Mediagazer: Current and former employees of news orgs sponsored by the blockchain startup Civil say they haven't received the compensation they were promised when hired (Leigh Cuen/CoinDesk)

4:50 PM ET, November 27, 2018

Top News:

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

Condé Nast's Chief Executive Bob Sauerberg is stepping down, with the company to combine its US and international operations under a new global CEO — Publisher says Condé Nast and Condé Nast International will combine — Condé Nast said Chief Executive Bob Sauerberg …

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, CNN, Ad Age, @ennisnyt, @david_marcelis, @oliverdarcy and @edmundlee

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Fox & Friends allowed then EPA chief Pruitt to choose which topics he would discuss on the show, sent questions in advance, and even gave approval over script — The president's favorite cable-news show shared its interview scripts and its oh-so-hard-hitting questions in advance with an embattled Trump official.

Leigh Cuen / CoinDesk:

Current and former employees of news orgs sponsored by the blockchain startup Civil say they haven't received the compensation they were promised when hired — Civil was supposed to create a more transparent and democratic model for journalism. But so far, journalists working on its platform …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @jcassano, @dansinker, Poynter, @nathanielpopper, @thestalwart, @atrubek, @cwarzel, @asanwal, @davidklion, @mdudas and @digiphile, more at Techmeme »

The Guardian:

Sources: Paul Manafort had multiple meetings with WikiLeaks, including one meeting in 2016, just months before WikiLeaks released DNC dossier — Trump ally met WikiLeaks founder months before emails hacked by Russia were published — Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks …

Lucinda Southern / Digiday:

The Economist CEO Chris Stibbs has stepped down following the departures of CTO Michael Brincat, CFO Toby Burton, and The Economist Group president, Paul Rossi — The Economist CEO Chris Stibbs has stepped down from his post after five and a half years and 13 years at the publisher.

Discussion: Press Gazette and The Drum

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

A look at Fox Nation, Fox News' streaming service, as it launches with a range of programming from cooking shows to a weekly broadcast with Diamond & Silk — If you have ever wondered about the culinary skills of a “Fox & Friends” co-host, wonder no longer.

Discussion: TVNewser, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Outkick the Coverage and The Week

Sahil Patel / Digiday:

Complex's food vertical First We Feast generates 85% of its revenue outside ads, including from its hot sauce brand which should generate $7M in sales in 2018 — In June, heading into the sixth season of “Hot Ones,” Complex Networks and its food vertical First We Feast released two new hot sauces featured in the hit interview series.

Discussion: @cschonberger, @digiday, @michellcclark and @richantoniello

Kara Swisher / Recode:

The Emerson Collective, the social impact firm run by Laurene Powell Jobs, buys Pop-Up Magazine Productions, which also publishes California Sunday Magazine — The social impact firm makes another media acquisition, this time of the publisher of California Sunday Magazine and Pop-Up Magazine events.

Discussion: New York Times, @clarajeffery and @karaswisher

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Technology columnist and writer Farhad Manjoo is joining the New York Times Opinion team, moving away from the paper's Business section — Farhad Manjoo has been named a New York Times opinion columnist. — Here is an announcement from editorial page editor James Bennet, deputy editor Jim Dao and deputy editor Katie Kingsbury.

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed:

Chair of UK fake news inquiry: seized trove of Facebook docs shows FB engineer flagged Russian “entities” as pulling billions of FB data points per day in 2014 — Facebook claimed engineers later “found no evidence of specific Russian activity”.

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, The Verge, @markdistef and @passantino, more at Techmeme »

Press Gazette:
MP leading UK ‘fake news’ inquiry seizes internal Facebook documents using parliamentary legal powers

Discussion: Ad Age, @rmac18, @brianstelter, AdExchanger, @markdistef, @kagrox, @mikarv, @jamiejbartlett, @carolecadwalla, @ebruenig, @carolecadwalla, @carolecadwalla, @xeni, @guyverhofstadt and CNN, more at Techmeme »

John Carucci / Associated Press:

A new documentary deconstructing the rise and fall of Roger Ailes, produced by Oscar-winner Alex Gibney, will be released on December 7 — NEW YORK (AP) — Roger Ailes might not always have been a household name during his time at Fox News, but many media commentators believe he changed the TV landscape forever.

Jack Shafer / Politico:

Conservative columnist Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, has deactivated his Twitter account after Twitter banned conservative radio show host Jesse Kelly — Wake me up when this sad little uprising is over. — If you checked the conservative end of your Twitter feed when you signed this morning, you probably found it a tad lighter.

Discussion: PJ Media, The Gateway Pundit, The Federalist and Mediaite

Mia Galuppo / Hollywood Reporter:

Amazon Studios has signed a first-look deal with Viola Davis' production company, JuVee Productions, as streaming services continue to lock down big names — Under the deal, Davis and Julius Tennon will make features for the streaming service. — JuVee Productions, the shingle headed …

Discussion: @thr

Patrick Kulp / Adweek:

NBCUniversal debuts a machine learning tool to help brands place ads around scenes relevant to their product, by analyzing scripts, CC data, visual descriptors — The tool identifies places for brands to buy spots in more opportune times — The next time you see, say …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, MediaPost, FierceVideo, Engadget and Variety

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

ICIJ, the team which helped coordinate the Panama Papers, worked with over 250 journalists in 36 countries on a new series about medical devices — More than 250 journalists in 36 countries teamed up for the latest project from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.