Top News:
Hank Stuever / Washington Post:
CNN's overproduced, conflict-obsessed debates were full of cable-news alarmism and resembled prime-time game shows and reality TV, rather than democratic debate — Lately there's a strange caution in the air about the intellectual pitfalls of comparing American politics to the performing arts — or worse, to showbiz.
Discussion:
Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, @brfreed, Deadline and Mediaite
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Wall Street Journal:
Data shows hundreds of possible bot social media accounts promoted misinformation and content on race during recent Democratic presidential debates — Data shows suspicious social-media accounts targeted Kamala Harris, including with conspiracy theories, during both Democratic gatherings
Discussion:
@blackwomenviews, @reasonvsfear and @amandacarpenter
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
CNN's first debate, featuring divisive questions, frustratingly short response times, and outsize attention to fringe candidates, was a lost opportunity
Discussion:
@realdonaldtrump, Slate, @jcstearns, @jayrosen_nyu, The Week, Fox News, wgbh.org, Poynter, The Wrap, @lawrence, @rmc031, @jamesfallows, @lpolgreen, @deanluk, @cjr, New York Times, @slate, @nymag, @fenitn, @mattgertz, @gadyepstein, @jon_allsop, @jayrosen_nyu, Columbia Journalism Review, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Axios, Dan Kennedy, Mediaite, NBC News, Slate, HuffPost, The Cut, Washington Post and Hollywood Reporter
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Pew: 27% of papers with Sunday circulations of ~50K+ faced layoffs in 2018 vs. 32% in 2017; 14% of digital media sites laid off staff in 2018 vs. 20% in 2017 — If you work at a U.S. newspaper and didn't have layoffs in the last two years, consider yourself lucky.
Discussion:
Pew Research Center, MediaPost, @moorehn, @pewresearch and @pewresearch
Donie O'Sullivan / CNN:
Facebook details its first takedown of inauthentic accounts linked to the Saudi government, alongside a separate takedown of accounts linked to UAE and Egypt — Washington (CNN Business)Facebook said Thursday it had found evidence of something cyber security and national security experts …
Discussion:
Facebook, CNET, @jamesrbuk, The Daily Beast, @jackshafer, Adweek, Business Insider and The Hill, more at Techmeme »
The Guardian:
Mexico's El Monitor de Parral to temporarily halt print edition after bombing; digital edition will not publish crime stories or news with a “political slant” — El Monitor de Parral said it will continue its digital edition, but will not cover any crime stories or news with a ‘political slant’
Discussion:
Committee to Protect …, Breitbart and @verambergen
New York Times:
Four initiatives reimagine local news: journalism as service, focus on schools and education, news via text message, and philanthropy — What happens when the presses stop rolling? Who will tell the stories of touchdowns scored, heroes honored and neighbors lost?
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
The LAT's disappointing digital subscriber numbers attest to the importance of subscriber retention, which the paper should invest in like the NYT has — When Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the Los Angeles Times out of its tronckian purgatory last year, it was an occasion to consider where it sat …
Discussion:
@raju, Poynter, 89.3 KPCC, American Press Institute, @bensprecher, @vivian, 24/7 Wall St., @raju, @mattdpearce, @balajis, @jayrosen_nyu, @davewiner, @xor, @samanthamatsu, @jbenton, @emilyweinstein, @juliaturner, The Wrap, @juliaturner, @jkristufek, @sewellchan, @shelbygrad, @jmckellogg, @jayrosen_nyu, @thebenbergman and Poynter
Ben Paynter / Fast Company:
How The Daily Show covered the first Democratic debate live on social media, making memes and jokes that helped it beat other late-night shows in engagement — At 7:30 p.m., roughly a dozen comedy writers and digital producers gathered around a large rectangular wooden table inside …
Discussion:
Fortune
Mark Bergen / Bloomberg:
YouTube has significantly changed its algorithm to boost what it deems “quality” children's videos following FTC probe into its use of personal data from minors — A software update that came in July, without explanation, was designed to promote “quality” children's videos
Discussion:
Tubefilter, @mhbergen, The Verge, @lucas_shaw, Business Insider and CNET, more at Techmeme »
John Eggerton / Broadcasting & Cable:
Nexstar and Tribune Media settle with DOJ, agree to divest TV stations in 13 markets to resolve antitrust concerns over their proposed $6.4B merger — Delrahim says he has been pleased with companies' cooperation — Nexstar and Tribune have settled with the Justice Department to get their proposed $6.4 billion merger approved.
Discussion:
Reuters, TVWeek.com and @johnhendel
Andrew Webster / The Verge:
Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, the biggest name in Fortnite and one of Twitch's most popular stars, says he will move to Microsoft's Mixer full-time — Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, the biggest name in Fortnite and one of Twitch's most popular stars, is leaving the platform to stream exclusively on Mixer.
Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:
Holloway, which publishes in-depth guides about running a startup, raises $4.6M in seed funding from The New York Times, NEA, Lightspeed, and others — Founders need to get smart quickly about the many nuanced aspects of building a company, from understanding weird language in a big term sheet to hiring a key software developer.
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