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Michigan State played a strong first half in Thursday night's First Four game against UCLA, but the main story at the break concerned a heated exchange between Tom Izzo and junior forward Gabe Brown as the two were walking off the floor.

After UCLA scored a bucket at the buzzer to cut Michigan State's lead to 11, Izzo chided Brown beneath the basket for missing a defensive switch. When Brown yelled back in disagreement and then turned away, Izzo grabbed him by the arm, then by the back of the jersey as Brown continued walking up the tunnel to the locker room.

It was reminiscent of Izzo's clash with Aaron Henry in the NCAA Tournament in 2019. The difference, in this case, is that there was physical contact between player and coach.

Izzo was asked about his confrontation with Brown shortly after Michigan State's season-ending OT loss in which it blew an 11-point second-half lead.

"You guys are beautiful," he said with a laugh. "He missed a play and I told him and he walked away and I told him to come back. We went through this a couple years ago. After a game like that, thats the question youre going to ask? I guess I'll answer it because the media has the right to ask whatever question, but well get him in here and you can ask him. It was a normal nothing. Its just that in this day and age, everythings something. It was over a missed switch that we had talked about."

On the TBS postgame show, Kenny Smith said the question deserved to be asked "because it's not normal to see a coach-and-player relationship like that."

"Coaches are there to not create the chaos, but to control it. That chaos was not controlled in that moment, and it was visible. It wasnt on the bench, it wasnt in the locker room, it was visible to everybody watching and it wasnt normal," said Smith. "To me, both were in the wrong. I dont think anyone was right in that situation. I dont think that should be normal behavior for any coach or player."

Fellow analyst Charles Barkley, meanwhile, defended Izzo's actions -- much like former Spartan Draymond Green on Twitter.

"This thing is getting out of hand," Barkley said. "A coach can yell at his players. If I yell at my kid and he walks away, Im gonna grab his arm, 'Im not done talking to you.' That's the exact same situation. When your parents or your coach is talking to you, you dont walk away. Im not gonna be one of these idiots on TV where every time a coach yells at a player, they say the coach is wrong. If your coach is trying to talk to you, you dont walk away."

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Izzo calls heated exchange with Brown 'a normal nothing' - 97.1 The Ticket

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural CommunitiesThe Honourable Mark Furner

Cash grants worth $1.4 million for getting rid of feral pests are now available under Round 6 of the Queensland Feral Pest Initiative (QFPI).

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the funding was critical to supporting the agriculturfe sector throughout regional Queensland.

We have backed regional Queensland to succeed, and the success of our agricultural sector is a critical part of Queenslands plan for economic recovery, Mr Furner said.

This funding will increase the capacity of local governments to manage the feral pests that are a problem for farmers in their communities.

Mr Furner said through the QFPI, the Queensland Government had now committed $24.74 million over five years to support the construction of cluster fencing and the control of invasive plants and animals.

This investment has been complemented by a $14 million investment from the Federal Government, he said.

This latest round aims to support local authorities and organisations in taking on more of their biosecurity responsibility by building their capacity to manage pest plants and animals.

There is also fundng specifically for local governments to continue coordinated 1080 baiting programs. This is open to local governments that were previously supplied from the DAF-managed 1080 stockpile.

To apply for QFPI Round 6 grants, visit http://www.daf.qld.gov.au or call the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries on 13 25 23. Applications close 28 April 2021.

Mr Furner said as with previous rounds, these grants would reduce the impact of feral pests while creating jobs in the regions and underpinning the Queensland Governments Unite and Recover Queensland Economic Recovery Package.

ENDS

Media contact: Ron Goodman 0427 781 920

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More funding for feral pest control supports the regions - Media Statements

A message is being circulated on social media claiming that several countries across the world have imposed new lockdown restrictions amid the rise in COVID-19 cases in their countries. This post claims that Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Brazil, Spain, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy have imposed lockdown once again to control the second wave of the COVID-19 virus. Lets verify the claim made in the post.

Claim: The list of countries that imposed new lockdown restrictions to contain the second wave of COVID-19 virus.

Fact: The same message is being circulated on social media at least since December 2020. According to the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, several countries eased the lockdown restrictions imposed during the rise of second-wave cases in their countries. The countries mentioned in the list are implementing lockdown with only a few restrictions. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.

