Alvaro M. Bedoya

newrepublic.comThere’s a Blue-Collar Hollywood—and the Paramount Merger Will Kill ItHollywood isn’t all glamour. It’s thousands of line workers. And a Paramount takeover of Warner will make their lives even more precarious.

29 July

People think "Hollywood" is rich and famous. The reality? Film and TV is a national industry. It's a blue collar industry. And it is an industry free fall. My latest for @newrepublic.com on how the Paramount merger would crush blue collar workers who can not afford it newrepublic.com/article/2136...

The Amazon driver who cuts his leg open and is fired for going to the hospital. The driver assaulted on the job and docked pay for staying home to recover. The driver forced to work in such intense heat that he vomits, and is forced to keep driving. Amazon takes responsibility for *none of it*

The Waitress Is Practicing Politics

There's a bill to fix this in the NYC council. The Delivery Protection Act Mayor Mamdani backs it. A supermajority supports it. All that needs to happen is that @speakermenin.bsky.social needs to move it forward. She hasn't

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

@joyceturiskylie.bsky.social

Replying to @bedoyausa.bsky.social

Love this book! I just finished it today! Learned SO much!!!

Quakers: - against slavery - against Vietnam war - ALSO invented fixed prices

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Cris (without an H)

@ambignostic.bsky.social

Replying to @bedoyausa.bsky.social

Dang man I feel so sad for these people. No schadenfreude, no “you should have known better,” just sad

Character AI is going bankrupt and a lot of people who have developed a reliance on its chatbots are going to be in a difficult situation. Unfortunately this kind of moment may soon be quite common

reddit.comjanegayz's comment on "oh lord what happened"Explore this conversation and more from the CharacterAI community

OP: www.reddit.com/r/CharacterA...

youtube.comIs It Time For A Populist Revolution? (Ft. Alvaro Bedoya)Donald Trump wants you to think that the least powerful people in this country are the most responsible for your problem

Ticketmaster screws fans & brags about it --> settle it Compass makes home buying even harder --> clear it Paramount lets Saudis own CNN --> clear it ...journalists protest White House bans --> investigate!

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Robert Reich

@rbreich.bsky.social

A new survey finds large majorities of Democratic AND Republican voters support capping prescription drug costs, banning surprise medical bills, and stopping corporate investors from buying up homes. @bedoyausa.bsky.social explains how economic populism can reshape our politics.

mythbusting the Paramount settlement en español

Last-mile delivery companies make their drivers go so fast that they get in accidents, hurting themselves and pedestrians. This Thursday, @econliberties.bsky.social & Teamsters Local 804 will hold a roundtable with drivers, @tiffanycaban.bsky.social & @saalevine.bsky.social. RSVP for press is below.

Folks, Paramount's new editorial "independence" board for CNN and CBS will be hand-picked by the Ellisons and will report... to the Ellisons

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Evan Greer

@evangreer.bsky.social

this sucks but la lucha sigue

Alvaro M. Bedoya@bedoyausa.bsky.social

Today, billionaires yet again bribed, censored, and bullied their way to the top. As a result, a billionaire media company closely allied with the president will soon own one of its closest rivals, including some of the nation’s critical news outlets. Saudi Arabia will co-own those outlets, too.

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Karen Attiah

@karenattiah.bsky.social

The anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi's murder is Oct. 2.

Alvaro M. Bedoya@bedoyausa.bsky.social

This industry was once marked with strict rules so that a small handful of conglomerates couldn’t own everything. There’s no reason we cannot return to that reality. There’s no reason we can’t build on it.

But today is a loss, and that loss will be felt by the people who can least afford it.

The people who work in the film and TV industry and the small businesses who support it will suffer as a result. And so will everyone who values dissent in our democracy.

This is not the end. The coalition that fought to block this illegal merger will fight to break up big media. There is legislation pending in Congress today that would retroactively break up corrupt billionaire mergers.

But the Ellison family does not care about the law. Instead, they loudly threatened to leave California if their merger did not go through immediately.

Gavin Newsom caved to that pressure. So did Xavier Becerra. And eventually, so did Attorney General Rob Bonta, agreeing to a weak settlement that will be exceedingly difficult to enforce. People want champions who are not afraid of rich bullies. Newsom, Becerra, and Bonta did not meet that mark.

This did not have to happen. Thanks to an extraordinary outpouring of grassroots anger against the merger, a coalition of 12 state attorneys general sued to block it. They beat Paramount in court, winning a court-ordered pause on the merger.

The AGs beat them again at the negotiating table, getting the conglomerate to agree to pause the merger until as late as next June.

Layoffs will follow. People from L.A. to Atlanta will lose their jobs, small businesses will lose their contracts, your cable bill and movie ticket will be even more expensive. Dissent against money and power will be even harder to find.

