Subject: Unfair Facebook trends?; BBC team expelled; Comedy Central chief out; Redstone case dismissed; a Netflix reality show; new Monday Night Football voice
From: CNN's Reliable Sources <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 May 2016 02:45:04 +0000
List-Id: 47c9040f6ff957a59bd88396emc list <47c9040f6ff957a59bd88396e.161353.list-id.mcsv.net>

By Brian Stelter and the CNNMoney Media team - [email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked])

** Facebook is trending for the wrong reason
------------------------------------------------------------
Driving the day: An anonymous former Facebook contractor says he witnessed colleagues suppress news about "popular conservative topics" from the website's "trending" section. Gizmodo published the allegation this morning... (http://gizmodo.com/former-facebook-workers-we-routinely-suppressed-conser-1775461006?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) Along with numerous other details about how "trending" works or doesn't work. Here's our summary. (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/facebook-trending-conservative-news/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])

The Gizmodo report contributed to a long-held view among prominent conservatives that Facebook, Twitter and other technology companies are infected by liberal bias. Drudge's headline: "NOT LEANING IN... LEANING LEFT!"

Facebook's response: (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/facebook-trending-conservative-news/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) It takes "allegations of bias very seriously." The company has guidelines for "trending," and "these guidelines do not permit the suppression of political perspectives. Nor do they permit the prioritization of one viewpoint over another or one news outlet over another." But Facebook isn't outright denying the suppression claims... Because it can't. Humans, unlike algorithms, have hearts. And the company can't know for sure what was in the hearts of the workers who were selecting certain stories while rejecting others.

-- I just checked again... FB has no further comment tonight...

-- Q's for tomorrow: Do any GOP lawmakers make formal inquiries? Do any companies yank $$ from FB? Does Mark Zuckerberg (who recently criticized Trump without naming the candidate) personally respond to the controversy?

Scroll down for full coverage, including RNC reaction...
Sumner Redstone wins*, ex-girlfriend wins
*Well, did Sumner really win, or has he already lost?

Dylan Byers reports from the courthouse in L.A.: The challenge to Sumner Redstone's mental competency has been dismissed. Judge David J. Cowan tossed out ex-girlfriend Manuela Herzer's claim after listening to a deposition of Redstone. On the recording, Redstone clearly said "Shari" -- daughter Shari Redstone -- when asked who he wanted to be responsible for his health care. Shari was in tears after the ruling...
Now a new lawsuit...
Herzer's attorney filed an immediate appeal and a new lawsuit against Shari, her sons, nurses who worked for Redstone, and dozens of others, alleging that they intentionally destroyed "Herzer's special relationship with Sumner and caused Sumner to disinherit her, thereby losing her $70 million inheritance." Read more from Dylan here... (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/sumner-redstone-trial/index.html?iid=SF_LN&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
· Comedy Central president replaced
John Oliver left, Stephen Colbert left, Jon Stewart left. And now... Michele Ganeless? Doug Herzog was going to announce this news on Tuesday morning... But Deadline's David Lieberman broke the news tonight: (http://deadline.com/2016/05/comedy-central-president-michele-ganeless-replaced-kent-alterman-1201752075/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) Ganeless is out, effective immediately, after almost a decade as the president of Comedy Central. Original programming chief Kent Alterman is taking her place. More TKTK...
-- WSJ's Joe Flint ‏tweets: (http://twitter.com/jbflint/?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) "So head of network is let go because of declining ratings & replaced by head of programming whose shows aren't getting ratings. #TVBizLogic"
· Big Time Warner Cable outage
I'm glad your broadband is working right now! Time Warner Cable says Internet and TV has been restored across NYC after a long afternoon outage. "Third party construction" sliced into Level 3's fiber lines and caused the outage, Jackie Wattlesreports... (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/news/companies/time-warner-cable-cox-outages/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
· Disney earnings coming...
Disney will report earnings after the bell on Tuesday. Profits should be up... Thanks in part to the company's films and theme parks... But investors want to see how ESPN and the rest of the cable business is faring. Paul La Monica notes that (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/investing/disney-earnings-espn-star-wars/index.html?iid=SF_LN&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])  "analysts will likely grill Bob Iger during the company's conference call" about COO Thomas Staggs' exit and how the company's CEO succession planning process is going...
· Sean McDonough replacing Mike Tirico on "MNF"
Frank Pallotta reports: (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/sean-mcdonough-mike-tirico-nbc-sports-espn/index.html?iid=SF_LN&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) This afternoon NBC Sports hired 25-year ESPN veteran Mike Tirico... And within an hour, ESPN said Sean McDonough would replace Tirico as the play-by-play announcer on "Monday Night Football." Read more... (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/sean-mcdonough-mike-tirico-nbc-sports-espn/index.html?iid=SF_LN&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
-- NBC: Tirico will be covering an "array of high-profile properties" including "Sunday Night Football" and the Rio Olympics...
-- McDonough re-upped with ESPN earlier this year; he says "this is a dream come true..."
BBC team expelled from Pyongyang
A day Rupert Wingfield-Hayes will never forget: He and his BBC team members were expelled from North Korea today "after authorities detained him for filing what they called 'disrespectful' reports from inside the country," our CNN team reports (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/09/asia/bbc-correspondent-expelled-north-korea/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID] BBC correspondent ) . The BBC said "four BBC staff, who were invited to cover the Workers' Party Congress, remain in North Korea and we expect them to be allowed to continue their reporting..."
Harsh realities of reporting in North Korea
CNN's Will Ripley is also in Pyongyang for the Workers' Party Congress. Key grafs from CNN's story: (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/09/asia/bbc-correspondent-expelled-north-korea/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])

