Top News:
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:
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.
David Bauder / Associated Press: NBC's Welker sharp in first turn as debate moderator
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/...
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/...
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/ ...
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/...
Elise Labott / @eliselabott: Um yeah she was: “Kristen Welker Was Always Going to Be the Best Debate Moderator” 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/ ...
Margaret Sullivan / @sulliview: @NotesFromHeL You're right, of course. The timeline is long. It's just burst more into the public eye recently.
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/...
@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/...
Jeff Butera / @writelikeutalk: “Listen and be present” Great advice for: * Interviews * News Gathering * Life and Relationships https://twitter.com/...
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/ ...
@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.
Bess Levin / Vanity Fair: Presidential Debate: Trump Says Kidnapping Migrant Children Is Fine Because He Keeps Them In “Facilities That Are So Clean”
RELATED:
The Daily Beast:
Murdochs' NY Post ignored facts provided by NBC News to paint debate moderator Kristen Welker as a liberal partisan, claims right-wing outlets like Fox echoed
Murdochs' NY Post ignored facts provided by NBC News to paint debate moderator Kristen Welker as a liberal partisan, claims right-wing outlets like Fox echoed
Discussion:
@maxwelltani, @seattletimes, Los Angeles Times, @thedailybeast, @farhip, @mikeisaac, @matthewamiller, @joycewhitevance, @dubois, @mitrakalita, @poynter, @albamonica, @joyannreid, @cahnemily, Politico, Talking Points Memo, @mattmittenthal, @mmasnick, @davidmackau, @hunterw, @tomkludt, @nickconfessore, @justinjm1, @taylorlorenz, @oliverdarcy, @oliverdarcy, @brianstelter, TheBlaze, The Wrap, New York Post and FactCheck.org
Discussion:
Max Tani / @maxwelltani: Before he published his hit piece on Kristen Welker, Jon Levine was told by NBC that she attended the Trump media Christmas party as well. Weirdly that fact didn't make it into his story! https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ... https://twitter.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/ ...
Christi Carras / Los Angeles Times: Kimmel and Colbert agree: Trump is not ‘the least racist person in this room’
@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/ ...
Paul Farhi / @farhip: “I respect very much the way you're handling this thing,” Trump tells @kWelkernbc after trashing her for more than a week, including this morning. https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Miller / @matthewamiller: .@kwelkernbc is a boss.
Lou / @dubois: .@kwelkernbc is as hard-working as they come: smart, fair, and asks important questions to seek the truth. was lucky to call her a colleague twice, and look forward to seeing her do what she does so well tonight. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
S. Mitra Kalita / @mitrakalita: Leave it to the 44-year-old woman of color to solve everything. I see you, feel you, salute you @kwelkernbc https://www-washingtonpost-com.cdn.ampp roject.org/ ...
@poynter: Who is NBC News' Kristen Welker, the moderator of tonight's debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden? https://www.poynter.org/...
Monica Alba / @albamonica: .@kwelkernbc is a tremendous journalist and even better human. As @mitchellreports said: “She has no agenda, she does her homework, and I think if I anyone can pull this off, it's Kristen.” Amen to that. Beyond proud to work with the Welks. https://www.google.com/...
@joyannreid: I still remember how excited I was as a young news & political junkie watching the great Carole Simpson moderate a presidential debate in '92 and GOAT Gwen Ifill moderate a VP debate in '08. Brilliant @kwelkernbc builds on that legacy tonight. 🙅🏿♀ ️ https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Emily C. Singer / @cahnemily: Jon Levine is dishonest? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Quint Forgey / Politico: Kristen Welker proves to be taming force at Trump and Biden's final showdown
Summer Concepcion / Talking Points Memo: ‘We Need To Move On’: Welker Keeps Debate On Track After Week Of Trump Attacks
Matt Mittenthal / @mattmittenthal: “As the Nov. 3 election rapidly approaches, the Post has become a clearing house for Trumpworld's breathless opposition research dumps”-@TheLloydGrove @maxwelltani https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Mike Masnick / @mmasnick: Once again, Rupert Murdoch is the single largest vector of disinformation. https://twitter.com/...
