Top News:
Jeff Horwitz / Wall Street Journal:
Facebook asks NYU Ad Observatory, which analyzes political ad targeting using data collected from a browser extension, to cease the practice for violating TOS — In letter this month, Facebook says the project violates provisions in its terms of service that prohibit bulk data collection
Discussion:
@alexanderabdo, Associated Press, Politico, @lauraedelson2, @alexanderabdo, @emilybell, @profcarroll, @alexanderabdo, The Verge, ZDNet, BuzzFeed News, CNET, @karaswisher, @juliaangwin, @random_walker, @maasalan, @jason_kint, @smdiehl, @markscott82, @ilvestoomas, @markwarner, @jason_kint, Mashable, @carrollbogert, Memex 1.1, @markondefense, @emilybell, @j_littlewood, @fightfortheftr, @justinhendrix, @stollmeyereu, @lauraedelson2, @alexanderabdo, @alexanderabdo, @alexanderabdo, @alexanderabdo, @lauraedelson2, @monteiro, @riana_crypto, @david_stillwell, @ethanz, @professorshaw, @carolecadwalla, @nikkisunstrum, @moonalice, @dellcam, @jeffhorwitz, @jason_kint, @digiphile, @jason_kint, @digiphile, Gizmodo, @whotargetsme, @rmac18, The Hill and MIT Technology Review, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Alex Abdo / @alexanderabdo: This is a disturbing development. Last Friday, Facebook sent a cease-and-desist letter to two NYU researchers (@LauraEdelson2 and Damon McCoy), demanding that they shut down their research into political ads and disinformation on FB's platform. https://www.wsj.com/...
Mark Scott / Politico: Facebook tries to block tool aimed at promoting transparency around political ads
Laura Edelson / @lauraedelson2: A week ago, Facebook sent me a C&D asking us to take down AdObserver and delete our data. The public has a right to know how political ads are targeted, so we will not be complying with this request. Please consider installing https://adobserver.org/
Alex Abdo / @alexanderabdo: According to Facebook, Ad Observer compromises the privacy of Facebook's users, but this is a pretty ridiculous claim. The plug-in's users voluntarily sign up to donate data about the ads they see, and the plug-in does not share any personally identifying information.
Emily Bell / @emilybell: Facebook are relentlessly resistant, obstructive and happy to use legal means to suppress legitimate independent research on their platform - must read thread from @knightcolumbia 's @AlexanderAbdo https://twitter.com/...
David Carroll / @profcarroll: Facebook sends its attack dogs against the NYU Ad Observatory for its essential work studying effects of ad targeting on the political process. This is disgusting, especially knowing there are actual data abusers out there actually selling Facebook data to political operatives. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Abdo / @alexanderabdo: You may already know that Facebook itself publishes data about political ads on its platform. but Facebook's archive is missing a crucial piece of data: FB has consistently refused to publish anything about how the ads are *targeted*.
Kim Lyons / The Verge: Facebook wants the NYU Ad Observer to quit collecting data about its ad targeting
Tiernan Ray / ZDNet: Facebook demands NYU Ad Observatory stop collecting data on site's political ads, says WSJ
BuzzFeed News: Facebook Promised To Label Political Ads, But Ads For Biden, The Daily Wire, And Interest Groups Are Slipping Through
Kara Swisher / @karaswisher: This is not a fight that Facebook should be having: Facebook Seeks Shutdown of NYU Research Project Into Political Ad Targeting - WSJ https://www.wsj.com/...
Julia Angwin / @juliaangwin: The NYU Ad Observatory is the only window researchers have to see microtargeting information about political ads on Facebook. Very disappointing to see that Facebook is trying to shut that down. https://twitter.com/...
Arvind Narayanan / @random_walker: Facebook is once again grotesquely using privacy as an excuse to shut down research into its platform that it finds inconvenient. Researchers who conduct this invaluable public-interest work do so at significant personal risk. They deserve all the support we can give them. https://twitter.com/...
@maasalan: Facebook is trying to shutdown NYU's research on political ads& disinformation on FB. This is a massive assault on academic freedom. This whole thread on Facebook's history trying to stifle independent research into its platform is must read. https://twitter.com/...
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: Now imagine it's Oct 2016 and there are academic researchers at NYU who have a tool to cleanly monitor these ads, the microtargeting and provide actual outside accountability for Facebook. And Facebook is trying to shut it down just days before the election. /3 https://twitter.com/...
Stephen Diehl / @smdiehl: Facebook's thuggery and legal threats against journalists and researchers are having a chilling effect on public discourse and scholarship. This has no place in a open and democratic society. https://twitter.com/...
Mark Scott / @markscott82: With just over a week before US election, @facebook is pushing to stop a digital tool that promotes transparency around online political ads https://www.politico.com/...
Toomas Hendrik Ilves / @ilvestoomas: Utterly revolting behavior by @Facebook, which clearly has something to hide, especially as the US heads into its election. Until we figure out how best to support NYU, please RT. This is why the @FBoversight is needed. https://www.wsj.com/...
Mark Warner / @markwarner: For several years now, I have emphasized the importance of empowering researchers, who are frequently the first to identify and track new social media platforms' abuses. https://www.politico.com/...
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: good thread. this is classic Facebook. Look the other way if it involves allies in power. Attack if it potentially exposes you. https://twitter.com/...
Adam Rosenberg / Mashable: Facebook wants NYU researchers to stop sharing the political ad data it keeps secret
Carroll Bogert / @carrollbogert: With less than two weeks to go before the election, Facebook is trying to cripple a resource used by dozens of journalists and researchers to report on who is trying to influence the public and how wth political ads https://www.politico.com/...
Memex 1.1: Waiting for... who? — Venice, 2017. — Quote of the Day … Musical alternative to the morning's radio news
Mark R. Jacobson / @markondefense: Once again @Facebook showing a lack of seriousness about fighting dark money, political manipulation, and disinformation. “Facebook tries to block tool aimed at promoting transparency around political ads” https://www.politico.com/...
Emily Bell / @emilybell: A good reason why academic institutions should not take research funding from Facebook - it harms broader and more independent efforts to investigate platforms
Jesse Littlewood / @j_littlewood: We at @CommonCause have been proud to partner with @LauraEdelson2 and the NYU Political Ad Observatory, recruiting members to volunteer. @Facebook must allow this project to continue unimpeded. This project has important public interest results: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Justin Hendrix / @justinhendrix: Absolutely absurd, @Facebook. cc @FBoversight https://twitter.com/...
@stollmeyereu: While initially embracing “more transparency, accountability & responsibility”, “Facebook has chosen instead to threaten researchers who are trying to study political disinformation, just days before presidential election awash in lies & distortions.” @FBoversight #Election2020 https://twitter.com/...
