If you go down the street and ask people about Wednesday, you won’t hear about the day of the week. Millions of people ages 9 to 99 know who Wednesday Addams is and can’t wait to see her in the second season. 

Meanwhile, if you ask them who Jenna Ortega is, they may draw a blank. While virtually everyone knows what she looks like, not too many people know about this talented actress, her biography, her acting experience, and her plans for the future.

Let’s fix the problem and learn everything we can about Ms. Ortega and her overwhelming popularity.

Wednesday Is Making and Breaking Records

Directed by Tim Burton, this Addams Family spin-off managed to become the second most-watched English-language series on Netflix. It even beat the 4th season of the all-popular Stranger Things.

After premiering on November 23, 2022, Wednesday immediately began breaking records. It’s impossible to scan your Instagram or TikTok feed without watching someone mimic Wednesday’s unique image.

Even Lady Gaga managed to recreate the crazy dance from the show and get millions of views on TikTok and YouTube.

While Tim Burton is definitely the mastermind behind this record-breaking series, it would never become a phenomenon without Jenna Ortega who masterfully portrays Wednesday Addams.

How Old Is Jenna Ortega?

Jenna’s character, the titular Wednesday Addams, is 15 (later turns 16) in the series. Meanwhile, the actress recently turned 20. Born in California, on September 27, 2002, Jenna has Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry. That’s where her beautiful looks and celebrity-worthy last name come from. Yes, that’s her real name.

Ortega grew up with five siblings. When she turned six, she knew exactly what she wanted. Her goal was to become famous, and she achieved it with flying colors with the support of her family. Over the past 10 years, Ortega has been landing excellent and deep roles in movies, shows, and TV series.

The young actress has an impressive number of awards and nominations. The latest nomination is for Golden Globe’s Best Television Actress – Musical/Comedy Series Award for her role as Wednesday.

How Rich is Jenna Ortega?

The overwhelming popularity must have brought the lead actress a fortune, right? Of course, she didn’t play Wednesday Addams for pennies. The real figure is still a secret. Is it millions? Not likely.

Since Jenna Ortega isn’t a show business newbie, she is likely to be making a significant amount. However, since she signed a contract before it became obvious that the show was a huge hit, the numbers may have been between $20,000 and $60,000 per episode.

Now that the show’s popularity has gone through the roof, the actress is expected to make millions. For example, next season, the main Stranger Things actors plan to make between $6 million and $9 million.

Today, Jenna’s net worth is $3 million. This is bound to change when she monetizes her 2nd season Wednesday contract. In fact, Netflix already announced the second season of its hit series. You can even watch the trailer.

A Child Star: Jenna Ortega’s 10-Year Career

Jenna is hardly a new face on TV, social media, and movie screens. Ortega landed her first TV role back in 2012 in an episode of Rob. Back then, she was just 10 years old. Her first important role in TV series came in 2015 when she became Darcy (the main character’s best friend) in Netflix’s Richie Rich.

In 2016, Ortega got one of her best roles in Disney Channel’s sitcom TV Series Stuck in the Middle. She did an excellent job portraying the middle child in a family with seven kids. After all, it kind of mimicked her real-life experience.

On the movie screen, Ortega conquered the audience as Tara Carpenter in Scream (2021). She even won an MTV Movie & TV Award for the Most Frightening Performance.

Jenna is also a social media guru. Wednesday brought her a whopping 10 million new followers on Instagram, doubling her existing audience almost immediately. Today, she has almost 40 million followers.  

Is Jenna Ortega Dating Someone?

Jenna acted extremely naturally in Wednesday’s love triangle. But what’s up with her real love life? Being a celebrity for over a decade comes with many nuances, including hard-to-keep secrets. 

Meanwhile, over the past years, even the most experienced paparazzi didn’t manage to find out who Ortega was dating. Is it possible that she never dated anyone?

Ortega is either a big professional at hiding her private life, or she’s not dating anyone right now either. That’s probably because the girl is extremely busy with work. She just finished filming the first season of Wednesday and already plans to work on the second one.

In 2022, this busy actress worked on four different movies. In 2023, fans expect to see her in Scream IV.

Overall, Jenna’s personal life remains hidden from the public eye. However, her immense popularity after Wednesday’s release makes it extremely hard to remain hidden. Most likely, you’ll hear about her dating schedule in the nearest future.

