Times Scoop Roundup:
Read coverage of and reactions to The New York Times' Sunday report that operatives allied with the Trump White House have targeted journalists critical of the president from Poynter's Tom Jones, Washingtonian's Andrew Beaujon, Mediaite's Ken Meyer, New York's Matt Stieb, Mother Jones' Kevin Drum, Splinter News' Hamilton Nolan, Politico's Jack Shafer and The Washington Post's Eric Wemple.
Mario Davidovsky (1934-2019):
1971 Music winner Mario Davidovsky died of unspecified causes on Friday. He was 85. The Argentina-born serialist composer was a longtime faculty member at Columbia University and served as director of the now-defunct Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center from 1981 to 1993. His Pulitzer-winning "Synchronisms" was a seminal electroacoustic suite, but Davidovsky returned to acoustic instrumentation in his later oeuvre.
Gerard O'Neill (1942-2009):
1972 Local Investigative Specialized Reporting winner Gerard O'Neill died Friday at his home in Boston from complications of interstitial lung disease. He was 76. Best known for his reporting on Whitey Bulger's longstanding cooperation with the FBI and a leukemia outbreak at the Portsmouth Naval Yard, O'Neill was a founding member of The Boston Globe's Spotlight investigative team.
Atlantic Launches Paywall:
Following a delay by owner Laurene Powell Jobs last year, The Atlantic likely will implement a paywall beginning in September. The magazine "declined to divulge details on how the paywall would be structured" to Lukas I. Alpert of The Wall Street Journal.
British Journalist Harrassed by CBP Agent:
According to Asher Stockler of Newsweek, U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed Friday "that an immigration officer processing entrants through the Los Angeles International Airport did accost a British journalist after he presented his press visa" on August 22. James Dyer of Empire magazine has alleged that the agent accused the journalist of "being part of the 'fake news media'" and inquired if he had ever been employed by CNN or MSNBC. The agency is "strongly advising Mr. Dyer to file a formal complaint so this matter is properly investigated and resolved."
Times' Piersanti Deletes Offensive Tweets:
Tom Piersanti, a senior editor for politics at The New York Times, has protected his account and deleted anti-Semitic tweets from a decade ago following a Breitbart story on the matter. According to a spokesperson from The Times, "We are aware of these tweets, which are a clear violation of our standards. We are reviewing next steps." A source told CNN's Oliver Darcy that Piersanti, who apologized for his actions, will be on leave for the duration of the investigation. According to The Wrap, Piersanti also wrote offensive tweets about "individuals of Indian descent and Mohawk Indians."
NAHJ Rescinds Fox Sponsorship:
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists has rescinded Fox News' sponsorship of its September Excellence in Journalism conference in San Antonio after Fox News Radio host Todd Starnes compared undocumented migrants to the Nazi invasion of Europe. "It is important that news organizations do not use or give a platform to slanted jargon disguised as opinion that misconstrues the facts," NAHJ President Hugo Balta said.
Bharat Returns to Google:
After a four-year absence, Google News creator Krishna Bharat returned to the platform in July as a distinguished research scientist to work on the news aggregator and the company's signature search engine. In 2017, Bharat criticized the aggregator's vetting process for disseminating 4Chan threads that falsely identified a person as a suspect in the Las Vegas mass shooting.
Sanders to Fox:
Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will join Fox News as a contributor. She is scheduled to make her first appearance on the network on " Fox & Friends," a program often quoted by President Trump, on Spet. 6.
Economist Surveys Democratic Primary:
The Economist has launched a free microsite dedicated to the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. In addition to aggregated polling data, users can track candidate support by race, age and educational attainment.
