Top News:
NBC News:
Source: Twitter suspended hundreds of accounts for violating spam rules; the accounts had posted pro-Saudi Arabia tweets about the disappearance of Khashoggi — Twitter became aware of some of the bots on Thursday when NBC News presented the company with evidence of coordinated activity.
Discussion:
Boing Boing, New York Times, Engadget, @aliahmadi_iran, Washington Post, BBC, Mashable, @oneunderscore__, @b52malmet, @oneunderscore__, The Wrap and Slate, more at Techmeme »
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Erik Wemple / @erikwemple:
After US treasury secretary pulled out of conference in Saudi Arabia, Fox Business Network follows by announcing it will cancel sponsorship and participation — Fox Business Network has pulled out of Saudi conference: “FOX Business Network has canceled its sponsorship and participation in the Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia. We continue to seek an interview with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.”
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, ABC News, Washington Post, Bloomberg, @oliverdarcy, @erikwemple, @erikwemple and Washington Post, more at Techmeme »
Sam Levin / The Guardian:
As Facebook promotes its “war room” and efforts to fight interference, a study of disinformation on WhatsApp during Brazil's election shows more could be done — Corporation shows off room of engineers, data scientists and other experts but offers reporters few new specifics
Discussion:
Gizmodo, BuzzFeed News, New York Times, The Verge, Facebook, @markdistef, @oliviasolon, @oliviasolon, @kevinroose, Sydney Morning Herald, @ggreenwald, @mikeisaac, @johnpaczkowski, Bloomberg, Telegraph, @adowniebrazil, @ggreenwald, @mariojoze, Yahoo, Softpedia News, TechCrunch, Boing Boing, CNBC and Mashable, more at Techmeme »
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Wall Street Journal:
Factcheck.org debunks less than one post per day, as human fact-checkers' primary role is seen to be helping Facebook's algorithms to understand fake news sites — The social network's algorithms scan billions of posts each day in hopes of flagging misinformation before it goes viral; humans can't keep up
Discussion:
@mathewi, @alkapdc and @georgia_wells, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
Former FBI agent Terry Albury sentenced to 48 months after guilty plea for leaking documents linked to stories in The Intercept — WASHINGTON — By the time Terry J. Albury arrived in Minneapolis in 2012, about 11 years after he went to work for the F.B.I., he had grown increasingly convinced …
Discussion:
Freedom of the Press …, The Intercept, @freedomofpress, @adamgoldmannyt, @onekade, @heidikitrosser, @trevortimm, @theintercept, @alicesperi, @alicesperi, @alicesperi, @alicesperi, @mazmhussain, @_whitneywebb, @fbiminneapolis, @alicesperi, @ggreenwald, The Daily Caller, @charlie_savage, @alicesperi, @cjr, WhoWhatWhy and Editor & Publisher
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Trevor Timm / Columbia Journalism Review:
The Trump administration has now indicted at least five sources for journalists in less than two years, a practice that is a danger to investigative journalism — The Trump administration has now indicted at least five journalist sources in less than two years' time—a pace that …
Discussion:
courthousenews.com, @trevortimm, Techdirt, Washington Post and The Daily Beast
Ed Pilkington / The Guardian:
At a rally in Montana, Trump praised Greg Gianforte for assaulting Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs during Gianforte's campaign for Congress in 2017 — President's comments at Montana rally in praise of violence against US journalist come amid international outcry over Khashoggi — Play Video
Discussion:
@ddale8, @kylegriffin1, The Wrap, Mediaite, The Hill, New York Times, @mtprnd, @guardianus, The Week, Politico, USA Today, Slate, @jonallendc, @producercoop, @ddale8, @loisbeckett, @brendannyhan, @kylegriffin1, @acosta, @commondreams, @monaeltahawy, @pbump, @bcappelbaum and @ddale8
Variety:
CBS names Showtime CEO David Nevins as chief creative officer for all of CBS, in charge of programming, marketing, and research — David Nevins has been named chief creative officer of CBS Corporation effective immediately, the company announced Thursday. — The announcement …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, Los Angeles Times, Broadcasting & Cable, Adweek, Radio & Television …, Deadline and MediaPost
Max Willens / Digiday:
Lenny Letter's website is shutting down Friday; it grew out of a newsletter run by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner, run in partnership with Hearst, then Condé Nast — Lenny Letter's website is shutting down. The site, an outgrowth of a newsletter first run in partnership with Hearst …
Discussion:
New York Post, @kerrymflynn, Variety, AOL and Jezebel, Thanks:@kerrymflynn
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
Interview with Matt DeRienzo, former executive director of Local Independent Online News Publishers, now back to newspapers with Hearst Connecticut Media Group — In 2014, Matt DeRienzo was the editor of the New Haven (Connecticut) Register, then owned by Digital First Media, “and I was ordered to cut half of the staff in my newsroom.
