Mediagazer: Sources: Comcast's NBCUniversal and some PE firms approached Disney earlier this year about acquiring Hulu or operating it as a partnership, but were rebuffed (Lucas Shaw/Bloomberg)

4:00 PM ET, October 16, 2020

Top News:

Brian Stelter / CNN:

Nielsen: Joe Biden's ABC town hall averaged 13.9M viewers, while Trump's NBC town hall averaged 10.6M; MSNBC and CNBC simulcasts of Trump brought total to 13M — New York (CNN Business)Joe Biden's town hall on ABC averaged 13.9 million viewers on Thursday night, easily surpassing …

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:

Despite fears that the NBC town hall would amount to free promotion for Trump, Savannah Guthrie grilled him and repeatedly challenged his evasions — The network was criticized for accommodating Trump after he rejected a debate. But then the ‘Today’ host started asking him questions.

Hollywood Reporter:

Over 100 actors, writers, and producers sign a letter to NBCUniversal and Comcast execs protesting the airing of a Trump town hall opposite a Biden event — “You are enabling the president's bad behavior while undercutting the Presidential Debate Commission and doing a disservice to the American public …

Discussion: @conanobrien, @brianstelter, @jbflint, @merrillbro, @shakeenz, Washington Post, @feliciasonmez, @greenfield64, Wall Street Journal, Politico, @yashar, @vivian, The Wrap, ABC News, @benyt, New Republic, Los Angeles Times, @suehalpernvt, @deanluk, The Banter, @marcacaputo, @adamnagourney, The Nation, Boston.com, @hodgman, @sulliview, @marcacaputo, @connieschultz, @moorehn, @bradleywhitford, @ericidle, @billyeichner, @warrenleighttv, @jbenton, @jenszalai, @kylepope, @abbydphillip, @jackischechner, The Hill, @ericbalfour, @lollardfish, @markos, @wajahatali, @ynb, @keitholbermann, @brianstelter, @jon_allsop, @brianstelter, @bgrueskin, @bgrueskin, @owillis, @corb_the_lesser, @joshsternberg, @nprinskeep, @dandrezner, @danrather, @bevysmith, @shawnhatosy, The Daily Beast, @ditzkoff, @schmittnyc, @frances_fisher, @byronyork, @w7voa, @blackamazon, @drdave1999, Top Celebrity News …, @vivian, @joshsternberg, @elaheizadi, @doncheadle, @brithume, @helenkennedy, @poniewozik, @marmel, @herzogfan, @jayrosen_nyu, @b52malmet, @shakeenz and @mrjoncryer

Vijaya Gadde / @vijaya:

[Thread] Twitter updates Hacked Materials Policy, says it won't remove content unless shared by hackers themselves and will label tweets instead of block links — Over the last 24 hours, we've received significant feedback (from critical to supportive) about how we enforced our Hacked Materials Policy yesterday. After reflecting on this feedback, we have decided to make changes to the policy and how we enforce it.

@twittersafety:
[Thread] Twitter clarifies why it blocked the sharing of NY Post's Biden story, saying it contained private info and violated its Hacked Materials Policy

Casey Newton / Platformer:
The Post hack-and-leak may remain in the right-wing conspiracy sphere if mainstream outlets treat it with the same severe skepticism Twitter and Facebook have

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

The FCC has no jurisdiction over Section 230, which was explicitly written to deny the FCC any authority over websites — For years, FCC Chair Ajit Pai has insisted that the thing that was most important to him was to have a “light touch” regulatory regime regarding the internet.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Radio & Television …, @mmasnick, Reason, @sarahjeong, @adamtaylorbates, @mathewi, @evan_greer, @esaagar, @nxthompson and @justinamash, more at Techmeme »

Todd Shields / Bloomberg:
Ajit Pai says FCC will start a rulemaking to clarify the meaning of Section 230, and social media doesn't have “special immunity denied to other media outlets”

