Top News:
Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:
Gannett to point print readers in its 109 markets to its digital sites for fresh election results, reduce midterm news in print, and drop paywalls for 48 hours — In cities across America, you won't be able to find even the most cursory election results in your Wednesday morning newspaper next week.
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
After The Intercept's inquiry, Facebook deletes “white genocide conspiracy theory” as a pre-defined ad targeting category with an estimated 168K users — Apparently fueled by anti-Semitism and the bogus narrative that outside forces are scheming to exterminate the white race …
Discussion:
@samfbiddle, @samfbiddle, @hjarche, @kevinroose, The Verge, @ashleyfeinberg, Boing Boing, @anandwrites, @christophrlucas, @coreypein, Memex 1.1, Gizmodo and CBS Pittsburgh, more at Techmeme »
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Programming on Facebook Watch has evolved as it focuses on sports, news, and high-profile stars/creators and funding for shows by digital publishers dries up — Facebook says it wants Facebook Watch programming that's unique to its platform — with big names and built-in distribution, if possible.
Discussion:
@maxwillens, @mattnavarra, @billsimmons and Business Insider
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
TraceMe, NFL star Russell Wilson's celebrity app, has laid off staff, closed LA office, pivoted to a sports prediction game; TraceMe to shutter in coming weeks — One year after attempting to take on social media giants with its own content platform focused on celebrities, TraceMe is pivoting.
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Freedom House moves the US down a spot in its global internet freedom rankings citing net neutrality repeal, surveillance law renewal, disinformation, and more — If you need a safe haven on the internet, where the pipes are open and the freedoms are plentiful — you might want to move to Estonia or Iceland.
Discussion:
Business Insider, TIME, Slate and Freedom House, more at Techmeme »
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Fact-checkers at the Washington Post, PolitiFact, and FactCheck.org are stretched thin by the volume of the false claims Trump makes as appearances ramp up — The Onion is on top of the news: “Nation's Fact-Checkers Confirm They'll Probably Wrap Up Evaluating Trump's Statements By 2050 At Latest.”
Discussion:
@rstefandeeran and CNN
David Kent / Pew Research Center:
Pew: 77% of US newsroom employees are non-Hispanic whites, 61% are male, and 48% are non-Hispanic white men, more white male than overall US workers, industries — Newsroom employees are more likely to be white and male than U.S. workers overall. There are signs, though, of a turning tide …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Apple News partners with AP for real-time results in Election Night section, with stories from Axios, Fox, WaPo, NYT, others; launches 8pm Eastern, November 6 — Apple is preparing to launch a new way for its customers to track election results. The company, on 8 PM ET on November 6 …
Discussion:
Engadget, MacRumors, Slate, 9to5Mac and Editor & Publisher
Todd Spangler / Variety:
EDO, a startup that uses consumer behavioral data from search engines and shopping sites to measure effectiveness of TV ads, raises $12M in Series A funding — EDO, co-founded by actor and entrepreneur Edward Norton, has banked $12 million in Series A funding to fuel its buildout …
Discussion:
Forbes, TechCrunch, Adweek, Deadline, Broadcasting & Cable and VentureBeat
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Amazon will stop emailing popular Washington Post articles to customers as of November 5, possibly to avoid accusations of partisanship — - Online retailer distances itself from Bezos-owned newspaper — Trump has said news organization is Amazon's ‘chief lobbyist’
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Tow-Knight Center announces project to create a trust indicator for news outlets that aggregates the corpus of fact-checks, endorsements, public trust, and more — Any attempt to declare which news sources are good and which are bad is a task freighted with danger.
Discussion:
@zielina, @niemanlab, @jbenton, @jeffjarvis and @niemanlab
Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:
Forbes cuts ties with sports business columnist and deletes post arguing WNBA players should earn higher salaries after the NBA voiced concerns to editors — Forbes magazine cut ties with a contributing columnist and sports economics professor last week after a dispute over his piece about WNBA player salaries.
Discussion:
@memcnally, @dhellingsports and @esoterictalia