Top News:
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Sources: Trump allies including a White House lawyer first approached WSJ with their Hunter Biden story, but WSJ couldn't corroborate claims about Joe Biden — Inside the White House's secret, last-ditch effort to change the narrative, and the election — and the return of the media gatekeepers.
Discussion:
UnionLeader.com, BuzzFeed News, Mediaite, Poynter, @carolynryan, Wall Street Journal, Politico, @ryangrim, @scottlincicome, @lrozen, @mattgertz, @lpolgreen, The Geyser, @benjysarlin, @timodc, @dandrezner, @ericowensdc, @justinjm1, Fox News, @joenbc, @alexburnsnyt, @nancook, @thesiskar, @parkermolloy, @swin24, @nickbaumann, @raju, @davidenrich, Breitbart, The Hill, @maddow, @redistrict, The Week, @cwarzel, @rexhuppke, @myrmecos, @benyt, @_cingraham, The Guardian, Talking Biz News, Business Insider, @noahshachtman, New York Post, The Atlantic, A Slow Social Media Newsletter, @mrjoncryer, @dicktofel, Vanity Fair, @kimstrassel and @kylegriffin1
Discussion:
BuzzFeed News: A Leaked Internal Report Reveals The Wall Street Journal Is Struggling With Aging Readers And Covering Race
Ken Meyer / Mediaite: Trump Allies Tried to Push Hunter Biden Story Through The Wall Street Journal Before Giuliani Ran It With NY Post
@carolynryan: Great stuff. Inside the Trump team's bungled effort to get a damaging story in the WSj https://www.nytimes.com/...
Wall Street Journal: The Press of Conformity — A case study in how the media stigmatize opposing views.
Meridith McGraw / Politico: Tough questions undercut Trump's reliance on local media coverage
Ryan Grim / @ryangrim: So basically Rudy and the NY Post blew Trump's chance of getting this new Hunter story to blow up. This is the most Coen Brothers end you could possibly conjure. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Scott Lincicome / @scottlincicome: Fun scoop from @benyt. You can't help but laugh at the thought of Rudy, Bannon & Trump pulling a real-life Leeroy Jenkins on a carefully-planned political hit. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Laura Rozen / @lrozen: incredible a Trump White House lawyer involved in this seemingly failed conspiracy https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Gertz / @mattgertz: A White House lawyer on the public payroll was part of a scheme to deliver Hunter Biden emails to the WSJ, per latest from @benyt https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Lydia Polgreen / @lpolgreen: Three cheers for gatekeepers? Like @benyt I welcomed the dismantling of the gates of information, and like him, I'm more than a little glad that some measure of institutional judgement and authority has survived. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Kent Anderson / The Geyser: “Safety” As a New Expectation — To constrain the power that has emerged around digital platforms …
Benjy Sarlin / @benjysarlin: This column may be the only good thing that came out of 2020 https://twitter.com/...
Tim Miller / @timodc: “You're the big man, I think. I don't know, maybe you're not” was a hilarious and underappreciated whiff by Trump during the debate. https://twitter.com/...
Daniel W. Drezner / @dandrezner: “The [@WSJ] editors didn't like Trump's insinuation that we were being teed up to do this hit job.” https://twitter.com/...
Eric Owens / @ericowensdc: A great piece by @benyt here. I, too, spent years saying it was a good thing to eliminate gatekeeping. I, too, was deeply wrong. Media gatekeeping by moral, cultured, educated people is a a necessary pillar of a functioning democracy. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Justin Miller / @justinjm1: A White House lawyer, who is paid by taxpayers, is shopping dirt on the president's political rival https://www.nytimes.com/...
Joe Scarborough / @joenbc: The @WSJ has shown great professionalism and independence through the Trump years. Their news reporters and editors remained focused on the truth: “Trump Had One Last Story to Sell. The Wall Street Journal Wouldn't Buy It.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Alex Burns / @alexburnsnyt: this is an important window into a responsible news team harried by a corporate family - and an opinion page - with other agendas https://twitter.com/...
Nancy Cook / @nancook: Fun fact: One of the key players trying to sell the Hunter Biden story is the former WH top ethics attorney, Stefan Passantino via @benyt: https://www.nytimes.com/...
Kevin Siskar / @thesiskar: Really nice to see the “Old Guard” do their job, properly diligence a story, and focus on reporting the gritty facts. Top notch! https://www.nytimes.com/...
