Forward

Exec summary: Welcome to November! There are changes coming at Recode and The Marshall Project... and execs pledging no changes at Fox News and CBS... Plus the "House of Cards" finale and so much more...

2018 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Voters starved for info

Key Senate and House races are getting a lot of attention. But what about the rest? What about down-ballot races? Americans living in "news deserts" with few or no local news outlets may be in a bind now that it's time to vote in the midterm elections.

This problem keeps getting worse, so that's why I wanted to highlight it on this week's "Reliable" podcast. I spoke with Penny Abernathy, who both studies "news deserts" and lives in one. She's in rural North Carolina, where there's practically no reporting about local races, propositions, etc.

"There's been a huge diminishment of what is available, especially in terms of public service journalism," she said, "the very sort of journalism that you need as you're going into a very crucial election and need to decide what issues are important." Yes, folks have access to Facebook and other sites, but those don't fill the void left by local reporters. If anything, those sites just create even more confusion. "You're left with whatever comes in the direct mail and what you happen to see from your friends on a Facebook page," Abernathy told me...

👂 LISTEN: Check out the podcast with Abernathy via Apple, Stitcher, TuneIn, or other apps...

It's getting worse

Tom Stites popularized the term "news desert" in a 2011 column for NiemanLab. Back then, he said "a huge part of the American people, the less-than-affluent majority, is civically malnourished due to the sad state of U.S. journalism -- and that the nation's broad electorate is thus all but certainly ill informed."

Seven years later, Stites is even more certain. When I reached him by phone, he likened the collapse of local papers to an "earthquake." Reams of research backs this up. It shows that newspaper closures affect civic engagement in all sorts of ways.

Stites lives in a Massachusetts town that still has a daily paper. But in nearby Haverhill, he said, "Twenty years ago, it had two daily papers that were competing like mad and beating each others' brains out. Haverhill now has only two reporters total." The result? "A lot of people really don't know what's going on," he said. Here's my full story with Julia Waldow...

RELATED: Ken Doctor's brand new piece about Gannett cutting back on midterm tlection results in print...

Do you live in a "news desert?"

CJR released this excellent map last year... And here's Abernathy's new report...

FLASHBACK: Politico's report in April: "Trump thrives in areas that lack traditional news outlets"

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- This was incredible to see on Thursday: "Google employees around the world staged walkouts on Thursday to protest what they say is a workplace culture that has turned a blind eye to sexual harassment and discrimination..." (CNN)

-- Recommended: Jim Rutenberg's column on "The Incitement Industry..." (NYT)

-- Read Pamela Druckerman's NYT piece about Hungary: "If you''e wondering what attacks on the news media around the world mean for the future of democracy, it's worth a trip to Budapest..." (NYT)

Facebook's election ads are a problem... but not the biggest problem

Donie O'Sullivan emails: Vice News, ProPublica, CNN and others have all found some holes in Facebook's political ad disclaimer process this week. Essentially, people can still run political ads on the platform without Facebook users really knowing who paid for them.

But I bet if you told the company six months ago an ad disclaimer issue would be what reporters would be poking holes at on Facebook with 5 days to go to the election, they'd be pretty happy with it. There's already a ton of dark money in U.S. politics -- lack of transparency didn't start on Facebook.

The bigger problem, the one we can't overlook, and what could likely impact more voters, is the ongoing one: misinformation. For instance, all the false viral images of the migrants marching toward the US boarder that spread like wildfire on Facebook last week. Read on...

Trump's trick?

The White House told the press that President Trump would speak about immigration in the Roosevelt Room on Thursday afternoon... "We were told it would be new asylum proposals," CNN's Kaitlan Collins said... But he basically just repeated his stump speech and sparred with reporters. CNN cut away mid-event. MSNBC didn't show it at all.

Gloria Borger on "AC360" later in the day: "You have to ask the question, 'Why convene a policy address for a policy that hasn't changed?' I think maybe there was a little trick played on us, because he got some live coverage. We all thought that there was going to be some new policy here, and there really wasn't."

Wemple's provocative Q

WaPo's Erik Wemple writes: "It doesn't matter whether the issue is immigration or taxes or trade. It doesn't matter whether it's a week from the midterms or a year from the midterms. It doesn't matter whether Trump is speaking at a rally or in the quiet dignity of the Roosevelt Room. The president's relish for lies is unchanged, and live television is absolutely no match for the fury with which his falsehoods tumble forth. So there's no excuse for any U.S. television network to take his appearances live, at any time. The question now is: Which network will be the first to declare that it will not provide a live airing of next year's State of the Union address?"

Does Ainsley regret saying this?

Ainsley Earhardt has positioned herself as a journalist despite being on "Fox & Friends." She has a degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina. That's why I'm wondering if she will try to walk back this embarrassing statement on Friday's show.

During Thursday's "F&F," she tried to justify Trump's "enemy of the people" rhetoric, which hurts her own colleagues. "He is saying if you don't want to be called the enemy, then get the story right, be accurate and report the story the way I want it reported," she said, setting herself up for a day of ridicule on social media. Obviously "accurate" is not the same as "the way the president wants it reported..."

