For the Record

Boost:

As part of a pilot program, Facebook "has held training sessions with executives from 14 midsize newspapers from around the U.S. to develop strategies for bringing in more paying customers via Facebook and beyond." Each participant receives a $200,000 grant to assist in the implementation of their plans. "It really got everyone to share their notes on how to drive subscriber acquisition in a smarter, faster and more efficient way," said John Rockwell, director of subscription sales and retention at the San Francisco Chronicle.

"Out Of Place":

The New York Observer has cut ties with freelance contributor Mikhail Klikushin, a New Jersey-based Russian national whose stories "hewed closely to pro-Russia propaganda talking points" in a period coinciding with Jared Kushner's ownership of the news organization. Klikushin's contributions previously were reclassified as opinion pieces following a 2015 BuzzFeed investigation. "New leadership tends to bring change, and we do not have any current plans to work with him in the future," Ben Robinson, the Observer’s editor-in-chief, said.

Intrepid:

Following the recent revocation of his credentials, prolific United Nations blogger Matthew Lee has continued to cover the intergovernmental organization in Turtle Bay, often employing free wi-fi from passing buses. "Matt plays an important role in being a gadfly," a colleague said.

New Era:

A bill under consideration by the New Jersey Legislature would establish a $5 million local journalism consortium in which "grants will be handed out by a board of directors made up of appointees by the governor and Legislature, as well as representatives from state universities, community groups, the news media and the technology industry." "We need to do something," said Joe Amditis, associate director for the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. "We just can’t sit around and expect it to get better."

Decision:

CBS Corp.'s board of directors announced an "independent investigation" into misconduct allegations against Chief Executive Les Moonves after a Monday meeting. The New Yorker published an article Friday in which six women accused Moonves of "forcibly kissing" them in incidents dating back to 1980. Moonves will retain his position during the investigation.

Cutting Corners:

Former Backpage owners Michael Lacey and Carl Ferrer maintained that the site (which was "the largest online publisher of sex ads in the world" until its seizure by federal agents in April) served as a "natural extension" of the "pioneering newspaper company they planted in the Arizona desert more than four decades ago." But critics such as Sen. Claire McCaskill have cast doubt on their First Amendment defense, alleging that the site facilitated child trafficking.

"All-time Low":

In a series of Sunday tweets, President Trump divulged a previously off-the-record July 20 meeting with New York Times Publisher A. G. Sulzburger before characterizing coverage of his administration by The Times and The Washington Post as "very unpatriotic." Following Trump's disclosure, Sulzburger said: "This inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence."

Inflation:

A Justice Department investigation "has examined whether Sinclair Broadcast, Tribune Media and other independent TV station owners coordinated efforts when their ad sales teams communicated with each other about their performance, potentially leading to higher rates for [...] commercials." Officials discovered the alleged antitrust violations in their review of Sinclair’s proposed acquisition of Tribune.

"We're Still Here":

As the one-month anniversary of the Capital Gazette massacre approaches, staffers working out of a temporary newsroom have started to acclimate to their new reality. "For me, it was tough to figure out when to be a person who was affected by this and when to be a reporter. And I’m still working on that," reporter Danielle Ohl said.

"Hold Those People Accountable":

CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins was denied access to a press event featuring President Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission. The decision was condemned as "retaliatory in nature" by CNN and "wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak" by Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents Association. Fox News announced that it "stands in strong solidarity" with its rival network.