For the Record

Facebook Doubles Down on Media Literacy:

Facebook announced Monday that it will invest $2 million in U.S.-based media literacy projects and add a series of media literacy lessons to its educator-oriented Digital Literacy Library. The announcement dovetailed with the company's discovery of 50 divisive Instagram accounts from across the political spectrum linked to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company with ties to oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin that is believed to have interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Politically Driven Local News Sites Open in Michigan:

According to Carol Thompson of the Lansing State Journal, dozens of "right-leaning" websites branded as Michigan local news outlets have been published by Metric Media in recent months. The company is a subsidiary of Locality Labs, which has affiliated with similar sites in Maryland and Illinois. Neither Metric Media CEO Bradley Cameron nor Locality Labs CEO Brian Timpone responded to Thompson's requests for comment. "I think any kind of politically slanted information which people think could be from a reputable news source really compromises the quality of discourse we have in this country," said Rachel Davis Mersey, executive director of the Media Leadership Center at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. "It's not fake news but it’s not exactly what we want people to be consuming either."

Right to Know Coalition Supports Australian Press Freedom:

According to Calla Wahlquist of The Guardian, Australian newspapers blacked out their front pages Monday to support the Right to Know Coalition's "campaign against moves by successive federal governments to penalize whistleblowing and, in some cases, criminalize journalism." The effort was inspired by raids on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Sydney headquarters and the home of a News Corp journalist in June, "the legality of which is being challenged in the high court." The Australian Parliament "has passed more than 60 laws relating to secrecy and spying in the past 20 years."

Student Newspapers Deputize for Local Media:

Amid the ongoing contraction of local media, daily newspapers in such college towns as Ann Arbor, Mich. have stepped in to fill the void, covering municipal government and even maintaining Washington bureaus. "We're the largest Arizona-based news-gathering operation in Washington because we're the only Arizona-based news-gathering operation in Washington," said Steve Crane, who serves as director of Washington operations at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Thomson Reuters Confirms CEO "Succession Planning":

In a Sunday statement, Thomson Reuters confirmed that it has initiated "succession planning" for CEO Jim Smith "as a matter of good governance." According to an earlier report from the Financial Times, the media company "had hired [...] Spencer Stuart to put together a list of internal and external candidates" in a search that reflected Smith's departure. "To be clear, I'm not planning to go anywhere soon," Smith said. "Please know that when the time comes to hand over the reins, you will hear it from me."

Bennett Receives Fourth Estate Award:

Former Pulitzer Prize Board member Amanda Bennett received the 2019 Fourth Estate Award from the National Press Club in Washington on October 17. Bennett is the 47th recipient of the award, which recognizes significant contributions to journalism. "Amanda is an exceptional journalist and has enjoyed an enviable career managing some of the most respected newsrooms in the country," said National Press Club President Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak, "but what I have always admired most about Amanda, is her commitment to mentoring and empowering other journalists to do their very best work." A past director of the Voice of America, Bennett served as an executive editor of Bloomberg News from 2006 to 2013. She contributed to the Wall Street Journal's 1997 National Reporting Prize-winning coverage of AIDS and oversaw the Oregonian's 2001 Public Service Prize-winning investigation of I.N.S.

Post Expands Parental Leave:

The Washington Post announced Thursday that it has amended its parental leave policy to include 20 weeks of paid leave for each parent. Previously, according to National Political Correspondent Jenna Johnson, employees received four weeks.

Crediting Outlets that Break News:

According to Motherboard's Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai and Jason Koebler, the New York Times' inconsistent hyperlinking to stories previously reported by other outlets ⁠— contrary to a January memo written by Associate Managing Editor Phil Corbett and allegedly emblematic of "harried journalists not getting around to doing so, green reporters not knowing to do so, and editors not being aware of previous reporting and not doing the research needed to add links" — has elicited rancor from reporters of several organizations, including Slate, BuzzFeed News and and Vice. A Times spokesperson said: "Our policy, as described in Phil’s memo, is to credit and link to other outlets on stories they break. The Times publishes around 250 stories a day, many on deadline. Sometimes we make mistakes such as not properly crediting other outlets. When that happens, our staff tries to correct the oversight as soon as they become aware of the issue."

Journalists Eulogize Elijah Cummings:

Many journalists have reflected on the life and legacy of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), who died from complications of longstanding health challenges in Baltimore Thursday. MSNBC host and former Florida congressman Joe Scarborough characterized the House Oversight Committee chair (who officiated his wedding to co-host Mika Brzezinski) as "a good man, a great leader and a dear friend of mine," while Politico's Maya King observed: "So many young black reporters have a good Cummings story about how he pulled us aside and gave us a word of advice or support when we were navigating the Hill or covering events. It speaks so much to who he was. He always wanted to see us win."

Second Soldier in Pulitzer-Winning Iwo Jima Photo Misidentified:

For the second time in more than three years, the United States Marine Corps has asserted that a soldier in Joe Rosenthal's 1945 Photography Prize-winning photo of the second flag raising at Iwo Jima was misidentified. Long believed to be Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon, the man has been confirmed as Cpl. Harold P. Keller following a committee's review of evidence furnished by three researchers. In 2016, the Corps confirmed that Pfc. Harold Schultz had been conflated with Pfc. Franklin Sousley, who in turn was misidentified as Navy Petty Officer Second Class John Bradley.