Discussion: @ajitpaifcc, @jrosenworcel, Variety, @tommjohnsonjr, @karolcummins, @senrickscott, MediaNama, @jisraelbalderas, @jisraelbalderas, @brendancarrfcc, @jaycaruso, @hawleymo and @micsolana, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Zuckerberg hosted Ben Shapiro at his home last year and then in August told staff that Courier Newsroom wasn't a real news outlet due to political ties — Facebook's chief, once uninterested, has transformed himself into an active political operator in the Trump era

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

EU data protection authority finds IAB Europe's GDPR consent framework, adopted by Google and others, fails to meet required legal standards of data protection — A flagship framework for gathering Internet users' consent for targeting with behavioral ads — which is designed by ad industry body …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Irish Council …, @robinberjon, Ad Age, Irish Council …, @moonalice, @laurakalbag, @jason_kint, @johnnyryan, @robinberjon, @profcarroll, @johnnyryan, @ashk4n, @jason_kint and @globalprivctrl, more at Techmeme »

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Gannett CEO Mike Reed announced that the company will be offering another round of voluntary buyouts starting next week — The company's CEO announced the changes during a town hall Wednesday. Offer letters to potential buyout volunteers will be sent out Monday.

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

FiveThirtyEight starts three-week-long live blog to cover voting logistics, with posts that don't yet merit their own stories, reader questions, and live chats — From wild conspiracy theories to legitimate growing pains associated with implementing brand-new voting procedures …

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Comcast's NBCUniversal and some PE firms approached Disney earlier this year about acquiring Hulu or operating it as a partnership, but were rebuffed — Toward the end of 2019, Hulu delivered a proposal to Walt Disney Co., its controlling shareholder, outlining a strategy to expand …

Discussion: The Streamable, @entstrategyguy, @masasoncap, @masasoncap, @theericgoldman, @theericgoldman, @theericgoldman and @johnjedwards3

Jason Gurwin / The Streamable:

Nexstar ABC affiliates dropped From Hulu + Live TV in 20+ markets due to a carriage dispute, though Hulu has replaced them with a national ABC feed — In the first major carriage dispute for the Live TV Streaming Service, Hulu + Live TV has lost Nexstar ABC affiliates on the service.

Lauren Katzenberg / New York Times:

NYT Magazine is winding down its At War project, a forum for exploring the experiences and costs of war, including the weekly Afghan casualty report — The Times project that has provided original reporting and firsthand accounts of conflict is winding down.

Discussion: @nytimesatwar, @meslackman, @grayconnolly, @seamushughes, @patriciakime, @grayconnolly and @cucumbermarg

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More News:

Elizabeth Jensen / New York Times:
PBS' ability to meet the moment with free educational content and programming that contextualizes US history shows the need for its original, expansive mission

Alex Kantrowitz / OneZero:
Interview with Ben Smith on brutal internal politics and the use of Slack at The NYT, working remotely, and the inevitable regulation of social platforms

Discussion: bookforum.com, @kantrowitz, @chrismegerian, @haleaziz, @dlberes, @markbriggs and @niemanlab

David Bauder / Associated Press:
C-SPAN suspended editor Steve Scully indefinitely after he admitted he lied about his Twitter account being hacked following his tweet to Anthony Scaramucci

Discussion: Mediaite, CNN, Poynter, @kurtschlichter, @robgeorge, @megynkelly, @scaramucci, @brianstelter, @sullydish, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @congressmanhice, @asteadwesley, @alxthomp, @davidmackau, Lead Stories, Bleeding Cool and New York Times

Earlier Picks:

Robinson Meyer / The Atlantic:
The Atlantic launches Planet, a section devoted to climate change, and Weekly Planet, a newsletter

NBC News:
YouTube is now banning conspiracy theory content, such as QAnon or Pizzagate, that targets individuals and groups and is used to “justify real-world violence”

From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered making a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

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