Good morning. Here are 10 media stories.
- Jonah Lehrer gets a new book deal
Penguin Random House will publish the disgraced writer’s new book with Shlomo Benartzi, “The Digital Mind: How We Think and Behave Differently on Screens,” in May. (AP) | It’s interesting who gets another bite at the apple, isn’t it, especially a day after Hanna Rosin‘s story about Stephen Glass‘ diminished life. | To wit, remember when the Knight Foundation paid Lehrer $20,000 to talk about his intellectual dishonesty? | “Fingers crossed that in this case, co-authorship really just means that Lehrer was a glorified line editor, or better yet, a publicity stunt to boost sales.” (New York) | “Last we heard of ol’ Jo, he had sold a book about the redemptive power of love to Simon & Schuster. ‘We believe in second chances,’ Simon & Schuster editor Jonathan Karp told the Times. It was then revealed that Lehrer had plagiarized that proposal.” (Gawker)
- Student paper runs article by rapist
The University of Oregon’s Daily Emerald ran a guest piece called “Memoirs of a student-criminal” on Nov. 3. Its author talks about what led to his conviction for sexual assault. (Daily Emerald) “The sexual assault offender was actually legally required to write it and submit it to the paper.” (College Media Matters) | “Never once does the author mention the fact that his actions—and the actions of all rapists—produced intensely damaging results for the survivor.” (Daily Emerald)
- People distrust news outlets they don’t read or watch
Pew’s recent report on how political affiliation affects media habits asked people how much they trusted certain outlets. But “this sense of trust or distrust may not actually stem from an individual’s recent exposure to news content. Instead, it may flow from any other information they may have about the news source – whether that comes from friends, family, other media or a past experience with it.” (Pew) | Related: Trust “is something you earn over time,” BuzzFeed EIC Ben Smith says after release of the Pew report. (Poynter)
- “Pointergate” update
Navell Gordon, who KSTP asserted was flashing gang signs with Minneapolis’ mayor, says his boss told reporter Jay Kolls to “kick rocks” when he sought comment on the station’s ludicrous story. Kolls “thought he had a big story. And now it’s really a big story,” Gordon says. (HuffPost) | Jon Tevlin: “The allegation was so ludicrous that two reporters at the Star Tribune ignored it after it was pitched to one of them by someone in law enforcement. But Kolls, seeing a sensational story, bit.” (Star Tribune)
- The best beat in (marble) Washington
“I think the best reporting gig in Washington is Capitol Hill, not the White House,” Chuck Todd says. “There’s more freedom on Capitol Hill. Five-hundred-and-thirty-five members up there, most of whom only — don’t have an entire team of people that are designed to keep the press away from them.” (The Diane Rehm Show) | Unsolicited and unnecessary editorial comment from newsletter author: Actually, the best beats in Washington have nothing to do with Congress or the White House.
- Jose Antonio Vargas will make new documentary
Planned film for MTV “will examine what it means to be young and white in America.” (Deadline)
- New OC Register publisher asks staffers to field calls from frustrated subscribers
Rich Mirman‘s “move isn’t sitting well with reporters and editors.” (OC Weekly)
- Some AJC reporters frustrated with two-site strategy
“Everything’s behind the damn paywall. … It’s harder and harder to find our stuff on the free site,” one brave anonymous Atlanta Journal-Constitution employee tells Max Blau. Mark Medici, the AJC’s VP of audience, notes it costs only $3.39 per week for the Sunday paper and digital access. (Creative Loafing) | The AJC’s free site just got redesigned; Cox Media Group plans similar redesigns for its free sites in Austin, Palm Beach and Dayton. (MediaPost)
- Front page of the day, curated by Kristen Hare
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch fronts Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon‘s plans for whatever follows the grand jury’s decision on indicting Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. (Courtesy the Newseum)
- Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin
Simone Oliver is now growth editor at The New York Times. Previously, she was online fashion editor there. (The New York Times) | Tessa Gould will be vice president of ad innovation and monetization at BuzzFeed. Previously, she was director of native advertising at The Huffington Post. (Adweek) | Susan Ellerbach is now executive editor at The Tulsa World. Previously, she was managing editor there. Mike Strain will be managing editor at The Tulsa World. Previously, he was news editor there. (Tulsa World) | Henri Cauvin is now city editor at The New York Times. Previously, he was assistant metro editor there. (@FrancesRobles) | Gerry Smith will be a media reporter at Bloomberg. Previously, he was a technology reporter at The Huffington Post. (@srabil) | Chael Sonnen is now a UFC analyst at ESPN. Previously, he was a UFC middleweight and light heavyweight contender. (ESPN) | Noah Bond is now an anchor at KOLO in Reno, Nevada. Previously, he was a reporter at KOMO in Seattle. (Email) | Job of the day: KUSA in Denver is looking for a managing editor. Get your résumés in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org.
Corrections? Tips? Please email me: abeaujon@poynter.org. Would you like to get this roundup emailed to you every morning? Sign up here.