Parker Molloy / @parkermolloy: In @benyt's latest piece, we learn that a White House lawyer was involved in trying to place the Biden hit pieces in the press. Good to see that's where our tax dollars are going... https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Asawin Suebsaeng / @swin24: Giuliani pushing this out was personally approved by President Trump before that first NY Post story even appeared, so really Trump blew it up himself https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ... https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Nick Baumann / @nickbaumann: Even if you disagree with it some or most of the time, this column really is a media-industry must-read every week. https://twitter.com/...
Raju Narisetti / @raju: Useful personal prisms and opinions from Francine, one of the very talented reporters in the @DowJones ecosystem. I am a lot less definitive or pessimistic, based on my read of her assessment, about the health and durability—and journalism—of this 131-year-old @wsj newsroom. https://twitter.com/...
David Enrich / @davidenrich: Read this. @benyt has written the obituary of the right-wing operation to dominate the pre-election news cycle with the Hunter Biden scandal. This is the obit. But it was the @WSJ that effectively killed the operation. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Brooke Seipel / The Hill: White House lawyer helped shop controversial Hunter Biden story to Wall Street Journal: NYT
Rachel Maddow / @maddow: “It turns out there is a difference between WikiLeaks and establishment media coverage of WikiLeaks, a difference between a Trump tweet and an article about it, between a WSJ opinion piece, and a news article that didn't reach the same conclusions.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Dave Wasserman / @redistrict: Amazing how many things Trump referenced in the debate that most voters have zero idea about, except for voracious consumers of online conservative media. “Big man,” etc. https://twitter.com/...
Peter Weber / The Week: A White House lawyer reportedly tried to get The Wall Street Journal to scoop Hunter Biden's emails
Charlie Warzel / @cwarzel: i think that there are maga media manipulators lower down the chain who know how this stuff works but it seems like this round it came from the wing that wrongly internalized the notion from 2016 that leaked emails are some foolproof election winning cheat code https://twitter.com/...
Rex Huppke / @rexhuppke: Whoa. This is an outstanding window into just how crooked the Trump campaign's Hunter Biden nonsense is, and how horribly it failed to catch on. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Wild / @myrmecos: Why am I being forced to donate to the Trump campaign? https://twitter.com/...
Ben Smith / @benyt: Remarkable how hard the WSJ opinion pages work to spend the news section's capital. https://www.wsj.com/...
Christopher Ingraham / @_cingraham: This incredible story describes how, as the Trump White House was trying to lure the WSJ to report on the purported Hunter Biden emails, Rudy Giuliani went full-on Leeroy Jenkins and dumped everything on the NY Post. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Tom McCarthy / The Guardian: Democrats hold Senate floor overnight to protest Amy Coney Barrett confirmation - live
Inyoung Choi / Business Insider: Biden says he won't return Trump's attacks on his children because 'it's crass' to target a political opponent's family
Noah Shachtman / @noahshachtman: WHOA. Wall Street Journal's news side just released a debunking of WSJ opinion side. https://www.wsj.com/...
David A. Graham / The Atlantic: It's All About the Investigation — Donald Trump is trying to run his favorite play one more time …
Shane Creevy / A Slow Social Media Newsletter: 2020 US Election: The Week That Was in Misinformation
Jon Cryer / @mrjoncryer: Honestly, the Wall Street Journal should do this for everything on their opinion side. https://twitter.com/...
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.
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/...
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
How the Falun Gong-backed Epoch Times used aggressive Facebook tactics and right-wing misinformation since 2016 to create an anti-China, pro-Trump media empire — Since 2016, the Falun Gong-backed newspaper has used aggressive Facebook tactics and right-wing misinformation to create an anti-China, pro-Trump media empire.
Discussion:
@kevinroose, @kyleworton, @jiayangfan, @xeni, @kevinroose, @page88, @ewong, @ewong, @felixsalmon, @noupside, @charlescmann, @karenattiah, Gav's Newsletter, @dethveggie, @nytimes, @tmclaughlin3, @michaelroston, @andrewmarantz, @froomkin, @cwarzel, @realskan, @karaswisher, @emilydreyfuss and दृष …
Discussion:
Kevin Roose / @kevinroose: I spent the past few months reporting on The Epoch Times, trying to figure out how it went from small, obscure Falun Gong newspaper to giant, influential pro-Trump media empire. It was a wild ride! https://www.nytimes.com/...