Jenna Ortega is No Longer Vegan

Many Ortega fans worry about her dietary choices. After all, she has been vegan for quite some time. Everything changed when this talented actress landed the role of Wednesday Addams. Why? Because she had to go to Romania to film the series.

The food options in Romania were so different from what Jenna preferred in the past that she had to make some changes to keep up.

While she stopped being vegan, Jenna keeps the meat out of her diet. The actress calls herself a pescatarian (a vegan who eats seafood).

What’s Next for Jenna Ortega?

Jenna is a hard-working actress who manages to juggle several projects simultaneously. Sometimes she regrets missing such ordinary things as prom or high school dances (ha-ha, she made up for that, didn’t she?).

However, this doesn’t keep the young woman from pursuing a successful acting career, winning awards, and bringing new exciting projects to life.

The post Publishers Samples — The Wednesday Phenomenon: Who is Jenna Ortega appeared first on Verblio.

HarperCollins Publishers employees, the only member of the “big four,” are also on an indefinite strike because of the low pay and lack of diversity. The HarperCollins strike comes in the wake of a rise in backing for labor unions nationally, which has reached 71%, its highest level since 1965. 

The Court Ruling on Penguin’s merger with Simon & Schuster

In a brief statement, U.S. District Court Judge Florence Y. Pan issued her judgment and noted that part of it was currently under seal because of “confidential information.” Penguin Random House swiftly denounced the decision as “a regrettable setback for readers and authors.” The publisher declared in its announcement that it will look for a swift appeal.

According to the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division’s Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, “the judgment protects integral publication competitiveness and is a success for authors, readers, and ensures the unrestricted flow of ideas.” Most people expected Pan’s decision because, throughout most of the three-week trial in August, she showed support for the Justice Department’s argument that Penguin Random House’s proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster for $2.2 billion may harm a crucial cultural sector.

However, it remains a sharp break from recent history, both in the literal sphere and beyond. The state has interfered little with the industry’s consolidation over the years, even when Random House and Penguin integrated in 2013 to establish the largest book publisher. 

The DOJ Going for Mergers

If Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster had merged, an entity superior to any competition could emerge. One of Simon & Schuster’s most well-known authors, Stephen King, spoke out against the merger last summer while testifying on behalf of the state. This determination also comes after the department recently lost two important antitrust suits in the federal courts. 

The DOJ’s efforts to prevent one of the biggest sugar refiners in the country, Imperial Sugar Co., from acquisition by U.S. sugar, were unsuccessful, with the prosecution hinting at an appeal to the judgment. The department failed to stop UnitedHealth Group from acquiring the healthcare technology firm Change Healthcare for about $8 billion. UnitedHealth Group is among the largest health insurance provider in the United States. In a separate antitrust case in federal court in Boston, the DOJ has also been litigating American Airlines and JetBlue concerning their regional affiliation in the Northeast, referring to the merger as a de facto.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Penguin Random House did not highlight the company’s current market dominance or customer price increases. Rather, DOJ states that the new corporation would have a monopoly over the commercial book market – those featuring author advances of $250,000 or more. The advances and the number of publications would also decline.

The HarperCollins Union Workers Strike

On November 10, union workers at HarperCollins, one of the biggest publishers in the nation, began an indefinite strike. The strike follows a protracted negotiating process where workers demanded better family leave policies, a firmer commitment to a more diverse workforce, and a higher workers compensation. The UAW 2110 represents around 250 unionized workers, who work in the marketing, public relation, design, and sales fields. Since April, these workers have gone without  any pay.

The message in the months before the strike focused on their dismal salaries, as the business claimed record profits in 2021. A recent report claims that HarperCollins employees make an average compensation of $55,000, with the basic pay being $45,000. According to Stephanie Guerdan, an associate editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books and shop steward at the HarperCollins Union, none of it can help one survive in New York City. Guerdan also says that the employer asks the workers to get to their Manhattan offices at least once a week.

Executives at HarperCollins informed all staff members in a company-wide memorandum that they could not come to a collective bargaining deal with their unionized workers. According to the firm, it has “made plans to ensure that activities run unhindered during the strike.” After two years of expansion, the company’s revenue is down about 11%, according to recently revealed financials for the quarter that ended September 30. The earnings fell by 54% to $39 million.