When we searched for the details of the claim made in the post, it is found out that the same message is being circulated on social media at least since December 2020. Old social media posts that shared the same message can be seen here, here, and here.

The Governments in different countries are implementing a wide range of preventive measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. To track and compare the policy responses of different countries, Oxford University created a database called The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker. This tool provides the visual representation of the lockdown measures using the COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index, a composite score developed by researchers at Oxford University. Financial Times provided the visual representation of the COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index of different countries on their website. Based on this information, lets check the lockdown measures of different countries mentioned on the list.

Saudi Arabia:

According to the latest report of Geo News, Saudi Arabia lifted most of the COVID-19 virus-related restrictions from 07 March 2021. In February 2021, Saudi Arabia banned travellers from 20 different countries as a preventive measure to control the spread of COVID-19 second-wave. Saudi Arabia lifted these restrictions on 07 March 2021. The Oxford University COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index score of Saudi Arabia was between 50-75.

Tanzania:

According to the article published by QUARTZ AFRIA, the Tanzania government underreported the rise of COVID-19 cases in their country. On 21 February 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) called upon Tanzania Government to take robust actions to contain the COVID-19 virus spread in their country. Acknowledging the rise in COVID-19 cases, Tanzania President John Magufuli advised the people of Tanzania to wear masks and maintain physical distance. John Magufuli reiterated that country will not impose a lockdown again.

Brazil:

According to the latest reports, Brazil Government imposed a two-week lockdown in Brazilia amid the rise of COVID-19 cases in the state. Hundreds of Brazilians protested the Brazil Governments decision to reimpose a lockdown in Brazilia. The Oxford University COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index composite score of Brazil was between 50-75.

Spain:

According to a news report, Spain lifted down most of the lockdown restrictions from 15 March 2021. Night curfew remains in place from 10 pm. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index score of Spain is 50-75.

United Kingdom:

According to the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, UK is implementing strict lockdown measures to contain the COVID-19 virus spread in their country. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index score of the UK was between 85-100. On 08 March 2021, Boris Johnson led UK Government implemented the first phase of Englands roadmap to lift down the lockdown restrictions. Boris Johnson assured the people of the UK that almost all COVID-19 restrictions in the country could be lifted by 21 June 2021.

France:

According to a BBC news report, France is implementing a curfew between 6 pm to 6 am. Schools have opened with extra testing in place. France imposed weekend lockdown measures in parts of the French Riviera, including Nice and Cannes, as well as parts of the north coast. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index composite score of France is 50-75.

Germany:

According to the latest report of The Hindu, Germany extended lockdown restrictions until 28 March 2021. But, the German Government eased most of the restrictions and allowed the businesses to reopen in areas with low infection rates. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index composite score of Germany was between 75-85.

Italy:

According to the latest report of The New York Times, Italy imposed a strict regional lockdown from 15 March 2021 to contain the spread of the coronavirus. A nationwide curfew between 10 pm to 5 am continues in Italy. The country is divided into red, yellow, orange, and white zones depending on the infection rates. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index composite score of Italy was between 75-85.

To sum it up, an old message is now revived as the new lockdown restrictions in different countries to contain the second wave of COVID-19.

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Old message revived as new lockdown restrictions in various countries to contain second wave of COVID-19 - Factly

Conspiracy theorists, fascists, far-right, loonies, nutjobs are just some of the words used to describe the crowds that have taken to the streets to protest against lockdown measures.

Some of these words accurately describe some of those in attendance. There is no doubt that the anti-lockdown movement has been infiltrated by far-right fascists. There is no doubt that conspiracy theories have successfully twisted peoples sense of reality.

But to laugh, scoff and label everyone on the streets as a loonie or nutjob is both highly inaccurate and extremely damaging to how were going to recover from the effects of the past year.

The people who have taken to the streets are your neighbours, your colleagues, your schoolmates, your local publican.

In other words, they are regular people who have been driven to the point of despair by the longest lockdown in Europe.

They have watched the lockdowns affect their children, their relationships, their livelihoods, and many feel like they have nothing left to lose.

We have watched over the past year as the same political parties who bailed out the banks, and failed to gain any control over a housing and healthcare crisis, have stumbled their way through the pandemic.

The same parties have failed to implement common-sense approaches to fighting the virus and have been responsible for contradictory restrictions, irresponsible Government leaks and, dare I mention it, Golfgate.