>> "Foreign journalists are not allowed out of their hotels except under tight government supervision. They are not allowed to choose their itineraries and are taken almost exclusively to prestige projects where there are constant reminders to 'produce good reports.'"
>> "Ripley has made 10 reporting trips into North Korea... Ripley said he has never deleted video, submitted questions in advance or allowed North Korean officials to view pieces or read scripts before air. However, their heavy influence during the newsgathering process and restrictions during shoots -- including directing when the camera can be used and where it can be pointed -- does influence a report's final outcome as does the inability to move freely about the country."
>> "During his live and recorded reports from North Korea, Ripley regularly describes the reporting conditions in an effort to be transparent with viewers..."
For the record
-- Today's must-read: (https://www.washingtonpost.com/pr/wp/2016/05/06/martin-baron-adresses-temple-university-graduates/?tid=a_inl&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) Marty Baron's commencement address at Temple University. I wish I could make this entire text the "quote of the day..." (WashPost (https://www.washingtonpost.com/pr/wp/2016/05/06/martin-baron-adresses-temple-university-graduates/?tid=a_inl&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) )

-- Here's (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/the-good-wife-finale-reaches-bittersweet-verdict/index.html?iid=SF_LN&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) Brian Lowry on the "frustrating verdict" of "The Good Wife" finale... (CNN (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/the-good-wife-finale-reaches-bittersweet-verdict/index.html?iid=SF_LN&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) )

-- Cable sports wars: "Fox Sports Radio tweeted - and then deleted - a shot at Jessica Mendoza, ESPN's female "Sunday Night Baseball" analyst, saying if she was a man she would be fired," Frank reports... (http://)  (CNNMoney (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/fox-sports-radio-jessica-mendoza/index.html?iid=SF_LN&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) )

-- Michael Calderone tweets: (https://twitter.com/mlcalderone?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])  "Scott Conroy is heading to Vice to help oversee political coverage for forthcoming nightly HBO news show..."

-- Kate Bolduan, who co-hosts 11am-12pm hour on CNN/U.S, is about to add a CNN International show: Next Monday she'll start hosting "State of the Race" at 2:30pm ET, which is prime time in Europe... (TVNewser (http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/kate-bolduan-to-anchor-u-s-election-show-on-cnn-international/293058?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) )

-- Up next on Spotify: Twelve more short-form web video shows... (Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-09/spotify-pushes-further-into-video-with-original-slate-of-shows?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) )

-- "The Young Turks" are getting a weekly show for 12 weeks on Fusion... (Politico (http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/05/fusion-picks-up-the-young-turks-show-222961?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) )
· "On Assignment" vs. "60 Minutes"
Sundays at 7pm ET = "60 Minutes." Last night NBC tried a competing newsmagazine, called "On Assignment," and it might've made a dent in CBS's ratings, but not a huge dent. "60 Minutes"averaged 9 million viewers, (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/05/09/tv-ratings-sunday-may-8-2016-good-wife-series-finale/?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) #1 for the hour, while "On Assignment" averaged 4 million viewers, #3 for the hour. (ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" was #2 with 5.3 million.) We'll keep an eye on this competition as it continues... NBC is testing the new newsmag for another five weeks...
· Billy Penn coming to Pittsburgh
Here's a scooplet I posted this evening: (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/billy-penn-gannett-pittsburgh/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID] ) The founders of Philly's local news startup Billy Penn are expanding across PA to Pittsburgh. Founder and CEO Jim Brady says the new site, to be named soon, will launch by the end of the summer. It might start sooner as a newsletter or Twitter feed. Read more... (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/billy-penn-gannett-pittsburgh/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID] )

-- The business model will mimic Billy Penn's: Event ticket sales and sponsorships accounted for 84% of its revenue last year...