This Sunday on "Reliable"

Daniel Dale, Molly Ball, and David Zurawik are just a few of the guests confirmed for this Sunday's show, live from DC... I have so many Q's for Dale about his tireless Trump fact-checking...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Bill Keller is stepping down as EIC of The Marshall Project next year. He will move onto the nonprofit's board of directors...

-- "Roku is beefing up its live news offerings" by adding "live and linear news content from Verizon's Oath," Alex Weprin reports...

-- Correction: In my item about Gayle King yesterday, I attributed a quote about King being the "emotional center" of "CTM" to EP Ryan Kadro. That was actually Norah O'Donnell's quote. Regardless, I agree with it!

Still not "failing"

The NYT's Q3 earnings came out on Thursday. Here's what the company is celebrating: "It now has 4 million total subscribers, with about 3 million of those subscribers receiving the digital only edition," the most in its history, Jill Disis reports.

FUN STAT: NYT CEO Mark Thompson "said the company now has at least one reader from every member country of the United Nations, and Antarctica..."

PROFIT UP: "Operating profit rose to $41.4 million last quarter, compared to $31.8 million during the same period a year before. It attributed that growth to digital subscriptions and advertising..."

GOOD ADVICE: "Take 98% of whatever energy you devote to worrying about the future of the Times and rechannel it into worrying about your local daily, which is very likely approaching existential crisis," Joshua Benton writes...

At CBS, "no significant changes" coming

Jill Disis emails: Thursday was the first CBS earnings call without ousted CEO Les Moonves. Acting CEO Joe Ianniello didn't mention Moonves by name. But he told investors that the company has a "deep and stable management team" capable of leading the company. Two of those execs, David Nevins and Chris Spade, joined the call.

"I want to give them exposure to Wall Street so you can all see how deep and talented they are," he said.

Ianniello said he doesn't foresee any strategic changes coming. And he said he's pleased with "the way employees have kept their focus on delivering the kind of results you see today."

THE UNKNOWN: Will Ianniello become the permanent CEO?

Apple falling short of analyst estimates

"For years, Apple investors and customers marveled as the number of iPhones sold seemed to defy gravity. Now the show is coming to an end," Seth Fiegerman writes. "Apple said Thursday it plans to stop reporting how many iPhones, iPads and Macs it sells each quarter, in what could be a nod to flatlining growth in some of these product lines. Apple will continue to report revenue for these categories."

AND: "The company also said it expects sales in the all-important holiday quarter to be between $89 billion and $93 billion, skewing short of analyst estimates..."

Recode is becoming part of Vox.com

"Recode will continue to exist as a brand and business," WSJ's Ben Mullin reports, but it will be a section of Vox.com. "Recode's staff will report to Vox Editor in Chief Lauren Williams." Recode EIC Dan Frommer is leaving, but "Vox Media isn't planning any staff cuts as a result of the combination..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

By Julia Waldow:

-- Meredith's sale of TIME to Marc and Lynne Benioff officially closed Thursday... (Meredith)

-- The pro-Trump media in action: Carter Page is set to host a talk show on OANN starting this weekend... (The Daily Beast)

In wake of Khashoggi's killing, Washington Post announces "Press Freedom Partnership"

"Thirty days ago, Jamal Khashoggi was lured into a death trap," Washington Post publisher and CEO Fred Ryan said at the International Women's Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Awards tonight in DC on Thursday night.

Ryan, who was there to accept the group's leadership award, dedicated his speech to Khashoggi. "If Saudi Arabia faces no consequences for Jamal's murder, it sends a powerful message of tolerance, perhaps even encouragement. And every journalist in every country will be at greater risk," Ryan said.

Then he shared an announcement. "To help in this effort, today we announce an important new Washington Post initiative called the Press Freedom Partnership," Ryan said. "Working with the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, Reporters Without Borders, and other interested groups, we are making a major global commitment to increase awareness of the importance of an independent press."

Ryan said the Post would devote "ongoing" resources; deploy its "marketing and advertising capabilities;" and use the reach of the paper's platforms "to champion the journalists who take risks every day to expose the truth."

VF's deep dive on CNN in the age of Trump

If you're interested in POTUS or CNN, Joe Pompeo's VF story is a must-read... And I'm not just saying that because I'm mentioned. Key quotes:

-- Jeff Zucker: "People say all the time, 'Oh, I don't want to talk about Trump. I've had too much Trump. And yet at the end of the day, all they want to do is talk about Trump. We've seen that, anytime you break away from the Trump story and cover other events in this era, the audience goes away. So we know that, right now, Donald Trump dominates."

-- Jake Tapper on what happens to CNN and cable news post-Trump: "I don't take any joy in saying this, but I would like to disabuse you of the notion that things are ever going back to normal."

Trump's "only form of fighting back" !?

