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News Briefing
Media Lens: Russia launches major military offensive: how coverage differs Rugby Championship matches take place across different venues. The government has faced significant backlash…
What’s happening?
California Governor Gavin Newsom has commuted the death sentences of all 548 inmates on the state’s death row, a significant move that aligns with his ongoing efforts to abolish the death penalty in California. This sweeping action is part of a broader political strategy as the 2028 presidential election approaches.
Comparing coverage and framing, Axios headlines, “Newsom moves to empty California’s death row as 2028 looms,” emphasize the political timing of Newsom’s decision. In contrast, the BBC’s headline, “California governor commutes sentences for state’s 548 death row inmates,” focuses on the immediate factual aspect of the sentence commutations. The difference lies in Axios’s implication of political maneuvering versus the BBC’s straightforward presentation of the act itself, showcasing the divergent narrative frames of political strategy versus direct impact on the legal system.
Coverage analyzed: Axios | BBC | The Guardian | CNN
What’s going on?
Russell Brand has been found guilty by a UK court of rape and sexual assaults. The court confirmed the verdict following a jury trial that concluded recently. Sentencing is scheduled for Monday.
The framing of the story varies among outlets. Reuters stated, “Comedian Russell Brand found guilty by UK court of rape and sexual assaults,” emphasising the judicial outcome. In contrast, Yahoo highlighted, “Russell Brand found guilty of rape and sexual assaults; actor being investigated over more rape allegations,” which draws attention to ongoing investigations.
Coverage analysed: Reuters | Yahoo | The New York Times | Sky News
Saka is set to become the Gunners’ highest earner.
Ex-workers described the company’s operation as ‘one big fiddle’.
The 11th series will go ahead as planned.
The poor pooch died in his arms.
Corporate assassination killing them softly!
After hitting 100 million followers last June, Musk went on to buy the social media company for $44 billion dollars (Picture: AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
Elon Musk might not be the world’s richest person anymore but he’s managed to take the top spot with the most number of followers on Twitter.
The billionaire who is also the owner of Twitter, beat former US president Barack Obama to take the crown for the most followed person on Twitter.
As of right now, the billionaire has 133,069,129 followers compared to Obama’s 133,042,847, so it’s not a huge margin.
After hitting 100 million followers last June, Musk went on to buy the social media company for $44 billion.
It wasn’t a smooth road to ownership though with messy tweets and legal standoffs which almost led to a heated trial.
The billionaire beat former US president Barack Obama to take the crown for the most followed person on Twitter (Picture: Reuters)
Musk’s initial bid to take over Twitter surfaced in April after it was suggested he would join the company’s board. He later backtracked over concerns there were too many spam accounts on the platform.
Twitter proceeded to sue Musk to try to hold him to the deal contract. Before the case was set to go to trial, Musk expressed interest in following through with the acquisition.
Finally, in October, Musk confirmed his on-again, off-again deal to buy Twitter had gone through.
How many of Elon Musk’s followers are fake?
Twitter is infamous for being plagued with fake accounts or ‘bots’ which can boost the number of actual followers someone has.
Last May, a report by research tool SparkToro found that over 70% of Elon Musk’s followers appeared to be ‘fake’. These could include accounts that are bots, inactive, or set up to send spam or propaganda.
We ran the tool on Musk’s account again and found that the number has drastically reduced to 6.5%. So, out of his 133 million followers, only 8,651,097 could possibly be fake accounts.
The report also noted that Musk’s account had fewer fake followers than most. Accounts with a similar-sized following to the Twitter CEO reportedly had an average of 20% fake followers.
In comparison, 54.8% of Obama’s Twitter followers were found to be fake accounts. That’s 72,906,456 out of his 133,040,979 followers.
Musk is known for using the platform as his personal sounding board, with many controversial tweets that have gotten him in trouble. Not to mention the memes. So many memes.
Now, as ‘chief Twit’ he used his account to speculate, announce and get feedback on various changes to Twitter.
MORE : Musk, experts urge pause on making AI ‘more powerful’ citing ‘risks to society’
MORE : Elon Musk to scrap a number of features for non-paying Twitter users
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