Laura Edelson / @lauraedelson2: To see how we use data collected by our browser extension users, take a look at AdObservatory, where we combine that data with data we collect from Facebook's Ad Library API to create a fuller picture of political advertising on Facebook: https://adobservatory.org/
Alex Abdo / @alexanderabdo: The researchers (w/ the help of others) are responsible for a browser plug-in called Ad Observer, which allows FB users to voluntarily share very limited and anonymous data about the political ads that FB shows them. You can read about Ad Observer here: https://adobservatory.org/
Alex Abdo / @alexanderabdo: Facebook should embrace this model of independent research on the platform. In fact, at one point it did — specifically praising the work of Laura and Damon during an earlier iteration of their investigations into FB ads. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Alex Abdo / @alexanderabdo: Unfortunately, Facebook has chosen instead to threaten researchers who are trying to study political disinformation, just days before a presidential election awash in lies and distortions.
Alex Abdo / @alexanderabdo: As Laura Edelson (one of the NYU researchers) likes to say, Ad Observer enables “citizen science,” by enlisting the support of the public in studying the pathologies of political discourse. It enables user choice.
Laura Edelson / @lauraedelson2: I wrote about why we built this and some of our preliminary observations here: https://medium.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Mike Monteiro / @monteiro: Facebook workers, this is where you put your labor. Choose a better path. Your children will thank you. https://twitter.com/...
@riana_crypto: “'We informed NYU months ago that moving forward with a project to scrape people's Facebook information would violate our terms,” a FB spox said. And then they waited til 2 weeks before the election to send a C&D letter! 🙃 And you wonder why researchers are afraid of the CFAA. https://twitter.com/...
David Stillwell / @david_stillwell: Thread from lawyer representing two NYU researchers who are being threatened by FB for doing research into political advertising and disinformation. Academic freedom has to be protected from attack by rich and powerful corporations. https://twitter.com/...
Ethan Zuckerman / @ethanz: A very bad look for Facebook - https://www.wsj.com/.... Understanding how political ads are targeted on FB is of public and academic interest. And recruiting volunteers to donate data is a responsible way to get this data. We need a safe harbor for researchers.
Tamsin Shaw / @professorshaw: Such an outrageous move by Facebook, even in a climate where our threshhold for outrage is getting to be pretty high https://www.wsj.com/...
Carole Cadwalladr / @carolecadwalla: This is so outrageous. This project is run by @FBoversight member @LauraEdelson2 who has been doing critical work scrutinising Facebook's ads in run-up to election. Now Facebook has sent her a cease & desist letter https://www.wsj.com/...
@nikkisunstrum: Facebook being worried about their data privacy but not the privacy of their nearly 4 billion users (FB+IG) is so peak Zuck. https://twitter.com/...
Roger McNamee / @moonalice: When FB shuts something down because of privacy concerns, you can be confident that the privacy in question is that of the powerful, often FB itself. https://www.wsj.com/...
Dell Cameron / @dellcam: Facebook threatens academic researchers examining the way it targets users with political ads; says “enforcement actions” may follow if they don't delete their findings. https://www.wsj.com/...
Jeff Horwitz / @jeffhorwitz: In timing I do not understand, Facebook demanded that NYU researchers call off their volunteer-driven collection of data on political ad targeting two weeks ahead of the US election: https://www.wsj.com/...
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: This is now relevant to this thread from yesterday about Facebook and microtargeted political ads. Facebook's refusal to change its rules concurrent with blocking researchers monitoring it gives me a very, very bad feeling. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Howard / @digiphile: Key thread by @AlexanderAbdo on @Facebook, including its past history with @propublica & watchdogs. As he notes, @nyuniversity is now represented by @knightcolumbia. I wish FB complied with the Honest Ads Act & disclosed targeting data voluntarily. It won't. Congress should act. https://twitter.com/...
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: OMG, Facebook. WTH are you thinking??!!?? This isn't personal data. You're literally threatening the few outside researchers attempting to assist the public in holding you accountable after you covered up your 2016 failures and pushed to avoid outside accountability. Disturbing. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Howard / @digiphile: Bad faith: @facebook has claimed for years that it wants journalists, watchdogs, & academics to use its political ad archive, but it's trying to stop @nyuniversity researchers from collecting bulk data? Self-regulation is not enough. https://e-pluribusunum.org/... https://twitter.com/...
Alyse Stanley / Gizmodo: Facebook Threatens to Muzzle an NYU Research Project Into Its Political Ad Targeting
Who Targets Me / @whotargetsme: This seems to happen in every election now, where FB misses some political ads and they don't get properly labelled and added to their Ad Library. The question is how they actually get missed... https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
Ryan Mac / @rmac18: The day we write about how Facebook's ad system is screwing up and not labeling some political ads, based on research from NYU, Facebook sends NYU a cease-and-desist letter. So much for transparency. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Tal Axelrod / The Hill: Facebook fights NYU political ad research project, argues it violates the site's data collection policies
Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:
Two of four voters featured in a NYT article about Atlanta white suburban voters had paid Republican Party connections, not initially divulged in the story — The New York Times has been caught, once again, passing off Republican operatives as “regular” Republican voters in an article intended …
Discussion:
@patrickhealynyt, @ichotiner, @elainaplott, @tomkludt, @bendreyfuss, @andrewfeinberg, @soledadobrien, @kendallybrown, @rottenindenmark, @dougheye, @dangillmor, @beyerstein, @soledadobrien, @ericteusink, @lindaholmes, @tim_bousquet, @joshuahol, @soledadobrien, @sarahposner, @mattyglesias, @kavichek, @froomkin, @mike_hixenbaugh, @owillis, @stphnfwlr, @sbagen, @thewaywithanoa, @joanwalsh, @lizzwinstead, New York Times, @klonguski, @everyvoicenc, @matthewjsinger, @charlesbethea, @charlesbethea, @charlesbethea, @kristarbrewer, @bluestein, @patrickhealynyt, @patrickhealynyt, @patrickhealynyt, @patrickhealynyt, @froomkin, @jeremylittau, Salon and The Media Nut
Discussion:
Patrick Healy / @patrickhealynyt: We have corrected a Times story about white college-educated voters in the Atlanta suburbs who are supporting President Trump. Here's an explanation of what happened. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Isaac Chotiner / @ichotiner: To recap: The piece's argument was that regular Georgians didn't love Trump, but were concerned about Dems/lawlessness. Turns out two of those interviewed—1 now removed—were respectively a GOP consultant & a Young Republicans leader/son of Trump's Ambassador to Luxembourg. https://twitter.com/...
Elaina Plott / @elainaplott: Hi, all. I did not do my due diligence in looking into the backgrounds of two people I interviewed for this story. Making mistakes is agonizing. We fixed the errors as soon as we learned about them. https://twitter.com/...
Tom Kludt / @tomkludt: I'm never going to push for someone to be fired, but it goes without saying that many, many journalists would be sacked for something like this. And if they were lucky enough to survive it, most wouldn't have their peers publicly stumping for their credibility. https://twitter.com/...
Ben Dreyfuss / @bendreyfuss: It's amazing what absolute pricks people can be. A NYT reporter made a mistake in a story, a mistake her editor didn't catch, and people on twitter decide she's a fabulist with malevolent intent. Elaina Plott is a lovely smart nice decent talented human. you're all psychos. https://twitter.com/...