Kyle Orton / @kyleworton: Pretty good profile of The Epoch Times' rise from a small Falun Gong newsletter to an influential pro-Trump multimedia behemoth - albeit deformed by the NYT's unique definition of “misinformation” and an unmistakeable haughtiness at an upstart outlet. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Jiayang Fan / @jiayangfan: “the organization & its affiliates have grown,in part,by relying on sketchy social media tactics,pushing dangerous conspiracy theories& downplaying their connection to Falun Gong"This story by @kevinroose is 1 Ive been waiting to read for long time https://www.nytimes.com/...
Xeni Jardin / @xeni: I'm RE retweeting this it's so good. I remember when I heard my first Epoch Times citation in a conversation with an older not-online friend, who bought it as a legit news outlet breaking a shocking story. Chilled to the bone. https://twitter.com/...
Kevin Roose / @kevinroose: A few stray thoughts from my story in today's paper about The Epoch Times. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Virginia Heffernan / @page88: If you're in withdrawal from the Vow, and need another cult in upstate New York with a leader known as “master,” but way more global and sweeping and Trumpite than NXIVM, this story is for you. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Edward Wong / @ewong: .@nytimes investigation: How Epoch Times, a Falun Gong-backed newspaper, has infected the info ecosystem. It peddles pro-Trump conspiracies to millions. Online audience is equal to that of Daily Caller or Breitbart. Facebook is key tool. By @kevinroose. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Edward Wong / @ewong: Insights on Facebook, YouTube and mass media incentives in this thread — the information around us and the way we see the world are changing because of what @kevinroose lays out here. https://twitter.com/...
Felix Salmon / @felixsalmon: Christian Science Monitor -> International Business Times / Newsweek -> The Epoch Times. Religion, just like news media, is about maximizing reach and credibility. No wonder the two are so frequently connected. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Renee DiResta / @noupside: I looked at the early posts across this network of pages. On a couple pages there was a sudden shift from early posting of Falun Gong content ab organ harvesting, to sharing animal videos and photos of inspirational landscapes. https://twitter.com/...
Charles C. Mann / @charlescmann: Out of nowhere, something called the Epoch Times started appearing in my emailbox maybe 6 weeks ago. I couldn't figure out what it was about—other than it hated Beijing. Now I learn it's a key part of a secretive Falun Gong news empire: https://www.nytimes.com/...
Karen Attiah / @karenattiah: Since coming to Texas, I noticed some family members parroting pro-Trump, anti-China propaganda. Then I saw that they were reading and sharing links from Epoch Times. How The Epoch Times Created a Giant Influence Machine https://www.nytimes.com/...
Gavin Sheridan / Gav's Newsletter: Newsletter Number 6 — I'm still not as good as I should be about assembling this in portions during …
Deth Veggie / @dethveggie: The “Epoch Times” is pure disinfo garbage. You'd be better informed getting all your news from The Onion. https://twitter.com/...
@nytimes: By embracing President Trump and investing in an aggressive Facebook growth strategy, a once obscure newspaper with ties to the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong has become a dominant source of right-wing misinformation. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Timothy McLaughlin / @tmclaughlin3: “They seemed to have this almost messianic way of viewing Trump as the anti-Communist leader who would bring about the end of the Chinese Communist Party.” https://twitter.com/...
Michael Roston / @michaelroston: One thing that's so crazy about this story to me is that this largely all happened after the 2016 election. Like Facebook allowed this misinformation portal to emerge and grow in prominence on its platform after seeing everything that happened from 2014-16. https://twitter.com/...
Andrew Marantz / @andrewmarantz: This is a must-read. A perfect example of how a good media story can also be a technology story and a politics story and an international relations story and an everything story. https://twitter.com/...
Dan Froomkin / @froomkin: Important topic, but 12 graphs to get to “a global-scale misinformation machine that has repeatedly pushed fringe narratives into the mainstream”? https://twitter.com/...
Charlie Warzel / @cwarzel: good investigation of The Epoch Times by @kevinroose. Another chapter in what is a definitive story of the last decade: unscrupulous actors building complex FB networks of hyperpartisan news & viral garbage for reach & ultimately destabilizing everything https://www.nytimes.com/...
