Good morning. Here are 10 media stories.
- University of Georgia panics, rescinds invitation to Liberian journalist: It canceled Wade C.L. Williams‘ invitation to speak Oct. 23. “It just became abundantly clear we had a risk scenario and a situation on our hands that was a little more sensitive issue,” Grady College dean Charles N. Davis tells Brad Schrade. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) | Williams: “A woman with a pleasant voice delicately told me that parents were panicking and the general public was against my coming to the university.” (FrontPageAfrica) | What sort of lecture was UGA planning? “Ebola in humans is spread only through direct contact with virus-laden bodily fluids, and is not as transmissible as such airborne viruses as influenza and measles.” (WP) | Related: Why Guardian journalist Monica Mark decided not to wear a hazmat suit while reporting on Ebola: “It’s really difficult to get someone to open up to when you’re wearing it.” (IBT)
- The ethics of the Guardian’s Whisper scoop: Was it OK for it to report on something it learned during a meeting about a potential partnership? (Re/code) | Whisper’s responses to Guardian story. (Scribd) | “Part of the problem with the Guardian‘s coverage, [Editor-in-Chief Neetzan] Zimmerman said — and that done by other media as well — is that it doesn’t distinguish between anonymity and privacy.” (Gigaom) | Sort-of related: Gawker Media mulls a Twitter policy. (Jim Romenesko)
- Virginian-Pilot shrinks its newsroom: About a quarter of its journalists are going, they learned Friday. “Those leaving include veterans in reporting, column writing, editing, photography and design,” Philip Walzer reports. “The company declined to publicly identify them.” (Virginian-Pilot)
- NYT public editor sees some progress: Margaret Sullivan looks back on her second year on the job and spies less false balance, more environment coverage, a commitment to staff diversity. “We’re not going to stop hiring — I don’t believe in hiring freezes,” Executive Editor Dean Baquet tells her. (NYT)
- William Luther Masingill dies at 92: The Chattanooga broadcaster “first sat down behind the radio microphone on December 31, 1940. He personally signed on WDEF Television in April of 1954, and over the decades, informed and entertained generations of listeners and viewers alike with a charm and grace unique to him alone.” (WDEF)
- What the Boston Herald hasn’t learned from its cartoon blunder: It won’t discuss its staff’s diversity. “In journalism, staff diversity isn’t just about soothing hurt feelings or avoiding embarrassment; it’s a journalistic value,” Eric Deggans writes. “Few quality newspapers would shrug off conditions where they published 10 factual errors a day. So its time to realize diversity is an important a tool for delivering accuracy and context to all kinds of coverage.” (NPR)
- Aaron Kushner says LAT is “spreading rumors about us”: The OC Register owner “emphasized last week that his papers remained on a path of success and said he stepped down as publisher of The Orange County Register — and brought in Richard Mirman, a former executive at Harrah’s Entertainment, as interim publisher — because he had too many jobs to handle.” (NYT)
- Rewrite that sentence! Book blurb in NYT marries Ann Patchett to her dog. (NYT) | “Sparky’s great, but they’re just friends.” (@GilbertLiz)
- Front page of the day, not curated by Kristen Hare: An insta-classic New York Daily News swipe at Donald Trump: “Trumpty Dumpty.” (Courtesy Newseum)
- Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin: Holly Gauntt is now news director for KDVR/KWGN in Denver. Previously, she was news director for KOMO in Seattle. Sarah Garza is interim news director for KOMO. Previously, she was assistant news director there. Nick McDermott is now executive producer at KTVA in Anchorage, Alaska. He has been a producer there. James Doughty is now communications director for a San Antonio city councilman. Previously, he was a reporter for KENS in San Antonio. (Rick Geevers) | Stacy-Marie Ishmael will head up editorial operations for BuzzFeed’s news app. Previously, she was vice president of communities at the Financial Times. (Nieman Lab) | Lindsey Bahr is now a film writer for The Associated Press. Previously, she was a correspondent for Entertainment Weekly. (AP) | Janelle Nanos is now editor of Beta Boston. Previously, she was a senior editor at Boston Magazine. (Muck Rack) | Matthew Schnipper is now a senior editor at GQ. Previously, he was editor-in-chief at Fader. (email) | Terry Savage is now a contributor at Tribune Content Agency. Previously, she was a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. (Robert Feder) | Job of the day: the AP is looking for a news research manager in New York. Get your résumés in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org
Suggestions? Criticisms? Would like me to send you this roundup each morning? Please email me: abeaujon@poynter.org.
Correction: This roundup originally linked to a story about Virginian-Pilot layoffs from last year. That planned round of reductions was targeted mostly outside the paper’s newsroom, the story said.
