• Texas was out of power and water, among other necessities, recently. Discussed solar power, battery power or some of both as potential solutions. What are the options for the future? Scary times and solutions from Tesla  and others. What's the life of those big batteries? Will they get smaller? Talk about sustainability, gardens and solar panels. Tree-hugger moments for sure. https://news.energysage.com/tesla-powerwall-battery-complete-review/
• Meanwhile, Texas media was in the breaking news coverage mode for quite some time. Challenging times for people and the teams out there covering the news, for sure. How do television stations use their digital muscle to reach people through their mobile phones in times without power? Digital is the play for news as it's all happening on the phone when people are scrambling for power, water and a roof over their heads. Sites we noticed coverage on in Texas during the storm. https://www.click2houston.com/ https://www.kxan.com/ wfaa.com
• Nik shares his experience about living through Hurricane Irma when he was covering news in Southwest Florida. Find Ft. Myers on the map and you'll see where he was as this storm traveled up the coast. He went to a shelter as a reporter and gives insight about how people were consuming media during that big weather event. How digital and social media are changing the pace of news coverage in big events. What was he able to cover from the shelter? And what was off limits?  https://www.weather.gov/tae/Irma_technical_summary
• Facebook and Google's make deals to pay for news content in Australia. Google negotiated. Facebook didn't, at first, then came around. Our discussion took place about mid-stream in the process. It's a potential precedent-setting situation. When Facebook pulled off the content, news providers' reach and circulation dropped by 13%, almost immediately. Horror struck and the content providers stepped up with FB to settle the "blackout" on FB. Questions for Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. among other countries studying this. How are FB and other tech companies being used by protesters and people wishing to create awareness across the world? The bigger question with the platforms having so much power and leverage, is this the next generation of traditional retransmission consent? That's where cable, satellite and other distributors pay producers and content owners for their content. It's the beginning of this story. Much more to come and here's a quick summary from the BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56163550

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