Do I want to be more like them?
The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the playwright and political advisor Seneca, and the slave turned prominent teacher Epictetus—these are the three Stoics you need to get to know first. Once you do, we’re confident you will want to follow in their footsteps.
Who Is Marcus Aurelius?
“Alone of the emperors,” the historian Herodian would write of the man who became known to us as Marcus Aurelius, “he gave proof of his learning not by mere words or knowledge of philosophical doctrines but by his blameless character and temperate way of life.” Cassius Dio: “In addition to possessing all the other virtues, he ruled better than any others who had ever been in any position of power.”
Born April 26th, 121, nobody would have predicted that Marcus Catilius Severus Annius Verus would one day be Emperor of the Roman Empire. The emperor Hadrian, who would have known young Marcus through his early academic accomplishments, sensing his potential, kept an eye on the boy. His nickname for Marcus, whom he liked to go hunting with, was Verissimus—a play on his name Verus—the truest one. What exactly Hadrian saw in Marcus is unclear. But by Marcus’s 17th birthday, Hadrian had begun planning something extraordinary.
He was going to make Marcus Aurelius the emperor of Rome.
On February 25th, 138, Hadrian adopted a 51 year old man named Antoninus Pius on the condition that he in turn adopted Marcus Aurelius. Given life-expectancy statistics of the time, Hadrian figured this regent and mentor might be at the helm in five years. All was well, except Antoninus lived and ruled for twenty three years.
In 161, as Antoninus died and ended one of the longest reigns, Marcus finally became the Emperor of the Roman Empire and ruled for nearly two decades until his death in 180. His reign wasn’t easy: wars with the Parthian Empire, the barbarian tribes menacing the Empire on the northern border, the rise of Christianity, as well as the plague that left millions dead.
The famous historian Edward Gibbon wrote that under Marcus, the last of the ‘Five Good Emperors,’ “the Roman Empire was governed by absolute power, under the guidance of wisdom and virtue”. The guidance of wisdom and virtue. That’s what separates Marcus from the majority of past and present world leaders. Just look at the journal that he left behind, which is now known as his Meditations: the private thoughts of the most powerful man in the world, admonishing himself on how to be more virtuous, more just, more immune to temptation, wiser.
And for Marcus, Stoicism provided a framework for dealing with the stresses of daily life as a leader of one of the most powerful empires in human history.
Who Is Seneca?
Born around 4BC in Corduba, Spain, the son of a wealthy and learned writer known to history as Seneca the Elder, Seneca the Younger was destined for great things from birth. Seneca’s father selected Attalus the Stoic to tutor his boy, primarily for his reputation as a man of great eloquence. His son took to education with gusto—by Seneca’s own telling, he cheerfully “laid siege” to the classroom and was the first to arrive and last to leave it. The most powerful lesson that Seneca learned from Attalus was on the desire to improve practically, in the real world. The purpose of studying philosophy, Seneca learned from his beloved instructor, was to “take away with him some one good thing every day: he should return home a sounder man, or on the way to becoming sounder.”
While his commitment to self-improvement was beloved by his teachers, they also knew that his father—no fan of philosophy—was paying them to train his son for an active and ambitious political career. In Rome, a promising young lawyer could appear in court as early as age 17, and there is little doubt that Seneca was one…but, only in his early twenties, Seneca’s health nearly cut it all short. A lung condition forced him to take an extended trip to Egypt to recover where he would spend nearly a decade writing, reading, and building up his strength.
He returned to Rome at 35 in 31 AD—a time of paranoia and violence and corruption and political turmoil. Seneca kept his head down for the most part throughout the equally terrifying reigns of Tiberius and Caligula. His life took a sharp turn in 41 A.D. when Claudius became the emperor and exiled Seneca to the island of Corsica. It would be another eight years away from Rome—and although he started productively (writing Consolation to Polybius, Consolation to Helvia and On Anger in a short span), the many writing consolations soon needed some consoling himself. So began his practice of letter writing, which would continue all his life.
Eight years later, in another sharp turn, Agrippina, mother of future emperor Nero and wife of Claudius recalled Seneca from exile to become her son’s tutor and adviser. At 53 years old, Seneca is suddenly elevated to the center of life in the Roman imperial court—a whirlwind of events that history still hasn’t wrapped its head around. In the end, Seneca made only minimal impact on Nero, a man whom time would shortly reveal to be deranged. Was it always a hopeless mission? Probably. But all a Stoic can do is show up and do our work. Seneca believed he had an obligation. As he would later write, the difference between the Stoics and the Epicureans is that the Stoics felt that politics was a duty.
Who Is Epictetus?
While Seneca would speak, with surprising relatability, about slave owners who became owned by the responsibility and management of their slaves or other Stoics would congratulate themselves for their humane treatment of their human chattel, Epictetus actually was one.
His given name is not known. EpictÄ“tos is Greek meaning “acquired.” Epictetus was born into slavery. Epictetus’ mention of his owner, Epaphroditus, is surprisingly neutral because we know Epaphroditus was cruel even by Roman standards. Later Christian writers tell us that Epictetus’s master was violent and depraved, at one point twisting Epictetus’s leg with all his might. As a punishment? As a sick pleasure? In a wrestling match? Trying to get a disobedient young kid to follow instructions? We don’t know. All we hear is that Epictetus calmly warned him about taking it too far. When the leg snapped, Epictetus made no sound, he uttered no tears. He smiled and looked at his master and said, “Didn’t I warn you?”
For the rest of his life, Epictetus would walk with a limp. But Epictetus remained unbroken by the incident. “Lameness is an impediment to the leg,” he would later say, “but not to the will.” Epictetus would choose to see his disability as only a physical impairment, and in fact it was that idea of choice that defined the core of his philosophical beliefs. Life was like a play, he liked to say, and if it was the playwrights “pleasure you should act a poor man, a cripple, a governor, or a private person, see that you act it naturally. For this is your business, to act well the character assigned you; to choose it is another’s.”
And so he did.
Law established by Augustus in 4AD determined that slaves could not be freed before their 30th birthday. Epictetus didn’t obtain his freedom until shortly after emperor Nero’s death. He chose to dedicate himself fully to philosophy and taught in Rome for nearly 25 years…Until the emperor Domitian famously banished all philosophers in Rome. Epictetus fled to Nicopolis in Greece where he founded a philosophy school and taught until his death.
IV. What Are The 4 Virtues of Stoicism?
Courage.
Temperance.
Justice.
Wisdom.
They are the most essential values in Stoic philosophy. “If, at some point in your life,” Marcus Aurelius wrote, “you should come across anything better than justice, truth, self-control, courage—it must be an extraordinary thing indeed.” That was almost twenty centuries ago. We have discovered a lot of things since then—automobiles, the Internet, cures for diseases that were previously a death sentence—but have we found anything better?
…than being brave
…than moderation and sobriety
…than doing what’s right
…than truth and understanding?
No, we have not. It’s unlikely we ever will. Everything we face in life is an opportunity to respond with these four traits:
Courage
If you’ve read Cormac McCarthy’s dark and beautiful novel All the Pretty Horses, you’ll remember the key question that Emilio Perez asks John Grady, one that cuts to the core of life and what we all must do to live a life worth living.
“The world wants to know if you have cojones. If you are brave?”
The Stoics might have phrased this a bit differently. Seneca would say that he actually pitied people who have never experienced misfortune. “You have passed through life without an opponent,” he said, “No one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.”
The world wants to know what category to put you in, which is why it will occasionally send difficult situations your way. Think of these not as inconveniences or even tragedies but as opportunities, as questions to answers. Do I have cojones? Am I brave? Am I going to face this problem or run away from it? Will I stand up or be rolled over?