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

freepress.netTell State Attorneys General: No Concessions on the Paramount/WBD MergerUrge state attorneys general to protect workers and consumers and block the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

Replying to @jgo4justice.bsky.social

To urge state AGs to hold the line against the authoritarian takeover of our media, sign our petition and we’ll deliver them to AGs soon. www.freepress.net/get-involved...

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Replying to @jgo4justice.bsky.social

Here’s the truth: Americans across the political spectrum are fed up with corruption and with rich people calling the shots while everyone else struggles. Economic populism has real legs. Standing firm and enforcing the law isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s the politically smart thing too.

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Replying to @jgo4justice.bsky.social

There’s a lot of speculation about what a deal could look like, but I assure you no deal will protect all consumers and workers. Bonta has said he won’t accept behavioral remedies. That is good policy. They don’t work and are impossible to enforce. #BlocktheMerger #NoConcessions

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Replying to @jgo4justice.bsky.social

Unsubstantiated rumors suggest that Ellison’s ready to bounce on October 1. Is he really going to pull out of California 14 days before the court-mandated settlement conference? If so, that sure smacks of more bad faith.

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Replying to @jgo4justice.bsky.social

The AGs should go slowly here. A settlement will be extremely unpopular. And it’s especially silly to settle before the election. Ds likely will have more federal oversight power and more freedom to speak openly against the merger post election.

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Replying to @jgo4justice.bsky.social

Ellison is the villain holding workers hostage to his selfish temper tantrum. And the AGs are the heroes protecting workers and consumers and holding the line on democracy against corrupt billionaires. If California loses jobs, it’s because of Ellison’s greed. Period.

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Replying to @jgo4justice.bsky.social

The AGs are winning in the court of public opinion. Ellison is backed into a narrative corner. He’s saying he loves Hollywood and that he’s willing to smash it if he doesn’t get everything he wants. It just doesn’t track.

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Replying to @jgo4justice.bsky.social

@agrobbonta.oag.ca.gov @newyorkstateag.bsky.social: you and other state AGs are right to demand that Paramount comply with U.S. law. You’re protecting workers and consumers and fighting authoritarianism. This is real leadership that meets the moment. The people are with you. Stand firm.

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

News broke this afternoon that Bonta and Paramount are in settlement talks. All of the sources are anonymous. Which is really … something. The Wall Street Journal and Deadline have slightly conflicting reports on timing. If I were advising the state AGs, this is what I’d say:

1/ Per Status, @agrobbonta.oag.ca.gov may soon bless a weak settlement with few or none of the divestments he's demanded for months.

2/ If this happens, it'd be a cave to the oligarchs who paid Trump $16M+ to settle a spurious lawsuit, promised to purge CNN, and held a lavish illegal banquet for the president while the merger was under DOJ consideration.

3/ I hope this is not the case. And I am grateful to AG Tish James of NY and AG William Tong of CT for staying strong.

latimes.comFCC approves foreign owners for a merged Paramount-Warner Bros.Royal families of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi will own nearly 50% of the equity of a merged Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery

18 Sept

Los Angeles Times@latimes.com

FCC approves foreign owners for a merged Paramount-Warner Bros.

Alvaro M. Bedoya reposted

Open MIC

@openmicmedia.bsky.social

17 Sept

“It just takes one successful challenge in those six markets. That's all it takes to stop this deal. So in other words, you need to win six rounds of sudden death penalty kicks.” @bedoyausa.bsky.social describes the legal challenges facing the proposed Paramount–Warner Brothers merger

14 Sept

Yes, powerful AI can hurt people No, don't give trillionaires legal immunity

14 Sept

*wannabe trillionaires

1/ 1) AI will not eradicate humanity. Humans survived an ice age, the Black Death, two world wars, and (so far) the advent of nuclear weapons. Anyone who is loudly warning of AI-caused human extinction should not be taken seriously.

5/ Antitrust law does absolutely prevent AI companies from organizing to prevent the entry of cheaper, upstart rivals because the bigger companies are burning cash and failing to achieve sufficient profitability.

6/ The panic of individual employees may be sincere if misguided, but the moves by their CEOs to achieve some kind of broad "antitrust waiver" or "exemption" should be met with deep skepticism in light of the economics of the industry and the threat they face from open models.

3/ I am obviously no Coxon booster but at least his behavior is in line with his stated beliefs. Any current AI company employees saying "yes, me too, the thing we are building and about to IPO may kill all humans" should, again, not be taken seriously. Their actions betray their actual beliefs.

4/ Antitrust law does not prevent AI companies from coordinating to make sure AI does not hurt people. It does not prevent companies working together to make sure it doesn't hack people; the DOJ and FTC made this clear in 2014, and the same principles apply here: www.justice.gov/archives/opa...

justice.gov