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submitted 2 weeks ago by alzjim@lemmy.world to c/world@quokk.au

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/36870104

https://medium.com/@hrnews1/billionaire-ellison-family-who-bought-paramount-is-now-buying-tiktok-and-warner-770676d1108d

In August 2025, David Ellison’s Skydance Media, backed by the vast fortune of his father Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle Corporation), completed its acquisition of Paramount Global. This wasn’t simply a business transaction — it was the beginning of an unprecedented consolidation of American media power. The deal brought CBS, Paramount Pictures, MTV, Nickelodeon, and numerous other properties under the control of one of America’s wealthiest families.

But the Ellisons aren’t stopping there. Reports indicate they’re preparing a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, which would add HBO, CNN, Warner Bros. studios, and DC Entertainment to their portfolio. Perhaps most significantly, Larry Ellison has been named by former President Donald Trump as a key figure in negotiations to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations — potentially giving the family control over the platform that shapes political consciousness for an entire generation of young Americans.

If these acquisitions succeed, the Ellison family would control: traditional broadcast networks, cable news, major film studios, streaming platforms, and one of the world’s most influential social media algorithms. This represents a concentration of narrative power unseen in the modern era. The Billionaire Anxiety: American Decline and the Scramble for Control

To understand why this is happening now, we must examine the psychological and material conditions of America’s billionaire class in 2025. They are watching their world crumble — not in the sense of losing their wealth (though that’s a fear), but in the sense of losing the stable imperial order that generated and protected that wealth.

American global hegemony is weakening. The dollar’s dominance is being challenged. Infrastructure crumbles while China builds.

The social contract that kept the American working class pacified for decades — the promise that hard work leads to prosperity — has been thoroughly exposed as a lie. Millennials and Gen Z are the first generations in American history expected to be poorer than their parents. They cannot afford homes, healthcare, or education. They are drowning in debt for degrees that lead to gig economy jobs.

This creates a legitimacy crisis. When people can no longer believe in the system, they start looking for alternatives. They start asking dangerous questions: Why do we have billionaires while children go hungry? Why do we have empty houses and homeless people? Why are we funding wars abroad while our communities collapse? The Billionaire Response: Control the Narrative

The billionaire class has concluded that the way forward isn’t to address these material conditions — that would require them to give up power and wealth. Instead, the strategy is to control the story being told about those conditions.

This is where “equitable distribution” rhetoric becomes useful. The messaging will be about “giving everyone a voice,” “platform neutrality,” “balanced coverage,” and “algorithmic fairness.” TikTok, in particular, will likely be framed as being “saved” from Chinese control and “protected” for American users. The Paramount-Warner merger will be sold as “creating jobs” and “competing with Netflix.”

But behind this progressive-sounding language lies a darker strategy: use narrative control to manage decline, deflect blame, and prevent class consciousness from forming.

What makes this different from traditional media ownership is the integration of algorithmic control with broadcast media. Previous generations of media moguls — the Hearsts, the Murdochs — controlled what stories were told. The Ellisons will control both the stories and the system that determines who sees them, when, and in what context.

Modern propaganda doesn’t work like Soviet-era information control. It doesn’t censor everything and force everyone to repeat the same slogans. Instead, it:

Floods the zone: Overwhelm people with content so they can’t distinguish signal from noise

Amplifies division: Promote contentious cultural issues that split the working class along identity lines

Manufactures complexity: Make every issue seem so complicated that ordinary people feel unqualified to have opinions

Offers false choices: Present two establishment positions as the full spectrum of acceptable debate

Algorithmic nudging: Subtly guide people toward certain conclusions while maintaining the illusion of choice

When you own TikTok’s algorithm plus CBS News plus CNN, you control the conversation at every level. You decide what “goes viral.” You decide which “experts” get platformed. You decide what questions journalists ask and which stories get follow-up coverage.

The genius of this system is that it can claim neutrality while systematically excluding certain perspectives.

Both “liberal” and “conservative” voices will be present — but both will operate within acceptable parameters. The debate will be about whether billionaires should pay 35% or 40% in taxes, not whether billionaires should exist. It will be about which countries deserve military intervention, not whether the U.S. should have a global military empire. Turning Americans Against Each Other

Perhaps the most insidious aspect of consolidated media control is its ability to redirect legitimate grievances toward false enemies. Americans are angry — they should be angry. The system has failed them. But who gets blamed?

[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

So very reasonable...

  • doesn’t travel enough
  • has no skincare routine
  • is an unsuccessful DJ
  • is embarrassed to do karaoke
  • if he’s saving himself for marriage.

Did we even read the same opening paragraph?

[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

C’mon Americans, do a coup. Get rid of this administration for us.

[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

They realised that the younger generation isn't reached on Fox and have started to take over the next media to stuff over a whole new generation.

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submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by alzjim@lemmy.world to c/world@quokk.au

Electronic Arts, maker of video games like “Madden NFL,” “Battlefield,” and “The Sims,” is being acquired for $55 billion, the biggest leveraged buyout attempt in history.

