Mediagazer: How BuzzFeed News and ICIJ analyzed a trove of leaked FinCEN docs that included 2.1K+ suspicious activity reports from banks covering $2T+ worth of transactions (BuzzFeed News)

2:00 AM ET, September 21, 2020

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How BuzzFeed News and ICIJ analyzed a trove of leaked FinCEN docs that included 2.1K+ suspicious activity reports from banks covering $2T+ worth of transactions — Twenty-two thousand pages of never-before-released government documents. Hundreds of thousands of transactions. More than $2 trillion.

Brian Welk / The Wrap:

Trump mocked MSNBC's Ali Velshi at a rally for being shot with a rubber bullet while covering protests in May; MSNBC says Trump's comments endanger journalists — MSNBC says that Donald Trump is endangering the lives of journalists after the president mocked reporter Ali Velshi for getting shot …

Ben Smith / New York Times:

A look at Jeff Zucker's role in boosting Trump for better CNN ratings in 2015 and 2016, and how Trump's misdeeds fuel the network's prime-time broadcasts now — The coziness between the TV executive and Mr. Trump is a Frankenstein story for the cable news era. But then the monster got away.

Discussion: @jbflint, @amyalex63, @benyt, @philrevard, @kvox, @jbflint, @mpdillon and @peterhamby

Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:

Q&A with Chuck Todd on Twitter critics, Trump, and his new Peacock series, as Meet the Press again finishes season as the top-rated Sunday public affairs show — When “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd hears that his name is trending on Twitter, he knows it probably isn't good.

Discussion: @hotlinejosh, @latimes, @latimes, @michaelkruse, @latimes, @latimes, @lfung and TVNewser

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

SPJ and Trans Journalists Association launch a race and gender hotline for journalists to ask LGBT, Black educators and reporters about appropriate phrasing — Is it “Black” or “black”? (Or African-American? Or kill the hyphen?) Hispanic, Latino, Latino, Latin@, or Latinx?

Discussion: @sduncovered, @niemanlab and SPJ News

Clive Thompson / Wired:

YouTube taught its recommendation system how to recognize and demote conspiratorial videos, but organic link-sharing and bot promotion are thwarting its efforts — From flat-earthers to QAnon to Covid quackery, the video giant is awash in misinformation. Can AI keep the lunatic fringe from going viral?

Discussion: @doctorow, @carnage4life, @glenngabe, @doctorow, @optimalnovel, @jaredpolis, Memex 1.1 and @susanwojcicki, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Carney / ABC:

Former China bureau chief for Australia's ABC shares how China's authorities threatened to detain his 14-year-old daughter to pressure him over ABC's coverage — It was late on a Friday evening and I was about to head home from the ABC's Beijing office when the telephone rang.

Discussion: @mjscarney, @hurt_chinese, @billbirtles, @misternewsnow, @nicoleperlroth and Wall Street Journal

Julia Alexander / The Verge:

Apple's subscription bundle Apple One will greatly help TV+ by keeping subscriber metrics high as the service grows, following a strategy similar to Prime Video — A big push ahead of the streaming service's anniversary — Apple's new Apple One bundle, which gives customers an assortment …

Discussion: @cgartenberg

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:

Comcast reaches a deal with Roku to ensure NBCU's Peacock service is carried on Roku devices, after NBCU threatened to pull its TV Everywhere channels — - Agreement ensures Peacock is carried on streaming platform — NBC's threat came amid dispute with Roku over advertising

Discussion: The Streamable, Vanity Fair, Variety, Axios, The Verge, The Streamable and Light Reading

Nick Bastone / The Information:

Sources: Google's pro-privacy plan to block online ad trackers has boosted the US' antitrust probe, as publishers argue it would create an unfair playing field — Google has taken a lot of heat for violating people's privacy. Now it could get in trouble for trying to protect it.

Discussion: @nickbastone, @carnage4life, @jason_kint, @theinformation, @larakiara, @amir and @jessicalessin

Tyler Jett / Des Moines Register:

Meredith Corporation laid off 180 workers this week, including 130 from its local TV media group and the rest from its national magazines group — Meredith Corporation laid off 180 workers this week, but its Des Moines offices avoided most of the cuts. — The layoffs included 130 employees …

Discussion: @kent_ahrens, @mszafranski413, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Adweek and TVSpy