Let your actions etch a response into the record—and let them remind you of why courage is the most important thing.
Temperance
Of course, life is not so simple as to say that courage is all the counts. While everyone would admit that courage is essential, we are also all well aware of people whose bravery turns to recklessness and becomes a fault when they begin to endanger themselves and others.
This is where Aristotle comes in. Aristotle actually used courage as the main example in his famous metaphor of a “Golden Mean.” On one end of the spectrum, he said, there was cowardice—that’s a deficiency of courage. On the other, there was recklessness—too much courage. What was called for, what we required then, was a golden mean. The right amount.
That’s what Temperance or moderation is about: Doing nothing in excess. Doing the right thing in the right amount in the right way. Because “We are what we repeatedly do,” Aristotle also said, “therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit.”
In other words: Virtue and excellence is a way of living. It’s foundational. It’s like an operating system and the code this system operates on is habit.
As Epictetus would later say, “capability is confirmed and grows in its corresponding actions, walking by walking, and running by running… therefore, if you want to do something, make a habit of it.” So if we want to be happy, if we want to be successful, if we want to be great, we have to develop the capability, we have to develop the day-to-day habits that allow this to ensue.
This is great news. Because it means that impressive results or enormous changes are possible without herculean effort or magic formulas. Small adjustments, good systems, the right processes—that’s what it takes.
P.S. Daily Stoic sifted through the greatest Stoic wisdom and aimed it at one of the most challenging parts of life: habit formation and growth. Check out Daily Stoic Habits for Success, Habits for Success Challenge! Challenge yourself to change what you “repeatedly do.” We are promising that if you can do that, you can achieve excellence—personally and professionally.
Justice
Being brave. Finding the right balance. These are core Stoic virtues, but in their seriousness, they pale in comparison to what the Stoics worshipped most highly: Doing the right thing.
There is no Stoic virtue more important than justice, because it influences all the others. Marcus Aurelius himself said that justice is “the source of all the other virtues.” Stoics throughout history have pushed and advocated for justice, oftentimes at great personal risk and with great courage, in order to do great things and defend the people and ideas that they loved.
Cato gave his life trying to restore the Roman Republic.
And Thrasea and Agrippinus gave theirs resisting the tyranny of Nero.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson formed a new nation—one which would seek, however imperfectly, to fight for democracy and justice—largely inspired by the philosophy of Cato and those other Stoics.
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a translator of Epictetus, led a black regiment of troops in the US Civil War.
Beatrice Webb, who helped to found the London School of Economics and who first conceptualized the idea of collective bargaining, regularly re-read Marcus Aurelius.
Countless other activists and politicians have turned to Stoicism to gird them against the difficulty of fighting for ideals that mattered, to guide them towards what was right in a world of so much wrong. A Stoic must deeply believe that an individual can make a difference. Successful activism and political maneuvering require understanding and strategy, as well as realism… and hope. It requires wisdom, acceptance and also a refusal to accept the statue quo.
It was James Baldwin who most brilliantly captured this tension in Notes of a Native Son:
It began to seem that one would have to hold in mind forever two ideas which seemed to be in opposition. The first idea was acceptance, the acceptance, totally without rancor, of life as it is, and men as they are: in light of this idea it goes without saying that injustice is commonplace. But this did not mean that one could be complacent, for the second idea was of equal power: that one must never, in one’s own life, accept these injustices as commonplace but one must fight them with all one’s strength.
A Stoic sees the world clearly…but also sees clearly what the world can be. And then they are brave, and strategic enough to help bring it into reality.
Wisdom
Courage. Temperance. Justice. These are the critical virtues of life. But what situations call for courage? What is the right amount? What is the right thing? This is where the final and essential virtue comes in: Wisdom. The knowing. The learning. The experience required to navigate the world.
Wisdom has always been prized by the Stoics. Zeno said that we were given two ears and one mouth for a reason: to listen more than we talk. And since we have two eyes, we are obligated to read and observe more than we talk as well.
It is key today, as it was in the ancient world, to be able to distinguish between the vast aggregations of information that lay out there at your disposal—and the actual wisdom that you need to live a good life. It’s key that we study, that we keep our minds open always. You cannot learn that which you think you already know, Epictetus said. It’s true.
Which is why we need to not only be humble students but also seek out great teachers. It’s why we should always be reading. It’s why we cannot stop training. It’s why we have to be diligent in filtering out the signal from the noise.
The goal is not just to acquire information, but the right kind of information. It’s the lessons found in Meditations, in everything from the actual Epictetus to James Stockdale entering the world of Epictetus. It’s the key facts, standing out from the background noise, that you need to absorb.
Thousands of years of blazing insight are available to the world. It is likely that you have the power to learn anything you want at your fingertips. So today, honor the Stoic virtue of wisdom by slowing down, being deliberate, and finding the wisdom you need.
Two eyes, two ears, one mouth. Remain a student. Act accordingly—and wisely.
P.S. If you’re looking to be a better reader—to build a real reading practice—the Stoics can help. We built out some of their best insights into our Daily Stoic: Read-to-Lead Reading Challenge. It’s going to walk you through more than a dozen actionable challenges that will help you elevate your game as a reader, learn how to think more critically and discover important books that will change your life. We’ve got videos and worksheets and all sorts of recommendations and strategies for you. If you’ve liked any of our other courses, you’ll love this one—it’s awesome, it’s actionable and it will help you get a better ROI out of one of the most important ways we spend our time and enrich our minds. Give it a shot.
V. What Are The Best Books On Stoicism?
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Meditations is perhaps the only document of its kind ever made. It is the private thoughts of the world’s most powerful man giving advice to himself on how to make good on the responsibilities and obligations of his positions. Marcus stopped almost every night to practice a series of spiritual exercises—reminders designed to make him humble, patient, empathetic, generous, and strong in the face of whatever he was dealing with. You cannot read this book and not come away with a phrase or a line that will be helpful to you next time you are in trouble. Read it, it is practical philosophy embodied.
Letters From A Stoic by Seneca
While Marcus wrote mainly for himself, Seneca had no trouble advising and aiding others. In fact, that was his job—he was Nero’s tutor, tasked with reducing the terrible impulses of a terrible man. His advice on grief, on wealth, on power, on religion, and on life are always there when you need them. Seneca’s letters are the best place to start, but the essays in On the Shortness of Life are excellent as well.
Discourses by Epictetus
That Epictetus’ teachings survive to us is remarkable. It is only thanks to a student named Arrian, who’s credited with transcribing the lessons he learned in Epictetus’ classroom at the beginning of the second century AD. Arrian wrote in a letter prior to the Discourses’ publishing, “whatever I used to hear him say I wrote down, word for word, as best I could, as a record for later use of his thought and frank expression.” Arrian would use those lessons to achieve renown throughout Rome as a political advisor, military commander, and prolific author. Interestingly, in the first book of Meditations, titled “Debts and Lessons,” Marcus thanks one of his philosophy teachers, Rusticus, “for introducing me to Epictetus’s lectures – and loaning me his own copy.”
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living features not only 366 all-new translations of brilliant stoic passages but 366 exciting stories, examples and explanations of the stoic principles from Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus but also some of the lesser known but equally wise stoics from Zeno to Cleanthes to Chrysippus. The book takes the reader on a daily journey through practical, pragmatic philosophy. Each day offers a new stoic insight and exercise. By following these teachings, you’ll find the serenity, self-knowledge and resilience you need to live well.