@realskan: Falun Gong is a cult. And it is certainly funded by some mysterious people otherwise it cannot run its campaign like they don't give fuck about cost delivering “free copies” into mailboxes for years. https://twitter.com/...
Kara Swisher / @karaswisher: This is why the electorate is so profoundly misinformed and I cannot stress enough how dangerous the hijacking of social platforms is. So @kevinroose did perfectly here: How The Epoch Times Created a Giant Influence Machine - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/...
Emily Dreyfuss / @emilydreyfuss: This is the exact article I have been hoping someone would write, and Kevin is the exact right reporter to have written it. Can't wait to dive in. https://twitter.com/...
RELATED:
Oscar Schwartz / The Atavist Magazine:
An ex-Epoch Times content writer on how he became a cog in the burgeoning propaganda machine and why he stayed on even as the publication's biases became clear — I. — among other publications. Originally from Australia, he is now based in Brooklyn. Follow him on Twitter: @scarschwartz.
Discussion:
@seywarddarby, @jonahogles, @edxjohnson, @seywarddarby, @eileenguo, @oneunderscore__, Paragraphs and @moorehn
Discussion:
Seyward Darby / @seywarddarby: One of my favorite details in @scarschwartz's deep dive into the #EpochTimes is that, in addition to promoting conspiracy theories about COVID-19, it suggested the practice of Falun Gong as a way to manage pandemic stress. https://magazine.atavist.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Jonah Ogles / @jonahogles: “He generated “content” the meaning and significance of which had nothing to do with him. It was a formal exercise, one that he was getting better at every day.” @scarschwartz goes deep on how disinformation gets made in this month's @atavist. https://magazine.atavist.com/ ...
Ed Johnson / @edxjohnson: We have an extremely timely and fascinating read up at @atavist this month — about right-wing disinformation and the long-tail effects of the collapse of media by @scarschwartz. @JonnoTheRattman captured the mood in pictures. https://magazine.atavist.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Seyward Darby / @seywarddarby: How the Epoch Times, created to evangelize for Falun Gong and still linked to the spiritual movement, morphed into a pro-Trump bullhorn and major player in the right-wing media sphere. https://magazine.atavist.com/ ...
Eileen Guo / @eileenguo: Started reading this Atavist piece and struck by this description, which describes...most of my friends? :'( “Klett's friends, like Klett himself, were mostly overeducated, underpaid, and DOWNWARDLY MOBILE” https://twitter.com/...
Ben Collins / @oneunderscore__: Tremendous story here on the primary whistleblower in our Epoch Times story from a few years ago. https://magazine.atavist.com/ ...
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, @benedictevans, Protocol, @lauraedelson2, @juliaangwin, @2ramyakrishnan, @alexanderabdo, @carolecadwalla, @sriramk, @benedictevans, @digitalsista, @lessig, @sriramk, @jgreenblattadl, @sriramk, @katecrawford, @chrisnoessel, @sriramk, @jyuter, Politico, MediaPost, @alexanderabdo, @earleyedition, @emilybell, @profcarroll, Business Insider, @gchaslot, @doctorow, @jameeljaffer, @stilldelvingh, @random_walker, The Hill, @ilvestoomas, @jason_kint, @maasalan, @markondefense, @markscott82, @carrollbogert, CNET, @smdiehl, Memex 1.1, The Verge, ZDNet, @markwarner, @jason_kint, @karaswisher, @emilybell, @j_littlewood, @fightfortheftr, @justinhendrix, @stollmeyereu, @lauraedelson2, @alexanderabdo, @alexanderabdo, @alexanderabdo, @alexanderabdo, @lauraedelson2, @riana_crypto, @monteiro, @david_stillwell, @ethanz, @professorshaw, @nikkisunstrum, @moonalice, @carolecadwalla, @dellcam, @jeffhorwitz, @jason_kint, @digiphile, @jason_kint, @digiphile, @whotargetsme, @rmac18 and The Hill, 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/...
Benedict Evans / @benedictevans: Facebook must control privacy! It must stop people stealing our data! Also, Facebook must let any random academic scrape whatever they want! https://twitter.com/...
David Pierce / Protocol: Facebook's privacy dilemma
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/
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/...
Ramya Krishnan / @2ramyakrishnan: As I say here, the public has a right to know what political ads are being run on Facebook and how they are being targeted. Facebook shouldn't be allowed to be the gatekeeper to information necessary to safeguard our democracy. https://apnews.com/...
