Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, where we are gearing up to cover the TeslaTakedown this week.
Map: Tesla Takedown Protests at 277 Tesla Dealerships on March 29th
This week, activists intend to protest on Saturday at all 277 Tesla dealerships around the country. (A map of all protests can be found here)
Over the past month, Tesla’s stock has plunged by more than half since December as activists continue to protest the company due to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s role as Trump’s right hand man.
“We need to show Elon that he can throw a tantrum online because his stocks are tanking,” one of the organizers, Alice Hu, told The Verge. “He can get Trump to put on a humiliating used car show in front of the White House. These wannabe authoritarians can try to intimidate us from exercising our First Amendment rights, but they can’t stop us from fighting back.”
Now, activists plan to target all 277 Tesla dealerships this weekend in their first ever nationwide action.
A map of all the protests can be found here.
Help Us Cover TeslaTakedown Protest This Weekend
Tesla protestors plan to target more all 277 Tesla locations this weekend. These protests are making a real financial hit on Elon Musk while he attacks American workers.
At a time when, it seems like we have few options for fighting back, these kinds of protests are more vital than ever.
Donate to help us cover them this weekend. Please, if you can, sign up as one our recurring donor today.
After Announcing Union, Sesame Street Workers Take Major Hit
Earlier this month, Sesame Street workers were joyful and hopeful that things were improving. Quickly things changed. From The New York Times:
The organization is losing its lucrative contract with HBO, which has paid $30 million to $35 million a year for a decade for rights to the show. With Hollywood suddenly watching every penny, nothing nearly as rich is in the offing.
Then there is the Trump administration. Its cuts to the United States Agency for International Development have stripped Sesame Workshop of some valuable grants that the nonprofit did not anticipate abruptly losing. The administration’s attacks on public media could bring some further cuts.
What’s more, “Sesame Street” is at risk of getting lost in the shuffle of a deeply competitive and fast-changing children’s TV landscape. The show reliably ranks far behind shows like “Bluey” and “Cocomelon” in Nielsen’s streaming numbers — and YouTube is eating up even more of the attention.
Together, those forces have left the organization trying to figure out how to navigate the coming years, a crisis that the nonprofit says will require a “reset.”
Sesame Workshop cut about 20 percent of its staff, or nearly 100 people, a few weeks ago. Without the cost cuts, the organization would face a deficit of nearly $40 million next year, according to internal documents reviewed by The New York Times. Even with the cuts, it has had to draw $6 million from its investment fund for the first time in more than a decade to help cover some of the budget shortfalls.
For more, check out The New York Times.
Newspaper Tariffs Hit Struggling Newsrooms
According to the Columbia Journalism Review, approximately 80% of American newsrooms buy their blank newspaper material from Canadian lumber firms.
However, now, many newsrooms are finding themselves in crisis as a result of Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
“Just devastating to have to pay that much more in printing,” Brian Orr, publisher of New Mexico’s World Journal told Colorado Public Radio.
For more, check out Colorado Public Radio.
Internet Archive Fundraises to Save Government Websites
For decades, the Internet Archive, based in San Francisco, has attempted to save important pages published on the internet. Now, the Internet Archive is rushing to save more than 80,000 pages deleted by the Trump Administration.
NPR has a look at their Herculean effort:
The Internet Archive is among the few efforts that exist to catch the stuff that falls through the digital cracks, while also making that information accessible to the public. Six weeks into the new administration, Wayback Machine director Graham said, the Internet Archive had cataloged some 73,000 web pages that had existed on U.S. government websites that were expunged after Trump's inauguration.
Graham noted that, for example, the Internet Archive is currently the only place the public can find a copy of an interactive timeline detailing the events of Jan. 6. The timeline is a product of the congressional committee that investigated the Capitol attack, and has since been taken down from their website. Graham said it's in the public's interest to save such records.
"How much money did our tax dollars pay to make it?" he said, referring to the timeline and committee proceedings. "It was a non-trivial exercise and it's part of our history — and for that reason alone, worthy of preservation and worthy of exploration, of understanding."
News & Headlines Elsewhere
- Silicon Valley transit union leaders urge unanimous “No” vote on contract cffer
- Majority of nearly 1,000 University of Minnesota resident physicians and fellows file for union
- UPMC Western Maryland workers move to unionize
- UC unions plan statewide strike in response to "unfair labor practices"
- Argentina unions to strike against Milei on April 10
- Finally, KUOW has a look at the lives of nearly 3 million immigrants, who got amnesty under Reagan in the 1980s.
Alright see yinz tomorrow. Send story ideas to melk@paydayreport.com
Donate to help us cover the TeslaTakedown Movement. Please, if you can, sign up as one of our recurring donors today. Thank again for all teh support.
See yinz tomorrow,
Melk
