Mediagazer: NYT's apology for giving Kavanaugh article to Bazelon highlights the absurdity of the idea that people with expertise can't have opinions for objectivity's sake (Reed Richardson/FAIR)

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:

Tech firms strongly refute Bloomberg's story on Chinese spies installing chips into motherboards; story shows the difficulty of reporting on national security — Today's bombshell Bloomberg story has the internet split: either the story is right, and reporters have uncovered one of the largest …

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, Amazon Web Services, Apple, 9to5Mac, The Register, @tomgara, KnowTechie, The Western Journal, @mathewi, @jamesrbuk, Softpedia News and @zackwhittaker, more at Techmeme »

Ben Bland / Financial Times:

The Financial Times says Hong Kong will not renew a work visa for Victor Mallet, the paper's Asia news editor, and has not given a reason for the decision — The Hong Kong government has rejected the visa renewal application of the Financial Times' top news editor in Asia …

Salvador Hernandez / BuzzFeed News:

Minnesota's NBC affiliate fired reporter Jim Bunner after he wore a MAGA hat while covering a Trump rally for the station, citing a policy violation — A reporter for an NBC affiliate in Minnesota was fired Friday, one day after he was spotted wearing a “Make America Great Again” …

Discussion: Star Tribune

Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:

Kavanaugh hearings are a boon for hyperpartisan publishers on Facebook, though the most popular links on the subject come from trusted news sources like WaPo — “It is certainly the biggest story in politics since the 2016 election,” one publisher told BuzzFeed News

Discussion: @firstdraftnews

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Source: Tribune Publishing and McClatchy inch toward merger, with Chatham Asset Management agreeing to swap $300M in McClatchy loans for equity in new company — Tribune Publishing — up until Oct. 4 known as Tronc — is inching closer to a potential merger with the McClatchy Co.

Discussion: @sarafischer and @benmullin

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
Tronc, the parent company of the Chicago Tribune and other daily newspapers, is changing its name back to Tribune Publishing; stock symbol changes to TPCO

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Spotify says it is beta testing Spotify for Podcasters, a program to give any podcaster the ability to syndicate their show via the music service — Spotify is beta testing a new program to get more podcasts onto its service. Spotify for Podcasters gives any podcaster the ability to syndicate …

Discussion: KnowTechie, SlashGear, Radio Facts, TechCrunch, The Verge, newsroom.spotify.com, Engadget and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Marisa Fernandez / Axios:

Poll of 2,200 US adults reveals ~60% rarely or never read Trump's tweets, only 15% read them very often, those who do read them are more likely to be Democrats — A new Public Affairs Council/Morning Consult poll reveals that a majority of Americans have become indifferent toward President Trump's tweets …

Sarah Marsh / The Guardian:

Retailer Topshop abruptly canceled a partnership with Penguin featuring a collection of feminist writing; Topshop apologized and donated £25K to charity Girl Up — Store apologises and makes donation to charity after removal of pop-up promotion — Topshop abruptly cancelled …

Discussion: The Independent, BBC, @hwallop, Daily Mail, Telegraph, @tkingdot, @magic_kitten, @schooltruth and @olivershah

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

LadBible to buy a substantial part of Unilad's £10M debt as part of administration, prompting allegations that rival site is driving Unilad out of business — LadBible's purchase of Unilad's debt prompts accusations rival is driving Unilad out of business

Discussion: @simonnricketts, @jimwaterson, @bitsocket, @futurecanon and The Guardian

Reed Richardson / FAIR:

NYT's apology for giving Kavanaugh article to Bazelon highlights the absurdity of the idea that people with expertise can't have opinions for objectivity's sake — What happens when a national newspaper cares more about the appearance of bias in its reporting than any actual evidence of it?

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

Guardian Weekly to relaunch as glossy news magazine, will have higher cover price and greater focus on design; GW has a circulation of about 42,000 worldwide — New-look publication will have slightly increased cover price and greater focus on design — The Guardian is to relaunch …

Discussion: @jamesrbuk

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

CBS sets new December 14 deadline to reveal recipients of $20M pledge, announced when Moonves stepped down, to groups that advocate for workplace equality — When CBS announced last month that longtime Chief Executive Leslie Moonves had stepped down amid a sexual harassment scandal …

Discussion: The Wrap, The Seattle Times, Broadcasting & Cable, Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Deadline