A: Jim is a veteran reporter, editor, and pioneering weblogger. See Romenesko on Romenesko, as well as a 1999 New York Times story about Romenesko, and a 2000 interview by Poynter Dean Karen Dunlap.
Q: Why was the name of the column changed from Jim Romenesko’s MediaNews to Romenesko?
A: Attorneys for MediaNews Group, Inc. (which owns The Denver Post and other papers) thought readers would confuse Jim’s blog with their corporation. (You can read a note from Poynter president Jim Naughton here, and link to the correspondence among the lawyers from the bottom of that page.) Poynter and its lawyers didn’t think much of the legal challenge, but figured it was a good opportunity to call the column what most readers do: Romenesko. Just so everybody’s clear: The site is not associated with MediaNews Group, Inc. Neither is Jim’s Obscure Store and Reading Room or his Starbucks gossip site connected with Poynter — or, for that matter, with MediaNews Group, Inc. The resolution left both sides happy, as evidenced by this hug between Poynter President Jim Naughton and MediaNews Group CEO Dean Singleton.
Q: How does Romenesko, the site, actually come together?
A: Every business day, Jim gets up about 6 a.m. Central (he lives outside Chicago) and begins scanning the web to find articles relevant to journalists. He writes a brief blurb about the articles he finds most interesting or important. Within the hour, he has begun posting to his section on Poynter Online.
Q: What kind of reaction has Poynter received since it began including Romenesko on its website?
A: The biggest reaction came in the form of increased traffic, with Romenesko accounting for as much as half the pageviews delivered by Poynter Online. Many journalists, not all of them happy about it, tell us (Poynter) that Romenesko’s work has resulted in fundamental changes in the journalism community. Some tell us that Romenesko keeps them clued in to what’s happening in the news business more than they ever were before. Others applaud the increased visibility the site affords journalists working for relatively small newsrooms, even if that visibility isn’t always favorable. Some complain that Romenesko doesn’t do enough to sort out legitimate criticism from unfounded attacks on journalists and news organizations.
Q: Does Jim verify the reporting in stories before linking to them?
A: No. A Weblog — at least this one — is focused on finding and linking to the work of others as opposed to original reporting. Romenesko is aimed at the journalism community, a group that’s pretty sophisticated about appraising sources of information. Poynter has made a conscious decision to alert those journalists/readers to journalism news without characterizing the quality of the information. We leave it to the readers to judge the reliability of the original material.
Q: Who edits Romenesko?
A: Poynter Online Director Julie Moos and other staff members of Poynter Online read behind Jim after he posts items.
Q: What should I do if I have a story I’d like to see linked from Romenesko?
A: Send the link to Jim at jromenesko@poynter.org. Please keep in mind that Jim selects only a portion of the links he reviews each day. Here’s an account of the process followed by one blogger in sending a link to Jim. Includes some helpful tips.
Q: What if I have a complaint about Romenesko?
A: Send a note to Jim at jromenesko@poynter.org and/or Julie Moos at jmoos@poynter.org.
Q: Can I receive Romenesko by e-mail?
A: Yes, it’s delivered at noon every business day. You can sign up here.