Andrew Feinberg / @andrewfeinberg: Seconded. There are lots of solid mainstream journalists with conservative roots on their resume. Like everyone, sometimes they screw up. It's not a conspiracy. https://twitter.com/...
Soledad O'Brien / @soledadobrien: (I always feel sorry for the editors who have to post lengthy threads on what the reporter got wrong.) https://twitter.com/...
Kendall Brown / @kendallybrown: What happened is that you hired a far right activist—a self identified former “Ann Coulter fangirl”—masquerading as a reporter, and then published the propaganda she knowingly churned out. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Michael Hobbes / @rottenindenmark: I would honestly be more sympathetic to this view if: a) The reporter in question was transparent about how the mistake happened; b) the NYT did not have a pattern of making this exact error repeatedly in its election coverage c) the underlying story had been worth writing https://twitter.com/...
Doug Heye / @dougheye: This is how you deal with mistakes. Candidates could learn from this. Elaina is a pro. https://twitter.com/...
Dan Gillmor / @dangillmor: As @froomkin points out, a @nytimes reporter failed to do even basic due diligence on the sources quoted in this Trump-cult-still-loves-Trump story. This is mostly a failure of editors who seem desperate for (false) balance horse races, by the way. https://presswatchers.org/...
Lindsay Beyerstein / @beyerstein: The Times promised us an explanation and explained nothing, which only makes Plott look worse. Did she just happen to meet (and fail to Google) two GOP operatives who concealed their party ties when asked about politics? https://twitter.com/...
Soledad O'Brien / @soledadobrien: So this thread doesn't actually explain what happened. I mean: major reporting fail by the @nytimes. But no actual explanation of how the reporter @elainaplott got it so wrong. https://twitter.com/...
Eric Teusink / @ericteusink: Thanks to @froomkin for giving me a little credit for my part in pushing back against propaganda aimed at confirming people's preconceived notions about suburban Atlantans. https://presswatchers.org/...
@lindaholmes: I think what's missing from this explanation is a little more context about what went wrong. Finding people to treat as random voters is hard, especially in a pandemic. The question is really, to me, where did these people come from? Reporter's existing contacts? Twitter? https://twitter.com/...
Tim Bousquet / @tim_bousquet: 1. So frustrating. The investigative team on Trump's tax records is doing astoundingly good journalism, and it gets missed in, and to a degree discredited by, the bullshit like Plott's, er, bullshit. 2. That's not an explanation. 3. She's done it before: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Joshua Holland / @joshuahol: There no explanation in this thread. “A lack of info obtained in reporting and missed in editing” doesn't tell us anything about how a Salena Zito-style train-wreck got into the paper of record. How did Plotts connect with these interview subjects? That seems like a key Q. https://twitter.com/...
Soledad O'Brien / @soledadobrien: (We know what happened) https://twitter.com/...
Sarah Posner / @sarahposner: I would be even more interested in learning how the reporter found the people to interview ... https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: The frequency with which these kind of problems pop up in this kind of story suggests to me that it's a flawed genre that the nation's assigning editors should rethink. https://twitter.com/...
Kavitha Chekuru / @kavichek: Key question here: “And why is the Times continuing to buy into the framing of Trump's racist language and lawbreaking actions as a “law-and-order” message? The article used the term three times - including once in its subhead - without any caveats.” https://twitter.com/...
Dan Froomkin / @froomkin: I have updated my piece with the responses from @elainaplott and @patrickhealynyt, as well as my conclusion that they are unsatisfactory. https://presswatchers.org/... https://twitter.com/...
Mike Hixenbaugh / @mike_hixenbaugh: I would say this is sloppy journalism, but I think it's more than that. Still too many reporters — especially with voter stories — start with a narrative, then, rather than testing its validity, instead go in search of people who embody it. https://twitter.com/...
Oliver Willis / @owillis: what happened is you hired a conservative activist and she fabricated interviews with fellow conservative activists as average citizens. and you printed it. https://twitter.com/...
Stephen Fowler / @stphnfwlr: Still doesn't explain why the story doesn't have an Atlanta dateline, why original age+descriptor of prominent Republican son of an ambassador's age matched a 2-year old New Yorker profile of him or why some of the people quoted are in the exurbs with diff voting behavior! https://twitter.com/...
Sam Bagenstos / @sbagen: This is worse than journalistic malpractice. This is the NYT aiding and abetting misinformation. https://twitter.com/...
Joan Walsh / @joanwalsh: I hate to say it's getting routine. But it's getting routine. Hey NYT leaders...can you help? https://twitter.com/...
Kirk Longuski / @klonguski: @matthewjsinger @IChotiner I think part of it is these operatives doing this on purpose. Another part is NYT reporters parachuting in and not giving non-coastal places credit for having nuances and differences in political opinion. To them, someone from Atlanta is the same as someone else from Atlanta
@everyvoicenc: @KLonguski @matthewjsinger @IChotiner Exactly. Like yesterday, CNN had an article on North Carolina & they referenced voters in rural eastern NC - but only talked to white people? There are 8 counties that are over 50% Black folks in Eastern NC. Like how did CNN even miss them all? Were they blindfolded?
Matt Singer / @matthewjsinger: @IChotiner What's going on here, practically speaking? How do reporters keep on landing on political flacks for their “regular folks talk about politics” interviews? And why don't they take the extra few minutes to google the people before presenting them as regular voters?
Charles.Bethea / @charlesbethea: How did these two “voters” (who might also be called Republican operatives) end up talking to the writer? https://twitter.com/...
Charles.Bethea / @charlesbethea: I'm being asked how an NYT writer could end up quoting two Republican operatives in GA, w/out ID'ing them as such, in one GA elections piece. I don't know. But it's hard to see how you just stumble across Jake Evans & Natalie Pontius (the Republican ops) randomly. https://twitter.com/...
Charles.Bethea / @charlesbethea: Glad to see some accountability here. But the paper's “live briefing item” (noted below) is still misleading. It does not note (as the longer version now does) that Natalie Pontius was recently a paid Republican consultant. And this item ends w/ an ‘everyman’ quote from her. https://twitter.com/...
Krista Brewer / @kristarbrewer: So disappointed in the @nytimes. https://twitter.com/...
Greg Bluestein / @bluestein: This story has been a topic of conversation with national and local press at the @KamalaHarris pool this morning - and I'm continuing to get messages about it from local politicos, like this just a few minutes ago. #gapol https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Patrick Healy / @patrickhealynyt: The reporter, Elaina Plott, is an excellent journalist who was aiming to help readers understand Trump's support in Georgia. The omission of information was an honest mistake; we were not trying to hide details. We appreciate the readers who called the omissions to our attention.
Patrick Healy / @patrickhealynyt: Nationwide, many white college-educated voters are tilting toward Joe Biden. Our recent poll showed Trump ahead with these voters in Georgia (though by less than he was in 2016), and we sought to understand factors leading them to back Trump. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Patrick Healy / @patrickhealynyt: Some readers have asked about a Live Briefing item that had been adapted from the full story. Briefing items are much shorter versions of stories. The item never included a reference or quote involving the Trump supporter with current professional Republican affiliations.