The pull of conspiracy theories

Peoples frustrations are more than justified and many people who took to the streets are just that frustrated. But there is a murkier side to this movement that we need to talk about.

I have been monitoring online conspiracy theory and far-right movements for almost five years and what I am seeing being discussed within anti-lockdown communities in Ireland is very concerning.

Pre-pandemic, Ireland had active and bubbling anti-5G, anti-vaxx and far-right movements. They were part of an international online ecosystem where pseudo science and the opinions of bad actors reigned. When the pandemic struck, these groups banded together and used this online ecosystem to spread their theories on the pandemic to the masses.

Extended periods of time spent indoors and online, coupled with powerful social media algorithms that boost content designed to generate reactions began pushing these theories into peoples news feeds. The online ecosystem exploded.

Protesters clash with garda during the anti-lockdown protest in Dublin in February. Picture: Damian Eagers/PA Wire

Recent research conducted by my colleague Ciaran OConnor at ISD shows that Irish Covid conspiracy communities have almost doubled in the last six months. New influencers came on the scene who spoke determinedly about how lockdowns and masks were unnecessary and were infringing on your civil rights.

If this was a real pandemic, surely people would be dying in the streets, they said.

Ill never forget the videos of overcrowded hospitals in Wuhan, or scenes of bodies piled up on the streets in Ecuador, that prove exactly why lockdown was the only answer, especially in Ireland, where videos of overcrowded hospitals were commonplace, even without a pandemic.

Conspiracy theory belief is driven by fear, anger, insecurity and distrust, all things that have increased dramatically among the general population in the last year.

When you enter these online communities, you find just that, a community, something people have been without for a year. Here are thousands of people, all feeling as disaffected as you and determined to collectively find a purpose to fight back.

They vent their frustrations at the Government, speculate about what they think is really going on and misinterpret small pieces of information that lack context. Many share convincing videos outlining the idea that the pandemic is all part of a global plot, or that the vaccines are designed to harm you. They constantly reassure each other of their new reality where nothing is as it seems.

Aoife Gallagher: 'Online anti-lockdown communities in Ireland are consistently peppered with content from other conspiracy theory movements such as QAnon, sovereign citizen anti-government movements and various far-right and white nationalist movements.'

Conspiracy theories often erase the fact that humans act as individuals with their own thoughts and decision-making abilities in a world that is random.

They propose a world where a small number of elites have the ultimate control, and they in turn control those in governments, the media and science. No one working in these industries can be trusted as a result and they are often dehumanised and presented as the ultimate evil force.

Conspiracy theories can be empowering and addictive and if you believe in one, it's much easier to believe in more, as the enemies are often the same. The online world creates the perfect environment for this rabbit-hole effect.

Online anti-lockdown communities in Ireland are consistently peppered with content from other conspiracy theory movements such as QAnon, sovereign citizen anti-government movements and various far-right and white nationalist movements.

Given the right narrative and timing, this can lead to radicalisation and people becoming completely dissociated from friends and family members, as seen in countless stories out of the US in the past year. Pulling people back into reality is extremely difficult and often unsuccessful.

Far-right involvement

The far-right has the most to gain from sending people into this conspiratorial alternate reality. In real life, their opinions are abhorrent and despicable. In the conspiracy theory world, they are reasonable and warranted.

In Ireland, it has been well reported that the far-right has been fanning the flames of the anti-lockdown movement, organising rallies that resulted in violence and using online influencers to spread falsehoods.

They use populist talking points, mixed with powerful disinformation tactics, to present themselves as the ultimate opposition to the Government, and good, unsuspecting people are being taken in by their narratives.

This is the same far-right that spreads vile disinformation following tragedies, launches homophobic smear campaigns against gay politicians and consistently harasses people that do not fit their archaic definition of what it means to be Irish.

Ireland should not underestimate the power of these movements. The past four years in the US has shown us what can happen when a populist leader takes hold by spreading lies, fear and conspiracy theories.

The language and phraseology I see in anti-lockdown conversations here is frighteningly similar to those Ive monitored in the US.

What can we do?

What can we do, you ask? If you know people going down these paths, reach out and talk to them. You dont have to talk about lockdowns or Covid, the goal is to keep them connected to reality.

