Mediagazer: A defense of the editing changes in summaries of The 1619 Project, following new criticisms from people including NYT columnist Bret Stephens (Jake Silverstein/New York Times)

4:40 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, @feliciasonmez, Washington Post, @greenfield64, Politico, Wall Street Journal, @yashar, @vivian, @benyt, ABC News, New Republic, @suehalpernvt, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, @deanluk, @marcacaputo, The Banter, @adamnagourney, The Nation, Boston.com, @hodgman, @sulliview, @marcacaputo, @connieschultz, @moorehn, @bradleywhitford, @ericidle, @billyeichner, @warrenleighttv, @jbenton, @jenszalai, @kylepope, @abbydphillip, @jackischechner, @ericbalfour, @lollardfish, @markos, @wajahatali, @ynb, @keitholbermann, @brianstelter, The Hill, @jon_allsop, @brianstelter, @bgrueskin, @bgrueskin, @owillis, @corb_the_lesser, @joshsternberg, @nprinskeep, @dandrezner, @danrather, @bevysmith, @shawnhatosy, @ditzkoff, @schmittnyc, @frances_fisher, @byronyork, The Daily Beast, @w7voa, @blackamazon, @drdave1999, @vivian, @joshsternberg, Top Celebrity News …, @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

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

Jake Silverstein / New York Times:

A defense of the editing changes in summaries of The 1619 Project, following new criticisms from people including NYT columnist Bret Stephens — A response from our editor. — The 1619 Project, which was conceived of and led by Nikole Hannah-Jones, a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine …

Discussion: @bobbyknndy, @kathrynannette, @emmadaly, @johnmccrory, @jamalandress, @jamalandress, @mosilverstein and @gabrieljr

Laura Wagner / VICE:
NYT AME Carolyn Ryan told staff that columnists have wide latitude to criticize colleagues' work, in contrast to a policy against criticism on Twitter or Slack

Discussion: @kevinwglass, @egsaba_ia, @timmarchman, @kevinwglass, @xpatriciah, @laurawags and @coreyatad

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, @sarahjeong, @adamtaylorbates, @mathewi, Radio & Television …, @evan_greer, @esaagar, Reason, @nxthompson, @mmasnick, @justinamash and Platformer, 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, @senrickscott, @karolcummins, MediaNama, @jisraelbalderas, @jisraelbalderas, @brendancarrfcc, @jaycaruso, @hawleymo, @micsolana and Law & Crime, 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

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.