Mediagazer: As deepfakes make their way into broadcast-quality productions, filmmakers and artists are facing new questions like how to cast the right actors for a deepfake (Karen Hao/MIT Technology Review)

7:05 AM ET, October 12, 2020

Top News:

Behind the reporting and editing process that led to NYT's Caliphate, which was almost canned after it was publicly announced due to uncorroborated stories — A top editor is now reviewing Rukmini Callimachi's reporting on terrorism, which turned distant conflicts into accessible stories but drew criticism from colleagues.

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

NYT's Caliphate, under internal review, included an odd storytelling sequence and possible exploitation of a Yazidi girl put on the phone with an alleged rapist — In Chapter 9 of the 2018 podcast series “Caliphate,” New York Times reporter Rukmini Callimachi speaks with an Islamic State detainee in an Iraqi prison.

Discussion: @erikwemple, @mlcalderone, @brianstelter, @adamwren, @biancajoanie, @lailaalarian, @mclendaniel, @williams_paige, @peterbale, @bgrueskin, @joshsternberg, @rbkhoury and @ggreenwald

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Interview with James Murdoch on why he “pulled the rip cord” by resigning from News Corp board, declining a role at Disney, not watching Succession, and more — Increasingly uncomfortable with News Corp's politics and profit motives, Rupert's younger son chose chickens and sheep over Fox …

Robert Gearty / Fox News:

Two Daily Caller reporters say they were beaten with nightsticks by police as they reported on an anti-police protest Thursday night in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin — ‘It was excessive force for sure,’ Shelby Talcott said — Fox News Flash top headlines for October 9

Discussion: @gpingersoll, @espiers, @richiemcginniss, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Breitbart and Mediaite

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:

Twitter announces changes to clamp down on US election misinfo, like blocking retweets of misleading content from candidates and accounts with 100K+ followers — Move is latest escalation of anti-misinformation measures in run-up to presidential vote — Twitter has announced …

Discussion: Search Engine Land, @twittersupport, Twitter, @leftoblique, @samberger_dc, @spikebrehm, @davidakaye, @stavvers, @emilybell, @hakan_geijer, New York Times, @ananny, Hollywood Reporter, @kenroth, @newsmary, @kateconger, @wired, @edronco, @green_footballs, @aelkus, @holden, @wongmjane, @cernovich, @shannoncoulter, @katestarbird, @kreissdaniel, @grace_panetta, @propornot, @necolas, @katestarbird, @rosenbergerlm, @hankgreen, @mozilla, @scalzi, @repspeier, @vijaya, @jgreenblattadl, @polotek, @twittercomms, @yashalevine, @mcfaul, @jerrydunleavy, @nickochsnerwbtv, @kevinroose, @tocradio, @karissabe, @karissabe, @brendannyhan, @aljwhite, @blackamazon, @stevenbjohnson, @nickpickles, @yoyoel, @bgrassbluecrab, @joycewhitevance, @mathewi, @jayrosen_nyu, @harrymccracken, @neeratanden, @cwarzel, Washington Post, TechCrunch, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, 9to5Mac, Politico, NPR and Axios

Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review:

As deepfakes make their way into broadcast-quality productions, filmmakers and artists are facing new questions like how to cast the right actors for a deepfake — In 2019, two multimedia artists, Francesca Panetta and Halsey Burgund, set about to pursue a provocative idea.

Discussion: @martinwaxman, @samgregory, @_karenhao and @chengela, more at Techmeme »

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

Despite critiques of horse race journalism, news outlets should make poll-based election forecasts as part of their duty to keep readers informed — There's good evidence that some people find predictive models like FiveThirtyEight's confusing, and an argument that they might keep people from voting.

Discussion: @jbenton, @pilhofer, @jbenton and @niemanlab

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Live sports streaming service fuboTV raised $183M in its IPO on Thursday, valuing the company at $620.2M — The initial public offering raised $183 million and valued the company at $620.2 million. — The stock of streaming service fuboTV rose in its market debut on Thursday.

Sarah Jacob / Bloomberg:

Google halts plans to launch News Showcase in Australia, says it isn't clear if the product will be viable under the country's draft News Media Bargaining code — Google has halted plans to launch its ‘News Showcase’ product in Australia as the tech company isn't clear if it will be viable under …

more at Techmeme »

Bill Grueskin / Columbia Journalism Review:

Examining the case of Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, who may get jail time for leaking Treasury Department documents to BuzzFeed, and what outlets owe sources — Rarely do investigative journalists find a source as obliging as Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards.

Discussion: @froomkin, @bgrueskin, @cjr and @bgrueskin

Yvonne Leow / RJI Stories:

The mixed results from the surge in local news grants indicate that funders and founders need a clearer funding pipeline, perhaps mirroring VC tech funding — Tech and philanthropic institutions are giving thousands of $5,000 to $250,000 grants to individual newsrooms, but... then what?

Discussion: @spj_tweets, @yvonneleow, @lenny_mendonca, @dicktofel and @digitalamysw

Lauren Harris / Columbia Journalism Review:

The decline of local news outlets has also impacted epidemiologists, who depend on them as an important resource to monitor and prevent disease outbreaks — Two years ago, Helen Branswell wrote for STAT that “When Towns Lose Their Newspapers, Disease Detectives are Left Flying Blind.”

Discussion: @lharriswrites, @spj_tweets, @niemanreports, @cjr and @lebassett

The Information:

Sources: Katzenberg pitched Apple, WarnerMedia, and Facebook about buying Quibi, but so far had no takers; Quibi has between 400K and 500K subscribers now — Six months after launching his revolutionary video-streaming service, Quibi, Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg is looking for a buyer.

Discussion: @psythor, @trengriffin, AppleInsider, @edzitron, Gizmodo Australia, @ashkan, @beijingpalmer, @azeem, @kantrowitz, @jbillinson, @jimwaterson, @mccrackenagain, @jessesachs, @edsbs, @cityofthetown, @readdanwrite and MacRumors

Carly Stern / Storyboard Posts:

Q&A with Katie Engelhart, who wrote for California Sunday about a nursing home battling COVID-19, on getting details for an inside view without going on site — Katie Engelhart on the reality of nursing homes and the undercovered issue of elder care in America: “We all think we won't end up in a nursing home.”

Discussion: @knibbs, @niemanreports and @niemanlab