Mediagazer: Sinclair's Epshteyn praises Trump for signing family-separation executive order “on his own”, blames Congress for holes in immigration law in must-run TV spot (Pam Vogel/Media Matters for America)

6:10 PM ET, June 21, 2018

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Pam Vogel / Media Matters for America:

Sinclair's Epshteyn praises Trump for signing family-separation executive order “on his own”, blames Congress for holes in immigration law in must-run TV spot — Sinclair's Boris Epshteyn: Media have “seized on this issue to make it seem as if those who are tough on immigration are somehow monsters”

Discussion: The Wrap, Mediaite, @johnjharwood, WJLA-TV, Vox, @adamcbest, @pamela_vogel, @brucebartlett, NPR and Splinter

Tessa Lyons / Facebook:

Facebook announces updates in effort to fight false news: using more machine learning, expanding fact-checking partnerships, using Claim Review framework, more — Over the last year and half, we have been committed to fighting false news through a combination of technology and human review …

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Alexandra Steigrad / New York Post:

Sources: former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter is planning his own media company covering wealthy and famous European families, is in talks with TPG Capital — Revenge may just be the sweetest victory for Graydon Carter. — The legendary magazine editor, less than a year after stepping away …

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NBC News:

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Donie O'Sullivan / CNNMoney:

By embedding lighthearted tweets without trying to verify the authenticity of Twitter accounts, news outlets legitimize and increase the reach of Russian trolls — Russians released anti-Clinton video game weeks before election — Russian trolls posing as an American college student tweeted …

Discussion: @lilymasonphd, @cnn and @blowryontv

Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:

MTV launches MTV Studios, which will reboot and reimagine past shows and franchises like Daria and The Real World to shop them to outside networks and streamers — Network president Chris McCarthy wants to mine the youth-focused cable network's vault to revive old hits …

Discussion: Multichannel News, Variety, MediaPost, @jongraywb, Fortune, @kingbeyoncestan, Consequence of Sound, @thr, The Outline, The Verge, Gothamist and PAPER

The New York Times Company:

The New York Times adds Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, as a columnist for its opinion pages starting September — Today The New York Times announced that Michelle Alexander will join the Opinion pages as a columnist in September. — James Bennet, New York Times editorial page editor …

Discussion: @jformanjr, @jenparker393, Splinter, @parkermolloy, @jamilsmith and @msshanitarenee

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

AT&T unveils 31 TV networks offered in its WatchTV streaming service, which is launching next week for $15/month and is also included in two wireless plans — AT&T announced the launch of its new internet service Watch TV Thursday, revealing both the TV networks included in the service …

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Fast Company, @reckless, Hollywood Reporter, Engadget, MediaPost, PR Newswire, Fortune, MacRumors, Multichannel News, The Verge, 9to5Mac and CNET, more at Techmeme »

Taylor Blatchford / Poynter:

Gallup/Knight survey: 77% of Republicans believe news is biased vs. 44% of Democrats and ratings of accuracy and bias diverge especially for Fox, CNN, and MSNBC — Americans believe 39 percent of news in newspapers, on TV or on the radio is misinformation — but their views of social media are even worse.

Discussion: The New York Observer, Knight Foundation, @brianstelter, @viacristiano and Trust, Media and Democracy

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook begins letting Group admins test a feature that charges members $4.99 to $29.99 per month for access to exclusive sub-groups — Facebook is starting to let Group admins charge $4.99 to $29.99 per month for access to special sub-Groups full of exclusive posts.

Discussion: @noahchestnut, The Verge, Facebook, Stock Market News …, MediaNama, Fast Company, Entrackr, INSIDE, Fortune, SlashGear, The Next Web, Gizmodo, Android Police, Alex Deve, Engadget, MediaPost and @elanazak

Lea Trusty / The Engaged Journalism Lab:

Research finds gaps in philanthropic support for newsroom diversity, with fewer and smaller grants for ethnic and racial groups, women, and LGBTQI populations — New research released today by Democracy Fund traces half a decade of philanthropic investment in organizations, programming …

Discussion: DemocracyFund

Nilagia McCoy / Shorenstein Center:
Breakdown of $1.8B in media-related grants from 2010-2015: 44% to public media, 5% to magazines, 12% to national nonprofits, 5% to local/state nonprofits

Discussion: @jcstearns and Inside Philanthropy

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Univision issues statement calling on Democrats and Republicans to end practice of separating children from their parents at the US-Mexico border

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