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.
Carole Cadwalladr / @carolecadwalla: Ooh, 👏👏👏. This is the lead researcher on NYU project Facebook is trying to shut down. Laura is fighting back!! https://twitter.com/...
Sriram Krishnan / @sriramk: And for those who say NYU is a reputable university which should play a role, I'll say Cambridge is just as reputable and see what happened there. 😏
Benedict Evans / @benedictevans: I have a vague memory of a scandal involving an app that could scrape user information from Facebook. Maybe involving an academic? There might even have been a consent decree obliging Facebook to block anyone from doing that again. Anyone remember? https://twitter.com/...
@digitalsista: These are the reasons that we need the @FBoversight Here we are days out. They refused to change their political ad model by monitoring disinfo so who else will do it? Facebook tries to block tool aimed at promoting transparency around political ads https://www.politico.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@lessig: Facebook demands the right not only to affect our elections fundamentally, but to be protected as they do it, w/ terms that block transparency. The law should give no power to these secrecy clauses. It should penalize any effort to enforce them. https://ow.ly/...
Sriram Krishnan / @sriramk: The broader theme which is frustrating: FB is doing the right thing here to protect their users both from a trust POV and from a legal POV ( allowing this probably violates their consent decree) - all the things people have been pushing them to do!
Jonathan Greenblatt / @jgreenblattadl: With less than two weeks to go before the election, why is Facebook crippling a critical resource used by journalists and researchers to report on who is trying to influence the public and how with political ads? #StopHateForProfit https://www.politico.com/...
Sriram Krishnan / @sriramk: User consent is meaningless here as you can't consent for your friends. 1. A browser plugin has access to all of your friends data who never consented to this. 2. Even if limited to ads ( a huge IF), ads also have embedded social data from friends which doesn't belong to you
Kate Crawford / @katecrawford: The Streisand effect might turn this into the biggest study of political ad targeting yet.👇 If you're on Facebook, consider joining 👁️ https://twitter.com/...
Chris Noessel / @chrisnoessel: Sorry, Facebook, you're too big and consequential to declare yourself off-limits. Hoping this Streisand-affects this project and makes it that much more famous. Please share. https://twitter.com/...
Sriram Krishnan / @sriramk: I rarely get into FB related kerfuffles but as an ex-FB ads person I found this annoying as this is FB trying to do exactly what everyone has been urging them to do ever since CA in protecting user trust. https://twitter.com/...
Rabbi Josh Yuter / @jyuter: One more time, at a large enough scale, every policy is going to have unintended negative consequences https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Mark Scott / Politico: Facebook tries to block tool aimed at promoting transparency around political ads
Wendy Davis / MediaPost: Facebook Tells NYU To Halt Political Research Project
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*.
Dave Earley / @earleyedition: Now FB is trying to shut down the @AdObserver tool. At @GuardianAus we used the @propublica plugin MULTIPLE times for #auspol election ad monitoring. Facebook tried to shut that down, too, making changes so it would stop working https://theguardian.com/... cc @NickEvershed @knausc https://twitter.com/...
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/...
Samantha Grindell / Business Insider: Facebook is trying to prevent NYU from examining its political ad-targeting. Researchers say they have no intention of stopping their work.
Guillaume Chaslot / @gchaslot: Dystopian world warning: Facebook is threatening to sue NYU researchers so they don't look at disinformation on their platform. We take these threats very seriously @Facebook Great thread with all the details here: https://twitter.com/...
@doctorow: Facebook has sent a legal threat to NYU demanding that they take down Ad Observatory and stop supporting the plugin (once again, this is a plugin that Facebook users choose to install specifically to hold the company to account). https://www.politico.com/... 4/
Jameel Jaffer / @jameeljaffer: Facebook shouldn't have a veto over research about Facebook, as @2ramyakrishnan says. This research is of immense value to the public right now, and Facebook's effort to squelch it should be a wake-up call to courts and congress. https://apnews.com/...
@stilldelvingh: Nothing says “nothing to hide” better than a cease-and-desist letter 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/...
Celine Castronuovo / The Hill: Facebook asks academics to stop using tool in micro-targeting ad research
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/...
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/...
@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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
Memex 1.1: Waiting for... who? — Venice, 2017. — Quote of the Day … Musical alternative to the morning's radio news
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
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/...
