Mediagazer: Study: women made up 38% of directors and 35% of writers of indie narrative features and docs from 2019-2020, with female directors doubling in the last decade (Dave McNary/Variety)

2:35 AM ET, October 19, 2020

Top News:

A look at a pay-for-play network of ~1,300 sites and some papers that fills a local news void in the US with propaganda ordered by GOP and corporate PR groups — A nationwide operation of 1,300 local sites publishes coverage that is ordered up by Republican groups and corporate P.R. firms.

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Sources: NY Post's article about Hunter Biden was written mostly by Bruce Golding, who did not allow his byline to be used amid doubts in the tabloid's newsroom — Some reporters withheld their bylines and questioned the credibility of an article that made the tabloid's front page on Wednesday.

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

The Markup:

The Markup announces The Citizen Browser Project, an initiative with The NYT to analyze how the algorithms of Facebook and YouTube serve content to users — The Markup, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates how the world's most powerful institutions use technology to reshape society …

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Mark Burnett, the TV producer behind Survivor, Trump's The Apprentice, and The Voice, is facing his own string of flops and a cultural disconnect, for now — Mark Burnett helped turn Donald Trump into a national figure with “The Apprentice.” But since 2016, his impact “has kind of gone bust.”

Discussion: @rstephens, @markberman, @yashar, @elongreen, @thrasherxy, @alexmleo, @rowaenthe, @felixsalmon, @chrismegerian, @nycsouthpaw and Wall Street Journal

Daniel Cooper / Engadget:

Virtual studios, where the filmmaking takes place in front of a halo of flat screen displays connected to PCs, are offering a real alternative to green screens — For as long as filmmaking has existed, there has been a need to build fantastic worlds in front of cameras.

more at Techmeme »

Dave McNary / Variety:

Study: women made up 38% of directors and 35% of writers of indie narrative features and docs from 2019-2020, with female directors doubling in the last decade — The percentages of women working as directors and writers on independent films reached recent highs in 2019-2020, according to a report released Thursday.

Discussion: Deadline and The Wrap

Reese Oxner / NPR:

Disney+ has updated the disclaimer appearing before some of its classic films with stronger language acknowledging the “harmful impact” of racist stereotypes — Many people have long said certain Disney classics like Peter Pan, Dumbo and The Aristocats contain racist stereotypes and overtones.

Discussion: The Wrap, New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, Collider, IGN, Digital Spy, What's On Disney Plus, Forbes, Reuters, Comic Book, Animation Magazine, Upworthy, BBC, CNN, IndieWire, Cord Cutters News, Los Angeles Times, Deadline, The A.V. Club, CNET, /Film, Game Rant and TVLine

Kendall Baker / Axios:

Voting rights group More Than A Vote, led by LeBron James and others, debuts new series NBA 2KTV, featuring interviews about voting, within NBA 2K21 video game — In an attempt to reach young Black voters where they already consume media, More Than A Vote — the voting rights group led …

Discussion: @michaelwtyler, @axios and The Verge

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: as Facebook curbed political news in 2017, Zuckerberg OK'ed tweaks affecting sites like Mother Jones after some execs worried about impact on the right — Facebook's chief, once uninterested, has transformed himself into an active political operator in the Trump era

Discussion: @clarajeffery, @zephyrteachout, @deggans, @maxkennerly, The Verge, @richarddeitsch, @ukskies, @carolecadwalla, @leakthompson, @juddlegum, @suehalpernvt, @erikwemple, @jason_kint, @felienne, @su4ita, @patrickclaybon, @brooklynmarie, @pomeranian99, @grady_booch, @davidcorndc, @monikabauerlein, @_cingraham, @_cingraham, @scobleizer, @brianbeutler, @jason_kint, @dlind, @migueldeicaza, @bendreyfuss, @davidfolkenflik, @mondoweiss, @alex_abads, @nickmartin, @emilybell, @govhowarddean, @jameswest2010, @khanoisseur, @nabihasyed, @juddlegum, @slhamlet, @davidcorndc, @dethveggie, @becketadams, @professorisin, @maxberger, @bgrueskin, @andreabellemare, @alxthomp, @monikabauerlein, @monikabauerlein, @monikabauerlein, @monikabauerlein, @monikabauerlein, @monikabauerlein, @monikabauerlein, @juddlegum, @slpng_giants, @lindsayschrupp, @lindsayschrupp, @lindsayschrupp, @mccarthyryanj, @lindsayschrupp, @steven_strauss, @jason_kint, @taraemcg, @leavittalone, @taraemcg, @anthony, @mathewi, The Week, The Wrap and The Media Nut, more at Techmeme »

Ben Dreyfuss / Mother Jones:
Mother Jones' growth director recalls a sharp drop in Facebook reach in 2017 and '18, after WSJ reveals that algorithmic changes were made with politics in mind

Katherine Jacobsen / Committee to Protect Journalists:

Interviews with three foreign reporters on their experiences covering the US now, visa issues, safety concerns they have when going out into the field, and more — Covering elections as a foreign correspondent in the United States has traditionally meant press conferences …

Lauren Harris / Columbia Journalism Review:

Q&A with the director of the NewStart initiative, which aims to connect people interested in newspaper ownership with owners looking to sell — Though a deepening economic crisis continues to plague the local news landscape in the United States, the NewStart initiative has set out to ensure …

Discussion: @jskstanford, @tothevictor, @cjr, @cjr and @spj_tweets

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 …

Paul O'Donnell / Dallas Morning News:

Journalists at The Dallas Morning News and Al Día have voted 84-28 in favor of a union, in an election overseen by the NLRB — The Dallas News Guild says it will soon elect officers so contract talks can begin. … The National Relations Labor Board in Fort Worth …