For the Record

Plagiarized Coronavirus Books Proliferate on Amazon:

According to Ben Collins of NBC News, various coronavirus-related books plagiarized from news outlets (including Richard J. Baily's "Coronavirus: Everything You Need to Know About the Wuhan Corona Virus and How to Prevent It") are appearing as top results in Amazon searches on the pandemic. Although "Baily's book was taken down [...] after NBC News reached out to Amazon for comment," plaigiarized books "by pseudonymous people or fake identities" continue to dominate search results. "We have always required sellers, authors and publishers to provide accurate information on product detail pages, and we remove those that violate our policies," an Amazon spokesperson said.

Reporters Committee Continues Work Amid Coronavirus:

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press announced Wednesday that it "has taken steps to reduce the spread of the virus, protect our staff, and, at the same time, continue to provide pro bono legal services for journalists," including its Local Legal Initiative. The nonprofit is also "preparing our annual assessment of the state of press freedom in the U.S., which we will be releasing soon, measuring changes in issues like the use of subpoenas against journalists, physical attacks and arrests."

Journalists Self-Quarantine After NICAR Coronavirus Case:

According to Carli Teproff of the Miami Herald, "more than a thousand journalists from around the world have been put on notice after an attendee of a major computer-assisted reporting conference held over the weekend in New Orleans has tested presumptive positive for the novel coronavirus." McClatchy employees who may have been exposed "are being instructed to self-quarantine and work from home for 14 days." 

Rudin Cuts Broadway Ticket Prices:

Veteran Broadway producer Scott Rudin has announced that remaining seats to all of his shows will be sold at the flat fee of $50 from Thursday through the end of March amid the coronavirus. According to David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter, "the shows includes long-running smash 'The Book of Mormon,' blockbuster drama 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and the recently opened revival of 'West Side Story,' which has been pulling capacity crowds." Previews of the Laurie Metcalf/Rupert Everett revival of 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' and Stefano Massini's 'The Lehman Trilogy' are also eligible.

Pentagon Adopts Social Distancing at Press Briefings:

According to a Reuters report, the Pentagon has implemented social distancing at its press briefings due to the coronavirus, situating reporters "several feet apart from each other on Tuesday in a room usually packed with correspondents." The policy contrasts with the White House's briefings on the outbreak, which remain at full capacity.

Twitter, Elliott Management Reach Dorsey Deal:

Twitter and activist hedge fund Elliott Management announced a deal Monday that will allow Jack Dorsey to retain his position as chief executive of the social media platform. According to Kayla Yurieff of CNN, Twitter "will add two new members to its board of directors and receive a $1 billion investment from investor Silver Lake," while the platform "also expects to undertake a $2 billion share repurchase program." Although Dorsey will continue to serve concurrently as chief executive of payment company Square, the Twitter board "is also planning to create a temporary committee to help evaluate [the company]'s leadership structure."

Ellies Postponed Due to Coronavirus:

National Magazine Awards Executive Director Sidney Holt announced the ceremony's postponement Monday amid the coronavirus outbreak. The ceremony was scheduled for March 12 at Brooklyn Steel, a music venue in the Williamsburg neighborhood. Unlike other journalism awards programs, the winners of the awards (known colloquially as the Ellies) are announced at the ceremony, a tradition that will be retained. "We're trying to come up with a date and thinking it will be sometime in May," said Holt, who added that this is contingent on the virus' spread. The awards are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors in association with the Columbia Journalism School.

Plain Dealer Initiates Second Layoff Round:

Plain Dealer Editor Tim Warsinskey announced Monday that the Cleveland newspaper will lay off 22 employees, including 18 in the local Newspaper Guild bargaining unit. Twelve newsroom positions were eliminated last year, forcing the newsroom to rely upon "Associated Press stories, wire reports and cleveland.com capsules," according to Sam Allard of Cleveland Scene. "The reason is strictly financial," said Warsinskey. "The industry revenue model has changed and print newspapers have struggled to overcome deep losses in subscriptions and advertising." Warsinskey replaced longtime editor and 1986 National Reporting winner George Rodrigue (who moved on to a position with Advance Local, the newspaper's parent company) on March 1.

ProPublica Doubles Down on Engagement:

ProPublica's engagement team is "revamping to help their reporters better find — and comprehensively report — investigative stories with an impact" amid a recent "growth spurt that led to a correspondingly large leap in the number of submissions they receive through callouts and other channels," according to Sarah Scire of NiemanLab. "[S]ometimes, for stories about big systemic harms, what you really need is lots of people pointing you in the same direction, or who can share multiple pieces of evidence that add up to something larger and more compelling," said Ariana Tobin, the nonprofit newsroom's engagement editor. "It's taking individual stories, combining them, and adding some journalistic muscle." 

Twitter Debuts "Manipulated Media" Tag:

Twitter applied its "manipulated media" tag for the first time Sunday to "a deceptively edited video of former Vice President Joe Biden," Cat Zakrzewski of The Washington Post reported yesterday. The video, which was posted by White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino and retweeted by President Trump, "showed Biden stumbling on a line during a speech, then saying: 'Excuse me. We can only reelect Donald Trump.'" Biden actually said: "Excuse me. We can only reelect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here. It's got to be a positive campaign." The White House and Biden's presidential campaign did not immediately respond to Zakrzewski's requests for comment.