Mediagazer: President of Gannett domestic publishing and USA Today publisher John Zidich retiring in April 2018 after more than 40 years at Gannett (Mike Snider/USA Today)

8:40 AM ET, November 2, 2017

Top News:

Six women, including actress Olivia Munn, have accused filmmaker Brett Ratner of sexual harassment and assault — Natasha Henstridge was watching a movie on Brett Ratner's couch when she fell asleep. She was a 19-year-old fashion model; he was an up-and-coming music video director in his early 20s.

Beatrice Verhoeven / The Wrap:

Filmmaker Brett Ratner to “step away from all Warner Bros.-related activities” amid sexual misconduct allegations — Brett Ratner has decided to “personally step away from all Warner Bros.-related activities” following a Los Angeles Times report Wednesday in which six women accused the producer of sexual misconduct.

Discussion: Deadline, @orlandosentinel, Variety, @danielnmiller, @superdizzy14, The A.V. Club, Vanity Fair, LAist, IndieWire, Business Insider, KTLA, Mediaite, Jezebel, Fortune, The Guardian, Just Jared and Consequence of Sound

Washington Post:

Lawmakers release a sampling of Russian Facebook ads placed during and after campaign — Lawmakers on Wednesday released a trove of ads that Russian operatives bought on Facebook, providing the fullest picture yet of how foreign actors sought to promote Republican Donald Trump …

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

During congressional hearing, Facebook's general counsel said 120K Instagram posts from Russian-linked accounts reached 16M Americans from Oct '16 to election — Facebook detailed the extent of Russia's election interference campaign on Instagram today during its second congressional hearing.

Discussion: @alexstamos, Recode, @d1gi, Axios, @umairh, Forbes, @margarita, Fast Company, @d1gi, @d1gi, @alexismadrigal, Slate, @anthony, @hannahkuchler, @alexismadrigal, Mashable and Broadcasting & Cable, more at Techmeme »

Politico:

Prior actions shows Facebook, Google, and Twitter cannot be counted on to police themselves; it's time for proactive prevention with real oversight — Google, Facebook and Twitter took a beating on Wednesday testifying in front of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees …

Discussion: Washington Post, BuzzFeed, TechCrunch, TechCrunch and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:
E-mail: Twitter offered Russia Today “share of voice” increase from 2% to 15% for $3M via ads during US election vs 56% SoV for CNN, 32% for Fox; RT declined

Discussion: @topherspiro, @joshsternberg, @renan, @juliadavisnews, @adviserdavid, Engadget, @crewcrew, @pdanahar, @adamblickstein, @zerlinamaxwell and @jennwongsilver, more at Techmeme »

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook says Clinton and Trump campaigns spent combined $81M on ads on the platform, compared to $46K spent by Russian Internet Research Agency

Discussion: Recode, Mother Jones, The Verge, Fast Company, Forbes, Motherboard, Engadget, Axios and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

CNNMoney:

Memo: NPR's Senior Vice President of News Michael Oreskes has resigned over allegations of sexual harassment — NPR's senior vice president of news Michael Oreskes resigned on Wednesday amid allegations of sexual harassment and improper behavior in his past. — “I am deeply sorry to the people I hurt.

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

Wall Street Journal alumni and staff fear an exodus of top reporters after recent editorials that attacked special counsel Mueller and undermined reporting — A series of virulent anti-Mueller editorials has reporters worried about their paper's credibility.

Discussion: New York Times, @brianstelter, @oliverdarcy, @jayrosen_nyu, Wall Street Journal, MediaFile, The Daily Caller, Slate and Financial Times

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Sources: some Fox News staffers said they were embarrassed by network's news and opinion coverage of Mueller's investigation into Russian election influence

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Business Insider, Mediaite, The Wrap, bookforum.com and The Week

Erich Schwartzel / Wall Street Journal:

Disney sets tough rules for theaters showing The Last Jedi: a 65% cut of ticket revenue for studio, a four-week minimum run, and a 5% penalty for violations — Exhibitors say the studio's top-secret terms are the most onerous they have ever seen — LOS ANGELES—The box-office domination of the …

Discussion: CinemaBlend, io9, Business Insider, @dangillmor, Mashable, /Film and The Week

New York Times Company:

In Q3, NYT adds 154K net digital-only subscribers, up 14% YoY; Cooking app, which launched early in the quarter, adds 23K subscribers; revenue up 6% YoY — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)— The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) announced today third-quarter 2017 diluted earnings per share …

Discussion: @dleonhardt, Recode, Poynter, @jonathanvswan, @mattdpearce, @peterbakernyt and The Wrap

Ken Doctor / TheStreet:
Print advertising now makes up 17% of revenue for The New York Times, and reader revenue tops 60%; 43% of ad revenue is digital

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

During a conference call, Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley said Bill O'Reilly did approach the company but said they have “no interest” in hiring him — During a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley fielded a question …

Discussion: Politico, Broadcasting & Cable, Media Matters for America, The Week, FierceCable, @karaswisher, @jeremymbarr and Washington Free Beacon

Ben Munson / FierceCable: Sinclair Broadcast Group Q3 earnings: overall revenue down 3.3% to $670.9M YoY, with political revenue down to $7.3M from $45M during presidential elections

Alexandra Steigrad / WWD:

Conde Nast will close Teen Vogue print edition; cut 80 jobs, equivalent to 2.5% of their workforce; and lower frequency of some titles, including GQ and Glamour — The publisher continues to slash costs as it builds up its digital business. — Condé Nast headquarters at 1 World Trade Center.

Discussion: Fashionista, @kimberlynfoster and @clarajeffery

BBC:

Three more men have alleged that actor Kevin Spacey sexually harassed or assaulted them; one was a teenager when the incident happened — A man has said he was left traumatised after waking up to find Hollywood star Kevin Spacey lying on him when he was a teenager in the 1980s.