David Mack / @davidmackau: smart look at the human centipede that is the trump right-wing media propaganda machine, including the nypost reporter who will happily gorge on whatever shit he is fed https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Hunter Walker / @hunterw: DC reporters traditionally brought guests to the White House media holiday party and participated in a photo line with the president. I never went under Obama but I was at this event in . Trump ended the photo line tradition and eventually scrapped the party entirely. https://twitter.com/...
Tom Kludt / @tomkludt: Tricking the audience is the linchpin of the right-wing media model https://twitter.com/...
Nick Confessore / @nickconfessore: It is such a tell that, of all the reporters out there, the Trump auxiliaries decided to try to sandbag Welker, one of the straightest arrows at MSNBC. This has nothing to do with her. https://twitter.com/...
Justin Miller / @justinjm1: Rupert Murdoch and New York Post reporters attended Obama Christmas parties—a fact left out of a desperate hit job on Kristen Welker in the Post to help Trump. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz: A New York Post story ignored basic facts in an attempt to paint tonight's debate moderator as a liberal partisan. Nevertheless, the smear made its way through the Trumpist bubble. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy: No credible news organization would do this. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy: No other way to say it: the Murdochs pay for the production and dissemination of disinformation. https://twitter.com/...
Brian Stelter / @brianstelter: Case study in how the corporate right creates a hate object, based on a single hit job of a story: https://twitter.com/...
Breck Dumas / TheBlaze: NBC's Kristen Welker wins high praise from the left and right in moderating of final debate
Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap: How Will Tonight's Debate Microphone Muting Work?
Saranac Hale Spencer / FactCheck.org: Bogus Claims of Debate Moderator Bias
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, New York Times, Salon, @ericteusink, @lindaholmes, @tim_bousquet, @joshuahol, @soledadobrien, @sarahposner, @bluestein, @mike_hixenbaugh, @jeremylittau, @owillis, @sbagen, @kristarbrewer, @klonguski, @thewaywithanoa, @patrickhealynyt, @charlesbethea, @charlesbethea, @joanwalsh, @matthewjsinger, @patrickhealynyt, @froomkin, @lizzwinstead, @charlesbethea, @mattyglesias, @froomkin, @stphnfwlr, @everyvoicenc, @patrickhealynyt, @kavichek, @patrickhealynyt 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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
Sam Bagenstos / @sbagen: This is worse than journalistic malpractice. This is the NYT aiding and abetting misinformation. https://twitter.com/...
Krista Brewer / @kristarbrewer: So disappointed in the @nytimes. 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
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/...
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: How did these two “voters” (who might also be called Republican operatives) end up talking to the writer? 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/...
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?
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.
Dan Froomkin / @froomkin: And let's give a round of applause to the sleuth who blew this open: @charlesbethea 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/...
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/...
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/...
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/...
@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?
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/...
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/...
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.
Josh Sternberg / The Media Nut: On sourcing and story frames
Jeff Horwitz / Wall Street Journal:
Facebook says NYU Ad Observatory, which analyzes political ad targeting with data from users with a browser extension, must 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, BuzzFeed News, Politico, @alexanderabdo, @alexanderabdo, The Hill, @alexanderabdo, @alexanderabdo, @alexanderabdo, @alexanderabdo, @lauraedelson2, @monteiro, @riana_crypto, @david_stillwell, @ethanz, @professorshaw, The Verge, ZDNet, @carolecadwalla, @nikkisunstrum, @moonalice, @dellcam, @jeffhorwitz, @jason_kint, @digiphile, @jason_kint, @digiphile, @rmac18, MIT Technology Review and @whotargetsme, 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/...