In the taped interview, Jim VandeHei and Jonathan Swan challenged Trump's "enemy" depictions of the press. "It is my only form of fighting back," Trump said, nonsensically.

--> April Ryan's reaction on CNN: "It's his only way of fighting back? By putting us in harm's way? It's sad if that's the only way he knows how to fight..."

--> BTW: VandeHei and Mike Allen did a Reddit AMA on Thursday...

Cuomo's message

Chris Cuomo's closer on Thursday night: Trump "is attempting something no other president has in modern history — he is trying to start a mass movement based on fear and loathing of a minority group." So he talked about how to fight hate with patience and love. He quoted from the "Christianity and Totalitarianism" essay in Thomas Merton's book "Disputed Questions." Watch the segment here...

Dish v. HBO

"For the first time in its 40-plus-year history, a blackout will keep HBO off the air of one of its biggest distributors," Variety's Andrew Wallenstein reports. That distributor is Dish and its MVPD service Sling TV.

HBO says Dish is being "unreasonable," and Dish is blaming HBO's new parent company AT&T. Dish was one of the opponents of the AT&T-Time Warner deal. Now there are accusations flying back and forth about the DOJ "collaborating" with Dish.

There wasn't any apparent progress between the two sides on Thursday... On Thursday night, HBO chief revenue officer Simon Sutton said, "Dish's proposals and actions made it clear they never intended to seriously negotiate an agreement..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

By Daniella Emanuel:

-- Business Insider's parent company "has asked all of its employees to sign a new contract saying they can never speak ill of the news outlet..." (The Daily Beast)

-- Tablet Magazine relocated to Pittsburgh to cover the synagogue shooting. Click here to see Tablet's coverage... (NYT)

-- Steph Curry and Viola Davis will be executive producers of "Emanuel," a documentary on the Charleston church shooting... (Variety)

-- Kainaz Amaria argues that National Geographic has taken "two steps backward" in terms of leaving behind racial stereotypes with this November cover... (Vox)

Lachlan speaks

Brian Lowry emails: Lachlan Murdoch didn't address the legitimate criticism leveled against Fox News in his Thursday afternoon DealBook interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin.

Saying that Fox features conservative opinions doesn't deal with questions raised about the tone of its coverage and the distortion of facts by some of its key talent. It's setting up a straw man, without acknowledging that there might be a problem.

That said, props to Murdoch for cleverly dissing "Succession" — the HBO series clearly inspired by his family media dynasty — by saying he watches "Billions," a drama on rival Showtime...

And re: Megyn Kelly, he said, "I'm a big fan of Megyn's. I like her a lot. We didn't want her to leave Fox when she did. Having said that, I am very happy with our current lineup on Fox. We won't be making any changes there."

No Megyn/NBC updates today...

...Makes me wonder if both sides would like to settle this through a Friday afternoon news dump. At this point, next week seems more likely...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

By Julia Waldow:

-- Appearing at Thursday's DealBook conference, Nancy Dubuc said Vice Media would be profitable by "the next fiscal year..." (NYT)

-- Poynter is now accepting applications for its 2019 Leadership Academies for Women in Digital Media... (Poynter)

-- ICYMI: The NYT's business desk is rolling out a new weekly newsletter called "With Interest..." (NYT)

Final "House of Cards" season starts streaming on Friday

Brian Lowry emails: "House of Cards" faced an unenviable task in trying to fashion a final season without its star, Kevin Spacey. Despite Robin Wright¹s sturdy presence as the show's new Commander in Chief — and another bountiful helping of cameos by news talent as themselves — the show feels like a pallid imitation of its best days.

Julia Roberts meets "Mr. Robot" vibe in "Homecoming"

More from Lowry: Amazon fares better with "Homecoming," a series that's promotable because it stars Julia Roberts, but which derives its tone and moody, paranoid atmosphere from "Mr. Robot" creator Sam Esmail. It comes out on Friday too...

Disney's new "Nutcracker" is "expensive but clunky fantasy"

Brian Lowry emails: Disney has become such a live-action sequel/franchise factory that it's nice to see the studio try something even a little bit different. But "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" stumbles in its leap to the screen, and figures to be banished from the theatrical realm pretty quickly...

Orson Welles gets belated respect in twin Netflix tribute

One more from Lowry: Netflix has offered a two-pronged tribute to Orson Welles, enlisting editors to assemble his never-finished movie project, "The Other Side of the Wind," and commissioning a companion documentary about the director-star in his later years, as told through the making of that film. While the documentary, "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead," is fascinating and well worth watching, the movie itself is a bit of a mess. Read on...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

By Lisa Respers France:

-- Believe it or not, Al Roker had to explain that him dressing up as a character that was played by a white man for Halloween was not the same as blackface...

-- The Satanic Temple is having a devil of a time with "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina." The organization is accusing the Netflix series of using a copyrighted statue of one of their deities for entertainment...

-- Neil Young used politics to confirm his much-speculated-about marriage to actress Daryl Hannah...

That's a wrap on today's newsletter... See you tomorrow!