Mediagazer: Apple TV+ skeptics focused on production stumbles and early reviews may be ignoring the company's proven ability to sell new services to its giant customer base (Josef Adalian/Vulture)

2:55 PM ET, November 4, 2019

Top News:

IRS approves nonprofit status for Salt Lake Tribune, making it the first legacy paper to make the switch; ownership to be shifted to a public board of directors — The Salt Lake Tribune is now a nonprofit, an unprecedented transformation for a legacy U.S. daily that is intended to bolster …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Politico, beloblogging.blogspot.com, @swankmotron, @marissa_jae, @jayrosen_nyu, @bykelseyoconnor, @markberman, @maryellenklas, @craigtimes and @kodacohen

Aaron Calvin / Columbia Journalism Review:

Reporter who was fired after infamous Carson King profile for the Des Moines Register argues Gannett scapegoated him to preserve its bottom line amid backlash — During the seven months I worked as a trending-news reporter for the Des Moines Register, it was my job to write about viral news …

Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:

BBC says it will establish a new standalone non-profit body to run the Local News Partnership, which will be expanded to cover local councils and NHS trusts — The BBC has laid out plans to expand its local democracy reporting service, recruiting new reporters to cover local councils …

Discussion: The Guardian, bbc.co.uk and @jgibbins

Tim Peterson / Digiday:

Complex Networks, which sells hot sauces in connection to its popular talk show “Hot Ones”, forms Climate, a new division to create products for other companies — Complex Networks is often held up as a role model in digital media for its commitment to building franchises that can be multifaceted businesses.

George P. Slefo / Ad Age:

Meredith sells the remaining 60% stake in the ad tech company Viant, that is has acquired when it bought Time, to Viant's co-founders who owned 40% — The news comes roughly two weeks after Roku said it was buying DSP Dataxu — Viant has acquired itself from media publishing powerhouse Meredith, the companies said Monday.

Discussion: AdExchanger and Broadcasting & Cable

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

CBS Interactive President and COO Marc DeBevoise to become CEO, taking over from Jim Lanzone, who is leaving after nine years to join Benchmark Capital — CBS Interactive is undergoing a CEO transition as Marc DeBevoise takes the reins from Jim Lanzone, who is leaving after nine years …

Discussion: Forbes, Adweek, MediaPost, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter

István / Kinja Changelog:

[Update] G/O says it's reevaluating options to maintain Kinja user pages after blowback to an announcement that it would discontinue them and delete content — All blogs running on the kinja.com domain will show a notification about the upcoming changes of Kinja user pages.

Discussion: @dellcam, VICE, @xor, @kateconger, @ashleyfeinberg, @media_evan, @mslaurenrae, @papapishu, @ashleyfeinberg, @ryanlcooper, @johnjcook, @laurawags, @futterish, @bubbaprog, @andyorin, @joeljohnson and @nzle

Josef Adalian / Vulture:

Apple TV+ skeptics focused on production stumbles and early reviews may be ignoring the company's proven ability to sell new services to its giant customer base — In his 2011 biography of Steve Jobs, author Walter Isaacson described how the Apple co-founder planned to conquer TV.

Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:

Damning Mueller findings were diluted in part by journalists' obsession with optics, but BuzzFeed and CNN's FOIA win ensures more findings in the years to come — In March, after William Barr, the attorney general, released his misleading summary of the Mueller report to Congress …

John McDermott / New York Times:

How journalists, academics, and opinion writers shunned for their conservative or offensive opinions publish at Quillette, and befriend each other — Depriving people of a platform works — in unexpected ways. — Katie Herzog was a largely unknown freelance journalist living in Seattle.

Discussion: @anildash, @wagatwe and @meghan_daum

Siva Vaidhyanathan / New York Times:

Vetting political ads effectively and consistently at global scale is impossible; Congress should restrict ad targeting to the level of an electoral district — It's not about free speech. — Siva Vaidhyanathan is a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia.

Discussion: The Guardian, Washington Post, MediaPost, Financial Times, What's New in Publishing, The Drum, Digital Information World, @pierce, Washington Post, @nxthompson, @karaswisher, @dylanbyers and @hblodget

Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Facebook and Google's self-imposed ban on political ads in Washington state, which led to uneven enforcement and confusing rules, is a cautionary tale for 2020

Discussion: @willoremus and @kellymakena

Rob Wells / Washington Post:

The role of National Thrift News in uncovering a corruption scandal in the '80s shows trade publications can hold the industries they cover accountable — A small trade publication broke the Keating Five scandal, offering a pathway for investigative journalism in cash-strapped times.

Discussion: @robblackwellab, @jdawsey1 and @rafat