Mediagazer: Brad Kern, a consulting producer on NCIS: New Orleans, has been fired by CBS Television Studios following a third HR probe into harassment and other allegations (Maureen Ryan/Hollywood Reporter)

Brad Kern, a consulting producer on NCIS: New Orleans, has been fired by CBS Television Studios following a third HR probe into harassment and other allegations — A third investigation into the former ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ showrunner has resulted in his dismissal from the CBS procedural and his overall deal being terminated.

Discussion: @moryan, New York Times, @ira, @emilynussbaum, Slate, The Daily Beast, @poniewozik, @bergopolis, @spacekatgal, Vulture, @moryan, The Wrap, @bridgetontv, Variety, TVWeek.com and TV Tattle

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Sony's Ministry of Sound in the UK strikes a deal with Apple Music to provide exclusive playlists starting Thursday, effectively shutting out Spotify — Apple Music and the Ministry of Sound label have struck an exclusive playlist deal that will effectively shut out Spotify, a rep for Apple confirmed to Variety.

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide, MacRumors and @kierondonoghue

Erin Arvedlund / Philly.com:

The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and watchdog outlet The Caucus are joining forces to cover the state with a project called Spotlight PA — At a time of dwindling resources for news, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and The Caucus …

Discussion: The Lenfest Institute …, @lisagartner, @bmarimow65, @dangillmor, @pilhofer, @bgrueskin, @angelasink, @swischnowski, @danielrubin, @ericopinion and @dlboardman

Daniel Holloway / Variety:

Sources: Gary Newman is in negotiations with 21st Century Fox to remain with the company and lead Fox Broadcasting post-Disney deal — Gary Newman is in negotiations with 21st Century Fox to remain with the company and lead the Fox Broadcasting through an anticipated transition period.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, MediaPost, TVWeek.com, @smashdawg, Radio & Television …, Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

White House corrects transcript from press conference to reflect Trump insulting ABC journalist Cecilia Vega by saying that she never thinks — The White House on Tuesday corrected its official transcript of President Donald Trump's Monday press conference in which he insulted an ABC reporter.

Discussion: The Daily Beast and CNN

David Bauder / Associated Press:

NYT says it shouldn't have assigned Emily Bazelon, a magazine writer who criticized Kavanaugh on Twitter, to story on Kavanaugh's alleged role in bar fight — NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times said Tuesday that it should not have assigned a writer who criticized Brett Kavanaugh on social media …

Discussion: New York Times, Mediaite, @oliverdarcy, The Daily Caller, @paleofuture, @sparkycollier, @brithume, @conor64, @jayrosen_nyu, @thor_benson, @kfile, @brianros1, @frankjannuzi and @mattyglesias

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

The Google News Initiative has launched a beta version of a search engine to find fact-checking posts from sources like Snopes and PolitiFact — Google wants to make it easier for people to find fact checks. To do that, the company is building another version of what it's most known for: a search engine.

Discussion: @dpfunke, @dpfunke and @holden

Samantha Cole / Motherboard:

Wikipedia editors have voted to classify Breitbart as an unreliable reference for facts and decided that Infowars should be generally prohibited as a source — Alex Jones' InfoWars and the far-right media outlet Breitbart can't be used as a source of fact in Wikipedia articles anymore, “due to its unreliability.”

Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:

Singapore legislation, expected to pass next year, will give the government “powers to swiftly disrupt the spread and influence of online falsehoods” — Government hearings in Singapore put Facebook under intense scrutiny and have paved the way for a new fake news law in the country.

Discussion: @venkatananth, @craigsilverman, @mat and @kixes

Tim Peterson / Digiday:

TV networks and studios are using chat fiction app Yarn to target younger audiences for their existing shows and to develop new content franchises — TV networks and production studios are turning to text in search of younger audiences for their existing shows and inexpensive options to develop new content franchises.

Jason Rezaian / Washington Post:

Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post and a prominent critic of Saudi Arabia, has disappeared after entering Saudi consulate in Istanbul — Our contributor Jamal Khashoggi entered the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon. Many hours later, there is still no news from him.

Discussion: Associated Press, @lindseyhilsum, Wall Street Journal, @soltanlife, @jrezaian, @nahaltoosi, @andreaprasow, @democracyjourno, @margheritamvs and @monaeltahawy

Joel Pavelski / GQ:

How White House print reporters have turned into professional pundits to meet cable's nonstop demands, including new wardrobes, weight loss, and dental work — Thanks to the nonstop demands of cable news, the ink-stained wretches covering Trump have transformed into tightly tailored professional pundits.

Discussion: @jbendery, @missbeae, @priaribi, @daviduberti, @molliereilly, @joelcifer, @ohheyjenna and The Wrap

OpenSignal:

Survey of overall mobile video experience in 69 countries, where Czech Republic and Hungary top the rankings and US is 59th — For years, OpenSignal has reported on the speed, availability and latency metrics of the world's mobile operators. But now we're taking our analysis of the mobile user experience one step further.