Patrick Healy / @patrickhealynyt: We believe the premise and the story are sound. Two of the voters quoted are clearly Trump supporters but initially weren't fully identified because of a lack of info obtained in reporting and missed in editing. We corrected the article to add more info about these voters https://twitter.com/...
Dan Froomkin / @froomkin: And let's give a round of applause to the sleuth who blew this open: @charlesbethea https://twitter.com/...
Jeremy Littau / @jeremylittau: I don't understand how this happens so often in the NYT's “regular person” political stories. This isn't the first time it's been flagged. What are their internal processes for determining who gets to speak as the emblematic example of a class of voters the reporter defines? https://twitter.com/...
Josh Sternberg / The Media Nut: On sourcing and story frames
Rebecca Nelson / ELLE:
Profile of Kristen Welker, the first Black woman to moderate a presidential debate since 1992, who covers the White House for NBC and who works to mentor others — At Thursday night's final presidential debate, Kristen Welker asked President Trump a pointed question about the economic hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Post, @ron_fournier, @ninagarcia, @rebeccarnelson, @sulliview, @notesfromhel, @sopandeb, @eliselabott, @writelikeutalk, @oliverdarcy, @amandawgolden, @rebeccarnelson, @geoffrbennett, @katebennett_dc, @elaheizadi, @jmsummers, @sulliview, @seattletimes, @thedailybeast and @farhip
Discussion:
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post: Kristen Welker asked the candidates about The Talk. That moment proved the value of newsroom diversity.
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post: The first debate was a horror. The second was scrapped. Now it's up to Kristen Welker.
Ron Fournier / @ron_fournier: This @Sulliview column on @kwelkernbc should resonate not just in every newsroom but in every American company https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Nina Garcia / @ninagarcia: 🎙@kwelkernbc: “I just kept saying to myself, ‘listen and be present,’” she tells @ELLEmagazine in an exclusive interview. 🙌 “I thought it was critical that we talked about the issues that mattered to voters” 📲 https://www.elle.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Rebecca Nelson / @rebeccarnelson: “If you don't have that feeling of being a little bit nervous about it, you have to ask yourself, have you really found the toughest question you can ask?” Exclusive interview w/ @kwelkernbc on how she made last night's debate...actually watchable https://www.elle.com/...
Margaret Sullivan / @sulliview: @NotesFromHeL You're right, of course. The timeline is long. It's just burst more into the public eye recently.
@notesfromhel: The question for many of us now is how much will these newsroom “reckonings” meaningfully and permanently change - especially when they're happening within the same infrastructure that created and/or co-signed the lack of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Sopan Deb / @sopandeb: I really, really respect @Sulliview - one of the best - and she writes a very compelling piece here. However, it shouldn't just be incumbent on POC journos to ask tough, pointed questions. There shouldn't be an extra burden. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Elise Labott / @eliselabott: Um yeah she was: “Kristen Welker Was Always Going to Be the Best Debate Moderator” https://www.elle.com/...
Jeff Butera / @writelikeutalk: “Listen and be present” Great advice for: * Interviews * News Gathering * Life and Relationships https://twitter.com/...
Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy: “Diversity actually does make a difference. It actually does make for better journalism.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Amanda Golden / @amandawgolden: Throughout her weeks of preparation her goal stayed the same: “My strategy going into this was, how do we give the American people the information they need to have days before an election?” Kristen Welker Was Always Going to Be the Best Debate Moderator https://www.elle.com/...
Rebecca Nelson / @rebeccarnelson: At last night's debate, we saw why representation in journalism matters. Kristen Welker told me that her question about “the talk” was the very first question she wrote https://www.elle.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Geoff Bennett / @geoffrbennett: Kristen Welker to @ELLEmagazine : “I thought it was critical that we talked about the issues that mattered to voters, and I wanted the questions to be accessible. I wanted them to be meaningful to people.” https://www.elle.com/...
Kate Bennett / @katebennett_dc: “She did mock sessions where she workshopped questions and practiced how to politely move the candidates along. She spent hours diving into the issues w her team...She also called the moderator of the first debate..Chris Wallace, to get his advice.” https://www.elle.com/...
Elahe Izadi / @elaheizadi: An excellent column by @Sulliview: Kristen Welker asked the candidates about The Talk. That moment proved the value of newsroom diversity. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@jmsummers: “Too often, newsroom diversity ... is seen as a numbers game, a matter of meeting quotas. But at its core, that's not what it's about. It's about journalism that accurately, and meaningfully, reflects what's going on in an increasingly diversified country.” https://twitter.com/...
Margaret Sullivan / @sulliview: Kristen Welker asked the candidates about The Talk. It was a powerful moment of authenticity that illustrated what newsroom diversity is all about. ... New from me, with discussion, also, of The 1619 Project & @nhannahjones https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@seattletimes: NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker worked hard Thursday to keep control of the second and final encounter between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, steering but not stifling exchanges. https://www.seattletimes.com/ ...
@thedailybeast: “Given that she is the moderator of [the] final presidential debate between Trump and Biden, part of Trump's strategy in attacking Welker personally is aimed at de-legitimizing the debate...by attempting to undermine her legitimacy,” writes @finneyk https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Wall Street Journal:
A look at Jeff Zucker's leadership at CNN, as sources say he felt blindsided by parent WarnerMedia's restructuring and has had friction with CEO Jason Kilar — Under AT&T, cable boss felt blindsided by a recent overhaul of WarnerMedia that slimmed down his role
Discussion:
The Information, @benmullin, @benmullin, @asharma, @mariaressa, @moorehn, @richlightshed, @benmullin, @asharma, @alexweprin, @jbflint, @benmullin, @asharma, @benmullin, @benmullin, @jbflint, @raju, @media_evan and Mediaite
Discussion:
Jessica Toonkel / The Information: Who Could Lead CNN if Zucker Leaves
Ben Mullin / @benmullin: Since we published this story yesterday, I've heard from some CNN staffers who emphasized that, for many, losing Zucker would be a blow. They say many feel personally loyal to him. https://www.wsj.com/...
Ben Mullin / @benmullin: AT&T has been approached by possible buyers for CNN, but it's not for sale (right now). Lots of people in media-biz circles think CNN is a prime target for a SPAC or a buyout. https://www.wsj.com/...
Amol Sharma / @asharma: Jeff Zucker's transformation of CNN made him one of the most polarizing figures in media. Now, chafing at new controls under parent company AT&T, he's exploring an exit. The inside stuff from @BenMullin @JBFlint @DrewFitzGerald https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
Maria Ressa / @mariaressa: Jeff Zucker's transformation of CNN made him one of the most polarizing figures in media. Now, chafing at new controls under parent company AT&T, he may be exploring an exit. https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
Heidi N. Moore / @moorehn: Hard to see how this would be a loss. This is the man who popularized turning news into entertainment and backed Trump's career. Media doesn't need this example any more and we'd be better off to salt the earth around it. https://www.wsj.com/...
