Mediagazer: A look at algorithms that help journalists weed through hype and spin like ClaimBuster, which identifies fact-checkable claims made on air and alerts reporters (Nicholas Diakopoulos/Columbia Journalism Review)

5:00 AM ET, December 3, 2018

Top News:

Sources: Nexstar has reached an agreement to acquire Tribune Media for about $4.1B, a deal which would make Nexstar the largest regional US TV station operator — (Reuters) - Nexstar Media Group Inc has reached an agreement to acquire to Tribune Media Co for about $4.1 billion …

Discussion: Variety, Chicago Tribune, Gizmodo, Axios, Engadget, The Verge, The Wrap, @danprimack, Poynter, Financial Times and @trengriffin

CNN:

Canadian activist sues NSO Group, claims its spyware empowered Saudi officials to access WhatsApp messages with Jamal Khashoggi, possibly leading to his killing — London (CNN)In his public writings, Jamal Khashoggi's criticism of Saudi Arabia and its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was measured.

Discussion: @sam_vinograd, @matthewwells, @hichamyezza, @cfountain07, The Week and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »

The Citizen Lab:

Two Mexican journalists at a newspaper investigating cartels seem to have been targeted by the government via NSO Group's spyware after their colleague's murder — Mexican Journalists Investigating Cartels Targeted with NSO Spyware Following Assassination of Colleague

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

Ahead of elections in 2019, First Draft launches CrossCheck Nigeria, a collaborative effort with 16 media orgs to debunk misinformation on WhatsApp and Facebook — With elections over in the United States and Brazil, eyes are turning toward misinformation in Nigeria.

Discussion: First Draft, Nieman Lab, @pcunliffejones, @poynter and @dpfunke

Hannah Ellis-Petersen / The Guardian:

Rappler's Maria Ressa, charged with tax evasion after coverage critical of Philippine gov't, says she'll surrender to police after an arrest warrant was issued — Editor of independent news website Rappler has been released on bail over charges she says are being used to intimidate her

Discussion: CNN, @karaswisher and @kenroth

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

Profile of The Times-Picayune food team of 3 journalists running NOLA.com, which, between its Instagram account and Facebook group has almost 100K followers — The Times-Picayune has its own Instagram account with more than 56,000 followers. It has a Facebook group, too, with more than 42,500 members.

Nicholas Diakopoulos / Columbia Journalism Review:

A look at algorithms that help journalists weed through hype and spin like ClaimBuster, which identifies fact-checkable claims made on air and alerts reporters — Does Palestine pay $350 million a year to terrorists and their families? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested …

Christina Sturdivant Sani / Washington City Paper:

A black journalist on how the underrepresentation of black reporters in D.C. media is leading to non-existent or inaccurate coverage and taking a personal toll — Black journalists are underrepresented in D.C. newsrooms. That's a problem for everyone. — As a black journalist …

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:

Fairfax and Nine merger restructuring to lead to 92 redundancies before the new business is formed December 10, with a total of 144 positions going away — Chief executive Hugh Marks says redundancies are spread across both media companies following merger

Discussion: InDaily, Mumbrella, The West Australian, ABC, Sydney Morning Herald and cmo.com.au

Claudia Koerner / BuzzFeed News:

Fox Broadcasting Company and National Geographic are investigating Cosmos series host Neil deGrasse Tyson over allegations of sexual misconduct by three women — Fox Broadcasting Company and National Geographic are investigating astrophysicist and Cosmos host Neil deGrasse Tyson …

Discussion: Facebook, New York Times, EW.com, IndieWire, Gizmodo, @erinbiba, @jasonthalken, @erinbiba, @johnhawks, Deadline, Variety, The Verge and The A.V. Club

Amber Jamieson / BuzzFeed News:

Arkansas school district suspends Har-Ber Herald high school newspaper after a critical article about player transfers to a rival school's football team — An Arkansas school district suspended its high school newspaper and threatened to fire the teacher who advises it after student journalists wrote …

Discussion: @brahmresnik, @kvanvalkenburg, @johnholbein1, @charlesjaco1, @asluhn, @jeffamy, @buzzfeednews, @connieschultz and @buzzfeednews

David Bixenspan / Gizmodo:

How the risk of costly copyright litigation affects Internet Archive and lets webmasters remove archived sites without DMCA notices simply by using robots.txt — On the internet, there are certain institutions we have come to rely on daily to keep truth from becoming nebulous or elastic.

Discussion: @codepo8, @john_overholt and @ali

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:

State-controlled outlets in autocratic countries find scapegoats other than Trump or avoid mentioning him knowing Trump's sensitivity to bad coverage — Even countries angry at the U.S. avoid insulting the volatile president. — When a tell-all book infuriated President Donald Trump last winter …

Discussion: @brianstelter

Business Insider:

Interview with Heather Dietrick, CEO of the Daily Beast, on training at Hearst on the First Amendment, serving as general counsel at Gawker, and taking risks — - Heather Dietrick is the CEO of the Daily Beast. — She was the president of Gawker during the Hulk Hogan lawsuit, which brought down the company.