In a statement, a company representative said: “HarperCollins has accepted a series of demands made by the United Auto Workers Union for consideration in a contract renewal. We shall carry on in good faith with the negotiations, notwithstanding our disappointment that a deal has not been achieved.”

Support for the Strike

Striking workers are asking authors, agents, and freelancers not to do any new business with the employer, but to proceed with any current contractual agreements. On Twitter, different authors and booksellers have also expressed their solidarity about the strike.

According to romance author Allie Therin, “inhabitable salaries and unsustainable environment lead to burnout and turnover. I endorse fair worker contracts.” Bree Paulsen, an artist and author of graphic novels, wrote on Twitter: “HCP union has my full backing.” 

Laura Harshberger, a senior production editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books and the unit head of the union, also said living with her parents and doing part-time retail work allowed her to work in publication only until she was in her 20s. “When employees do not get decent pay, that shrinks the perspective of whoever decides what publications to publish. That hurts both the company and the consumers,” Harshberger wrote in a tweet.

Elise Bryant commented, “as a HarperCollins author and former teacher union participant, I support the union. They deserve a decent contract and fair pay, considering how many talented people strive so hard to make our publications a reality.”

The post Publishers – Big 4 Publishers Breaking News: DOJ Blocks PRH’s Acquisition of Simon & Schuster as HarperCollinsPublishers Union Strikes appeared first on Verblio.

The publisher tracks featured panel interviews and presentations with many publishers, such as The Atlantic, TechCrunch, Vice, Teen Vogue, Fast Company, Washington Post, Axios, and more. Let’s explore the five key takeaways from the Lisbon Web Summit 2022. 

Prioritize your audience, and the revenue follows

A steady theme was how publishers should learn to desist from looking at their offerings to develop and then think they will scale after launch. Instead, they were encouraged to concentrate on their audience as their top priority. And through research and information, they can better attend to their audience’s needs.

Publisher at Axios, Nicholas Johnston, said, “we are yet to figure out a supernatural secret, we only have a different blend of income, and we are meticulous in establishing around that. Most publishers make the mistake of building first, particularly startups, and believe the cash will follow shortly.

Global Chief Officer of the Washington Post, Joy Robins, who chose the theme, said, “As a news publisher, you need to resolve that you are a business. Immediately you establish that, it’s better to align your business with accountability and shared goals. The organization must be ingrained in your audience. And, while subscriptions, advertising, and events are a by-product of that, they need to begin with the audience.”

Johnston contributed, “A vital aspect is to acknowledge the relationship with your readers. If you are dependent on Google, Facebook, or any other social media platforms for serving your audience, know that you are already at their disposal. And, they aren’t in the news business, but simply operating their business.”

As Nicholas Johnston, Axios Publisher said, ”I cherished being Axios Chief Editor. That’s because if I devise a plan and the sales reps can sell it, I get to onboard several journalists as I desire. We’ve now reached 200 journalists. ” 

Micropayments are back as a prevailing fashion

Micropayments may soon be in the spotlight after multiple false downs. Some newsgroups, who requested to stay anonymous and were looking closely at the tech or launching micropayments next year, spoke.

From the tech merchant’s viewpoint, the arguments are vivid: micropayments add another revenue stream while also opening up a publisher’s content to a broader audience, many of whom will eventually become subscribers.

Publishers need more convincing. One newsgroup said they were sure that micropayments would cannibalize current subscriber revenue and become a zero-sum game. Thus, they will need to create hundreds of micropayments for each subscriber they lose. But the same newsgroup also said they were looking closely at the tech, with reams of data scientists and statisticians pouring over the possible dispositions.

Besides, tech vendors and publishers are advancing away from easy per-article offers. Instead, they

are looking at themed and cheaper bundles. Now that recent data reports we may have reached peak subscription, the year that micropayments emerge as an earnest force could be 2023.

Publishers are perching over the creator economy

Think Patreon, Substack, and YouTube – as the Creator Economy faces a skyward curve. News publishers tell What’s New in Publishing (WNIP) about how they seek to hire creator economy ‘names’ to captivate new and further diverse audiences. For centuries, publishers have harnessed popular names.