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/...
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/...
@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/...
Mike Monteiro / @monteiro: Facebook workers, this is where you put your labor. Choose a better path. Your children will thank you. 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/...
@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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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:
@benmullin, @adityasood, @moorehn, The Information, @benmullin, @asharma, @mariaressa, @richlightshed, @benmullin, @asharma, @alexweprin, @benmullin, @jbflint, @benmullin, @asharma, @benmullin, @jbflint and Mediaite
Discussion:
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/...
Aditya Sood / @adityasood: He's going to go run Trump TV and attempt to become Roger Ailes's spiritual successor. https://www.wsj.com/...
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/...
Jessica Toonkel / The Information: Who Could Lead CNN if Zucker Leaves
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
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/...
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/...
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: 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/...
Wall Street Journal:
From Go90 and Vessel to Fullscreen, Quibi was yet another high-profile failed attempt to create a streaming platform focused on short-form content — Streaming platform pitched high-production shows in format dominated by user-generated content — The demise of the mobile-streaming platform Quibi …
Discussion:
Joe Flint / @jbflint: “Gen Z-ers would rather watch Charli D'Amelio pass out while getting her blood drawn than pay to access a scripted show starring millennial actors they don't relate to.” https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
@wsj: The demise of Quibi a mere six months after it went live is the latest example of Hollywood's struggles in making a business out of short-form content https://www.wsj.com/...
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:
@trengriffin, @peterasussman, @richr, @maggiomatt, @sherman4949, @richlightshed, @cnbctech, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @mattrosoff, @megancgraham and @sherman4949
Discussion:
Tren Griffin / @trengriffin: 1/ “Distributors like Comcast and Charter no longer care that much whether or not a customer buys traditional pay-TV. The price of a video bundle has gotten so high, there's little margin for them — especially compared to broadband internet service.” https://news.google.com/...
@peterasussman: “What's likely to happen in the next five years is the systematic consolidation and elimination of cable networks.” @sherman4949 @CNBC @RichLightShed #CordCutting https://twitter.com/...
Richard Rosenblatt / @richr: OTT will continue to upend the media industry! Media execs finally accepting the decline of cable TV — here's what comes next @CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/...
Matt Maggio / @maggiomatt: Cable TV is the one easy big monthly bill to drop if times are hard. Economic big red flag. https://twitter.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/...
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: 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/...
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/...
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
Columbia Journalism Review:
A look back at the media's coverage of the Trump presidency, what has changed in the press, its failings, and how the press has simply not learned its lesson — In November 2017, the International Center for Journalists gave Fox News's Chris Wallace an award for excellence in journalism.
Discussion:
@mathewi, @ericschultz, @aaschapiro, @cjr, @jon_allsop, @mlcalderone, @jon_allsop, @jon_allsop, @jon_allsop, @wesleylowery, @jon_allsop, @jon_allsop, @bypetevernon, @notaaroncraig, @jon_allsop and @cjr
Discussion:
Mathew Ingram / @mathewi: Jon Allsop and Pete Vernon looked at every CJR newsletter since January 2017 and found the media has “conspired to downplay demagoguery, let Trump and his defenders off the hook, and drain resources and attention from crucial longer-term storylines” https://www.cjr.org/...
Eric Schultz / @ericschultz: MUST READ from Columbia Journalism Review: “in other ways, many of them profoundly important and consequential, the press has simply not learned its lesson.” via @Jon_Allsop https://www.cjr.org/...
Avi Asher-Schapiro / @aaschapiro: “A not-insignificant portion of the punditocracy, in particular, seems to believe that America's problems—the biggest ones, anyway—begin and end with Trump's tenure in office. Many reporters seem to believe that, too, if less overtly.” https://www.cjr.org/...
@cjr: As the pace of the news cycle grew ever faster, the media's ability to sustain attention on important matters wilted https://www.cjr.org/...
Jon Allsop / @jon_allsop: A journalistic culture accustomed to prizing secrets from envelopes in parking garages still hasn't figured out how to respond proportionately to a president of the United States saying the most damning stuff out loud, on TV and online, day after day. /6 https://www.cjr.org/...
Michael Calderone / @mlcalderone: Great @Jon_Allsop and @byPeteVernon look back how the media grappled with Trump the past four years—including some failings that continue today https://www.cjr.org/... https://twitter.com/...