Informing people on how to discern truth from fiction online is key to tackling this. Both adults and children need to be able to navigate the online world without falling into dangerous movements or believing in harmful lies. Media Literacy Irelands Be Media Smart campaign is a great example of how this can be done.

The elephant in the room is, of course, the social media platforms. Their lack of regulation, along with a business model that is powered by the amount of time people spend online, means that tackling this issue requires some bold, brave thinking.

Ireland houses the headquarters of some of the worlds largest social media companies, putting us in a unique position to lead on finding regulatory and policy-based solutions to tackle these issues.

The next few years are going to be some of the hardest this country has ever faced and murky far-right forces are going to spread lies and fear to exploit every minute of it.

Collectively, as a nation, we need to remain vigilant and call out their hate, lies and spin for exactly what they are.

Aoife Gallagher is a Research Analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue

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Anti-lockdown frustrations are justified, but we need to talk about the darker side of this movement - Irish Examiner

Data-Driven Thinking is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media.

Todays column is written by Jeff Green, CEO atThe Trade Desk.

There is an index for the equities markets that tracks volatility called the VIX, used by many to gauge fear or stress in the market. If there were a VIX for advertising (maybe there will be someday), it would have doubled or tripled since Google wrote its blog post a week ago regarding its approach to identity technology and the replacement for cookies.

Since that post, Ive spent a lot of time with clients and partners that have worked with us to develop Unified ID 2.0 (UID2), correcting misinformation, and interpreting Googles recent moves. Ive also spent time with Google, more than usual, in the last week discussing the future of identity and our partnership. Ill come back to the partnership, but spoiler alert: Its in good shape.

Most of the biggest brands and content owners Ive talked to this week dont believe Google is proposing a solution for consumer privacy on the open internet. If anything, it has accelerated moves among the biggest brands, agencies, publishers and TV content owners to adopt UID2 in order to do that work.

Google is protecting itself. Thats okay, and to be expected. They have one of the largest and arguably most sensitive pools of personally identifiable information (PII) on the internet within its own four walls, so promoting itself as privacy-centric is smart. Living up to it is honorable.

But lets be clear. Google is not proposing a solution for the open internet. Google is not announcing that it is ceasing the use of PII. I believe Google will continue to rely on PII and its billions of email-based logins to target ads on publishers that they dont own.

(Ed: A Google spokesperson said this is not accurate).

I believe Google is sincere in raising the bar on privacy in its ecosystem. Like almost everyone, I tell Google everything. When I have a problem, I google it. If I need advice and information whether its about my health, my relationships, my children, or anything else Google is there to help me. So we should all be glad that it is focused on making things more secure. The jury is out on whether FloCs accomplish that or might make it worse, but that isnt really the point of its post last week. Google is trying to secure its ecosystem. Their ecosystem.

But what about the rest of the internet? The one where all of journalism and this amazing new era of CTV content lives and pretty much everything else for that matter?

Last year, the ad tech community came together to create a replacement for cookies. It was an unprecedented industry-wide collaboration. Why? Because wed all learned from the past. The EUs General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was fresh in memory. As an industry, most publishers waited to implement GDPR changes until CPMs dropped. And then together we played catch-up, working to implement changes that should have been carefully and deliberately implemented along the way. The industry learned its lesson. And this time, its better prepared.

The governance organizations for advertising, such as the IAB and the Partnership for Responsible Addressable Media (PRAM), all wanted a replacement to cookies, but it had to meet certain criteria and those criteria were all-encompassing. It needed to be more secure, give consumers more control, explain the value exchange of free content on the internet more effectively, enable third-party governance, maintain efficacy for advertisers, and preserve yield for publishers.

Thanks to this unprecedented and timely collaboration, UID2 checks all these boxes. And its never been more necessary.

Think about the current state of TV. We are in a new golden age of TV content, which has kept most of us sane during the past year as weve worked from home. Personally, I never want to see the now showing ad 1 of 3 to turn into now showing ad 1 of 10. But without data-driven advertising, it will.

Most consumers cant afford new TV subscriptions without offsetting the cost with ads. If we turn $30 CPMs that come from targeted ads into $10 CPMS that come from untargeted ads (or ads from only FLoCs), well be back to a linear-like ad load with a linear-like efficacy. And in that world, we wont be leveraging data to optimize the experience for consumers, advertisers and publishers.

