Mediagazer: Nonprofit news site The Conversation increased global page views to 81M in April, up from 40.1M YoY, with contributor submissions tripling during the pandemic (Anya Schiffrin/Columbia Journalism Review)

7:55 AM ET, June 15, 2020

Top News:

Lian Buan / RAPPLER:

A court in Manila finds Rappler CEO Maria Ressa guilty of “cyber libel”, along with former researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. — The court rules only Rappler as a company is not guilty … MANILA, Philippines - The Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 46 convicted Rappler CEO …

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Class divisions in media rise to the surface as executives and stars take refuge in the Hamptons while reporters continue to deal with the pandemic and protests — Those who can afford it left the city, shining a spotlight on class divisions in the media. — EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. …

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

Sources detail NYT publisher A.G. Sulzberger's handling of Tom Cotton's op-ed, initially defending James Bennet before realizing the damage was too great — INSIDE THE CIVIL WAR — The 39-year-old Times boss now oversees a newspaper in crisis—and his leadership has never been under such intense scrutiny.

Discussion: New York Times, @felixsalmon, @noahshachtman, @mlcalderone, @brianstelter, @kbandersen, @clarajeffery, @sethamandel, @kcjohnson9, @profcarroll, @robertcaruso and @jayrosen_nyu

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:

In response to Australian regulator, Facebook says it will not pay for shared news links and that not having them at all would not significantly impact business — Social media giant rejects ACCC proposal, saying it could cut out news completely without any significant impact on its business

Discussion: One Man & His Blog, What's New in Publishing, Business Insider, @benwhitelaw, @jimwaterson, @martinsfp, MediaNama, @moonalice, @donie, @jason_kint, @tom_swann and @matthewstoller, more at Techmeme »

Yashar Ali / HuffPost:

Sources detail a history of insensitive and racist comments by Barbara Fedida, a powerful ABC News exec who has now been placed on administrative leave — Sources say Barbara Fedida, a powerful ABC News executive, has an extensive history of insensitive comments.

Lachlan Cartwright / The Daily Beast:

Sources: Trump's niece, Mary Trump, to publish a tell-all this summer revealing she was a primary source for NYT's Pulitzer-winning deep dive into Trump's taxes — The president's niece Mary Trump is set to publish a tell-all this summer—and to reveal that she was a primary source …

Discussion: @noahshachtman, @lachcartwright, @joncoopertweets, @natashabertrand, @kylegriffin1, @jbf1755 and Mediaite

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: at its current pace, Quibi will sign up fewer than 2M paying subscribers by the end of its first year, well under its original target of 7.4M — Two veteran executives with contrasting styles are launching Quibi, an on-the-go streaming service, during a pandemic

Anya Schiffrin / Columbia Journalism Review:

Nonprofit news site The Conversation increased global page views to 81M in April, up from 40.1M YoY, with contributor submissions tripling during the pandemic — At a time when journalism is being hit hard globally and some are predicting the end of independent journalism in some parts of the world …

Discussion: @cjr

Voice of America:

Internal docs: CDC's media relations office was instructed to refuse interview requests from VOA, citing WH tweets accusing VOA of spreading Chinese propaganda — We were shocked to read the internal CDC documents instructing the agency's media relations office to refuse media requests from …

Discussion: @jameeljaffer, @abennett, @aravosis, @waltshaub, CNN, @profkeithdevlin, @tomashbrook, @propornot, @miafarrow, @molliekatzen, @brianstelter and @waltshaub

Laura Wagner / VICE:

Profile of Poynter's Kelly McBride, a leading expert on media ethics, whose down-the-middle approach seems focused on optics rather than on what's right — Last Wednesday, The New York Times published an op-ed in which Republican senator Tom Cotton called for a military crackdown …

Discussion: @megreenwell, @sulliview, @wesleylowery, @saraqdavid, @elongreen, @glennf, @vice, @ryanlcooper, @aaronhuertas, @laurawags, @blackamazon, @tauriqmoosa and @mtracey

CNN:

The open hostility that journalists faced during the protests is the result of a years-long systematic propaganda campaign that has roots in authoritarianism — Stelter: Appalling targeting of reporters covering the story — Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a frequent contributor to CNN Opinion …

Discussion: @ruthbenghiat and All Incidents

Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:

As a movement swells toward police reform across the nation, journalists should reevaluate their characterizations of protester and police behavior — In the two and a half weeks since George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, was killed in police custody, the US has entered its most sustained evaluation of law enforcement in years.

Discussion: @cjr, @monikabauerlein, @jimrome, @ali_ingnews and @cjr