-- Gannett's March 21 investment in Brady's company made (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/billy-penn-gannett-pittsburgh/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID] ) the expansion possible... And more cities are coming... Brady hinted that Baltimore is next...
· The end of the Las Vegas trio
Last December on "Reliable Sources," I interviewed (http://money.cnn.com/video/media/2015/12/20/las-vegas-review-journal-owner.cnnmoney/?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) the three Las Vegas Review-Journal reporters who courageously revealed the identity of the newspaper's secretive buyer. (It was Sheldon Adelson, remember?) At the time, one member of the trio, James DeHaven was already on the way out the door, to a new job in Montana. But the other two were fearful for their jobs. Howard Stutz ended up leaving in February for the law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP. And today Jennifer Robison announced that she is leaving for a corporate communications job in S.F. She texts: An old mutual friend "asked Howard after he left if it would be a good time to try to hire me away. And it is..."
· A reality show made for Netflix!
I think this is one of the most interesting stories of the day. (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/netflix-sylvester-stallone-ultimate-beastmaster/index.html?iid=SF_LN&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) Ask yourself: What would a reality TV show like "Survivor" look like on Netflix? The streaming service's answer is "Ultimate Beastmaster," an obstacle course competition series with contestants from six countries. Reasons why it's intriguing:

-- There will be a single competition event, but 6 local-language versions of the show...

-- Hosts in the U.S. will be Terry Crews and Charissa Thompson. There are five other sets of hosts for the other local editions in Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Brazil, and Germany...

-- "Produce-it-once, translate-it-six-ways" might be a road map for Netflix as it seeks to make its shows palatable to a global audience. I mean... It's a better idea than dubbed voices or translated text on the bottom of the screen, right? Read more... (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/netflix-sylvester-stallone-ultimate-beastmaster/index.html?iid=SF_LN&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
· "Chelsea" starts this Wednesday
First on CNNMoney! A trailer for Chelsea Handler's new Netflix talk show. "Chelsea" will premiere on Wednesday... With new episodes every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night at 12:01 am PT... Watch and read more here... (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/netflix-chelsea-handler-show/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
Road to 2016
"A time for choosing"
On yesterday's show, Matt Lewis said this is "a time for choosing." Today he elaborated in a Daily Caller blog post: (http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/09/trump-a-mccarthy-moment-or-the-new-goldwater/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) For conservative politicians, writers and commentators, "Where you stand on Trump today may define you for decades… Taking a stand on Trump’s candidacy is gutsy and noble, precisely because it is high stakes and unpredictable." Read the rest here... (http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/09/trump-a-mccarthy-moment-or-the-new-goldwater/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])
Fair treatment by Facebook?

** Personal biases at work?
------------------------------------------------------------
Hope King, Laurie Segall and I triple-bylined this story about the Facebook controversy.  (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/facebook-trending-conservative-news/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) Several former Facebook workers echoed what some of Gizmodo's sources said -- that personal biases might creep into the day-to-day "trending" work, but there wasn't an institutional bias for or against conservative information.

To the contrary, "the guidance from management was that it should be objectively representing what people are talking about, regardless of political views,"one of the sources told us. (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/media/facebook-trending-conservative-news/index.html?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])  It seems that this is really about whether Facebook's guidelines for producing "trending" were violated by former contractors -- raising questions about whether they're still being violated today...

** RNC: "Facebook must answer for conservative censorship"
------------------------------------------------------------
This RNC petition (https://gop.com/makethistrend-facebook-must-answer-for-liberal-bias/?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID]) -- which doubles as a way to add subscribers to the party's email lists -- says it is "beyond disturbing" to learn that Facebook's power "is being used to silence viewpoints and stories that don't fit someone else's agenda..."

** "Widespread paranoia..."
------------------------------------------------------------
Jason Pontin, the EIC and publisher of MIT Technology Review, emails: This controversy comes during a "period of widespread paranoia amongst conservatives and Trump supporters that mainstream media, social media companies like Facebook and Twitter, and other elite institutions are routinely shadow blocking conservative opinions."

Pontin is skeptical. Zuckerberg, he says, is "acutely aware of the responsibilities and optics of becoming the global communications platform. Insofar as he's an ideologue at all, he's an ideologue for risk capitalism, the power of technology to achieve big things, and the benefits of openness and the social graph. He wouldn't take this risk..."

** Solution: A public editor?
------------------------------------------------------------
Poynter ethicist/former ESPN ombudsman Kelly McBride says she has a "crazy idea:" (http://www.poynter.org/2016/ask-the-ethicist-is-it-right-for-facebook-to-suppress-conservative-news/411012/?mc_cid=9af843719d&mc_eid=[UNIQID])

"What if Facebook (and other companies that have clear ability to influence the marketplace of ideas) had a public editor, like The New York Times does. That person would be able to research and write about the company from the public’s point of view, answering questions and explaining the values that drive certain decisions."

I nominate McBride for the job...

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