Traditionally, the ombudsman at a news organization looks into complaints from the public. Yet Kenneth Weinstein will have no public-facing role. Formerly president of conservative think thank the Hudson Institute, Weinstein is to investigate claims of bias and report his findings directly to the president of parent company Paramount. - AP
“WLRH Huntsville, AL (89.3) will stop airing NPR programming effective Oct. 1, shifting resources to expand its lineup of locally produced news and community programming. The move ends carriage of Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and other NPR shows, which currently make up about a third of the station’s weekly schedule.” - Inside Radio
Researchers found that it has been operating a sophisticated system that allows users to monitor online information, block certain websites and VPN tools, and spy on specific individuals. - Wired
Sometimes it’s nearly perfect, as with Scorsese’s adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence. Sometimes, it’s a full-on career revival, or reversal (Liam Neeson turning into Leslie Nielsen, perhaps?). - NPR
Sirât director Oliver Laxe: “One of the first ideas that I had for this film was a sentence from Nietzsche: … 'I won’t believe in a God who doesn’t dance.’” - Los Angeles Times
Honestly: “Every jury decision is a copout. All juries are horse-trading and compromising and collectively accepting second-choice movies that no one objects to from film-makers whose prestige they all endorse.” - The Guardian (UK)
Is this a sign of things to come for next weekend’s big Primetime Emmys night? (Alert: The Pitt won an ensemble casting award, and best guest actor as well.) - The Hollywood Reporter
Pennsylvania’s first drive-in was also the second one in the country as a whole. And now it’s on its fourth set of owners, who say they’ve made it work. - The Seattle Times
His movie “had not been a favourite for the top prize, with many critics instead tipping the Voice of Hind Rajab, a harrowing true-life account of the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl during the Gaza war,” which ended up winning silver. - The Guardian (UK)
“Amazon-backed (firm) Showrunnner announced a new AI model designed to generate long, complex narratives — ultimately building toward feature-film-length, live-action films — for its platform. … Over the next two years, it’ll be utilized to re-create Welles’ follow-up to Citizen Kane, a chunk of which was lost after studio executives burned the footage.” - The Hollywood Reporter
The job losses, totaling nearly 100, include the layoff of 34 current staffers and the elimination of more than 60 vacant positions. The move is another response to the rescission of funding for public broadcasting by the Trump administration and Congress. - Deadline
“Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel … The new measurement tool combines Nielsen’s existing panel with data from cable, satellite set-top boxes and smart TVs across 45 million households and 75 million devices through the company’s partnership with big data partners like Roku, Comcast, Dish, Vizio, and DirecTV.” - TheWrap (Yahoo!)
Over three years, the broadcaster will build the High Plains Civic Media Network, a system of part-time contributors (some of them volunteers), coordinated by a small editorial team, to provide news and features for its coverage area in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, eastern Colorado, western Kansas and southwestern Nebraska. - Nieman Lab
I’ve rarely run across something that refuses to let me see it just one way, but one such resistor is “The Wizard of Oz” at Sphere in Las Vegas. The beloved 1939 film starring Judy Garland has been stretched and morphed and adapted to fit the enormous dome-shaped venue. - The New York Times