BuzzFeed News: Facebook Promised To Label Political Ads, But Ads For Biden, The Daily Wire, And Interest Groups Are Slipping Through
Mark Scott / Politico: Facebook tries to block tool aimed at promoting transparency around political ads
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.
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*.
Tal Axelrod / The Hill: Facebook fights NYU political ad research project, argues it violates the site's data collection policies: report
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/...
Kim Lyons / The Verge: Facebook wants the NYU Ad Observatory 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
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/...
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/...
Tate Ryan-Mosley / MIT Technology Review: The weirdly specific filters campaigns are using to micro-target you
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:
@rickhasen, @espiers, @espiers, The Hill, @katerinareports, The Daily Beast, @adambanksdotcom, @aarongell, @tomphilpott, @espiers, @dcopaken, @espiers, @aarongell, @hunterw, Gothamist, Mediaite, @espiers, @fordm, @clearing_fog, @hunterw, @espiers, @jeffjohnroberts, @aarongell, @awprokop, @commasuture, @awprokop, @clarajeffery, @aarongell, @aarongell and @aarongell
Discussion:
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/...
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/...
Celine Castronuovo / The Hill: Kushner friend arrested on cyberstalking charges
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/...
Justin Rohrlich / The Daily Beast: Trump Family Pal Arrested for Harassment in Post-Divorce Meltdown
Adam Banks / @adambanksdotcom: @espiers jfc
@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.”
Tom Philpott / @tomphilpott: The Venn diagram slice that includes Jared pals and crypto-nuts: only the finest people, double guaranteed. https://www.nytimes.com/...
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.
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/ ...
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.)
@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.
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.
Jake Offenhartz / Gothamist: Ken Kurson, Former NY Observer Editor & Trump Ally, Arrested On Cyberstalking Charges
Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite: Ex-Observer Editor and Kushner Pal Ken Kurson Arrested and Charged With Cyberstalking
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.
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/...
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/...
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/...
Jeff Roberts / @jeffjohnroberts: This charming fellow is on the board of Ripple (for now— @Ripple should cut him loose) https://www.nytimes.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/...
Andrew Prokop / @awprokop: Creepy allegations here https://www.nytimes.com/... https://www.justice.gov/... https://twitter.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/...
Andrew Prokop / @awprokop: Receipts https://twitter.com/...
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, The Wrap, @noahshachtman, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair, Daily Kos, @bradheath, @dicktofel, @kenbensinger, @benyt, @buzzfeednews, @senwhitehouse, Reason, @noahshachtman, @bernybelvedere, @benyt, @draglikepull, @garretthaake, @mrjoncryer, @hshaban, @amlwhere, Mediaite, @yashar, @benyt, @kimstrassel, @kylegriffin1, @adamserwer and Talking Biz News
Discussion:
BuzzFeed News: A Leaked Internal Report Reveals The Wall Street Journal Is Struggling With Aging Readers And Covering Race
J. Clara Chan / The Wrap: Wall Street Journal Editors Told Not to ‘Amp Up’ Coverage of John Bolton's Book, Internal Report Says
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 …
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast: Wall Street Journal's News Side Debunks Opinion Side's Hunter Biden Screed
Mark Sumner / Daily Kos: ‘The Wall Street Journal’ newsroom vs. ‘The Wall Street Journal’ editorial page ... fight!
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.
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/ ...
Ben Smith / @benyt: Also, pleased to see it affirming my hostility for recurring features, a print standby that always dies online https://twitter.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/ ...
Sheldon Whitehouse / @senwhitehouse: Wheels keep coming off at @WSJOpinion (The Polluter Page.) https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Elizabeth Nolan Brown / Reason: Was the Final Presidential Debate Incomprehensible to Normies?
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/...
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/...
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/...
@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/...
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/...
Jon Cryer / @mrjoncryer: Honestly, the Wall Street Journal should do this for everything on their opinion side. https://twitter.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/ ...
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/ ...
Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite: Wall Street Journal News and Opinion Sides Clash on Hunter Biden Texts
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/...