Jon Allsop / @jon_allsop: Meanwhile, framing errors continue to dog day-to-day Trump coverage: an obsession with civility, an obsession with “presidential” conduct, an obsession with optics, indulging Trump's lying surrogates, indulging bothsidesism, indulging anonymous smears. /5 https://www.cjr.org/...
Jon Allsop / @jon_allsop: This acceleration—and Trump's frequent new lows—has dented the media's ability to establish a sense of proportion around his misdeeds. It's also led us to move on too fast from important stuff—and we didn't correct for that by synthesizing that stuff. /4 https://www.cjr.org/...
Jon Allsop / @jon_allsop: NEW: For the past four years, @byPeteVernon and I have, between us, chronicled media coverage of Trump's whole presidency in writing @CJR's daily newsletter. Ahead of the election, Pete and I re-read every old newsletter we wrote. Here's what we found: /1 https://www.cjr.org/...
Wesley / @wesleylowery: this is a misunderstanding of how umpires work. their work is inherently subjective — a strike zone can grow or shrink, what doesn't phase one ump gets you ejected by another. they understand that their work impacts the outcome and don't pretend otherwise https://www.cjr.org/... https://twitter.com/...
Jon Allsop / @jon_allsop: In short, the past four years of mine and @byPeteVernon's media criticism/work/life is all in this piece. We think it's a pretty comprehensive guide to the Trump era in (mainstream) media, and we'd love for you to give it a read! /10 https://www.cjr.org/...
Jon Allsop / @jon_allsop: The story of the Trump news cycle is, in many ways, one of endless acceleration. The Mueller cycle felt breathless but now looks slow. The entire impeachment story took four months. The last four months alone have seen a flood of historic news. /3 https://www.cjr.org/...
Pete Vernon / @bypetevernon: After 4 years of writing @CJR's morning newsletter, @Jon_Allsop and I reread all of them to look at what's changed, and what hasn't, in the press under Trump. Here's what we found: https://www.cjr.org/...
Craig Aaron / @notaaroncraig: In @CJR @Jon_Allsop @byPeteVernon review past 4 years and find “a clear picture of an industry whose basic practices and rhythms have conspired, time and again, to downplay demagoguery [and] let Trump and his defenders off the hook.” https://www.cjr.org/...
Jon Allsop / @jon_allsop: There's been much excellent coverage. But our newsletters over time depict an industry whose basic practices have conspired, time and again, to downplay demagoguery, let Trump et al off the hook, and drain attention from crucial longer-term storylines. /2 https://www.cjr.org/...
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:
Raju Narisetti / @raju: If it came with exclusive future franchise streaming rights, seems worth it? The delayed opening of new @007 James Bond Film #NoTimetoDie prompted studio to explore $600 Million sale to streaming services https://variety.com/... via @variety
Jon Erlichman / @jonerlichman: Estimated content budgets in 2020: Netflix: $18.5 billion Amazon: $8.5 billion Apple TV+: $6 billion Hulu: $4.5 billion Disney+: $2.5 billion HBO Max: $2 billion Peacock: $1.5 billion CBS All Access: $1 billion Source: Bloomberg Intelligence https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Julie Muncy / Gizmodo: Report: No Time to Die Almost Went Streaming Only
Martin Sfp Bryant / @martinsfp: The economics of the biggest movies simply aren't set up for the kind of money available through direct-to-streaming deals. Those deals may happen, but only as a last-ditch option. https://variety.com/...
Varad Mehta / @varadmehta: If the Trump administration hadn't already decoded to kill the Paramount decree, COVID probably would have. Letting studios own theaters again may be essential to keeping both alive. https://twitter.com/...
Ashkan Karbasfrooshan / @ashkan: While the $600M rumored fee for the Bond flick could very well be justified by @netflix - no way do they want to set that precedent. https://www.mediagazer.com/...
@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/...
Christian Becker / @theamazingbeck: If only Quibi had held on just a liiiiittle bit longer. https://twitter.com/...
Paul Armstrong / @paul__armstrong: No Bond on streaming sites because of greed. https://twitter.com/...
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/...
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/...