So, it’s nothing new. Before, the news media created most of these big names.

Today, the trend has changed, and news companies are looking beyond their chambers for prominent Creator Economy geniuses. As if they got a tip-off, the Guardian launched ‘Pop Culture with Chanté Joseph’s. Every week, the podcast dives deeper into trending stories to attract a new breed of readers. Joseph, who spoke at the Summit, said,” The hidden thing if you are working for a publication as a creator is that you need to keep your integrity. It’s very crucial.” Publishers should take note.

Gen Z no longer trusts mainstream news

A similar theme from the 2022 WAN-IFRA Congress, where the Reuters Institute Director, Rasmus Kleis Neilsen, highlighted a fatal plunge in media trust, was reiterated around the 2022 Web Summit.

Menacingly, Gen Z is running away from press media and seeking trusted information from their friends instead. As Journalist Ann Curry said,” Gen Z are an intelligent generation and don’t trust people within my age group. They are seeking information from each other.”

A Correspondent at the Shade Room, Judith Nwandu, added ” Gen Z are popular on Snapchat and TikTok, and they’re bothered that there are just a few influential men, for instance, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who have sole ownership over affluent media platforms. That’s inconvenient for them. “

Today, TikTok is the only social media handle where news digest is growing for news companies. But recently, Brendan Carr, Federal Communication Commission, said, “I don’t think there’s a way forward for anything besides a TikTok ban.”

It’s a mess. News companies should determine how hastily their young readers abandon them and discover why.

Events have returned with a reprisal

The utter array of the event is suitable enough to persuade a coldhearted pessimist that events have entirely recuperated from the Covid19 pandemic. But, with a broader community haunted by increasing inflation and battling with some phenomena, such as energy shortages & war, it might take a bold publisher to persevere on events that usually take many years to plan. Contingency and full insurance are crucial.

Also, as people now choose whatever they spend money on, creating an unmissable event is necessary. As proven by the Summit, people will usually come miles away if you get the content right.

Key takeaways from Lisbon’s Web Summit?

The Web Summit is a unique tech event worldwide. It’s an opportunity for participants to establish collaborations, boost sales, improve brand awareness, and network. Publishers should restore audience expectations, and micropayments may soon get a lot of attention.

The post Publishers — Key Lessons from The Lisbon Web Summit 2022 appeared first on Verblio.

To say that things have been interesting would be an understatement. The first thing Elon Musk did was dissolve Twitter’s board and fire top executives. And, amid grand promises of promoting free speech, the billionaire has now rolled up his sleeves to turn Twitter upside down.

What the heck is going on with the king of Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX, and the Boring Company? Is there a method to his madness, or is he just winging it and hoping it works?

You’re Fired! Musk’s Whirlwind Approach

In addition to the board and top executives, Musk has fired over 3,700 Twitter employees. According to him, the company is losing $4m a day. To save the company, he intends to stem the bleeding of funds and even slash $1B from the company’s infrastructure costs.

On the Friday of 4th November, Musk fired 50% of the tech giant’s employees via email, including many critical engineering and content moderation teams. In a later meeting, Musk said that he “had no choice.”

Those who survived the layoffs were hardly better off, being required to work 12 hours a day with some sleeping in office couches to meet Musk’s grueling deadlines. And that’s despite Musk wanting to revamp Twitter’s policies and bring in new features on a tight timeline.

Is Musk trying to realize his grand vision with less than half the workforce? There has been an interesting turn of events as he later asked some of the employees he fired to “please come back” because they’re essential to the company and the new features he’s working on.

It goes to show how reckless Musk has been in his first few weeks at the helm of what is one of the world’s most influential social media platforms. Not that he’s shying away from controversy and Twitter wars.

Tweeting Through the Storm

Despite being the solo top dog at Twitter and simultaneously running his other companies, Musk has ramped up his activity on Twitter, spitting out more than 25 tweets a day. That’s a lot even for him, with his most recent tweets ranging from beefing with Jack Dorsey to making masturbation jokes.

Musk’s Twitter account has been pretty interesting lately. He named himself “Chief Twit” on his profile and later, “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator.” On Sunday, he contributed to a conspiracy theory arguing that birds aren’t real; they’re robots that spy on us. 