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:
@dr, @jackmarshall, @jaycodon, @dcseifert, Simon Owens's Tech …, @joshsternberg, @kantrowitz, @blackamazon and @iankar_
Discussion:
Dan Rowden / @dr: SaaS opportunity: Newsletter ad tech, aimed at Substack publishers. https://digiday.com/... https://twitter.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/...
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/...
Dan Seifert / @dcseifert: what goes around, goes around, goes around comes all the way back around https://digiday.com/...
Simon Owens / Simon Owens's Tech and Media Newsletter: Publishers can charge for access to online communities, but it's hard
Josh Sternberg / @joshsternberg: If any advertisers want to advertise in my newsletter, let's talk. $6,000 per week! Hoo boy. https://digiday.com/...
Jake Offenhartz / Gothamist:
Former New York Daily News reporter sues the outlet, alleging she was fired after questioning why she made less than a male colleague who had the same job — A former City Hall reporter for the Daily News says she was fired for questioning why a male colleague was earning more for performing the same job.
Discussion:
New York Times, @maragay, @ericaforny, @annaesanders, @mcallguild, @jill_jorgensen and @emma_a_whitford
Discussion:
Niraj Chokshi / New York Times: Amazon Workers Demand Day Off to Vote: Live Updates
Mara Gay / @maragay: Fired for complaining about making less than her male colleague doing the same job. Ever-proud of the talented @AnnaESanders. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Erica Vladimer / @ericaforny: “They allowed me to write a front-page story about the gender pay gap, so it was shocking to be fired for talking about my salary as it compares to a man and my concerns about whether or not that was fair,” she said. 💪 https://twitter.com/...
Anna Sanders / @annaesanders: I've filed a lawsuit against the New York Daily News, its top editor & its parent company, Tribune Publishing, for wrongful termination and gender discrimination I was fired after questioning why I was paid less than a male colleague who had the same job https://www.nytimes.com/...
@mcallguild: THREAD: Another shining moment for @tribpub . Unionized employees have the right to ask and talk about their salaries, working conditions and benefits. If you are a @tribpub employee that's not in a union and want to learn more, DM us. We'll help you.... https://twitter.com/...
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:
Sara Fischer / Axios: 63 million people watched final presidential debate
Wayne Friedman / MediaPost: Second Presidential Debate Down 14% From The First: Nielsen
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
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/...
Ahiza García-Hodges / NBC News: Ratings drop for final presidential debate with 63 million viewers
Brendan Morrow / The Week: Final 2020 debate draws over 55 million viewers, down from the 1st debate
Brian Stelter / CNN: More than 63 million people watched the final presidential debate
Jen Carlson / Gothamist: Extra Extra: Anyone Lose A Tectonic Plate?
The Inquirer and Mirror:
Gannett agrees to sell Nantucket newspaper Inquirer and Mirror to a local group, 41 North Media LLC — The Inquirer and Mirror — After 30 years of corporate ownership, The Inquirer and Mirror is returning to its roots as a locally-owned, independent newspaper.
Discussion:
Sara Guaglione / MediaPost: Gannett Sells ‘Inquirer and Mirror,’ Returns To Local Ownership
Samson Amore / The Wrap:
iHeartMedia acquires Voxnest, which manages a marketplace that connects advertisers with podcasts and provides analytics to serve targeted ads — Podcast publisher iHeartMedia has acquired podcast advertising and analytics company Voxnest Friday for an undisclosed sum.
Discussion:
Joey Odorisio / DMS: iHeartMedia Acquires Podcast Publisher Voxnest
Adam Jacobson / Radio & Television Business Report: A Big Podcast Play for iHeartMedia
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify debuts its first daily morning show, The Get Up, a combination of pre-recorded news, pop culture, and personalized music, available as a playlist — Spotify's streaming music service is starting to resemble terrestrial radio with today's launch of the company's first daily morning show, “The Get Up.”