Rich Greenfield / @richlightshed: Best buyers of CNN ?? CBS News (ViacomCBS) NBC News (Comcast) Washington Post (@JeffBezos) who else? https://twitter.com/...
Ben Mullin / @benmullin: Side note: One problem with taking CNN private is that cable channels are sold to distributors in bundles. Cleave CNN off from its parent company, and you're looking at a tough negotiation with cable companies. https://twitter.com/...
Amol Sharma / @asharma: Per this piece, AT&T has fielded interest in CNN, but resisted selling because of a combination of profits and principle (not wanting to give in to political pressure). Some media/finance execs say it could be a target for private-equity or SPAC investors. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Weprin / @alexweprin: AT&T was approached about potentially selling CNN as recently as last year, but has held on to the cable news giant: https://www.wsj.com/...
Joe Flint / @jbflint: “The industry is changing, our company is changing, so I have a lot to think about.”—CNN Chief Jeff Zucker to staffers this week. Deep dive into his stewardship and tensions with the new head of WarnerMedia. https://www.wsj.com/...
Ben Mullin / @benmullin: Also in here: CNN is on pace to miss its budget by between $100 million and $120 million this year. https://www.wsj.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Amol Sharma / @asharma: At an online town hall this week, Zucker gave a grim financial update, and noted that changes at the company are one reason he's thinking about his future. That and more, here: https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
Ben Mullin / @benmullin: Inside CNN as it plans to cover an unprecedented election, with extensive precautions to avoid Covid-19 and plans to account for a so-called “red mirage” — high initial Republican turnout that belies strong mail-in voting. https://www.wsj.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Ben Mullin / @benmullin: Scoop: Tensions between CNN chief Jeff Zucker and WarnerMedia boss Jason Kilar are one factor pushing him toward leaving when his contract expires next year. w/@JBFlint and @DrewFitzGerald https://www.wsj.com/...
Joe Flint / @jbflint: With the election days away CNN Chief Jeff Zucker is still undecided. Deep dive into CNN and its leader. W/@BenMullin and @DrewFitzGerald https://www.wsj.com/...
Raju Narisetti / @raju: The idea that @CNN can be run by any good, primarily print-centric editor, may suggest a wishfully thin grasp of what the Jeff Zucker job and his success means and replacement needs. And good to see this nod to @mitrakalita as she heads out. https://twitter.com/...
Variety:
Sources: Apple, Netflix, and other streamers explored acquiring the delayed Bond movie No Time to Die, but MGM's $600M price tag for it was deemed too much — Apple, Netflix and other streaming services explored the possibility of acquiring “No Time to Die,” the upcoming James Bond movie that was originally slated to debut last April.
Discussion:
Rebecca VanAcker / ScreenRant: No Time To Die Not Going To Streaming, Studio Wanted $600 Million
@labuzamovies: This is really fascinating but I think it ultimately comes down to the fact MGM is basically a rights holding company that can stand to lose in a year, and MULAN proved that this model might not work for the blockbuster experience. https://variety.com/...
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac: Report: MGM considered moving James Bond to streaming but Apple/Netflix balked at $600m price tag
Matthewprigge / UPROXX: ‘No Time To Die’ Reportedly Almost Went Straight To Streaming — For A Princely Sum
Anthony / @brooklynbatman_: They just can't keep moving EVERYTHING to 2021 It's extremely crowded already Plus Theaters in NYC aren't opening any time soon. https://twitter.com/...
Jordan Hoffman / Vanity Fair: No Time To Buy: James Bond Reportedly Considered a Streaming Sale
Brandon Katz / @great_katzby: As much as I HATE waiting, I'd rather see #NoTimetoDie on the big screen with a packed crowd and maybe a few martinis deep. https://twitter.com/...
Rafael Motamayor / The Playlist: Apple And Netflix Have Discussed Acquiring ‘No Time To Die’ For Streaming Release, MGM Reportedly Asking For $600 Million
Christian Becker / @theamazingbeck: If only Quibi had held on just a liiiiittle bit longer. https://twitter.com/...
Edmund Lee / New York Times:
Some Vogue staffers say Anna Wintour fostered a workplace that sidelined women of color and her apology was hypocritical; others say her apology was heartfelt — Vogue's September issue celebrated Black culture and contributors. But some employees say the magazine's powerful editor fostered a workplace that sidelined women of color.
Discussion:
@kthomas901, @alyssavingan, @sheshecummings, @media_evan, @stellinitweets, @ibjiyongi, @lpolgreen, @edmundlee, @lindseyboylan, @dodaistewart, @evilrashida, @edmundlee, @steven_strauss, @sorayamcdonald, @nytimes, @errolnazareth, @jilliancyork, @hunteryharris, @rebel19, @samhaselby, @nytstyles and Page Six
Discussion:
Kaya Thomas / @kthomas901: Wow I had no idea there was a name for when this happens and this has definitely happened to me before 🥴 https://twitter.com/...
Alyssa Vingan / @alyssavingan: “At Vogue, when we'd evaluate a shoot or a look, we'd say 'That's Vogue,' or, 'That's not Vogue,' and what that really meant was ‘thin, rich and white.’” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Regina / @sheshecummings: The audacity to blame Rihanna's lateness on her race... she's late because she's a rich stoner https://twitter.com/...
Evan DeSimone / @media_evan: Yikes. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Nick Stellini / @stellinitweets: This is like the most open secret in this history of open secrets. There's a movie about this. https://twitter.com/...
Lydia Polgreen / @lpolgreen: Stick around for the kicker on this one. https://twitter.com/...
Edmund Lee / @edmundlee: NEW: Anna Wintour has championed diversity for years. But some at Vogue describe a workplace that sidelined and tokenized them. The racism they faced was often coded and subtle; sometimes blunt. That culture stemmed from Ms. Wintour they said: https://www.nytimes.com/...
Lindsey Boylan / @lindseyboylan: When they can make a thinly veiled film about you and this, there's truth to it. https://twitter.com/...
@dodaistewart: “Under Ms. Wintour, 18 people said, Vogue welcomed a certain type of employee — someone who is thin and white, typically from a wealthy family + educated at elite schools. 11 people said that...Ms. Wintour should no longer be in charge of Vogue” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Rashida Rene / @evilrashida: All the racist at BA test kitchen used are her lackeys so that tells me what I need to know about how they really handle “diversity” lmao https://twitter.com/...
Edmund Lee / @edmundlee: She has plenty of defenders and she acknowledged her mistakes: “Undoubtedly, I have made mistakes along the way, and if any mistakes were made at Vogue under my watch, they are mine to own and remedy and I am committed to doing the work.”
Steven Strauss / @steven_strauss: the only Black staff member in the room — piped up ...she suggested that the shoot would be an opportunity to showcase Africa, a rarity in any American magazine ...The shoot was a go. And the junior editor was never asked to attend a fashion meeting again. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@sorayamcdonald: This woman presided over a magazine for THIRTY YEARS without hiring a single Black photographer to shoot the cover until Beyoncé dug in her heels. There is zero need for Naomi's caping. Like, gurl. WYD https://www.nytimes.com/...