The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
Inspired by Stoicism and the maxim from Marcus Aurelius—“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way”—The Obstacle Is The Way is a primer of the key principles for thriving under pressure. Through historical examples of great men and women, it teaches us how to overcome adversity and difficulties, turn obstacles upside down, and shows us how to love our fate, no matter what it might bring. The book has become a cult classic with coaches and athletes alike and has been featured in prominent outlets like Sports Illustrated and ESPN.
VI. How To Be A Stoic: 9 Stoic Exercises To Get You Started
1. The Dichotomy Of Control
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own . . .” Epictetus
The single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiating between what we can change and what we can’t. What we have influence over and what we do not. A flight is delayed because of weather— no amount of yelling at an airline representative will end a storm. No amount of wishing will make you taller or shorter or born in a different country. No matter how hard you try, you can’t make someone like you. And on top of that, time spent hurling yourself at these immovable objects is time not spent on the things we can change.
Return to this question daily—in each and every trying situation. Journal and reflect on it constantly. If you can focus on making clear what parts of your day are within your control and what parts are not, you will not only be happier, you will have a distinct advantage over other people who fail to realize they are fighting an unwinnable battle.
2. Journal
“Few care now about the marches and countermarches of the Roman commanders. What the centuries have clung to is a notebook of thoughts by a man whose real life was largely unknown who put down in the midnight dimness not the events of the day or the plans of the morrow, but something of far more permanent interest, the ideals and aspirations that a rare spirit lived by.” — Brand Blanshard
Epictetus the slave. Marcus Aurelius the emperor. Seneca the power broker and playwright. These three radically different men led radically different lives. But they seemed to have one habit in common: Journaling.
It would be Epictetus who would admonish his students that philosophy was something they should “write down day by day,” that this writing was how they “should exercise themselves.” Seneca’s favorite time to journal was in the evenings. When darkness had fallen and his wife had gone asleep, he explained to a friend, “I examine my entire day and go back over what I’ve done and said, hiding nothing from myself, passing nothing by.” Then he would go to bed, finding that “the sleep which follows this self-examination” was particularly sweet. And Marcus, he was the most prodigious of journalers, and we are lucky enough that his writings survive to us, appropriately titled, Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν, Ta eis heauton, or “to himself.”
In Stoicism the art of journaling is more than some simple diary. This daily practice is the philosophy. Preparing for the day ahead. Reflecting on the day that has passed. Reminding oneself of the wisdom we have learned from our teachers, from our reading, from our own experiences. It’s not enough to simply hear these lessons once, instead, one practices them over and over again, turns them over in their mind, and most importantly, writes them down and feels them flowing through their fingers in doing so.
Stoicism is designed to be a practice and a routine. It’s not a philosophy you read once and magically understand at the soul-level. No, it’s a lifelong pursuit that requires diligence and repetition and concentration. (Pierre Hadot called it spiritual exercising). That’s one of the benefits of the page-a-day (with monthly themes) format we organized the Stoics into (and the weekly themes in The Daily Stoic Journal). It’s putting one thing up for you to review—to have at hand—and to fully digest. Not in passing. Not just once. But every single day over the course of a year, and preferably year in and year out. And if Epictetus is right, it’s something you’re supposed to keep within reach at all times—which is why a collection of the greatest hits, presented daily, was so appealing to us.
In this way, journaling is Stoicism. It’s almost impossible to have one without the other.
P.S. Check out The Daily Stoic Journal. It’s an easy place to start and is built around the Stoic journaling methods of Marcus Aurelius and Seneca.
3. Practice Misfortune
“It is in times of security that the spirit should be preparing itself for difficult times; while fortune is bestowing favors on it is then is the time for it to be strengthened against her rebuffs.” — Seneca
Seneca, who enjoyed great wealth as the adviser of Nero, suggested that we ought to set aside a certain number of days each month to practice poverty. Take a little food, wear your worst clothes, get away from the comfort of your home and bed. Put yourself face to face with want, he said, you’ll ask yourself “Is this what I used to dread?”
It’s important to remember that this is an exercise and not a rhetorical device. He doesn’t mean “think about” misfortune, he means live it. Comfort is the worst kind of slavery because you’re always afraid that something or someone will take it away. But if you can not just anticipate but practice misfortune, then chance loses its ability to disrupt your life.
Emotions like anxiety and fear have their roots in uncertainty and rarely in experience. Anyone who has made a big bet on themselves knows how much energy both states can consume. The solution is to do something about that ignorance. Make yourself familiar with the things, the worst-case scenarios, that you’re afraid of.
Practice what you fear, whether a simulation in your mind or in real life. The downside is almost always reversible or transient.
4. Train Perceptions
“Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.” — Marcus Aurelius
The Stoics had an exercise called Turning the Obstacle Upside Down. What they meant to do was make it impossible to not practice the art of philosophy. Because if you can properly turn a problem upside down, every “bad” becomes a new source of good.
Suppose for a second that you are trying to help someone and they respond by being surly or unwilling to cooperate. Instead of making your life more difficult, the exercise says, they’re actually directing you towards new virtues; for example, patience or understanding. Or, the death of someone close to you; a chance to show fortitude.
Marcus Aurelius described it like this:
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
It should sound familiar because it is the same thinking behind Obama’s “teachable moments.” Right before the election, Joe Klein asked Obama how he’d made his decision to respond to the Reverend Wright scandal. He said something like ‘when the story broke I realized the best thing to do wasn’t damage control, it was to speak to Americans like adults.’ And what he ended up doing was turning a negative situation into the perfect platform for his landmark speech about race.
The common refrain about entrepreneurs is that they take advantage of, even create, opportunities. To the Stoic, everything is opportunity. The Reverend Wright scandal, a frustrating case where your help goes unappreciated, the death of a loved one, none of those are “opportunities” in the normal sense of the word. In fact, they are the opposite. They are obstacles. What a Stoic does is turn every obstacle into an opportunity.
There is no good or bad to the practicing Stoic. There is only perception. You control perception. You can choose to extrapolate past your first impression (‘X happened.’ –> ‘X happened and now my life is over.’). If you tie your first response to dispassion, you’ll find that everything is simply an opportunity.
Note: This exercise served as the inspiration behind The Obstacle Is The Way.
5. Remember—It’s All Ephemeral
“Alexander the Great and his mule driver both died and the same thing happened to both.” — Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself a simple and effective reminder to help him regain perspective and stay balanced:
“Run down the list of those who felt intense anger at something: the most famous, the most unfortunate, the most hated, the most whatever: Where is all that now? Smoke, dust, legend…or not even a legend. Think of all the examples. And how trivial the things we want so passionately are.”
It is important to note that ‘passion’ here isn’t the modern usage we’re familiar with as in enthusiasm or caring about something. As Don Robertson explains in his book, when the Stoics discuss overcoming ‘passions’, which they called patheiai, they refer to the irrational, unhealthy and excessive desires and emotions. Anger would be a good example. What is important to remember, and this is the crucial bit, they seek to replace them with eupatheiai, such as joy instead of excessive pleasure.
Returning to the point of the exercise, it’s simple: remember how small you are. For that matter, remember how small most everything is.
Remember that achievements can be ephemeral, and that your possession of them is for just an instant.
If everything is ephemeral, what does matter? Right now matters. Being a good person and doing the right thing right now, that’s what matters and that’s what was important to the Stoics.
Take Alexander the Great who conquered the known world and had cities named in his honor. This is common knowledge. The Stoics would also point out that, once while drunk, Alexander got into a fight with his dearest friend, Cleitus, and accidentally killed him. Afterward, he was so despondent that he couldn’t eat or drink for three days. Sophists were called from all over Greece to see what they could do about his grief, to no avail.
