3 to read: NPR? What the heck? | Breaking down Russia’s FB ads | Civil war at WSJ?

By Matt Carroll <@MattCData>

Cool stuff about journalism, once a week. Get notified via email? Subscribe: 3toread (at) gmail. Originally published on 3toread.co

1. Behind the scenes: What the heck happened at NPR?: Michael Oreskes, the senior VP and editorial director of NPR, was ousted for sexual harassment at the liberal bastion, caught up in the Weinstein whirlwind. But while some details have been released, much remain murky: What happened behind the scenes? Who knew what when? Megan Garber of The Atlantic does a nice job creating a tick-tock of events — including what top NPR officials knew several years ago.

Logo by Leigh Carroll <Instagram: @Leighzaah>

2. How Russian Facebook ads worked so effectively: An excellent data viz showing how the Russians used Facebook ads so well — and how the bad actor ads were spotted. In a nutshell, they created divisiveness by manipulating strong emotions and wrapping their subjects in the American flag. Great work by Leslie Shapiro at the WaPo.

3. Is civil war breaking out in WSJ over the editorial board’s coverage of Mueller?: Oh boy, it’s getting ugly at the Journal. Joe Pompeo at Vanity Fairwrites an intriguing story about how the WSJ’s whacky editorials over Mueller are helping drive an exodus of top talent. Or as one former high-ranking Journal writer tweeted: “WSJ edit page has gone full bats — t.”

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Matt Carroll teaches journalism at Northeastern University.

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