@nytimes: There is no part of Vogue that Anna Wintour does not control. Some people interviewed for this article say that she created a work environment that tokenized women of color, especially Black women. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Errol Nazareth / @errolnazareth: “When we'd evaluate a shoot or a look, we'd say, 'That's Vogue,' or, 'That's not Vogue,' and what that really meant was ‘thin, rich and white.’ “How do you work in that environment?” Scathing condemnation of Anna Wintour. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Chillian J. Yikes / @jilliancyork: The only surprise here is that this is only coming now. https://twitter.com/...
Hunter Harris / @hunteryharris: https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@rebel19: This is what the white gaze does: “Many Black people who worked for her said they felt so out of place in Ms. Wintour's domain that they created white alter egos...reconditioning their presentation and dress in a way that was mentally draining.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Sam Haselby / @samhaselby: I worked as a fact-checker at Vogue, for 6 months, when I was in grad school. A number of staff let uncashed paychecks conspicuously accumulate on their desks. It was a real power move. https://twitter.com/...
NYT Styles / @nytstyles: For decades, Vogue welcomed a certain type of employee — thin and white, from a wealthy family, educated at elite schools. Now many Black current and former staffers say Vogue honcho Anna Wintour does not have their confidence and should step down. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Marisa Dellatto / Page Six: Vogue head Anna Wintour cops to intolerant past in expose
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
WSJ's news section publishes article refuting claims about Biden made in a WSJ opinion piece, a continuation of tensions between the two sides aired in July — The Wall Street Journal opinion page spent much of Thursday talking up a fresh allegation involving Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and the son's alleged business dealings in China.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed News, Breitbart, @craigsilverman, @noahshachtman, Washington Post, The Atlantic, @ryanchittum, New York Post, @thewrap, @millie, @nickconfessore, @kenbensinger, @buzzfeednews, @hshaban, @benyt, @benyt, @senwhitehouse, @amlwhere, @bernybelvedere, The Wrap, @garretthaake, @draglikepull, @noahshachtman, @mrjoncryer, @bradheath, @dicktofel, @yashar, @benyt, @kimstrassel, @kylegriffin1, @adamserwer, Reason and Mediaite
Discussion:
BuzzFeed News: A Leaked Internal Report Reveals The Wall Street Journal Is Struggling With Aging Readers And Covering Race
James P. Pinkerton / Breitbart: The Swamp Wants Its Obama-Biden Insider Crony Deals Back
Craig Silverman / @craigsilverman: NEW: We obtained an internal WSJ report that reveals the newsrooms's struggle to shift to digital-first, and to grow its audience outside a core readership of older men. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Noah Shachtman / @noahshachtman: WHOA. Wall Street Journal's news side just released a debunking of WSJ opinion side. https://www.wsj.com/...
Paul Farhi / Washington Post: A Wall Street Journal columnist said Joe Biden was part of Hunter's business deal. Hours later, its news reporters said the opposite.
David A. Graham / The Atlantic: It's All About the Investigation — Donald Trump is trying to run his favorite play one more time …
Ryan Chittum / @ryanchittum: Shockingly stupid report from inside the WSJ. I'm aghast. Chasing clicks at the expense of your loyal readers is the absolute opposite of what papers like the Journal need to do. Was this written in 08? Fortunately the powers that be there still understand that, it appears https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@thewrap: Wall Street Journal editors were told not to publish more stories about John Bolton's book because the paper didn't want to “amp up” public reaction, according to an internal report obtained by BuzzFeed News on Friday. https://www.thewrap.com/...
Millie Tran / @millie: “The report ... argues that many of the Wall Street Journal's editors do not understand the internet and its readers — focusing its content instead on its long-term older male subscribers, rather than on a growing younger audience key to its survival.” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
Nick Confessore / @nickconfessore: This @BuzzFeed story on an internal WSJ review of their own digital & other struggles has so many echoes with the Times' 2014 “Innovation Report,” including the report leaking first to BuzzFeed. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
Ken Bensinger / @kenbensinger: We got our hands on an internal WSJ report exploring why it loses readers, why it's bad at search & how it deals with diversity “We could cover race & gender more, if we could get reporters more comfortable” W/ @ambiej @CraigSilverman https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@buzzfeednews: “It seems like the organization is having a come-to-Jesus moment,” a Wall Street Journal employee told BuzzFeed News. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
Hamza Shaban / @hshaban: The takeaways of this leaked internal report about the Wall Street Journal's failings are...drastic. “The key recommendations include major changes on what the paper covers, how it covers topics, and a rethinking of how it ignores some audiences” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
Ben Smith / @benyt: Also, pleased to see it affirming my hostility for recurring features, a print standby that always dies online https://twitter.com/...
Ben Smith / @benyt: I've also just gotten my hands on a copy of this (having been scooped by @ambiej) and would add only the observation that the 142 page report doesn't talk about the opinion side at all — when many readers typically don't know the difference. https://twitter.com/...
Sheldon Whitehouse / @senwhitehouse: Wheels keep coming off at @WSJOpinion (The Polluter Page.) https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Ann Marie Lipinski / @amlwhere: It's hard enough to defend to readers the distinction between news stories and opinion. It only works when both adhere to the facts. That's broken here. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Berny Belvedere / @bernybelvedere: What must it feel like to talk about “the media” ignoring a story and then to have your own colleagues basically slap you across the face with Four Pinocchios for laundering misinformation through your shared newspaper? Asking for @KimStrassel https://twitter.com/...
J. Clara Chan / The Wrap: Wall Street Journal Editors Told Not to ‘Amp Up’ Coverage of John Bolton's Book, Internal Report Says
Garrett Haake / @garretthaake: If, like me, you've struggled to make out the allegedly- Biden scandal forest for the Rudy/eMaiLS!/Russia trees, this opinion* column at least distills the controversy into plain English. *columns don't have to meet same editorial standards as news at most outlets* https://twitter.com/...
@draglikepull: The news side of the WSJ often does excellent work, and the opinion side is basically a right-wing tabloid, and that gap has always struck me as strange. https://twitter.com/...
Noah Shachtman / @noahshachtman: 1. Trumpworld talks up massive WSJ story on Hunter. 2. Turns out it's a pretty weak op-ed. 3. News side then stomps on it. https://twitter.com/...
Jon Cryer / @mrjoncryer: Honestly, the Wall Street Journal should do this for everything on their opinion side. https://twitter.com/...
Brad Heath / @bradheath: Torn on whether the fact that WSJ's news side (which does outstanding work) and opinion side (which routinely ignores it) appear to inhabit totally different planets is a laudable sign of journalistic independence or just a bizarre source of whiplash for readers.
Richard Tofel / @dicktofel: There has frequently been little love lost between the WSJ news and opinion pages. But tonight's dueling stories are a real embarrassment to the latter, and a great short course on the difference between reporting and stenography.
Yashar Ali / @yashar: The news side of the WSJ has some of the best reporters in the business. Particularly when it comes to investigative reporting. https://twitter.com/...