Is this the mark of a successful life? From a personal standpoint, it matters little if your name is emblazoned on a map if you lose perspective and hurt those around you.
Learn from Alexander’s mistake. Be humble and honest and aware. That is something you can have every single day of your life. You’ll never have to fear someone taking it from you or, worse still, it taking over you.
6.Take The View From Above
“How beautifully Plato put it. Whenever you want to talk about people, it’s best to take a bird’s- eye view and see everything all at once— of gatherings, armies, farms, weddings and divorces, births and deaths, noisy courtrooms or silent spaces, every foreign people, holidays, memorials, markets— all blended together and arranged in a pairing of opposites.” — Marcus Aurelius
Marcus would often practice an exercise that is referred to as “taking the view from above” or “Plato’s view.” It invites us to take a step back, zoom out and see life from a higher vantage point than our own. This exercise—envisioning all the millions and millions of people, all the “armies, farms, weddings and divorces, births and deaths”—prompts us to take perspective and just like the previous exercise, remind us how small we are. It reorients us, and as Stoic scholar Pierre Hadot put it, “The view from above changes our value judgments on things: luxury, power, war…and the worries of everyday life become ridiculous.”
Seeing how small we are in the grand scheme of things is only one portion of this exercise. The second, more subtle point, is to tap into what the Stoics call sympatheia, or a mutual interdependence with the whole of humanity. As the astronaut Edgar Mitchell, one of the first people to actually experience a real ‘view from above’ put it, “In outer space you develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it.” Take a step back from your own concerns and remind yourself of your duty to others. Take Plato’s view.
7. Memento Mori: Meditate On Your Mortality
“Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day. … The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.” Seneca
The quote from Seneca above takes part of Memento Mori—the ancient practice of reflection on mortality that goes back to Socrates, who said that the proper practice of philosophy is “about nothing else but dying and being dead.” In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius wrote that “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” That was a personal reminder to continue living a life of virtue now, and not wait.
Meditating on your mortality is only depressing if you miss the point. The Stoics find this thought invigorating and humbling. It is not surprising that one of Seneca’s biographies is titled Dying Every Day. After all, it is Seneca who urged us to tell ourselves “You may not wake up tomorrow,” when going to bed and “You may not sleep again,” when waking up as reminders of our mortality. Or as another Stoic, Epictetus, urged his students: “Keep death and exile before your eyes each day, along with everything that seems terrible— by doing so, you’ll never have a base thought nor will you have excessive desire.” Use those reminders and meditate on them daily—let them be the building blocks of living your life to the fullest and not wasting a second.
8. Premeditatio Malorum
“What is quite unlooked for is more crushing in its effect, and unexpectedness adds to the weight of a disaster. This is a reason for ensuring that nothing ever takes us by surprise. We should project our thoughts ahead of us at every turn and have in mind every possible eventuality instead of only the usual course of events… Rehearse them in your mind: exile, torture, war, shipwreck. All the terms of our human lot should be before our eyes.” — Seneca
The premeditatio malorum (“the pre-meditation of evils”) is a Stoic exercise of imagining things that could go wrong or be taken away from us. It helps us prepare for life’s inevitable setbacks. We don’t always get what is rightfully ours, even if we’ve earned it. Not everything is as clean and straightforward as we think they may be. Psychologically, we must prepare ourselves for this to happen. It is one of the most powerful exercise in the Stoics’ toolkit to build resilience and strength.
Seneca, for instance, would begin by reviewing or rehearsing his plans, say, to take a trip. And then, in his head (or in journaling as we said above), he would go over the things that could go wrong or prevent it from happening—a storm could arise, the captain could fall ill, the ship could be attacked by pirates.
“Nothing happens to the wise man against his expectation,” he wrote to a friend. “. . . nor do all things turn out for him as he wished but as he reckoned—and above all he reckoned that something could block his plans.”
By doing this exercise, Seneca was always prepared for disruption and always working that disruption into his plans. He was fitted for defeat or victory.
9. Amor Fati
“To love only what happens, what was destined. No greater harmony.” — Marcus Aurelius
The great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche would describe his formula for human greatness as amor fati—a love of fate. “That one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backwards, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it….but love it.”
The Stoics were not only familiar with this attitude but they embraced it. Two thousand years ago, writing in his own personal journal which would become known as Meditations, Emperor Marcus Aurelius would say: “A blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.” Another Stoic, Epictetus, who as a crippled slave has faced adversity after adversity, echoed the same: “Do not seek for things to happen the way you want them to; rather, wish that what happens happen the way it happens: then you will be happy.”
It is why amor fati is the Stoic exercise and mindset that you take on for making the best out of anything that happens: Treating each and every moment—no matter how challenging—as something to be embraced, not avoided. To not only be okay with it, but love it and be better for it. So that like oxygen to a fire, obstacles and adversity become fuel for your potential.
VII. What Are The Best Stoic Quotes?
For more Stoic quotes, follow us on Instagram.
“We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.” — Seneca
“It’s silly to try to escape other people’s faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.” —Marcus Aurelius
“Our life is what our thoughts make it.” — Marcus Aurelius
“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.” Epictetus
“If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill— of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, ‘He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.'” — Epictetus
“If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it.” — Marcus Aurelius
“You become what you give your attention to…If you yourself don’t choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will.” — Epictetus
“Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.” — Marcus Aurelius
“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.” — Marcus Aurelius
“All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.” — Marcus Aurelius
“No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don’t have, and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have.” — Seneca
“If anyone can refute me—show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective—I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after, and the truth never harmed anyone.” — Marcus Aurelius
“Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions not outside.” — Marcus Aurelius
“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realise this, and you will find strength.” — Marcus Aurelius
“It isn’t events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgements about them.” — Epictetus
“To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.” — Marcus Aurelius
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” — Epictetus
“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One.” — Marcus Aurelius
“The primary indication of a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.” — Seneca
“Receive without pride, let go without attachment.” — Marcus Aurelius
VIII. 3 Physical Stoicism Reminders
Our most popular item, the memento mori medallion has been added to the daily carry of thousands as a literal and inescapable reminder that “you could leave life right now.” The front features an interpretation of the three essentials of existence – the tulip (life), the skull (death), and the hourglass (time). The back shows a quote from Marcus Aurelius “You could leave life right now.”
Amor Fati Medallion
Amor fati (Latin: “a love of fate”) is a mindset that you take on for making the best out of anything that happens: Treating each and every moment—no matter how challenging—as something to be embraced, not avoided. The flame on the front of the medallion is inspired by Marcus Aurelius’s timeless wisdom: “a blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.” The back features an excerpt of the great philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s formula for greatness: “Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it….but love it.”
(Daily Stoic)
Seerch Engine Journal
Tangential SEO: Finding Keywords For Content No One Else Has (Festive Flashback)
Navigate the dynamic landscape of SEO with a guide to Tangential SEO – a strategy that goes beyond traditional approaches to captivate a broader audience.
In the rapidly evolving world of SEO, staying ahead of the curve is critical.
Traditional SEO focuses on optimizing for keywords and topics directly related to your business.
However, as markets become increasingly saturated, new strategies are needed to stand out and reach a broader audience. That’s where tangential SEO comes in.
Tangential SEO involves creating and optimizing content for topics that are tangentially related to your core business. This allows you to engage with audiences who may not be actively looking for your products or services but who could still find them relevant or useful.
It is a strategy designed to build brand visibility, establish authority, attract a wider audience, and ultimately drive more traffic to your site.