Under the terms of the deal announced Monday, the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF and Affinity Partners will pay EA’s stockholders $210 per share. Affinity Partners is a private equity firm run by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Electronic Arts would be taken private.

The total value of the deal eclipses the $32 billion price paid to take Texas utility TXU private in 2007.

If the transaction closes as anticipated, it will end EA’s 36-year history as a publicly traded company that began with its shares ending its first day of trading at a split-adjusted 52 cents.

The IPO came seven years after EA was founded by former Apple employee William “Trip” Hawkins, who began playing analog versions of baseball and football made by “Strat-O-Matic” as a teenager during the 1960s.

EA has been run by its current CEO, Andrew Wilson, since 2013.

This marks the second high-profile deal involving Silver Lake and a technology company with a legion of loyal fans in recent weeks. Silver Lake is also part of a newly formed joint venture spearheaded by Oracle involved in a deal t o take over the U.S. oversight of TikTok’s social video platform, although all the details of that complex transaction haven’t been divulged yet.

Silver Lake has also previously bought out two other well-known technology companies, the now-defunct video calling service Skype in a $1.9 billion deal completed in 2009, and a $24.9 billion buyout of personal computer maker Dell in 2013. After Dell restructured its operations as a private company, it returned to the stock market with publicly traded shares in 2018.

By going private, EA will be able to reprogram its operations without being subjected to the investment pressures and scrutiny that sometimes compel publicly held companies to make short-sighted decisions aimed at meeting quarterly financial targets. Although its video games still have a fervent following, EA’s annual revenues have been stagnant during the past three fiscal years, hovering from $7.4 billion to $7.6 billion.

Meanwhile, one of its biggest rivals Activision Blizzard was snapped up by technology powerhouse Microsoft for nearly $69 billion in 2023, while the competition from mobile video game makers such as Epic Games has intensified.

After being taken private, formerly public companies often undergo extensive cost-cutting that includes layoffs, although there has been no indication that will be the case with EA. After jettisoning about 5% of its workforce in 2024, EA ended March with 14,500 employees and then laid off several hundred people in May.

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submitted 3 weeks ago by alzjim@lemmy.world to c/world@quokk.au
[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Art can be made out of literally anything.

Such as LLMs.

Art is art because a human put their thoughts and feelings behind it.

You don't think there's any thought put into AI art by the creators?

Art is art, it doesn't matter what tool or medium was used, what matters is it reflects the artists intention or vision.

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submitted 2 months ago by alzjim@lemmy.world to c/world@quokk.au
[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 13 points 3 months ago

The point was that no one cares to hold the horrific shit accountable.

[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Is water wet?

[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

Can I get everything I need from the bottom of a long glass tube?

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submitted 9 months ago by alzjim@lemmy.world to c/world@quokk.au

TikTok refugees have already noted harsh restrictions on RedNote that have resulted in their content being removed or their accounts being suspended, including for mentioning LGBTQ+ identities or for women, wearing a slightly low-cut top.

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submitted 9 months ago by alzjim@lemmy.world to c/world@quokk.au

Archaeologists have discovered a sumptuous private bathhouse - potentially the largest ever found there - complete with hot, warm and cold rooms, exquisite artwork, and a huge plunge pool.

[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Where was Israel located in 150,00BCE?

Anyone trying to claim a connection to nearly 3,000 years back is utterly insane. You might as well go invade Africa as it was home at one point too, right?

[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

Why is it you lie? most Arabs do not live peacefully in Israel. They are arrested and assaulted frequently. Also history show's it's the Israeli feet in Palestine that result in tens of thousands of dead Palestinian men, women, and children.

[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Those poor children. Churches and religion should be no where near education.

[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

My go-to example is the quilting ladies who spend 40 hours each on handmade quilts using expensive materials to give to the poor. It’s extremely kind and their work is exquisite, but with the money spent making those quilts for 20 people, we could buy blankets, a couple weeks of food, and new clothing for 50 full families.

Yeah but those ladies feel better about themselves, which is what religion is about not helping people.

[-] alzjim@lemmy.world 22 points 9 months ago

Hallelujah!

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submitted 11 months ago by alzjim@lemmy.world to c/world@quokk.au

The primates broke loose from Alpha Genesis in Yemassee, Beaufort County in South Carolina.

The company confirmed 43 rhesus macaque primates escaped from an enclosure at one of the company's facilities.

The Yemassee Police Department said on Thursday that traps with bait were set up and thermal imaging cameras were being used in an effort to capture the monkeys.

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submitted 11 months ago by alzjim@lemmy.world to c/world@quokk.au

The plan, which has not been previously reported, represents a strategic pivot by the world's top selling automaker in the world's largest car market, underlining its ambition to claw back business lost to BYD (002594.SZ), opens new tab and other local players in recent years.

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submitted 1 year ago by alzjim@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world
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submitted 1 year ago by alzjim@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world
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alzjim

joined 1 year ago