Ben Smith / @benyt: The story Trump has been waiting for, and teeing up.... is a brief that says there's no evidence for his central claim https://www.wsj.com/...
Kimberley Strassel / @kimstrassel: Note this huge point from WSJ news story: It (and Biden campaign) proceed from position these emails are authentic, this happened. Only issue is whether Joe invested (not whether he knew, or son's behavior). Enough with “disinformation” claims. Real. https://www.wsj.com/...
Kyle Griffin / @kylegriffin1: Breaking WSJ. Corporate records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show no role for Joe Biden in the China business venture. https://www.wsj.com/...
Elizabeth Nolan Brown / Reason: Was the Final Presidential Debate Incomprehensible to Normies?
Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite: Wall Street Journal News and Opinion Sides Clash on Hunter Biden Texts
New York Times:
Ken Kurson, EIC of the New York Observer from 2013-2017, has been charged by federal prosecutors with cyberstalking in connection with his divorce — Ken Kurson, a close friend of the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, was arrested in connection with incidents stemming from his divorce.
Discussion:
@page88, @rickhasen, @jeffjohnroberts, @hunterw, @espiers, @espiers, @espiers, @adambanksdotcom, @espiers, @espiers, @espiers, @clearing_fog, @hunterw, @aarongell, @aarongell, @aarongell, @aarongell, @aarongell, @clarajeffery, @tomphilpott, @awprokop, @aarongell, @commasuture, @katerinareports, @fordm, @awprokop, @dcopaken, Gothamist, The Daily Beast, The Hill and Mediaite
Discussion:
Virginia Heffernan / @page88: Incredible. Kurson is a Kushner pal, Trump speechwriter & NEH nominee who failed his background check. “Cyberstalking” is too weak a word. He launched a campaign to ruin the marriage, business & life of a friend of mine. Trump Syndicate never sleeps https://twitter.com/...
Rick Hasen / @rickhasen: I gave an interview to this guy, Ken Kurson, about Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud. He wrote a disingenuous story on it for his California Globe. https://californiaglobe.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Jeff Roberts / @jeffjohnroberts: This charming fellow is on the board of Ripple (for now— @Ripple should cut him loose) https://www.nytimes.com/...
Hunter Walker / @hunterw: Still, it's so odd when you have met someone who ends up in a headline like this. He's got a pair of great kids too.
Elizabeth Spiers / @espiers: Also, fun fact: My base salary at the Observer when I was EiC was $125K. Kurson told me he thought that was generous. I later learned that his comp was $350K.
Elizabeth Spiers / @espiers: One of the more jaw-dropping example is this story, which is completely bonkers, and has created a running joke among ex-Observer people about hiring the ice cream guy to do a hit piece. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Elizabeth Spiers / @espiers: Jared basically got tired of getting pushback from journalists and installed Ken on the editorial side and his brother in law (who had no experience at all in media) to run the business side with the idea that both would happily carry water for family interests. And Ken did.
Adam Banks / @adambanksdotcom: @espiers jfc
Elizabeth Spiers / @espiers: But Ken also notably had to promise that he'd stop editing and writing Trump speeches during the last cycle—when he was still EIC of the Observer. (The kind of thing that would get an intern fired in any normal newsroom.)
Elizabeth Spiers / @espiers: So personally, I think of Kurson as a Jared loyalist more than a former Observer staffer, and maybe because of that, I don't find this all that surprising. He has an affable veneer but a lot of barely-veiled anger, too. The nice guy veneer probably protected him for a long time.
Elizabeth Spiers / @espiers: For context, Kurson is a long-time family friend of the Kushners, whose prior media experience consisted of running a personal finance site and contributing a column to Esquire. He was a GOP political consultant when he was hired and had been Giuliani's ghost writer. https://twitter.com/...
ClearingTheFog / @clearing_fog: 🚨 Ken Kurson - breadcrumbs: -Picked by Kushner to run The Observer -Deputy Director of Communications for Giuliani Partners -Speechwriter for Trump -Board member of Ripple (a payment company) -Founder of crypto site “Modern Consensus” Just got arrested (for cyberstalking). https://twitter.com/...
Hunter Walker / @hunterw: Obviously this is a dark, bad situation. And it's not the first allegation of bad behavior. https://twitter.com/...
@aarongell: I took him up on the offer. Spent many nights on the phone with Ken trying figure out how to convince Jared not to cut my budget yet again.
@aarongell: I met Ken Kurson when I was editing the New York Observer, working for Jared Kushner. Jared told me Ken was a friend and I should treat him as my “advisor.”
@aarongell: Only after I was replaced, by Ken, did I realize *I'd* actually been advising *him* all that time, inadvertently making it easier for him to take my job.
@aarongell: Whatever. That's life. But what I found most bizarre about it all was that he then pushed me to stay on as executive editor, essentially doing all the work while he sat in the big boy chair. LOL. No way.
Tom Philpott / @tomphilpott: The Venn diagram slice that includes Jared pals and crypto-nuts: only the finest people, double guaranteed. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Andrew Prokop / @awprokop: Creepy allegations here https://www.nytimes.com/... https://www.justice.gov/... https://twitter.com/...
@aarongell: “Ken Kurson is an honorable man, a loving dad and a gifted writer. The conduct alleged is hardly worthy of a federal criminal prosecution. Ken will get past it.” Sounds legit. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Comma Suture / @commasuture: I know the lawyer has to say whatever, but my ex worked with him 20-something years ago, and let's just say there's a lot of schadenfreude happening among his former co-workers rn https://nytimes.com/...
Katerina Ang / @katerinareports: The guy Jared Kushner appointed to replace @espiers and the late great Peter Kaplan at the once-great New York Observer just got arrested for cyberstalking https://www.nytimes.com/...
Matt Ford / @fordm: “The criminal investigation began after the Trump administration offered Mr. Kurson a seat in 2018 on the board of the National Endowment for the Humanities.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Andrew Prokop / @awprokop: Receipts https://twitter.com/...
Deborah Copaken / @dcopaken: Sometimes justice takes a long time. I published this on 3/9/18. In its wake, dozens of others called me with similar stories and worse. On 6/4/18, two FBI agents showed up at my door. Today, Ken Kurson is being charged with cyberstalking. #metoo https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
Jake Offenhartz / Gothamist: Ken Kurson, Former NY Observer Editor & Trump Ally, Arrested On Cyberstalking Charges
Justin Rohrlich / The Daily Beast: Trump Family Pal Arrested for Harassment in Post-Divorce Meltdown
Celine Castronuovo / The Hill: Kushner friend arrested on cyberstalking charges
Roger Sollenberger / Salon:
FEC filings and sources show RNC may have spent over $900,000 on Sean Hannity's book Live Free or Die over the last three months — The Republican National Committee spent $492,000 on books in one day — likely all of it on Hannity's latest — The Republican National Committee continues …
Discussion:
Brian Niemietz / New York Daily News: RNC spent more than $492K in donor money to buy Sean Hannity's ‘best-selling’ book: report
New York Times:
The final presidential election debate attracted roughly 63M viewers, down 10.1M from the first debate; numbers don't include streaming on digital devices — About 10 million fewer Americans watched Thursday's Biden-Trump debate than the candidates' first, more chaotic matchup in Cleveland last month.