Whether you’re a content marketer seeking to diversify your strategy, a business owner aiming to extend your online reach, or a newcomer to the field eager to learn, this guide is for you.
Not only will I explain what tangential content is at a broader level, but I’ll also show you how we find alternative keywords using untraditional methods.
You’ll have a methodology for finding keywords none of your competitors have even thought about.
Excited?
Let’s begin.
What Is “Tangential Content”?
Quite simply, tangential content is content that is not directly related to your product or service offering.
For example, instead of only focusing on sportswear, Nike might generate content around topics like music playlists for different moods or workout routines, exploring various global music trends.
It could even discuss urban design and its impact on outdoor physical activities. These are topics not directly related to Nike’s products but themes that would likely resonate with its audience.
Let’s give some more examples for context:
Starbucks: Beyond coffee, Starbucks could create content discussing books and literature, considering that many people enjoy reading while sipping its coffee. The brand could start a book club, share reviews, and host author interviews.
Apple: Apple might deviate from its technology-centered content to explore topics like interior design, highlighting aesthetic and minimalistic arrangements that complement its devices or discussing how different spaces foster productivity and creativity.
IKEA: While primarily focused on furniture, IKEA could develop content around topics like urban gardening, offering tips for creating green spaces in small city apartments, or sharing recipes to create using limited kitchen tools.
Why Create Tangential Content?
Creating tangential content can have numerous benefits, particularly when it comes to reaching a wider audience, building brand authority, and improving SEO performance.
As a food lover, I wanted to try and squeeze a food analogy in, so I’m going to do it here. Let’s consider the benefits of creating tangential content as a master chef in the culinary world.
Broader audience reach: Just like a versatile chef caters to various palates, tangential content allows your brand to cater to a wider audience – which is especially important for weirder or more abstract niches.
Increased engagement: Changing up the menu keeps diners interested, just like a variety of content can keep your audience engaged. By showing that your brand can whip up more than just the standard fare, you’re demonstrating a deeper understanding of your audience’s diverse tastes.
Building brand authority: When you create a variety of dishes, you prove your culinary skills beyond your signature dish. Similarly, creating content on a range of topics positions your brand as an authority in your field, enhancing your reputation and influence.
Creating more emotional content and aligning with customer lifestyle: Tangential content is akin to designing a themed dining experience that aligns with your customer’s lifestyles and preferences. For instance, if you know your customers are environmentally conscious, you might focus on farm-to-table ingredients or share stories of local farmers. This not only provides content that resonates emotionally but also aligns your brand more closely with your customer’s values and lifestyles.
Link building: Just as a unique fusion dish might get rave reviews and recommendations, tangential content often has a higher potential to be shared, earning you backlinks from various domains. These backlinks boost your site’s authority, much like word-of-mouth boosts a restaurant’s reputation.
SEO performance: By offering a variety of dishes, you’re catering to more tastes and attracting more diners. Similarly, by covering a range of topics, you’re likely to rank for more keywords, attracting more organic traffic to your website.
While the benefits of publishing tangential content are clear, don’t overlook the value in the research process itself.
The analogy continues like so: consider researching tangential content ideas similar to the time a chef spends experimenting in the kitchen and interacting with their customers.
It’s during this phase that the chef discovers which dishes their customers can’t get enough of, which ones they’re not too fond of, and what cuisine they’re yearning to try next.
In the same way, when you research diverse topics for your tangential content, you’re not only gathering material for your next post – you’re also gaining a broader understanding of your customers’ unmet needs or interests.
This insight is just as valuable, if not more so, as it can guide the development of new products, services, or post-purchase support articles.
So, even before you’ve served up your tangential content to your audience, the research phase itself can help you refine your ‘menu,’ making your brand more attuned to your customers’ tastes and more valuable in their eyes.
Hopefully, the hokey simile made sense, hasn’t made you hungry, and you’re sold on the concept of tangential content.
I’ll now show you how we generate tangential content ideas.
How To Generate Tangential Content Ideas?
To walk through the following process, I’m going to use an example as if I was doing this research for a fictional hair removal company.
Step 1: Establish Buyer Personas
Buyer personas are essentially fictional representations of your ideal customers, often based on real data and market research about your existing customers. They help us understand our customers (and potential customers) better and make it easier for us to “get into their minds.”
These personas can include information such as demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, goals, challenges, values, and fears.
Sometimes your marketing department will already have one of these, but if they don’t, you could ask our new friend, ChatGPT, to produce one.
Step 2: Create A Mind Map
A mind map typically starts with a central idea, placed in the middle of your page. From this central idea, you’ll draw lines that branch out into main topics.
It’s like a tree sprouting branches.
These main branches can further sprout smaller branches, each representing related subtopics or ideas.
In our scenario, we’ll plant the name of the buyer persona as the seed of our mind map. From there, we’ll let branches grow out, each representing key values, aspirations, preferences, and hobbies that we’ve identified for this persona.
Remember, this isn’t the stage for keyword research; there’s no need to think about keyword volume data. This is more about emptying out your mind and exploring potential questions this persona might have.
This process is about trying to see the world through their eyes.
If you find that you’re not the best match for this persona – for example, if the persona is a 28-year-old woman and you’re not a 28-year-old woman (as I am not) – then it could be beneficial to bring in someone who aligns more closely with the persona.
This way, you can ensure you’re covering all bases and not missing any important insights.
In any case, here’s one I started doing for a persona I called “Sarah Thompson.”
Also, it’s wise to create several mind maps to cater to different segments of your target audience.
For instance, when I analyzed a renowned hair removal company’s website data using Similarweb, I discovered a substantial interest from males in hair removal.
*go to Search Engine Journal for full article
(Search Engine Journal)
Robinhood acquires Chartr as it expands media portfolio - December 29, 2023
Retail trading giant Robinhood has announced a deal to acquire U.K.-based Chartr Limited, a media company that specializes in data visualization and newsletters, to add to its in-house, independent media brand Sherwood Media.
Why it matters: The acquisition is intended to help Sherwood expand its editorial offerings as it gears up to launch a news hub early next year.
Catch up quick: Robinhood launched Sherwood Media as an independent business and finance media company earlier this year.
The outlet, which is led by veteran tech editor and media entrepreneur Joshua Topolsky, was set up as an independent LLC that exists as a subsidiary of Robinhood.
It focuses on delivering news, analysis and opinion for young, financial news consumers — an audience that aligns with Robinhood's retail trading user base.
Details: Chartr will remain its own stand-alone entity under Sherwood Media after the deal closes, and its branding will remain intact, per Topolsky, who serves as president and editor-in-chief of Sherwood.
Chartr's products focus on simplifying complicated topics with data visualizations that Sherwood plans to integrate into its content, including its daily financial newsletter, Snacks, its web products and its social media content.
Between the lines: Sherwood launched with a focus on newsletters but has since begun expanding into other platforms.
In June the company said it planned to expand to events, podcasts and build out a print magazine. It hired a head of sales to begin its commercial expansion.
The firm makes money mostly by selling advertising. Its content isn't paywalled.
The big picture: More companies are investing in media as a customer acquisition tool, but it's unclear how financially successful those outlets can be when their ultimate purpose is to drive customers for their parent companies.
Asked about Sherwood Media's financials, including its revenue and profitability, Topolsky declined to share any details.
Social Media News
Twitter backer knocks billions off its value after Musk’s outburst - January 1, 2024
An investor in X, formerly called Twitter, has written down the value of its stake by $US2.85 billion ($4.2 billion) after its owner Elon Musk told boycotting advertisers to “go f--- yourself”.
Fidelity, which helped Musk buy the company for $US44 billion ($65 billion) in 2022, now believes it is worth 71.5 per cent less than at the time of purchase.
