For the Record

News Literacy Project, Open Mind Legacy Project Partner on PSAs:

The News Literacy Project and the Open Mind Legacy Project are "distributing public service announcements around the country this week to combat malicious fabrication, bots and online trolls that seek to mislead voters and suppress voting," founders Alan C. Miller and Alexander Heffner announced in a USA Today op-ed Sunday. "These engaging and animated PSAs will seek to inoculate voters against viral deception about how and when they can vote and encourage them to be skeptical about the election information they encounter," said Heffner and Miller, a 2003 National Reporting winner.

Journalist Arrested in L.A. Protests:

KPCC/LAist reporter Josie Huang was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies late Saturday after "she covered protests that had erupted outside a hospital where two deputies were being treated for gunshot wounds suffered [...] in an 'ambush' attack," according to Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Alex Wigglesworth. Huang "received a citation for allegedly violating the obstruction law, Penal Code Section 148" before being released hours later. "That's what surprises me the most is that once she was identified as a reporter that they transported her, that they cited her,” said L.A. County Inspector Gen. Max Huntsman.

TikTok Reaches Deal With Oracle:

TikTok and Oracle "will become business partners in the United States — a deal meant to satisfy the Trump administration's national security concerns about the short-form video app," Brian Fung and Selina Wang of CNN reported Sunday. Although the "exact nature of the agreement" between the companies remains unclear, "it was not described as an outright sale." 

Defense Department Rescinds Stars and Stripes Shutdown:

The Defense Department "is rescinding its order to shut down the military's independent newspaper, Stars and Stripes, in the wake of a tweet late last week by President Donald Trump vowing to continue funding the paper," Lolita C. Baldor of the Associated Press reported Thursday. In an email to Publisher Max Lederer obtained by the Associated Press, Defense Media Activity Acting Director Col. Paul Haverstick confirmed that "the paper does not have to submit a plan to close," while "a formal memo is being drafted that will rescind the order to halt publication by Sept. 30, and dissolve the organization by the end of January."

Times Freelancer Removed From Trump Rally:

New York Times freelance correspondent Kathy Gray was allegedly removed from President Trump's rally in Freeland, Mich. Thursday "after campaign staff located her using images she posted on Twitter," according to J. Edward Moreno of The Hill. A campaign spokesperson said that Gray "did not obtain press credentials 'through the normal process' and was in the general admission section of the rally." The campaign alleged that Gray was offered the opportunity to remain in a non-journalistic capacity. "We're disappointed that the Trump campaign refused to credential our freelancer and then, when she registered and attended as a member of the public, they ejected her from the event," a spokesperson for The Times said in a statement. "Our goal is to cover these campaign events and talk to voters about the candidates, and that's what Kathy was trying to do."

Refinery29 Names Oliver Editor-in-Chief:

Refinery29 "has recruited Simone Oliver, a former Facebook exec and New York Times editor, as the women-focused media brand’s global editor-in-chief," according to Todd Spangler of Variety. Oliver, who will start on September 30, will report to parent company Vice Media Group Chief Digital Officer Cory Haik. Her predecessor, Christene Barberich, "resigned in June amid allegations from staffers of lack of racial diversity and racial discrimination at the site."

The Athletic Reaches Subscription Milestone:

Following a slowdown due to this year's COVID-related sports shutdowns, sports news site The Athletic "is typically adding more subscribers per day than ever and has reached the 1 million subscriber milestone," Alex Sherman of CNBC reported Wednesday. "In the end, the fundamentals of the business have proven to be really strong," co-founder Adam Hansmann said. "We are literally at peak engagement." While the news organization "makes more than $60 million in pure subscription revenue and has ad sales from podcasts," it has failed to reach profitability when accounting for such factors as "sales and marketing, HR [and] cloud computing costs."

NYU Stern Paper Offers Potential Section 230 Roadmap:

A new paper by NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights Deputy Director Paul Barrett on  Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 offers a "three-step approach" to enhancing the "bedrock" Internet regulatory law, according to Joshua Benton of NiemanLab. Benton noted that the proposed "incentivizing [of] regulation-via-lawsuit is a bad way to encourage good behavior," adding that "Section 230 has become a political football for all the wrong reasons."

Broadway Grapples With COVID-19:

Although several Broadway shows (including Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker's revival of 1991 Drama winner Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite") have announced early spring openings, "those involved in the planning say privately that it could be autumn 2021 before venues reopen," according to Peter Marks of The Washington Post. Marks added that "ventilation systems in need of updating, cramped quarters for artists and other workers in backstage areas, a lack of specific federal guidance about what safety measures are required, and a host of other issues [...] are bedeviling the path back."

Gannett Hires Gupta:

Gannett has hired former Spotify executive Mayur Gupta to serve as the media company's first chief marketing and strategy officer, "a move meant to sharpen the U.S. newspaper chain’s focus on attracting digital subscribers as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the publishing industry," Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg of The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. "There's no question that at some point the subscription economy reaches a saturation point,” said Gupta, an engineer with a master's degree in computer science. "Companies that solve societal needs will be successful."