"Extremely Worrying":
Facebook approved two fictitious political ads that were listed as "paid for by" Cambridge Analytica, which was banned from the platform. Although the ads only were removed following several posts by concerned viewers on Twitter, Facebook maintained: "We have tools for anyone to report suspicious activity such as this."
"Socially Responsible":
Belying the commercial failure of several feminist lifestyle publications in recent years, Bust magazine celebrated its 25th anniversary while remaining debt-free. "These are passion projects. We’re scrappy. We barter," co-founder Laurie Henzel said.
"Perpetuating Sexism":
Vice Media President Andrew Creighton has resigned "following accusations of sexual harassment." He was suspended on January 2 "after The New York Times reported that Vice paid a $135,000 settlement in 2016 to a woman who said she was fired after rejecting an intimate relationship with Creighton." Former Chief Digital Officer Mike Germano was fired in January following two accusations of sexual misconduct.
"Organized Hate":
Facebook and Instagram have banned Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes and The Proud Boys, a "street-fighting club of self-described 'Western chauvinists'" founded by McInnes in 2016. McInnes, who was forced out of the media company in 2008, "now faces a severely limited social reach" due to his previous ban from Twitter and the closure of far-right social media platform Gab in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
"30 Times Smaller":
Although subscription-based sports media startup The Athletic has raised $40 million in a series C funding round and is now valued at $200 million, the site and its competitors (including Bleacher Report and SB Nation) continue to struggle "in catching up to legacy outlets with massive audiences and major live broadcasting contracts."
Moving:
Richard Kim, executive editor of The Nation, will join HuffPost in early 2019 as director of enterprise. Kim also will supervise HuffPost's opinion sections.
"Personally and Professionally Offended":
The U.S. Agency for Global Media's Office of Cuba Broadcasting has placed "a number of employees on administrative leave and [are] opening an investigation into how it ended up airing a report" characterizing George Soros as a "multimillionaire Jew of Hungarian origin" who has used "his lethal influence to destroy democracies."
"Getting Away With Murder":
The Committee to Protect Journalists released its annual Global Impunity Index Monday, "ranking the countries where the murder of journalists goes unsolved." Somalia led the index (calculated from the rate of "unsolved murders in the past 10 years as a percentage of that country’s population"), while the Philippines harbored more unsolved cases than any other ranked country.
"Put the Consumer Back":
Multi-platform news subscription service Scroll has announced a $7 million financing round and a 2019 launch. Founded by former Chartbeat CEO Tony Haile, "a total of 27 brands are now signed onto Scroll’s testing phase," including BuzzFeed, USA TODAY, MSNBC and The Atlantic. Haile believes that the service, which will charge a $5 monthly fee, will "generate more money per user than a typical ad experience" while drawing in users who are unwilling to maintain multiple subscriptions.
"Real Journalism Matters":
The Columbia Journalism Review "will unveil a first-of-its-kind newsstand" in Manhattan's Bryant Park on October 30 "to educate voters on how to identify disinformation." The stand "will be outfitted with false stories taken from the Internet and printed on newspapers and magazines that mirror the design of legitimate publications."