The US investment giant had already slashed the value of its investment by 65 per cent at the end of October but deepened the discount in November. It came in the same month that Musk launched a tirade against advertisers.
Speaking at a New York Times conference, Musk claimed a boycott by advertisers was going to “kill” the company, adding, “If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f--- yourself.”
Apple, IBM and Disney are among the major brands to cut ties with the social media platform, amid concerns about lax moderation under Musk and the billionaire’s freewheeling personal style.
Fidelity’s valuation cut, which was first reported by Axios, gives the company a notional value of just $US12.5 billion and suggests X has lost $US2.85 billion of worth in the eyes of Fidelity in just four weeks.
The investment group, which contributed more than $US300 million to Musk’s takeover, does not disclose how it values privately held companies. Other shareholders may value their stakes differently.
However, X’s own internal share plan for staff valued the company at just $US19 billion in October – less than half the sum Musk paid for it.
X has undergone a turbulent period under the ownership of the Tesla billionaire. The debt-fuelled takeover has left the company struggling to break even and Musk has slashed thousands of jobs and introduced subscription fees in response.
Worsening the debt crisis is the reluctance of advertisers to work with the platform since the takeover.
X is believed to have lost 60 per cent of its advertisers after the takeover amid concerns brands were appearing alongside harmful material.
The European Commission has opened an investigation into the company over its alleged role in disseminating propaganda relating to terrorist group Hamas.
Musk has also been accused of personally promoting antisemitic and racist conspiracy theories, although he has insisted he is against antisemitism of any kind.
Linda Yaccarino, who replaced Musk as chief executive in June, has been scrambling to revive revenue and has staged a charm offensive with advertisers in a bid to win back trust.
(The Telegraph, London)
Search Engine Journal
Social Media
Greg Tingle
SEJ's Andy on tangible keywords, keywords no one else has etc. He's used Apple, IKEA and Nike. How's this for our example.
Agent: Online agency, change agent
PPVs: Pay-Per-View, MMA PPV, WWE premium live events
UFC MMA PPV, martial arts special event
Lifestyle Marketing: Beach Lifestyle, Beach Life, Surf Culture, beach bum,. coastal living, living free
Website Publishing: pop culture news, lifestyle news, combat sports news, surf sports news, news media books, media rates, news media veteran.and ex journo.
That should keep the keywords analysts busy for a while, even though it's largely evergreen content and creative content for all seasons as well as topical SEO blog and website fodder. Compliments of the season.
The Greatest Quotes of Ancient Greek Stoic Philosophers
Stoicism, was one of ancient Greece’s philosophical movements founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BC.
Stoicism is a philosophy of personal ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world. For the Stoic, virtue alone is sufficient for human happiness.
For Stoics, emotions like fear, envy, passionate love were merely false judgements and the sage, a person who had attained moral and intellectual perfection, would not be touched by them.
It is a philosophy of life where the individual maximizes positive emotions, reduces negative emotions, and helps him or herself hone their virtues of character.
The name derives from the porch (stoa poikile) in the Agora at Athens decorated with mural paintings, where the members of the school congregated, and their lectures were held.
Birth of Stoicism, one of ancient Greece’s philosophical movements
The philosophy of Stoicism was originally known as “Zenonism” after the founder, Zeno of Citium.
Zeno ended up in Athens after his ship wrecked near the city. He was not a philosopher, but he turned his misfortune into an opportunity by studying all the philosophical resources available in the city.
He sat in on lectures from the other schools of philosophy (e.g., Cynicism, Epicureanism) and eventually started his own.
However, the Stoics did not believe that the founders were perfectly wise. In order to avoid their philosophy becoming a cult of personality, they chose to name it Stoicism after the place they were meeting, the stoa poikile of the Agora.
Zeno’s ideas developed from those of the Cynics, whose founding father, Antisthenes, had been a disciple of Socrates. Zeno’s most influential follower was Chrysippus, who was responsible for molding what is now called Stoicism.
Other prominent Stoics included Cleanthes of Assos, Panaetius of Rhodes, Aristo of Chios, Posidonius of Apameia, Diodotus, and others.
Later, Seneca, Epictetus, and Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius ushered Stoicism to the Roman world. The philosophy flourished until the 3rd century AD.
Stoic Philosophy
According to Stoicism, the path to eudaimonia (happiness) is embracing and accepting the moment as it presents itself by not allowing oneself to be controlled by the desire for pleasure or by the fear of pain.
The Stoic must use his or her mind to understand the world and to do one’s part in nature’s plan by working together and treating others fairly and justly.
The Stoics are especially known for the teaching “virtue is the only good” and that people must lead a virtuous life to be accomplished and complete human beings.
External things—such as health, wealth, and pleasure—are not good or bad in and of themselves but have value as “material for virtue to act upon.”
The Stoics also held that certain destructive emotions, such as fear or jealousy, resulted from errors of judgment, and they believed people should aim to maintain a prohairesis (will) that is “in accordance with nature.”
To live a good life, a person had to understand the rules of the natural order, Stoics believed, since everything was rooted in nature.
For many Stoics, virtue is sufficient for happiness. Thus, a sage would be emotionally resilient to misfortune and would therefore be considered truly free.
According to Stoics, people don’t truly have control over many things and situations in life. Therefore, they believe that worrying about things outside of their control is unproductive, or even irrational for a person who wants to attain tranquility and happiness.
Stoics differentiate between what is and what is not under human control and do not waste energy and thoughts over uncontrollable adverse events.
Where many people worry endlessly about things out of their control, the Stoics believe they should expend their energy in thinking of creative solutions to problems, rather than the issues themselves.
Stoicism is not about having a set of beliefs or ethical claims. It is not a school of philosophy that is separate from everyday life.
The stoic must continuously practice and train (“askesis”). Stoic philosophical and spiritual practices include logic, Socratic dialogue and self-dialogue.
Influence of Stoicism on Christianity
The virtuous life of the Stoic has resemblances to a life led by a good Christian. Stoic writings such as “Meditations,” by Marcus Aurelius, have been highly regarded by many Christians throughout the centuries.
The Greek term for word is logos. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus used logos (the word) to explain what he saw as the universal force of reason that governed everything.
In the 5th century BC, Heraclitus said that all things happen according to the Logos. The Stoics also believed in the Logos, along with the notions of conscience and virtue.
A few centuries later, Greek-speaking Jews came to view the Logos as a force sent by God. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is referred to as the Word — “and the Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among men.”
The apostle Paul is known to have met with Stoics during his stay in Athens. In his letters, Paul reflected on his knowledge of Stoic philosophy, using Stoic terms and metaphors to assist new converts in their understanding of Christianity.
Both Stoicism and Christianity teach a person the importance of training their mind and body to be disciplined.
Both encourage the elimination of passions and inferior emotions, such as lust and envy, from one’s life, so that the higher possibilities of one’s humanity can be awakened and developed.
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven,” Jesus preached.
Similarly, as Seneca wrote, “We must give up many things to which we are addicted, considering them to be good.”
The Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Church accept the Stoic ideal of dispassion to this day, as do ascetics all over the world.
Stoicism today
Daily Stoic, How to be a Stoic, The Modern Times Stoic, Modern Stoicism, Traditional Stoicism: these are only a handful of the websites that hail the importance of—even the need for—Stoicism in the 21st century.
Is it possible, though, for today’s man to embrace a philosophy that teaches indifference to material things and possessions in a ruthlessly material world?
An intellectual and popular movement called Modern Stoicism began at the end of the 20th century which is aimed at reviving the practice of Stoicism.
