Mediagazer: While tech journalists recently have embraced a watchdog role, they could be even more useful by focusing on solutions rather than palace intrigue and villains (Columbia Journalism Review)

4:00 AM ET, October 12, 2019

Top News:

Fox News says Shepard Smith is stepping down from his longtime role as chief news anchor and leaving the network — In a shocking turn of events that stunned the media industry, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith announced his departure from the network after more than 23 years.

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Brian Stelter / CNN:

Source: Shepard Smith asked Fox News management in September to let him out of his contract; tensions with pro-Trump opinion shows were the breaking point — New York (CNN Buiness)Last month Shep Smith decided that he had simply had enough. — With President Trump actively distorting …

Discussion: CNN, Variety, @ericmgarcia, @jayrosen_nyu, @bluechoochoo, The Daily Caller, @colbyhall, Boing Boing, TVNewser, Breitbart, @xlnb, @brianros1, Mediaite, @djlavoie and The Wrap

New York Times:
AG William Barr met privately on Wednesday with Rupert Murdoch, whose media holdings include Fox News, which recently has been more critical of Trump

Rich McHugh / Vanity Fair:

Ronan Farrow's producer recounts how NBC news chairman Andrew Lack and news president Noah Oppenheim personally intervened to shut down Weinstein investigation — Rich McHugh recounts how top NBC brass, including news chairman Andrew Lack and news president Noah Oppenheim, bowed to Harvey Weinstein to quash the truth.

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The Daily Beast:

NBC News President Noah Oppenheim, who allegedly downplayed a rape allegation against Matt Lauer, also penned sexist columns in the Harvard Crimson 20 years ago — Decades before allegedly downplaying a rape claim against Matt Lauer, the NBC News head bashed the network for firing a sportscaster who pleaded guilty in a sex case.

Discussion: @jamielynncrofts, @joshablock, Washington Post, @thegarance, TVNewser, The Wrap, TVWeek.com, Fox News, Mediaite and Page Six

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
NBC News president has visited seven news orgs to present a rebuttal to Farrow's contention that the network ordered him to stop reporting on Weinstein

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Meghan Keneally / ABC News:
Ronan Farrow says there were seven NDAs with women at NBC, of which several were with Matt Lauer accusers, years before the Brooke Nevils incident

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @abc, The Daily Beast and Hollywood Reporter

BuzzFeed News:

Sources: in early 2018, Eddy Cue and Morgan Wandell, Apple's international TV lead, asked some Apple TV+ show creators to avoid portraying China in a poor light — We thought trade would bring Western values to China. Instead, it brought Chinese values to Apple.

Discussion: Pastebin, Daring Fireball, @rmac18, @hotlinejosh, Observer, Breitbart and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »

Dave McMenamin / ESPN:
NBA enacts temporary policy barring media sessions during its games in China; China mandated that NBA commissioner cancel his pregame news conference Thursday

Discussion: CNN, @yair_rosenberg, @agoldfan, NetsDaily, Foreign Policy, @deadondavev, Fox News, NPR, Breitbart, Awful Announcing, Reuters and New York Post

Nick Statt / The Verge:
Quartz says its website has been blocked in China and its app has been removed from the App Store due to government complaints about its coverage of HK protests

Discussion: Billboard, Slate, Breitbart, South China Morning Post, Reuters, Business Insider, Fortune, 9to5Mac, The Federalist, @ihnatko, @conarck, @aaschapiro, The Guardian and @jm_mcgrath, more at Techmeme »

Brian Fung / CNN:

Elizabeth Warren targets Facebook's ad policy of exempting ads by politicians from third-party fact-checking by running a Facebook ad with a clear falsehood — Zuckerberg says legal battles during a Warren presidency would ‘suck’ — (CNN)A fresh series of Facebook ads this week …

Discussion: @juliacarriew, Mediaite, @donie, Business Insider, @parkermolloy, @jason_kint, The Guardian, @juddlegum, @abdulelsayed, Boing Boing and @jason_kint, more at Techmeme »

Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:

Apple launches an internal studio, allowing it to own its content; the first series will be Masters of the Air, a follow-up to HBO's Band of Brothers — ‘Masters of the Air,’ which was originally developed for HBO, will be the third story in the WWII saga from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks …

Discussion: Deadline, Engadget, Cord Cutters News, Digital Trends, Gizmodo, /Film, The Verge, Fast Company, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, The Streamable and Collider, more at Techmeme »

Dave Jamieson / HuffPost:

In email, G/O's editorial director tells staff he sees no reason for them to cover Splinter's shutdown and that any post about it will need his approval — The editorial director of G/O Media told top editors not to publish anything about the news and opinion site being shut down.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, @martinsfp, @jamieson and @jatayler

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
G/O Media's Splinter is shutting down due to insufficient traffic; G/O editorial director says staff will be reallocated but some tweet they've been laid off

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

A look at Netflix's kids programming and the creators it has hired to develop family friendly offerings, as it prepares for the gradual loss of Disney content — LOS ANGELES — Walk the halls of Netflix Animation, spread across three buildings in the heart of Hollywood …

Discussion: @brooksbarnesnyt, @cartoonbrew, @mexopolis and @koblin, more at Techmeme »

Elizabeth Culliford / Reuters:

The Biden campaign asked Google and Twitter to take down Trump's misleading campaign ad, in addition to asking Facebook, and both companies refused the request — (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's campaign sent letters over the last week to Facebook Inc …

Discussion: Gizmodo and @carnage4life

Wall Street Journal:
Source: NBCUniversal won't air a Trump re-election campaign ad targeting Joe Biden on its cable networks unless changes are made to the spot

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Columbia Journalism Review:

While tech journalists recently have embraced a watchdog role, they could be even more useful by focusing on solutions rather than palace intrigue and villains — In March, when Mark Zuckerberg called for new regulations on internet companies, journalists rightly covered the move with skepticism.

Discussion: Talking Biz News and CNN

Julie Reynolds / The Intercept:

Alden Global Capital's Digital First Media, which has sold off newspaper real estate and centralized print design, is outsourcing news design to the Philippines — Investigative journalist Thomas Peele remembers the day he learned that he and fellow reporters at the East Bay Times …

Discussion: @dankennedy_nu, @theintercept, @michalskilaura, @theintercept, @dngcwamulligan and @dkiesow

Kevin Roose / New York Times:

Profile of PewDiePie covering his relationships with YouTube and mainstream media, as he tries to shed his reputation as a far-right sympathizer — The biggest YouTuber in the world has been accused of being a closet white nationalist and even inspiring mass shootings. He says it's all a misunderstanding.