Discussion:
@spotifynews, @chrismessina, @tweet_bene, @jaykapoornyc, @ambermac, @chrismessina, Music Ally, Engadget and Spotify, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
@spotifynews: Ready for a new step in your AM routine? Tune in to Spotify's weekday morning show, “The Get Up,” which combines the best of pop culture and news with music personalized just for you. 🌅 https://newsroom.spotify.com/ ...
Chris Messina / @chrismessina: Spotify re-invents the morning radio show. As a personalized playlist. #TheGetUp Hot take: this is super smart, builds a daily ritual moat, creates new real estate for ads, reduces friction for podcasts discovery. https://newsroom.spotify.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
BOOnedikt Wenck / @tweet_bene: It was only a matter of time. I wonder if they make the technology to split podcasts inbetween music available to other creators. https://twitter.com/...
Jay Kapoor / @jaykapoornyc: Great call out on the Power of the Ritual by @ChrisMessina It's something I think about a lot as a content creator. Some thoughts: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Amber Mac / @ambermac: “#Spotify's streaming music service is (launching its) first daily morning show, The Get Up...the new program will be led by hosts & combine news, pop culture, entertainment & music (but) the music is personalized to the listener.” (Note: not a live show) https://techcrunch.com/...
Chris Messina / @chrismessina: Take note podcasters! Listen to what @JayKapoorNYC has to say! 🧏 https://twitter.com/...
Stuart Dredge / Music Ally: Spotify launches its own radio-style ‘daily morning show’
NBC News:
Revolver News, a website founded in May and promoted by Trump and some surrogates, has played a key role in spreading recent baseless claims about Hunter Biden — Some of the same people who pushed a false conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton that first emerged in 2016 are now targeting Hunter Biden …
Discussion:
@oneunderscore__, Upworthy, @brooklynmarie, @oneunderscore__, @nickmartin, @fredvultee, @sarahposner, @lisatozzi, @nicdawes, @dohamadani, @nicdawes, @oneunderscore__, @dohamadani, @theplumlinegs, @sarahchurchwell, @soniasaraiya, @25thcenturygirl, @a_merrill7, @chrissyfarr, @jpanzar, @drericding, @knightlat, @sethcotlar, @oliverdarcy, Vanity Fair, Slate, Breitbart, TheBlaze, Mediaite, CNN and Fox News
Discussion:
Ben Collins / @oneunderscore__: An important note: The false conspiracy theory that Hunter Biden is torturing children and it's all on his hard drive? A Bannon companion floated that rumor — one month BEFORE the NY Post reported Trump allies were in possession of Hunter's hard drive. https://www.nbcnews.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Annie Reneau / Upworthy: We're 11 days out from the election. So, let's talk about Hillary Clinton. No, seriously.
Brooke Binkowski / @brooklynmarie: Weird how people acting in good faith never feel the need to harass journalists. Just saying https://twitter.com/...
Ben Collins / @oneunderscore__: As you may have heard, I've never experienced this much pre-publication harassment while reporting a story in my life. It outlines a brand new pipeline—promoted by the president's allies—baselessly tying Hunter Biden to child torture. I hope you read it. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Nick Martin / @nickmartin: This is the article that caused Tucker Carlson to bring a white nationalist on air last night so they could try to get Fox News viewers to harass the inimitable @BrandyZadrozny. It didn't work. The article was published anyway. You should read it. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Fred Vultee / @fredvultee: ‘Pizzagate’ is the sort of verb that deserves a boost here. #editing https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Sarah Posner / @sarahposner: My God, this @oneunderscore__ @BrandyZadrozny story https://www.nbcnews.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Lisa Tozzi / @lisatozzi: “The re-run of an identical conspiracy theory from 2016, this time with Hunter Biden as the new target, gathered momentum in part because of a new disinformation pipeline promoted by high-profile conservative figures — including the president.” https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Nicholas Dawes / @nicdawes: Understanding this distribution mechanism - this audience strategy - and the fact that the NY Post is the most “respectable” part it, is crucial to making sense of what is going on
Doha Madani / @dohamadani: To better understand why @BrandyZadrozny was attacked last night: She and @oneunderscore__ were working on a story about the “Pizzagate” Hunter Biden conspiracy theory. The man who went on Carlson claims ties to the site peddling the story. Which I think he failed to mention 🧐 https://twitter.com/...
