Top News:
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Matt Lauer apologizes for his behavior and admits there is “enough truth” to the allegations to feel ashamed in statement timed for the “Today” show broadcast — Watch how Matt Lauer covered sexual harassment — A day after NBC announced his termination …
Discussion:
Forbes, Mediaite, Variety, Bloomberg, New York Times, Business Insider, Washington Post, Deadline, Mashable, @brianstelter, myfox8.com, AOL, The Daily Caller, Fortune, Splinter, @cillizzacnn, @brianstelter and The Week
RELATED:
Politico:
NBC's shifting statements about Matt Lauer draw scrutiny: second statement noted that “current management” had not received complaints before Monday — After saying there were no complaints over 20 years, the network later stressed no complaints to ‘current management.’
Discussion:
@jasonschwartz, @david_s_cohen, @timothynoah1, @bckrasnow and @pagesixemily
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Reliance on network TV star anchors helped drive revenue, but also created conditions for power imbalances and incentivized networks to condone bad behavior
Reliance on network TV star anchors helped drive revenue, but also created conditions for power imbalances and incentivized networks to condone bad behavior
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Mediaite, @guardian, @sulliview, @jimrutenberg, @rudoren, Washington Post, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Vox, @brianstelter, @anthony, Variety, Vanity Fair, Forbes, The Wrap, Mashable and @davidfolkenflik
Mike Allen / Axios:
Memo from NBC News Chairman Andy Lack: “Today” anchor Matt Lauer has been fired following a complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behaviour
Memo from NBC News Chairman Andy Lack: “Today” anchor Matt Lauer has been fired following a complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behaviour
Discussion:
New York Times, Mediaite, Variety, Deadline, CNNMoney, AOL, Fox News Insider, The Wrap, Jezebel, Vanity Fair, TIME, Washington Post, Business Insider, Vanity Fair, The Week, The Stranger …, TVNewser, Fortune, The Daily Caller, ABC News, PAPERMAG, Multichannel News, Mashable, @raminsetoodeh, NBC News, @jimrutenberg, @alexweprin, Financial Times, Ad Age, Broadcasting & Cable, The A.V. Club, TVWeek.com, abc7ny.com, FOX2now.com and France 24
Variety:
NBC sources describe Lauer's transgressions: lewd comments, invitations to his hotel room late at night on assignment, and dropping his pants in his office
NBC sources describe Lauer's transgressions: lewd comments, invitations to his hotel room late at night on assignment, and dropping his pants in his office
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Wrap, New York Times, Fox News, Deadline, The Daily Beast, Jezebel, Philly.com, Associated Press, TIME, Business Insider, @ewagmeister, Washington Post, Fast Company, AOL, People.com, The Daily Caller, Fortune, Page Six, Hit & Run, The A.V. Club, Mashable, Vanity Fair, Crain's New York Business, IndieWire, The Gateway Pundit, TVWeek.com, TVNewser, Forbes, New York Magazine, Variety, myfox8.com, Slate, CNNMoney, The Week, Vox, TMZ.com, New York Times, Variety, The Guardian, NPR, VICE News, CBS New York, Newser, The Federalist, Splinter, KTLA, @mlcalderone, thecut, @lpolgreen, @markfollman, @tressiemcphd and On The Beach Blog
Jack Shafer / Politico:
Project Veritas' attempted sting against the Washington Post highlights the ethical questions of using deception in reporting — What the latest Project Veritas flop can teach us about undercover media work. — Project Veritas went undercover and got buried in its own muck this week.
Discussion:
@amlwhere, @harrymccracken, @jessepesta, @hudakzak, @davidfolkenflik and @klerner
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Project Veritas' Jaime Phillips, who tried to plant a false story about Roy Moore, spent months trying to infiltrate The Post, other media in Washington and NY — The failed effort by conservative activists to plant a false story about Senate candidate Roy Moore in The Washington Post …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Vanity Fair, @foreignpolicy, Newser, The Stranger …, The Week, @ddale8, The Guardian and @abtran
Kim Severson / New York Times:
Time Inc. announces it has sold Sunset magazine to Regent, a private equity firm in Beverly Hills; sales of Essence, Golf, and Time Inc. UK are also pending — Sunset magazine, founded in 1898 as a way to lure travelers West and which went on to help generations live their best California lives, has a new owner.
Discussion:
Eater
Ivana Kottasová / CNNMoney:
Twitter says it didn't delete anti-Muslim tweets retweeted by Trump because it makes occasional exceptions to rules so people can see every side of an issue — Outrage after Trump retweets anti-Muslim videos — President Trump has been heavily criticized for his decision to retweet three graphic anti-Muslim videos.
Discussion:
Forbes, @justinwelby, @nickbilton, @drewkerr, PRI, @jbouie, @parkermolloy, CNN, The Guardian, www.wnyc.org, @jasonabbruzzese, @shaunking, @breyeschow, @bridgeinit, Al Jazeera English and The Intercept, more at Techmeme »
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Memo: Vice News fires three employees amid investigations into sexual harassment — Vice Media fired three employees on Thursday amid a probe into sexual harassment and improper workplace conduct, according to a memo obtained by CNNMoney. — Vice did not name the employees.
Discussion:
Mediaite and @thegarance
Tiffany Kary / Bloomberg:
Judge says Thiel can't stop legal probe into his role in Gawker's demise, but says Thiel can bid on remaining assets, including litigation claims against him — Investigation of billionaire's role in bankruptcy can proceed — Gawker estate says claims against Thiel may be worth millions
Discussion:
BuzzFeed
Erin Griffith / Wired:
Profile of Bored Panda, which hit 116M unique visitors in October, mostly via Facebook, and how it avoided Facebook's clickbait purge by providing good content — FOR A YEAR or two in the early 2010s, a certain genre of cheesy, irresistibly uplifting headline was unavoidable on Facebook.
Discussion:
New York Times, @mattmittenthal, @ranimolla, @bydanielvictor and @kevinroose
Josh Kosman / New York Post:
Sources: Sinclair is close to accepting DoJ remedies for approval of $6.6B buyout by selling 13 Tribune stations, though it hopes only to sell 10 — Sinclair Broadcasting is close to accepting a remedy proposed by President Trump's Department of Justice to allow its $6.6 billion buyout …
Discussion:
FierceCable
Matt Pressberg / The Wrap:
Liberty Global invests in movie distributor STX, which is aiming for a Hong Kong IPO; Bruce Mann, Liberty's chief programming officer, to join the STX board — Independent distributor STX, which is heading toward a Hong Kong IPO, has secured an investment from telecom giant Liberty Global, the company announced Thursday.
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter and Variety
Yashar Ali / HuffPost:
No black women were listed among 683 panelists at Business Insider's annual digital and media conference established in 2010, though some invites issued, per BI — The annual gathering of media and digital industry leaders appears to have a blind spot. — Since 2010, just after Thanksgiving each year …
Discussion:
@britnidwrites and @spicepirate00