Rebecca VanAcker / ScreenRant: No Time To Die Not Going To Streaming, Studio Wanted $600 Million
Jordan Hoffman / Vanity Fair: No Time To Buy: James Bond Reportedly Considered a Streaming Sale
Matthewprigge / UPROXX: ‘No Time To Die’ Reportedly Almost Went Straight To Streaming — For A Princely Sum
Rafael Motamayor / The Playlist: Apple And Netflix Have Discussed Acquiring ‘No Time To Die’ For Streaming Release, MGM Reportedly Asking For $600 Million
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
ClickHole, whose staff became worker-owners in May, struggles to stay relevant in 2020 while reckoning with a lack of diversity and facing a financial crunch — The humor site has survived it all: new owners, layoffs, a culture war. Now a worker-owned cooperative, it needs to update its voice—and bring home the bacon.
Discussion:
@knibbs, @n_j_davis, @labsplice, @sandraupson, @kyle_ryan, @laurawags, @bypatrickgeorge, @mattsaincome, @gracegthomas, @nxthompson, @kslane and @oknox
Discussion:
Nick Davis / @n_j_davis: This is an excellent article, not least because I learned that the editor of The Onion is called Chad Nackers. https://www.wired.com/...
Matthew Mona-Ghoul / @labsplice: “With one deal, the ClickHole staff went from underappreciated employees to worker-owners of their own media kingdom.” What begins as a look at one company soon expands into a State of the Union for Internet comedy. Really, really good piece. https://www.wired.com/...
Sandra Upson / @sandraupson: It was pure joy to work with @Knibbs as she dug into why this lil gem of the internet is the way it is. I also didn't hate getting paid to read ClickHole. https://www.wired.com/...
Kyle Ryan / @kyle_ryan: There are a bunch of names of people I miss seeing every day in this article. And not just Guzmer. https://www.wired.com/...
Laura Wagner / @laurawags: “In April 2019, Univision sold the Gizmodo Media Group to Great Hill, which rebranded it as G/O Media. It installed a CEO from the world of content farms, the same world that ClickHole had expertly needled.” https://www.wired.com/...
Patrick George / @bypatrickgeorge: “The Univision honeymoon didn't last” You can put that on my tombstone https://www.wired.com/...
Matt Saincome / @mattsaincome: Long live Clickhole! Small note: We did offer to help as a favor, but the Clickhole team ended up paying. Good folk over there. Can't wait to see the insane stuff they come up with. I am always here to help advise/assist cool companies I believe in! https://www.wired.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Grace Thomas / @gracegthomas: I have a lot to say about the ClickHole piece that came out at Wired today. To begin with, calling a consistent patterning of demeaning and ignoring marginalized voices a “culture war” is just plain offensive. And Steve's quote here is a lie. He doesn't listen to folks like me. https://twitter.com/...
@nxthompson: This is a funny, wonderfully written piece about a humor site! But it's also a deep look at digital media the last six years, and its financial and moral reckonings. @Knibbs https://www.wired.com/...
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, @cmclymer, @scarylawyerguy, @tomkludt, @rottenindenmark, @dougheye, @kendallybrown, @soledadobrien, @soledadobrien, @andrewfeinberg, @beyerstein, @bendreyfuss, @dangillmor, @ericteusink, @lindaholmes, @tim_bousquet, @joshuahol, @soledadobrien, @sarahposner, @mattyglesias, @kavichek, @froomkin, @mike_hixenbaugh, @owillis, @stphnfwlr, @lizzwinstead, @sbagen, @thewaywithanoa, @joanwalsh, @klonguski, @everyvoicenc, @matthewjsinger, @charlesbethea, @charlesbethea, @charlesbethea, @kristarbrewer, @bluestein, @patrickhealynyt, @patrickhealynyt, @patrickhealynyt, @patrickhealynyt, @froomkin, @jeremylittau and Salon
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/...
@cmclymer: This... does not explain what happened. I'm sorry, but it doesn't. https://twitter.com/...
Scary Lawyerguy / @scarylawyerguy: 30 seconds of internet research sussed out that 2 voters quoted were hardcore GOP operatives, but Healy claims a former National Review reporter now at NYT made an “honest mistake” in failing to do basic fact checking. The Times is a great resource but its politics desk is broken 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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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: 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/...
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/...
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: 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: 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: 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/...
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
The Atlantic published a lengthy magazine story by disgraced New Republic editor Ruth Shalit as Ruth S. Barrett with no disclosure about her checkered past — A new story from the Atlantic explores the culture of niche sports in Fairfield County, Conn. — parents trying to turn their offspring …