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Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
A close look at the suit against Facebook on video metrics and a look back at many statements from publishers pivoting to video as Facebook touted the medium — “It will probably be all video.” — In June 2016, Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook's VP for Europe, the Middle East and Africa …
Discussion:
Digiday, @jason_kint, Talking Points Memo, @jason_kint, Telegraph, @fraying, @benmullin, Axios, Gizmodo, @danagoldstein, @cehoskinson, @jayrosen_nyu, @jenniferbrandel, Slate, Econsultancy, @ezraklein, @aelkus, @jason_kint, @pfpicardi, TechCrunch, @nash076, Business Insider, Awful Announcing, @jrhennessy, @niemanlab, @fraying, @brendanrmarks, @juliamacfarlane, @bfishbfish, @emilybell, @adam22, @caro, @amyharvard_, @nathanfenno, @blackamazon, @mikeindustries, @joshtpm, @adamweinstein, @jimmy_durkin, @nerdseyeview, @lucas_jackson_, @wesblog, @jason_kint, New York Magazine, @counternotions, @msavener, @erinmdurkin, @jonbernhardt, @scottros, @molly_knight, @adamweinstein, @allcapsbro, @davemilbo, @joshtpm, @jamescdownie, @rachsyme, @parkermolloy, CBS News and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »
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Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Publishers like Mic and Mashable do not blame Facebook's bad metrics for their pivot to video; ad revenue from video wasn't affected by video watch time
Publishers like Mic and Mashable do not blame Facebook's bad metrics for their pivot to video; ad revenue from video wasn't affected by video watch time
Discussion:
@mattdpearce, @joshsternberg, @mikeisaac, @rameeztase, @nwquah, @benmullin, @katieperalta, @natesilver538, @mikkipedia, @mekosoff, @rechelon and @alukeonlife
Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:
Jason Miller adds a co-host of the Chapo Trap House podcast to suit against Gizmodo Media Group because of the co-host's tweet calling Miller a “baby killer” — First, he sued Gizmodo Media and a reporter over a claim he gave an abortion pill to a stripper.
Discussion:
Contemptor, @jstnmtchll, @blanketboat, @popehat, @xor, @bradmossesq, @mattyglesias and Boing Boing
Jon Levine / The Wrap:
NYT defends its Gavin McInnes profile, saying that it was written in response to events in the news and addressed “his racist, sexist and xenophobic comments” — “We disagree with the main points of criticism,” paper says after accusations that it glossed over key details of McInnes' history
Discussion:
@mattgallowaycbc, @mathewi, @jayrosen_nyu, Media Matters for America, Salon, @talibkweli and @nytimes
Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
Penguin Random House is merging two of its units, Random House and Crown Publishing Group; Gina Centrello will lead the combined division — Penguin Random House, the largest publishing company in the United States, is merging two of its most prestigious publishing lines, Random House and the Crown Publishing Group.
Discussion:
Publishers Weekly and Bookseller News