Discussion:
Insights - Nielsen, Axios, Daily Kos, The Week, @emkuhn, @cnnpr, @elistokols, The Daily Beast, Politico, USA Today, MediaPost, CNN, Press Herald and Gothamist
Discussion:
Sara Fischer / Axios: 63 million people watched final presidential debate
Kerry Eleveld / Daily Kos: Trump and GOP bet their fortunes on single day of record voter turnout right as coronavirus surges
Tim O'Donnell / The Week: The daily business briefing: October 24, 2020
Emily Kuhn / @emkuhn: 👀 “2.1M unique visitors consumed CNN Digital's #FactsFirst🍎 content on debate day...Top search terms within the database included key terms like fracking, Russia, Covid-19, immigration, China, taxes, and xenophobia.” https://twitter.com/...
@cnnpr: 7.2 million watch the Presidential Commission debate on @CNN. CNN's live stream saw 1.1 million concurrent viewers streaming at the peak. 2.1 million unique visitors come to CNN for #FactsFirst content.🇺🇸 RELEASE: https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Eli Stokols / @elistokols: We wrote earlier this week about the exhaustion factor and how Trump isn't monopolizing or even holding the public's attention like he did in 2016. https://www.latimes.com/... Last night's debate ratings offer more proof that the Trump show is fading in season 4 —> https://twitter.com/...
Michael Ellsberg / The Daily Beast: Meet the Dominatrix Forcing Trump Supporters to Vote Biden
Matthew Choi / Politico: Final debate ratings lag first showdown, 2016 numbers
Gary Levin / USA Today: Biden-Trump debate ratings: Final matchup down by 10 million viewers from the first, Nielsen says
Wayne Friedman / MediaPost: Second Presidential Debate Down 14% From The First: Nielsen
Brian Stelter / CNN: More than 63 million people watched the final presidential debate
Kevin Miller / Press Herald: Maine's high court rules absentee ballots must be received by Election Day
Jen Carlson / Gothamist: Extra Extra: Anyone Lose A Tectonic Plate?
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: at least three large US media companies expect the number of US households with pay-TV to fall to ~50M by 2025, a drop of $25B in cable revenue — - At least three large U.S. media companies expect the number of U.S. households that subscribe to a traditional pay-TV bundle to fall to about 50 million in the next five years.
Discussion:
@sherman4949, @mattrosoff, @megancgraham, @sherman4949, @richlightshed, @cnbctech, @sherman4949, @sherman4949 and @sherman4949
Discussion:
Alex Sherman / @sherman4949: Netflix destroyed what it means to be a successful media/entertainment business. That's caused the largest traditional media companies to reorganize around a world where 25 million more American households will cancel cable in the next five years. https://www.cnbc.com/...
Matt Rosoff / @mattrosoff: Big media companies reorganize for world of 50 million TV subscribers — excellent overview of where media is going by @sherman4949 https://www.cnbc.com/... tip @Techmeme
Meg Graham / @megancgraham: “The only thing left holding the bundle together today is sports. There is nothing any of the networks can do about it. The only question now is how far does it fall and how fast, and is there a bottom. And I don't know if there's a bottom.” https://www.cnbc.com/... @sherman4949
Alex Sherman / @sherman4949: Will streaming services save legacy media? “The answer is no,” said former Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes. “They're all going to be collapsed. Only Disney will have enough subscribers and global scale under a distinctive family brand to make it.” https://www.cnbc.com/...
Rich Greenfield / @richlightshed: “Cable networks are structurally broken” Thanks for the shoutout @sherman4949 @CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@cnbctech: Media executives are finally accepting the decline of cable TV as they plot a new path forward https://www.cnbc.com/...
Alex Sherman / @sherman4949: Media executives have long referred to the cable bundle as the golden goose. Now they're accepting the fact that it's dying but are banking on stabilization around 50-60 million households (it's 75 million today). It's unclear if that makes sense. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Sherman / @sherman4949: I spoke with former/current media execs at every major pay TV company over the pst 3 weeks. The TV world is planning for 25 million more US households to cancel cable by 2025. What happens next will determine if companies live or die. https://www.cnbc.com/...
Alex Sherman / @sherman4949: Big media is preparing for 20-25 million more Americans to cancel cable. Then it's expecting stabilization. Is that a pipe dream? “The only question now is how far does it fall and how fast, and is there a bottom. And I don't know if there's a bottom.” https://www.cnbc.com/...
Max Willens / Digiday:
Advertisers have started sponsoring and placing ads in Substack newsletters, with some creators turning ads into their primary source of income — To badly paraphrase Jeff Goldblum's character in “Jurassic Park,” Dr. Ian Malcolm — ads find a way. — Over the past few months …
Discussion:
@kantrowitz, @dr, @dcseifert, @joshsternberg, @blackamazon, @jaycodon, @jackmarshall, @iankar_ and Simon Owens's Tech …
Discussion:
Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz: Clearly, I'm not the only newsletter person who will host ads. “'We do it because it's profitable': Ads improbably sprout on ad averse Substack” https://digiday.com/...
Dan Rowden / @dr: SaaS opportunity: Newsletter ad tech, aimed at Substack publishers. https://digiday.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Dan Seifert / @dcseifert: what goes around, goes around, goes around comes all the way back around https://digiday.com/...
Josh Sternberg / @joshsternberg: If any advertisers want to advertise in my newsletter, let's talk. $6,000 per week! Hoo boy. https://digiday.com/...
Jacob Donnelly / @jaycodon: Substack doesn't need to build ad technology to support buying newsletters programmatically or any of the crap people don't want. Substack should build an ad scheduling tool and provide better analytics for reporting to clients. Easy money for all. https://digiday.com/...
Jack Marshall / @jackmarshall: problem with the narrative around online ads - like many things in 2020 - is it's been made binary. boring reality is it's in the execution. ads can be terrible, and ads can also be a nice part of a revenue mix. “it depends” doesn't make for good tweets. https://digiday.com/...
Senior Data Journalist, NY — 
Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — 
Oil Reporter, Singapore — 
Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — 
Business Reporter, SC — 
State Government Reporter, WA — 
Climate Crisis Columnist — 
Multimedia Journalist, CA — 
Community Engagement Mgr., DC — 
Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — 
Staff Writer - Business, NY — 
Team Editor - Opinion, ON — 
Assistant Correspondent, DC — 
Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — 
Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — 
Lead Business Reporter, TN — 
Managing Editor, WA — 
Private Credit Reporter, NY — 
Trending News Reporter, TX — 
City Correspondent, London — 
Legislative Reporter, CA — 
Reporter, PA — 
Visual Editor, Remote — 
Staff Writer, MI — 
Senior Political Reporter, DC — 
California Playbook Writer, CA — 
National Investigative Reporter, NY — 
Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — 
Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — 
Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — 
Coordinating Editor, OR — 
Editor, Remote US — 
Business Reporter, WA — 
Editor-in-Chief, AZ — 
