Reshuffle:
Former Pulitzer Prize juror and Slate Editor-in-Chief Julia Turner will become the Los Angeles Times's deputy managing editor for arts and entertainment in mid-November, the newspaper announced Thursday. Turner will succeed 2015 Criticism winner Mary McNamara.
Changes:
Tronc once again will be known as Tribune Publishing following the end of trading on Tuesday, the company announced. The firm, which owns the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News and South Florida's Sun-Sentinel, adopted the "much-derided corporate moniker" in 2016.
Crypto Wars:
As part of an investigation of cryptocurrency markets, The Wall Street Journal created WSJCoin, its own digital currency. However, in a reflection of the industry's recent downturn, few were willing to adopt the blockchain-based asset. Nevertheless, "there is still potential for significant disruption," said Ivan Zasarsky, a Hong Kong-based partner in Deloitte’s financial-crime unit.
"The Public Interest":
Nicaragua has deported Carl David Goette-Luciak, an Austrian-American reporter who covered the nation's recent political upheaval for publications including The Guardian and The Washington Post. "I talked to him last night. He is fine," Ilja Luciak, the journalist’s father, told The Guardian on Tuesday. Goette-Luciak previously was "accused of being a CIA agent and of trying to undermine the government, and had his home address published online."
Vanished:
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has disappeared after visiting Istanbul's Saudi consulate on Tuesday. Although a Turkish spokesperson maintained that Khashoggi is being detained at the facility, an unnamed Saudi official asserted that Khashoggi left the consulate after requesting marriage-related paperwork. Khashoggi, who writes for The Washington Post's opinion section, "has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since last year, saying he feared arrest if he remained in Saudi Arabia."
Hackers:
Following a recent data breach in which "attackers accessed as many as 50 million accounts," Facebook announced that "it has not found any evidence 'so far' that its attackers accessed third-party sites" — including Spotify and Airbnb — through Facebook Login.
"Last Man Standing":
Patrick Soon-Shiong divulged that he has invested nearly $100 million in the Los Angeles Times since acquiring it for $500 million earlier this year. "The Catholic nuns say, ‘no money, no mission’ — and it’s very true," Soon-Shiong told Sharon Waxman at TheGrill media conference in Beverly Hills Tuesday. "This is no philanthropic exercise. In order for the paper to survive, it has to thrive."
Proposal:
Singapore's Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods has recommended legislation with "powers to swiftly disrupt the spread and influence of online falsehoods" and criminal penalties for meeting the threshold of "serious harm, such as election interference, public disorder and the erosion of trust in public institutions." The report called for "increased fact-checking and investigative journalism in the country, and building the digital literacy and critical thinking skills of the population."
Succession:
Veteran designer and Instagram Vice President of Product Adam Mosseri will succeed founding CEO Kevin Systrom and CTO Mike Krieger as "head of Instagram," the company announced Monday. During the transition, Systrom "will recruit a new executive team, including heads of product, operations and engineering."
"Detection and Enforcement":
Twitter announced Monday that it will "prohibit the distribution of hacked material that contains private information or trade secrets, or could put people in harm’s way." The platform will "[expand] the criteria for when we will take action on accounts which claim responsibility for a hack, which includes threats and public incentives to hack specific people and accounts."
