This week's newsletter: Less than a year before the Rabbit R1 was announced, Rabbit Inc had another name, and was hyping an NFT metaverse project that it raised $6m to build, promising an MMORPG, a comic, a tv show and a literal rocket shot into space.
wheresyoured.at/rabbit-holed/

Welcome to #FTWeekendFestival ! Shout-out to FT US Guild members on today’s program, including Lilah Raptopoulos, Marc Filippino, Robert Armstrong & @sonjahutson.

They want a #faircontractnow , just like all our unit's 60+ US workers. Sadly, @FT defines “fair” as “heads I win, tails you lose”.

Remember those guys who were starting a journalism hedge fund? I spent some time with them as they launched.

Are they actually helping the struggling industry? Or have they simply co-opted the mission-driven language of journalism to get very rich?
newyorker.com/news/annals-of…

New: How Ukraine broke Russia’s grip in the Black Sea.

Drone attacks have pushed Moscow’s warships to newly protected bases in the east and enabled trade from key ports to return to pre-war levels.

W/Sam Learner Dan Clark Irene de la Torre Arenas Ian Bott

ft.com/black-sea

'Until yesterday, Republicans were the harshest critics of lack of free speech on campus. Now they want to stamp it out. Hypocrisy is too mild a word to capture such a switch'. Me on why adults, not students, are America's problem. ft.com/content/198902…

Pro-Trump groups have spent over $76 million on legal fees since January 2023.

on.ft.com/3JrHJry w/ Sam Learner

Trump has ~270,000 fewer unique donors now than at the same point in 2020.

on.ft.com/3Q4GP82 Sam Learner:

This is a fascinating story by Oliver Roeder about public land in the west, that I'm really glad I got to contribute to in a small way

zero dimensions, one ladder, four hunters, more lawyers, and millions of wild acres — the story of a geometric battle in the american west: ft.com/content/63b1c7…

New: Satellite analysis shows thousands of tonnes of aid stuck at Gaza’s border while the enclave nears famine. Our latest visual story on the continuing problems with delivery & distribution by Lucy Rodgers Dan Clark Irene de la Torre Arenas Justine Williams Jana Tauschinski

ig.ft.com/gaza-aid/

Two weeks after a report found that the Israeli military had killed a clearly identifiable Reuters journalist, the Israeli military stands accused of killing 7 clearly identifiable aid workers ft.com/content/aa309a…

It's so nuts that the audience for these things is 'people who want to watch seven identical dudes watch a game that's not visible on the stream' and it's very popular?

Financial Times showing they can horde resources and chisel working reporters and editors as well as any other media organization. Until this industry once again values the people who are elemental to the product, first-class journalism will remain at risk.

Support FT US Guild

Good thread on the state of labor negotiations in the FT's US operation.
I love working for the FT, the greatest newspaper in the world.
But my excellent coworkers deserve better than they get. Management needs to meet us in the middle -- starting today.
💪FT US Guild💪

Like one time pay raises, with the largest amount going to the lowest paid third of the newsroom. This will help close glaring pay disparities and only cost the company $310,000. The FT recently announced a £30 mn venture fund — seems within their budget? axios.com/2024/02/27/ft-…