However, before that, Stoic philosophy served as the original philosophical inspiration for modern cognitive psychotherapy, particularly as mediated by Dr. Albert Ellis’ Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), the major precursor of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
In the original cognitive therapy treatment manual for depression by Aaron T. Beck et al., it is stated, “The philosophical origins of cognitive therapy can be traced back to the Stoic philosophers.”
A well-known quotation from the “Enchiridion” of Epictetus was taught to most clients during the initial session by Ellis and his followers: “It’s not the events that upset us, but our judgments about the events.”
This subsequently became a common element in the socialization phase of many other approaches to CBT.
Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle is the Way; Stoicism—A Stoic Approach to Modern Life, by Tom Miles; Modern Stoicism, by Steve Brooks; and Modern Stoicism—How to Be a Stoic in the 21st Century, by Stephen Ryan are some of the books on Stoicism that have been published recently.
Famous Stoic quotes
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly.”
“To live a good life; we all have the potential for it, if we learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference.”
“Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back.”
“Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?”
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
“Loss is nothing else but change, and change is nature’s delight.”
“It is not because things are difficult that we don’t dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.”
“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.”
“The bravest sight in the world is to see a man struggling against adversity.”
“Throw me to the wolves and I will return leading the pack.”
“Life is never incomplete if it is an honorable one. At whatever point you leave life, if you leave it in the right way, it is whole.”
“Man is affected not by events, but by the view he takes of them.”
“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.”
“If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.”
“He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary.”
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
“If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.”
“If you want to improve, be content to be foolish and stupid.”
“The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.”
“Seek not the good in eternal things, seek it in yourselves.”
“It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.”
“No man is free who is not a master of himself.”
“It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.”
“Never depend on the admiration of others. There is no strength in it. Personal merit cannot be derived from an external source.”
(G Reporter)
Lehrmann, the Murdochs, Ita Buttrose and media’s big hits in 2023 - December 27, 2023
Australia’s media landscape was once again dominated by the big names, though with landmark court rulings, shock resignations, redundancies and succession plans finally playing out, the industry offered a year to remember.
The year kicked off when The Australian appointed Michelle Gunn as its first-ever female editor-in-chief just six days into the year, but ultimately, Sky News Australia boss Paul Whittaker was installed as chair of an editorial board set up to oversee her big moves.
Most in media still had their feet up in mid-January, including one of Nine’s biggest stars, Karl “Karlos” Stefanovic, yet he still found himself in the headlines after a car park bust-up also featuring former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke. The brouhaha ultimately cost “Pup” a high-paying commentary gig in India.
The ABC made its push to become a truly digital media company and made a number of staff redundant – none as high-profile as news breaker and political editor Andrew Probyn, who Nine (owner of this masthead) subsequently hired. Newly relocated host of Insiders David Speers picked up the confusingly titled role of “political lead” in the national capital.
Other high-profile departures from Aunty included Stan Grant, Tracey Holmes and more recently Triple J stalwart Richard Kingsmill.
While the bosses of the ABC (David Anderson) and SBS (James Taylor) got new contracts, ABC chair Ita Buttrose said she wouldn’t be seeking a second term. Her replacement could be announced as early as January, two months before Buttrose is due to depart. Expect the tributes to flow in the early months of 2024.
There was more movement on the national broadcaster’s board: Laura Tingle was elected staff representative, and Nicolette Maury and Louise McElvogue filled two more spots.
The ABC wasn’t the only one to make hard decisions, with a weak advertising market making for a tough year for commercial media, with subdued earnings calls and generally downbeat outlooks. Most conversations on 2024 budgets include an expectation Meta will fight tooth and nail to avoid stumping up in new commercial deals with media companies as part of the News Media Bargaining Code.
A win for journalism
Perhaps the biggest story of the year (no bias) was Justice Anthony Basenko’s ruling on Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation suit, vindicating reporting from Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters in this masthead. With an appeal by the disgraced war hero set to be heard in February, this stays on the radar into 2024.
Seven West Media found itself on the end of some poor PR in 2023, with chair Kerry Stokes’ bankrolling of Roberts-Smith continuing to raise questions about his and the company’s involvement in the case.
At risk of “personally embarrassing” emails coming to light, Stokes eventually agreed to pay the entire costs for Nine’s legal troubles.
Seven also did its best to insert itself in the Bruce Lehrmann fracas by securing what a Seven insider described as a “grubby” deal to cover the former Liberal staffer’s rental costs for a year. Such were the murky details of the “exclusive” interview series, the scoop was retrospectively disqualified from its finalist status at the Walkley Awards.
Along with Optus Sport, Seven bagged the broadcast rights for the Matildas games at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which swept the nation, and shattered viewership records as the tournament went on, delivering a halo effect for the network’s surrounding programming, despite chief executive James Warburton lamenting a lack of financial benefit it could reap.
Warburton, described in this masthead as one of television’s “last great showmen”, will leave Seven in 2024 after a shock exit announcement in December. Chief financial officer Jeff Howard will be installed into the top job. All eyes are on Seven’s next moves; will they open the chequebook further after raiding ARN Media’s share register, or will the hunter become the hunted?
ARN was responsible for one of the more audacious moves of the year as it moved to swallow up rival Southern Cross Media in October with help from Anchorage Capital Partners. The outcome remains undecided going into 2024.
The eldest boy gets the gig
A sigh of relief was heard in Sydney’s inner-east where media scion and billionaire Lachlan Murdoch resides when his father, Rupert Murdoch, pulled the curtains on his 70-year career, officially handing over the keys to the empire after a two-decade succession saga, not long after the fictionalised smash-hit HBO show ended its four-season run.
The “eldest boy” is now sole chair of News Corp and Fox Corp. The plan to re-merge the two was scrapped early in the year, though this could be back on the cards in 2024. Locally, expect changes in the next 12 months as Lachlan Murdoch looks to put his stamp on the Australian business. Foxtel’s mooted IPO may also be back on the cards at some point in the new year.
Murdoch’s rise was good news for former prime minister Tony Abbott, the pair formalising their relationship with his appointment into a cushy new $500,000 director role on the board of Fox. Former editor-in-chief of The Australian Chris Mitchell told us: “I’m not sure he’d bring any particular skills to do with publishing, TV or pay TV.”
It wasn’t all good news, though. Murdoch dropped his defamation suit against plucky website Crikey in April, handing a famous win to Eric Beecher’s company just days after settling for $1.17 billion in its case against Dominion Voting Systems.
News Corp also parted ways with gambling start-up Betr after punting an enormous sum for what turned out to be little return. An inside source close to the top at the US-owned company says its losses could be as high as $125 million, with official filings reported to have sunk at least $70 million into the venture.
International streamers continue to face off against local rivals, and shortly after the Australian cricket team returned home as world champions, Amazon picked up the rights to ICC tournaments until 2027. If you’re to believe Foxtel’s Patrick Delany though, the deal doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.
Qantas’ year from hell extended into media as Alan Joyce banned copies of The Australian Financial Review from its Chairman’s Lounge and in-flight Wi-Fi after sustained scrutiny by former Rear Window columnist Joe Aston. This was eventually overturned, but not until Joyce was out the door.
Network 10 and its US owners, Paramount, mostly stayed out of the headlines, though spent a decent chunk of time in Australia’s court chambers. It sued former political editor Peter van Onselen for breach of contract; was sued by current employee and former host of The Project Lisa Wilkinson; is getting sued by Lehrmann for defamation; and is facing a legal dispute with another employee over bullying claims. Some year.