Nicholas Dawes / @nicdawes: From @oneunderscore__ and @BrandyZadrozny, who know this beat best, a map to the source of the bullshit. It lies not in the organic fever dreams of the internet, but an info op by Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, and Guo Wengui https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Ben Collins / @oneunderscore__: The Pizzagating of Hunter Biden is unfortunately working. According to Google Trends, ‘human trafficking’ is the third-most common related search term for ‘Hunter Biden,’ after ‘laptop’ and ‘New York Post.’ https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Doha Madani / @dohamadani: You absolutely should read @oneunderscore__ and @BrandyZadrozny's reporting on this. And just FYI, nothing here came from some “dark” site and it's not doxxing by any stretch of the imagination. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Greg Sargent / @theplumlinegs: Too funny. What a total joke of a scandal: “NBC News requested a copy of the hard drive, but Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer, who had possession of the hard drive, has yet to respond.” https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Sarah Churchwell / @sarahchurchwell: Thank you! @NBCNews showing how to report & reframe politically motivated lies. This has to become the norm. “The fantastical rumors, which NBC News is declining to repeat verbatim, [...] falsely allege a vast conspiracy of child abuse.” https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Sonia / @soniasaraiya: tucker carlson ran a hit piece against the female coauthor of this piece in order to smear the reporting before it was even published. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@25thcenturygirl: “Wang is connected to Bannon, the 2016 Trump campaign CEO, and Giuliani through Guo Wengui, a billionaire who fled China amid accusations of bribery ...” https://www.nbcnews.com/... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Amelia / @a_merrill7: Really interesting article on how misinformation from conspiracy theory and extremist forums and blogs winds up sneaking in to the mainstream media: https://www.nbcnews.com/... #DigCommSU
Christina Farr / @chrissyfarr: There are two bylines on this story: a man and a woman (@oneunderscore__ & @BrandyZadrozny). So why is only Brandy denounced on Fox News? https://twitter.com/...
@jpanzar: Some of the same people who pushed a false conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton that first emerged in 2016 are now targeting Hunter Biden with similar falsehoods. Their online posts are garnering astronomical numbers of shares on social media. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Eric Feigl-Ding / @drericding: 3) here is a courageous piece by Brandy to uncover who is peddling and promoting conspiracy theories. Spoiler—it's tied to Trump sphere. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Christopher Knight / @knightlat: “This is gaslighting of the highest order,” Phillips said. “This has been the Steve Bannon playbook this entire time...'flooding the zone with s—' ...confuse people ...make them angry...just sort of throw too many things at them for them to process.” https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Seth Cotlar / @sethcotlar: There is nothing to say about Matt Gaetz other than “shame on you.” Not just for that ridiculousness, but also for hiring this white nationalist disinformation agent who was too repellent even for Steven Miller's White House staff. https://twitter.com/...
Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy: An interesting @DRUDGE-related nugget in @oneunderscore__ and @BrandyZadrozny's latest story. https://www.nbcnews.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Eric Lutz / Vanity Fair: In Final 2020 Presidential Debate, More Subdued Trump Peddled Same Old Bulls—t
Alana Mastrangelo / Breitbart: Fact Check: Joe Biden Claims ‘My Son Has Not Made Money’ from China
Chris Pandolfo / TheBlaze: Joe Biden leaves no room to backtrack, denies Hunter Biden made money from business deals with Chinese associates
Reed Richardson / Mediaite: Dan Abrams Breaks Down Trump's Hunter Biden Laptop Allegations From Debate