Top News:
Jacob Knutson / Axios:
ABC News to host a Biden town hall on Oct. 15, originally set for the second debate, after Trump backed out; Biden rejected other dates offered by Trump — Joe Biden will appear at a town hall event hosted by ABC News and moderated by George Stephanopoulos in Philadelphia on Oct. 15, the network announced on Thursday.
Discussion:
@abc, Mediaite, Commission on Presidential …, Pew Research Center, @claudiajordan, @renato_mariotti, @orzelc, @digiphile, @resistbot, @ingrahamangle, @jeremykonyndyk, @alexzfinley, @joshchafetz, @gcnstorm, @chrislu44, @trevondlogan, @hollystallcup, @mollyjongfast, @jakesherman, @lizmacdonaldfox, @geoffrbennett, @axios, New York Post and Reason
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Quint Forgey / Politico:
Trump refuses to participate in second debate, saying “I'm not going to waste my time on virtual debate” because “they cut you off whenever they want” — Donald Trump's and Joe Biden's campaigns made dueling demands on Thursday to redraw the schedule …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Post, The Wrap, New York Times, Forbes, Pew Research Center, Politico, Variety, Fox News, Daily Herald, @merica, @mlcalderone, @paulg, @maggienyt, @jayrosen_nyu, INSIDER, @kbeds, @samgreis, @tripgabriel, @emmakinery, @brynntannehill, @scottkirsner, @jdewperry, @washingtonpost, @a_m_dolan, @politico, @digiphile, @sulliview, NBC New York and Wall Street Journal
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Nielsen: 57.9M people watched the Pence-Harris debate on Wednesday across 18 linear TV channels and on connected TV, the second most-watched VP debate ever — Nearly 58 million people watched the vice presidential debate between Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence on television …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Wrap, MediaPost, @brianstelter, @axios, @maskedscheduler, @megjameslat, @ajkatztv, @latimes, @latimes, Fortune, @brianstelter, Mediaite, WHDH-TV, Variety and Deadline
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Lara Seligman / Politico:
During the vice presidential debate, Susan Page allowed both Pence and Harris to interrupt and didn't ask follow-up questions after they dodged her initial ones — Just a week after Fox News' Chris Wallace got roasted for ceding control to Donald Trump and Joe Biden on the debate stage …
Discussion:
New York Times, Fox News, @askjillian, @lxeagle17, @samaraklar, Slate, @sifill_ldf, @laraseligman, Overtime, The Wrap, The Atlantic and CNN
ProPublica:
ProPublica to launch three regional reporting hubs, in the South, the Southwest, and the Midwest, for which it expects to add nearly 30 new positions — Nonprofit Newsroom Also Launches Distinguished Fellows Program to Support Local Investigative Journalism
Discussion:
@dicktofel, @ericliptonnyt, @charlesornstein, @lyman_brian, @cscutari, @manny_garcia1, @jodiscohen, @christinespolar, @karimdoumar, @charlesornstein, @robertfaturechi, @kenwardjr, @carolineylchen, @anniewaldman, @charlesornstein, @lifewinning, @travisfain, @bykenarmstrong, @elizabethangell, @lucasgsl6, @inn, @davidmcswane, @charlesornstein, @coreyhutchins, @wendi_c_thomas, @shannon_h, @jennifer__brett, @statesnewsroom, @jbenton, @celrae, @byfernandas, @raju, @mariancw, @charlesornstein, @leszaitz and @davidfolkenflik
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Disney's latest Pixar movie Soul will have its US debut on Disney+ on Dec. 25 at no extra cost to subscribers, after an initial June theater release was delayed — The animated family film will launch on the streaming service on Dec. 25. In international markets where Disney Plus isn't available …
Discussion:
@xpangler, Reuters, IndieWire, Associated Press, /Film, Hollywood Reporter, EW.com, Collider, The A.V. Club, GamesRadar, @lucas_shaw, Nerdist, Polygon, Bleeding Cool, The Streamable, Deadline, @rebeccaarubin, @girlywolfpup, CNBC, ScreenRant, TVLine, The Wrap, Engadget, Cord Cutters News, Decider, Comic Book, Dark Horizons, The Week, @nickandmore, @richlightshed, IGN, CINEMABLEND, The Verge, io9, Streaming, CNET, MarketWatch, CBR and @neilramjee
Vincent Barone / New York Post:
A reporter and a freelance photographer were chased and assaulted at Orthodox Jewish protests in NYC against COVID-19 restrictions — An Orthodox reporter said he was attacked by an angry mob at a protest in Borough Park, Brooklyn, against coronavirus restrictions Wednesday night.
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Sources: ViacomCBS has begun laying off staff at its digital media properties, including CNET, ahead of the Red Ventures takeover, affecting up to 100 employees — ViacomCBS is issuing layoff notices to dozens of workers who work for the company's digital media websites, including its technology news publication CNET.
Discussion:
@ashkan, @edmondtran, @pcbrown, @matthewkeyslive, @thewillennium, @chaingunpope, @pcbrown, @jessmcdonell and @itsashleyoh, Thanks:@matthewkeyslive
Jason Leopold / BuzzFeed News:
BuzzFeed News has filed an emergency motion in DC's district court to declassify the Mueller investigation report, after Trump ordered the same in a tweet — President Trump tweeted that he “fully authorized” the release of all documents related to the Russia investigation.
Discussion:
@jasonleopold, @realdonaldtrump, Law & Crime, @schoofsfeed, @jasonleopold and New York Post
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: AT&T's WarnerMedia plans to reduce costs by up to 20%, potentially resulting in thousands of layoffs across Warner Bros. studios and channels like HBO — Changes at owner of HBO, Warner Bros. seek to cut costs by up to 20% as coronavirus pandemic pressures film and TV business
Discussion:
@jbflint, @benmullin, @jonostrower, @matthewkeyslive, Variety, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, @wsj, @brianstelter, The Wrap and Light Reading
Sarah Alvarez / Outlier Media:
Outlier Media says it won't finalize its merger with MuckRock and will move forward as an independent org, broadening its focus with a Democracy Fund grant — Outlier Media is preparing for some major changes as we look to the future. We are broadening our focus a bit …
Discussion:
@sarahalvarezmi and @cande313
Ethan May / Streamlabs Blog:
Twitch users watched 4.74B hours of content in Q3 vs. YouTube Gaming's 1.68B hours and Facebook Gaming's 1B hours; Twitch has ~91% marketshare in hours streamed — Facebook passes 1 billion hours watched for first time, YouTube Gaming experiences largest increase in hours watched …
Discussion:
@kevinwdavid, @jtoeman, The Verge, Front Office Sports and CNBC
John Hopewell / Variety:
ViacomCBS to launch Pluto TV in Spain by the end of October with Telefonica's Movistar as a sales partner, and plans to expand to France and Italy in 2021 — Revving up its streaming service expansion in Europe, ViacomCBS will launch leading AVOD service Pluto TV in Spain from the end of October.
Discussion:
@maria_aguete, FierceVideo and The Streamable
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Google says it is near a deal to pay French publishers for news snippets, with the deal including a French publishers' group participating in News Showcase — BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Alphabet unit Google is set to reach a deal to pay French publishers for their news used on its platform, the U.S. tech giant said on Wednesday.
Discussion:
@rasmus_kleis and France 24
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