Race to the finish line
The year didn’t slow down in December, with publication of Kate McClymont’s three-year investigation into Alan Jones, documenting allegations of indecent assault towards young men. Jones maintains his denial of the allegations.
At Nine, there were some big outs. Publishing boss James Chessell is standing down, 3AW veteran Neil Mitchell resigned after 30 years hosting the morning shift, and Peter Hitchener moved off the network’s weekday news bulletins after 25 years in Melbourne.
Finally, there was movement in the government’s media reform agenda late in the game, with two pieces of legislation introduced to parliament at the latest possible moment.
Perhaps the most important piece of work remains up in the air – reform of gambling advertising regulation. It’s been slated as an incredibly complex piece of work, with wagering dollars tangled in the finances of major sporting codes and media companies. This explains the hold-up, yet consensus shows Australians only want one thing: to see less of them.
All of that in 12 months! Let’s do it all again next year.
(SMH)
The Power of Do-Follow Backlinks: Maximizing SEO Impact with Quality Link Juice
Backlinks look mere connectors between two websites that people can click to navigate the internet world. But they aren’t that simple. Behind the scenes, a lot of things happen. In the world of SEO, They raise pages to the top. That’s why they were manipulated in the past.
When Google introduced nofollow links against link manipulation, the traditional links got another name, “do follow.” Do follow backlinks carry more weight than others and bring leads and free traffic.
So it’s important for website owners to know what is do follow backlink, how it works, dofollow vs nofollow, how both differ, How both influence rankings, and what tool can help to monitor them.
What Are Dofollow Backlinks and How Do They Work?
Most links that take place on the Internet are, by default do follow backlinks—Unless they are altered manually or a website setting changes them automatically. Dofollow links are also called follow links because they don’t contain link attributes.
Search engine crawlers (unlike nofollow links) crawl them and pass link juice to sites they are linked to. They also lead internet users from one website to another when they click them.
It all begins when website owners find your content valuable and decide to use it. So, they mention a portion of it on their website and direct a link to your website as a reference. In the same manner, you can also place a link on your site that can be pointed to other’s valuable content.
Businesses spend thousands of dollars to acquire as many do follow backlinks as possible. But why?
Why Are Do Follow Backlinks Important?
We learned dofollow backlinks meaning and how they work. It’s time to discuss what is a do follow link in SEO. Why do businesses spend big bucks on them?
Dofollow SEO links are important because they help search engines find new pages, speed up indexing, and determine content relevancy.
Google algorithm Pagerank uses do follow backlinks to give points to the website they are linked to. They also help brands become an authority within the industry and in the search engine’s eyes. A website with more dofollow SEO backlinks has a better chance of ranking on the first page than others. These features make them very important for businesses.
What Are Dofollow & Nofollow Backlinks, and How Do They Work?
Nofollow and do follow backlinks work similarly. Either other web owners direct a link to your website, or you direct to their website.
When it comes to noffollow, however, the one who points the link is telling search engines not to follow or pass authority to the website it is pointed. That’s because the site owner doesn't trust the content, finds the content irrelevant to the niche, or the link is paid, etc.
Nofollow vs dofollow, what similarities and differences do they have?
Similarities.
Both links look the same to the outside world.
Both work similarly.
Both bring free traffic to the website.
Both affect rankings.
Now the differences:
No follow links contain an additional rel=”nofollow” attribute, while dofollow doesn’t.
Do follow passes equity to the linked website and speeds up the indexing process, while nofollow isn’t crawlable.
Do follow affects rankings significantly, but no follow is only taken as a hint by search engines.
Do follow backlinks are only one type, and no follow backlinks have different types.
Types of No Follow Backlinks
In 2019, Google introduced two more no follow backlinks to mitigate link manipulation. They are called sponsored and UGC. They carry rel=”sponsored” and rel="ugc" attributes.
Sponsored links: They are used to show Google that the link is compensated in some form. These links can be affiliate links or can come from ads and sponsored content.
UGC links: UGC stands for user generated content. These links tell Google that users are generating links in the comment section or forums. These links, according to Ahref’s study, are only used by 1% of websites.
The rel=”nofollow” attribute, however, can be used instead of both above-mentioned attributes.
How to Create a Dofollow Backlink?
Do follow links are originally just backlinks. And a backlink means they come from other websites. So, you need to provide value to others to get backlinks. One way to do that is by creating helpful content. This way, others will use your content and refer a link. This is one strategy; there are others.
What are do follow backlinks strategies?
Guest posting: it is quite common and simple. Find a relevant website, ask if they are currently accepting guest posts, create content, submit it, and wait. Once they publish your content, you’ll get a do follow backlink.
Reciprocal strategy: this is also a common strategy— 43.7% of the top-ranking pages use it to get backlinks, according to Thrivemyway. This strategy works (as the name suggests) you give me a link and I will return the favor. The exchange happens between website owners. A word of warning though, doing it carelessly will penalize the content.
How Long Do Follow Link Takes to Work?
Do follow backlinks are unpredictable. There is no exact time for them to show effect. They may take anywhere from 3 to 12 months, according to search engine journal, while the founder of SEOchatter say that some take ten weeks and some take a few days. But why is there no exact time given by Google?
That’s because many factors, such as domain authority, website age, and site content, are at play. If a website's DR rating is high, has existed for years, and publishes quality content, then do follow backlinks may take only days to show effect. Otherwise, they may take years or never work.
How to Tell if a Backlink is dofollow?
To know if a backlink is a dofollow:
Go to any page on the Internet that contain links.
Right-click and find the “view page resource” option.
Click that option, and a new page with codes will open.
Next, hit the CTRL + F buttons on Android or command + F on Mac; this will open a search box.
Now, write nofollow in the box.
If the page has a nofollow link, the text will be highlighted; if not, that means all links on that page are dofollow backlinks—because what is a do follow backlink? It’s a link that contains no additional attribute.
Best Tools to Check Do Follow Backlinks of Your Site
You can check do follow backlinks on any page by going to its code page. But when an external page directs a link to your website, then you won't get any clue to get to that page. Due to the Internet’s expanse, finding directed links manually is next to impossible. But you can find them with tools.
You can also monitor your site's backlink profile every once in a while with them. Doing so will give you a better idea of what changes to make or not in your link-building strategies.
Here are a few good tools to check do follow backlinks.
Ahref site explorer
Dofollow link checker
Sitechecker
Semrush
Mozbar SEO checker
Automatic backlink checker extension.
Conclusion
Links influence ranking positively and negatively. That’s why it’s important to know what are dofollow links, and how they work. You should also monitor backlink profiles and see the source they are coming from. It will help you in the SEO journey.
Also, don’t overlook the importance of no follow backlinks; they can be used strategically to diversify the backlink profile.
When it comes to creating backlinks, there are a lot of good and bad strategies. Try to choose those that align with Google guidelines. When you succeed in getting backlinks and don’t see immediate changes, just be patient. They sometimes take a while before showing effects.
FAQS
Are YouTube Links Dofollow?
It depends on where they are placed on YouTube. If they are inserted on YouTube profiles, video descriptions, video cards, and end screens, they are do follow backlinks. If links are commented, then they are no follow.
What is the Major Difference Between a No Follow Backlink and a Do Follow Backlink?
The one major difference is that, do follow backlinks pass authority to the website it’s linked, and nofollow is just a hint for search engines.
Are Nofollow Links Bad?
Nofollow links aren't bad for SEO because Google itself encourages web owners to use them.
Are No Follow Links Worth It?
Nofollow links diversify backlink profiles and help in SEO campaigns but aren’t a major ranking factor. So we can say, they are worth it, just not a lot.
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