The Atlantic calls Musk’s tweeting an “exhausting, enraging, grimly hilarious spectacle.” Musk’s first tweet after completing the takeover was, “the bird is freed.” This supposed liberation seems to be the proliferation of misinformation, propaganda, and extremist filth.

After all, Musk wants to protect free speech, never mind if it’s offensive or outrightly subversive. Then, he decided that Twitter will sell the blue verification checkmark for $8 a month and told complainers, “please continue complaining, but it will cost you $8.”

Changing the Verification System and More

Originally, Twitter gave a blue checkmark to notable people, such as politicians and celebrities after verifying their identities. It was a way to prevent impersonation and misinformation, but now Musk wants to give the verified check mark to anyone who can pay.

A lot of people are unhappy and angry at Musk, especially since he’s passing off the subscription service as a solution to the “lords and peasants system” for who has or hasn’t the checkmark.

This premium version of Twitter, called Twitter Blue, will be expanded into other countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Musk has also been considering other ideas, many of which he’s floated on the platform. They include:

• Bringing back Vine, a TikTok-like video-sharing platform by Twitter that was shut down in 2016
• splitting the platform into tiers of content so that users can select what version they want
• Allowing Twitter Blue users to post longer videos, up to 40 minutes long, and eventually removing the time limit
• Charging people for watching video content, with Twitter getting a cut from the proceeds
• Forming a committee to review Twitter’s policy on content moderation and possible reinstatement of banned accounts, such as Donald Trump
• Revamp the search function
• Monetize other forms of content
• Allow users to attach long-form texts

Musk has floated many more ideas through his tweets, many being fantastical and some highly controversial—all in a day’s work.

Twitter is Dealing With a Massive Drop in Revenue

So far, the response to Elon Musk’s erratic leadership has been discouraging. Advertisers have left the platform in droves, fearing poor content moderation especially after Musk’s firing spree reduced the moderation team from hundreds to just 15.

General Motors (GM), General Mills Inc., (GIS), and Mondelez International (MDLZ) have all stopped posting Twitter ads. Many civic groups and advertising agencies have been urging brands to boycott the platform and warned Musk that they would pull ads if he continues to undermine Twitter’s community standards.

These concerns are warranted, it seems. According to researchers, racist slurs have been on the rise on the platform. After Ye’s antisemitic debacle, his supporters flooded the platform with racist tweets in his support, forcing Twitter to delete some of Ye’s tweets and suspend his account.

Twitter is hemorrhaging revenue as scandals like this drive away advertisers. That’s why Musk is desperate to retain and grow revenue by charging users for verification and for consuming certain types of content, even as he pushes with his plans to overhaul the platform. 

“Thermonuclear” Campaign

Despite his seemingly carefree campaigns at Twitter, Musk has been working on overdrive to prevent the mass exodus of advertisers from the platform. He already sent a message claiming that he wouldn’t let hate speech run free on the platform.

In the message, Musk said that Twitter cannot become a “free-for-all hellscape.” Even then, many brands such as Lucky Charms and Cheerios (under GIS), GM, Audi, and Pfizer are yet to be convinced.

On Friday, Musk supported a proposal to start a “thermonuclear name and shame campaign,” saying that he’d tried everything to “appease advertisers,” but activists have been working against him. 

Having spent $44 billion on Twitter, we can understand why he’s so eager to keep up the revenue by any means possible.

What Does it all Mean for Online Publishing?

Amid all this chaos, and given how much power and influence Twitter (and Musk) wield, it’s unsettling to watch how it’s unfolding. Plenty of people have already weighed in on these events.

Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t impressed that a billionaire is selling free speech for $8 a month. Dinesh D’Souza and other conservatives are “giddy, hopeful, and incredulous,” and they celebrated by popping a $4,000 bottle of Louis XIII cognac.

Novelist Stephen King promised to be “gone like Enron” if Musk instituted the $8 charge, and many other influential people feel the same. Those who joined the exodus, voluntarily or otherwise, include Whoopi Goldberg, Amber Heard, Shonda Rhimes, Sara Bareilles, Gigi Hadid, Toni Braxton, Ken Olin, and Mick Foley.

What’s next for Elon Musk and Twitter? Honestly, we can’t tell. Online publishing changes daily, but you can stay in-the-know with us.

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