For the Record

"A Fresh Start":

Following long-simmering allegations of sexual misconduct, "60 Minutes" Executive Producer Jeff Fager was terminated by CBS News Wednesday. In a statement, CBS News President David Rhodes maintained that "this action today is not directly related to the allegations surfaced in press reports, which continue to be investigated independently." In a separate statement, Fager claimed that his firing was precipitated by a "harsh" text message to a reporter.

"Combating Misinformation":

CrowdTangle announced it is "testing a feature that allows users to report potentially false news stories within the platform’s Facebook dashboards." Once story links are reported, they are sent to Facebook’s misinformation team to see if "the feature is helpful in identifying fake news stories."

"Contemporizing It":

Playboy will become a quarterly in 2019, "cutting back from its current six-issues-a-year format," CEO Ben Kohn announced Tuesday. Although Kohn "has no plans to eliminate the print edition" — which published work by Saul Bellow, Jules Feiffer and Hunter S. Thompson in its heyday — the company will focus on licensing and branding.

Return:

Gawker will relaunch in the first half of 2019, owner Bryan Goldberg announced Tuesday. The news site will "sit within a separate corporate subsidiary" while sharing resources with Goldberg's Bustle Media Group. Goldberg purchased Gawker and its archive in a July bankruptcy auction for less than $1.5 million.

"Extraordinary Demand":

Simon & Schuster will print one million copies of Bob Woodward's "Fear" to keep up with demand. The book "has catapulted to the top spot on Amazon and Barnes & Noble's online bestseller list" and is currently ranked fourth on Amazon's 2018 bestseller list.

"A Downward Trend":

The Missoula Independent, an alternative weekly, closed Tuesday. "I had hoped that by selling it to Lee Enterprises we would be able to create collaborative approaches and find new efficiencies to turn it into a profitable business," general manager Matt Gibson said. "Unfortunately our efforts were unsuccessful and the Indy continued to lose money."

"Sunny News":

The Colorado Sun officially launched Monday. Formed by former editors and reporters from The Denver Post, the news site will be funded by Kickstarter donations and blockchain media start-up Civil. "We’re going to do the kinds of deep, investigative watchdog, explanatory and long-form narrative," said co-founding editor Larry Ryckman.

Limbo:

"In the event the CBS board determines that the company is entitled to terminate Moonves's employment for cause" following the completion of ongoing investigation, a $120 million "grantor trust" largely set aside for Moonves' severance pay will return to the company. Moonves and CBS also will contribute $20 million from the trust "to one or more organizations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace."

"A New Era":

Following new allegations of sexual misconduct, CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves resigned Sunday night. Although sources have asserted that the "optics of leaving Moonves in place and letting him lead an earnings call without addressing the issue were bad," the company has "overhauled its board to remove six white men and include three new women, and one African American man."

"Quiet Resistance":

Following the publication of a critical, anonymous New York Times op-ed essay by an unnamed senior Trump administration official Wednesday, the president suggested that the news organization "must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!"