Article 1: League of Legends Worlds
For the first time in over six years, Korean esports team T1 has emerged victorious at the League of Legends World Championship, securing a sweeping 3-0 win against China’s Weibo Gaming. South Korea’s T1 has reaffirmed its status as the world's top team in League of Legends (LOL). Over the past month and a half, 22 teams worldwide competed in a three-stage tournament. The play-in stage began with the eight lower-ranking teams engaging in best-of-three and best-of-five matches, and only two teams advanced. The Swiss stage followed, which pitted the remaining 16 teams against each other in best-of-one matches; those who achieved three wins progressed to the final stage. The Knockout stage featured a more conventional format with single elimination brackets in best-of-five matches, culminating in T1’s victory on Nov. 19 at the Gocheok Sky Dome, Korea’s largest indoor venue.
The Worlds Finals attracted a record-breaking 6 million concurrent viewers with performances from Heartsteel, a virtual boy group by Riot Games, as well as K-pop sensations NewJeans and Mako. This year marked a decade since the debut of Faker, known as the greatest LOL player in history, at Worlds in which he and T1 had previously won in 2013, 2015 and 2016. T1 had fallen short for the past six years, and many fans had hoped this year would be different. Following the performances, a special commemoration video played, which set an emotional tone as it hinted at Faker’s possible last time on stage.
“The third trophy was for myself. The fourth trophy ... is for my teammates.” With those final words, Faker touched the hearts of everyone watching, regardless of their allegiance. In the last three games, Weibo Gaming put up a good fight, but ultimately couldn’t overcome T1’s All-Star roster comprising Zeus, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi and Keria. Zeus, the youngest member of T1, was later crowned the Finals MVP. As this year’s Worlds concludes, fans speculate whether T1 can maintain this roster, with many claiming it to be one of the best, if not the best, teams in recent history. For now, fans can rest assured as Faker and Oner remain under contract, and the rest have recently re-signed.
Article 2: Recent Boycotts in the News
Boycott refers to the refusal to purchase products of an individual, corporation or nation as a way to bring social and political pressure for change.
Why do people boycott?
Adrianne Wright, founder and chief executive of Rosie (a storytelling agency for nonprofit organizations) explains: "It's good to rally and march, but just gathering may not get the outcomes you're looking for. To move the world forward, you have to think about how to make good trouble, and get more creative with your tactics." Some relevant boycotts to acknowledge in recent news, for example, are ones happening amidst the Israel-Hamas conflict — as well as anti-LGBTQ+ boycotts.
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS), a 20-year-old movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction, is a tactic — not an organization, Groups take up their own campaigns may focus on a slightly different set of targets, but share a moral grounding in acts of peaceful resistance. Part of BDS’s directive is to shake up western support of the Israeli government. Starbucks sued its union, Starbucks Workers United, earlier this month after the labor organization posted a since-deleted message on X expressing solidarity with Palestinians; triggering calls to boycott Starbucks, when some appeared to mistake the union's position for that of the company. Indonesians began boycotting McDonald’s and other businesses in mid-October after McDonald’s Israel announced on social media that it had handed out thousands of free meals to the Israeli military amid its war with Hamas. Turkey’s Grand National Assembly bans Coca-Cola and Nestle products from restaurants: a decision made to respond to "huge public outcry against these companies" over their alleged support for Israel amid the conflict in Gaza, without directly specifying what either companies did to support their war effort. In light of these boycotts, brands such as Spiro Spathis, Egypt’s oldest carbonated drinks company, find a resurgence in demand thanks to a nationwide campaign to boycott western manufacturers supportive of the Israeli government.
An anti-LGBTQ+ group organized a boycott of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade over performances by non-binary Broadway actors. While similar campaigns have led brands including Budweiser and Target to cave to activists’ demands, the parade has long had close ties to Broadway — one of the most LGBTQ+. friendly industries in the city.On the topic of companies hesitating on outreach due to the political targeting of LGBTQ+ individuals, thus jeopardizing inclusion of the community: president and CEO of LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis states: “Companies are walking a tightrope as they try to court a community that tends to have high rates of disposable income, receptiveness to tailored advertising and brand loyalty but that has also become the target of a storm of legislative attacks and cultural criticism”
Article 3: End of SAG-AFTRA Strike
On Nov. 8, 2023, the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and Hollywood’s studios after a 118 day long strike. The tentative agreement was approved with 86% of the vote by the heads of both associations. Now, the agreement needs to be voted on and approved by the union members to become the contract for the next three years. Voting will commence on Nov. 14 and continue until December.
The strike first began in July to fight for better pay and working conditions alongside contractual provisions on the usage of artificial intelligence (AI). With the rise of streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix, actors were receiving less from residuals: payments from when their work is reused beyond its initial performance. Additionally, actors have expressed their growing concerns surrounding the usage of AI in film production as AI could be used to exploit performers’ likenesses without appropriate compensation to the performers.
With the tentative agreement, many of these concerns have been addressed. Some of the highlights include an increase in the minimum wage, better streaming residuals and bonuses, and protections around the usage of AI. More specifically, the minimum wage will increase by 7% on November 9, 2023, with sequential increases on July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, by 4% and 3.5% respectively. The new agreement will also require studios to obtain the clear consent of the actor or their representative with at least 48 hours of advanced notice and compensation — equivalent to if the performer were to have performed in person — to create and use AI replicas of the actors.
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