For this reason, it was very telling that one of the first adopters of UID2 was Nielsen, the gold standard in media measurement. As Nielsen innovates its measurement tools for a cross-channel advertising environment, its deploying UID2 because it will become a new common measurement currency across all digital channels on the open internet.

Think about journalism, which has often struggled with the shift to digital, but is currently coming out of recovery and poised to thrive. 10 years ago at a conference in San Francisco, I spoke to hundreds of leaders of the biggest newspaper companies in the United States and reinforced that their success would depend on their ability to put programmatic advertising next to their content. I believed that then and I believe it now. Without targeted advertising, journalism will struggle and the number of journalists doing important work will massively shrink to a few scaled outlets.

This is why Im so encouraged that one of those scaled outlets The Washington Post and its technology arm, Zeus has adopted UID2 well in advance of the phasing out of third-party cookies early next year. That means that the hundreds of smaller news outlets like the Miami Herald, The Seattle Times, and The Dallas Morning News that use Zeus can get higher CPMs from targeted advertising.

As a consumer, the health of journalism and the quality of TV content is important.

As the CEO of The Trade Desk, I also want to live up to the principles I outlined in our S1 before we went public. Our mission is to help our clients compete in the marketplace of ideas the place in media and public discourse where ideas and messages compete in the open market for the mindshare of men and women around the world.

I also want to live up to the small sign that my grandfather hung on his office wall: God bless my competitors, because they make me better, faster, and stronger.

I want there to be a marketplace of ideas. I want a competitive marketplace. I dont want a monopoly or an oligopoly. I want to help other companies thrive, and I want the market to be vibrant. Thats what motivates me.

That is the beauty of the open internet. It is an open market where competition inspires creativity, innovation, progress, and efficiency. And when companies compete, consumers win.

In the wake of Googles announcement last week, some even suggested that the ad industry should embrace walled gardens, monopolies, and concede the internet to Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon. None of those companies are even asking for that. In fact, quite the opposite. Theyre not focused on the open internet.

And this is why a unifying ID is so important. UID2 is for the open internet. Its for TV, and news, and consumers. As a consumer, I prefer fewer, more relevant ads. Most consumers do. And we dont want all of our data in any one company. UID2 was designed with a philosophy to give consumers control. Data doesnt move unless a consumer wants it to, and unless the consumer gives consent. Even the use of the ID requires consent that has to be given explicitly to each site or app. There is no central data base or company that controls it. The consumer does.

Key to this consumer control is a log-in for the open internet based on an email address, similar to how consumers log in to the fastest-growing channels of the digital ecosystem today, such as CTV. This puts the consumer in control in a way that was never possible with cookies and would never be possible if the internet only consisted of a series of walled gardens.

Regarding our partnership with Google it is not a monolithic, singular entity with a uniform point of view. Google is one of the worlds largest companies with different divisions that have different goals and interests. There are many at Google who love The Trade Desk, perhaps because we are evidence of a competitive market, and some who dont like us as much, perhaps for the same reasons.

But our partnership with Google Ad Manager (GAM) and its ad exchange is strong. Our discussions this week have focused on how GAM can continue to support its publisher base by giving those publishers the power to utilize IDs that preserve data driven advertising, such as UID2.

I suspect it is not lost on most AdExchanger readers that in a world without cookies or unifying IDs, there is little need for ad exchanges. And Google did not announce that is it shutting down Google Ad Manager. It also did not announce a spinning out of DoubleClick or that it is reducing DV360 to a buying tool for YouTube. And so this collaboration continues. Were a happy client and expect that to continue.

Ultimately every big tech walled garden is dealing with increased privacy scrutiny. As a result, none of them will take actions that will hurt the open internet. If anything, theyre trying to stay out of it.

For the rest of the ad tech industry, that makes our mission very clear. We must develop an alternative to cookies that preserves the value exchange of relevant advertising for marketers; helps consumers make better, more educated decisions; and enables TV content owners, journalists, and publishers to monetize their content and create more of it.

And thats why there has been so much positive UID2 momentum from all corners of the industry in a very short period of time.

Im glad the advertising VIX is up a bit. It is driving the biggest players in media into action.

Follow The Trade Desk (@TheTradeDesk) and AdExchanger (@adexchanger) on Twitter.

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Why A Unified ID Is Critical To The Open Internet, Journalism, And TV - AdExchanger