What We’re Reading

We keep an eye out for the most interesting stories about Labby subjects: digital media, startups, the web, journalism, strategy, and more.

New York / John Herrman

Truth Social has become the president’s digital bunker →

“The structure, built with grand ambitions, has become a care home, a symbol of decline, a bunker. It is a place fewer and fewer people want to visit, constantly renovated around a person they no longer want to hear from. I’m talking, of course, about Truth Social.” —SC

What else we were reading on November 9

The Washington Post / Drew Harwell and Scott Nover

Trump ally Loomer was paid thousands for political tweets, people familiar say →

“The new claims about Loomer’s influence business could add fuel to a growing debate about the little-regulated industry of political messaging on social media, where influencers on both sides of the aisle have operated in a legal gray area between advocacy and advertising.” —SC

The Verge / Mia Sato

There’s no slowing down media’s pivot-to-video 2.0 →

“Just as soon as journalists start getting comfortable with front-facing selfie videos, we may be facing a whole new beast: videos that are horizontal and longer, with a higher production value and higher barrier to entry that we typically associate with TV and streaming.” —SC

The Hollywood Reporter / Alex Weprin

Inside The New York Times’ vertical video strategy →

“The Times‘ video strategy now encompasses all of its core areas: News, of course, but also cooking, The Athletic, and culture….Pyne says that increasingly the journalists in the newsroom are being proactive about reaching out to the video team [before publication].” —SC

Axios / Mike Deehan

Emerson College’s newest major: Content creation →

“Emerson is one of the first colleges in the country to build a formal academic track around influencers and content makers.” —LO

Status / Natalie Korach

Karen Attiah will not return to The Washington Post →

“A spokesperson for the Washington-Baltimore News Guild confirmed to Status that it reached a settlement with the newspaper, bringing an end to the months-long dispute over her reinstatement. Attiah will not rejoin The Post in any capacity, though part of the settlement includes back pay ordered by the arbitrator, the union told me. The remaining settlement terms were not disclosed.” —LO

—Paulina Mangubat, the Democratic National Committee’s head of content and creative, on its more behind-the-scenes social media strategy. In early 2025, the organization relaunched its rapid response online efforts under a new brand, @FactPostNews, an account intentionally designed to look like an independent news aggregator, not a messaging arm of the party. (Semafor / Max Tani) —SC
The New Yorker / Kyle Chayka

The death knell of digital search →

“The end state we’re heading toward seems to be an internet both generated and traversed by bots—in which case, it will no longer matter how annoying it is for a mere human being to find information.” —SC