Welcome to the NewsWhip Daily spotlight round-up for the week of April 25th. This week, Elon Musk makes headlines with Twitter takeover, and interest in Earth Day significantly drops.
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Apr 25th: Milani disputes Amber Heard’s claim in court
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have been in the mix of a tense legal battle in recent weeks, of which the trial is attempting to determine if Depp was defamed in a 2018 Washington Post essay written by Heard.
The trial has featured difficult and painful accusations of domestic abuse, and now the makeup brand Milani has gotten involved due to Heard’s claim that she used their product to conceal injuries.
Public interest peaked multiple times over the weekend as articles about Milani disputing Heard’s claim were published online. The Daily Mail had the most engaged article about the brand (91k), reporting that Milani’s statement that the product had not been released during the time of Heard and Depp’s relationship.
Apr 26th: Elon Musk officially buys Twitter
Yesterday morning it was rumored that the Twitter deal Elon Musk has been brewing could officially land before the end of the day, and by the afternoon the billionaire had already taken to Twitter to confirm the news and share his future plans for the platform.
In the last 24 hours there have been 7.2M engagements to articles about Musk and Twitter, the majority of which after 11am were about Twitter accepting his deal.Â
Publishers have used a variety of headlines to capture attention about the new deal, with Breitbart writing “Elon Wins,” and others calling it a “Twitter Takeover.” The top article overall came from Fox Business and has since earned over 216k engagements.
There is concern over what this purchase means for Twitter, and some publishers like Daily Caller have reported on users threatening to ditch the platform now that Musk is in charge (112k).
Apr 27th: Bad news for Earth Day: 4x less interest than last year
A lot has changed since the first Earth Day celebration in 1970. The state of our planet is more perilous compared to 52 years ago, and while a more collective sense of environmental activism has emerged — with consumers increasingly demanding change from brands and large corporations — interest in coverage about Earth Day has been significantly dropping, especially in 2022.
We can’t say for certain why this year looks a bit different, but we can dive deeper into what stood out in a less crowded space.
This year we might have expected to see a similar amount of interest to Earth Day as 2021, especially with more companies joining the Climate Pledge and a continued interest in sustainability practices from not only brands, but people around the world, according to Google. However, when it comes to media coverage about Earth Day and the interest articles have generated, it’s fallen to only 846k engagements.Â
One story that did feature three times in the top 10 articles was about a Colorado climate activist who set himself on fire in front of the Supreme Court (44k combined).Â
Our full Earth Day analysis can be found here.
Apr 28th: Leaked audio from Twitter meeting reveals employee worries
Since it was confirmed that Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter had been accepted, a flurry of conversations have emerged online, from discussions on who might be allowed to return to the platform, to comments on Musk’s intentions.Â
Yesterday, an audio clip from a Twitter All-Hands meeting was leaked, exposing how some employees are feeling about the takeover, and this particular story has gained interest online.
The Conservative Brief had the top article (29.3k engagements) about the leaked audio, reporting on comments from a board member acknowledging the emotional impact of Musk’s acquisition, and the Chief Marketing Officer stating that they’ve been put in a difficult position.Â
Apr 29th: Elon Musk gets pulled into Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s trial
As the defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp continues to brew and more information comes to light, more individuals are getting pulled into the mix, including Elon Musk, who’s already been making headlines thanks to Twitter.
Publishers have reported on Heard’s pledge to give away $3.5 million to the ACLU after her divorce settlement from Depp was finalized, and the news that Musk might have paid $500,000 towards her donation has sparked interest.
The Daily Mail has earned the most engagement (41k) with its article about how the $1.3 million the ACLU has received so far has been paid, revealing that Depp also made a payment of $100,000 on Heard’s behalf.
Before yesterday it was also a possibility that Musk would testify in the trial, as he was included on Heard’s witness list, but The Independent and LADBible have since confirmed that will not happen, despite the recent information about the ACLU or Musk’s previous relationship with Heard.
That’s all for this week, but don’t forget you can subscribe to the NewsWhip Daily to receive the top predicted stories of the morning and every spotlight delivered straight to your inbox.
