The Internal Revenue Service says it will re-evaluate an initiative that encourages organizations and volunteer tax preparers to send canned letters to the editors of their local newspapers. An IRS Web page contains sample letters promoting the earned income tax credit and volunteer tax assistance sites. It instructs users to “just copy and paste” a letter onto their letterhead, sign their own name, and send it to a newspaper. “I think this is going a little too far,” conceded IRS Communications Director Terry Lemons when he was alerted to the Web page.“This whole business of copy-and-pasting; we shouldn’t be doing that.” Lemons said the agency will “make some adjustments” in the program. (more...)

News organizations from around the country are using social media to locate witnesses and obtain interviews and photos of today's campus shooting at Virginia Tech. "Call our newsroom if you know anyone that goes to Virginia Tech," tweeted Buffalo, New York television station WKBW.  "Hey #vatech - looking to speak & get updates from students on campus," wrote CBS News producer Joe Danielewicz. Meanwhile, the media pounced on a Flickr page of photos from the photo editor of the student newspaper, the Collegiate Times.The images of the crime scene and of police activity attracted requests for republication rights from CNN, the New York Post, NPR, Australia's News Limited, and other news organizations. (The newspaper eventually posted contact information for media seeking reuse rights.)

Forbes.com
Defenders of the Oregon blogger who was found guilty in a $2.5 million defamation suit “have not dug deeply enough,” writes Kashmir Hill at Forbes.com. While the blogger, Crystal Cox, promoted herself as an “investigative journalist,” Hill notes that Cox behaved more like somebody whose goal was to destroy the reputation of her target, an investment firm called Obsidian Financial Group. Cox started several websites with names like “obsidianfinancesucks.com” and “realestatehoax.com.” Obsidian says Cox then offered it a service starting at $2,500 a month to protect its “online reputation.” (Obsidian founder Kevin Padrick forwarded a copy of the offer to Forbes.) “Most journalists would not want to include Cox in their camp,” Hill wrote. || Related: Dan Kennedy says ruling is bad because it means journalists have more constitutional rights than others (The Huffington Post) | Federal judge says Montana blogger is not a journalist (AP) | Cox “was never able to prove her accusations against Padrick were true” (Seattle Weekly)  | Who decides what is “real” journalism? (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Free Press
Media reform organization Free Press has delivered a petition to the nation's mayors urging them to protect the rights of journalists covering Occupy rallies. The group says 30 journalists have been arrested at rallies, and it's tracking those arrests on a Google docs spreadsheet and a Storify page. Free Press delivered its petition with more than 40,000 signatures to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. | Related: Reporters say police kept them away from an NYC Occupy protest outside an Obama fundraiser | Occupy Wall Street protests a top story on blogs

NetNewsCheck
Warren Buffett's purchase of the Omaha World-Herald could intensify an already heated competition among the city's digital news providers. The World-Herald's Omaha.com has aggressively been rolling out apps for news, real estate, garage sales, and Nebraska Huskers sports, and the newspaper operates several specialty websites devoted to such topics as health news and tips for moms (Momaha.com). Meanwhile, the website of WOWT-TV has equipped its reporters with backpack units that allow them to push live video onto the Web from almost anywhere, even moving cars. Analysts say Omaha's economy is relatively strong, and the media consulting firm Borrell Associates predicts online advertising in the market will "take an enormous leap" next year.  ||  Related: How World-Herald staffers learned about Buffett's purchase (JimRomenesko.com) | Is Warren Buffett the new Citizen Kane? (Marketwatch)

NPR.org
Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy, who says Egyptian security forces beat and sexually assaulted her near Tahrir Square, says her alleged attackers were “exacting revenge on the activists in Tahrir through me and my body.” Eltahawy, who is one of several female journalists who have been targets of sexual assault and other violence in Egypt this year, told NPR’s Michel Martin that she believes police would have treated her even more brutally if she hadn’t been a journalist and American citizen. Eltahawy, who tweeted details of the attack shortly after it occurred, continues to provide Twitter updates as she receives treatment in the United States for injuries including a broken left arm and right hand. || Earlier: Reporters' organization reverses position on whether female journalists should cover Cairo unrest | French TV correspondent allegedly assaulted | Committee to Protect Journalists reports at least 17 attacks over one recent weekend.

The Clarion-Ledger | WAPT-TV
Jackson, Miss. television station WAPT backed away from a report that Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen “is close to signing a deal to replace Joe Paterno at Penn State.” Mullen -- who says Penn State hasn’t contacted him -- called the WAPT story, “the most irresponsible reporting that I’ve ever heard of.” In an interview with the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, WAPT sports reporter Ray Coleman said that a source told him Penn State would announce Mullen’s hiring today. The station has removed Coleman’s original report from its website and replaced it with a story that calls the “rumor” untrue. A MSU spokesman tweeted that Coleman apologized to school officials. || Earlier: No penalty for reporting on rumors about NFL draft prospects