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Jim Romenesko
Your daily fix of media industry news, commentary, and memos.
PBS MediaShift
"Every single journalism class at NYU has required me to bring the bulky newspaper," writes Alana Taylor. "I don't understand why they don't let us access the online version, get our current events news from other outlets, or even use our NYTimes app on the iPhone. Bringing the New York Times pains me because I refuse to believe that it's the only source for credible news or Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism and it's a big waste of trees."
Posted 5:27 PM September 5, 2008
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Turning a drag into a discovery I agree with Ms. Taylor that bringing the New York... More.
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Updated at
5:19 p.m. ET


It's time to get off Couric's back
Says Jon Friedman.
MarketWatch)

POSTED THURSDAY
Times-Picayune subscribers
Get four papers today.
(Editor & Publisher)

POSTED WEDNESDAY
Rather and Lehrer
Discuss old-style conventions.
(ANP)

Newsday circ scandal update
Nine get probation.
(Newsday)

Kushner at RNC
"Sitting quietly."
(Star-Ledger)

Raleigh N&O offers more buyouts
Charlotte Observer, too.
(N&O | Memos)

POSTED TUESDAY
AP talking points
Re Fournier.
(Politico.com)

Bloomberg-NYT rumor
How it started.
(NY Observer)

AJ-C departures
A slide show.
(Brightcove.com)

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and feedback.






POPULAR TOPICS


New York Times to combine some sections
New York Times
Times image
The New York Times says it's reducing the number of sections printed in the New York metropolitan area to save money on production. Metro will become part of the A section, and Sports will go into Business Day on Tuesdays through Fridays. || Read the memos.
Posted 3:51 PM September 5, 2008
Some PBS viewers wanted Ifill to show more enthusiasm for Palin
PBS.org
One claims Gwen Ifill's "attitude was dismissive and the look on her face was one of disgust" after Sarah Palin's speech. PBS ombud Michael Getler says Ifill clearly reported that delegates "exploded with excitement" over Palin's speech and that they "couldn't have been happier." "Apparently, that's not enough for some viewers," he writes. "You have to smile and reflect enthusiasm in order to avoid being painted as biased."
Posted 1:36 PM September 5, 2008
Recent Comments:
The Customer I am tired of hearing "editors" talking about their newspapers... More.
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The Eastern media elite's secret handshake revealed!
WashingtonPost.com
Dana Milbank's video report shows how it's done, and notes: "It is of course hard work to be a card-carrying member of the media elite. Still it's a rewarding job."
Posted 12:59 PM September 5, 2008
Reporter who exposed abuses at kosher plant thought other media would follow
ProPublica
"One of the frustrating things early on and actually one of the ongoing frustrations was that when we reported on this for the first year, I kept expecting that somebody else was going to pick up this story," says The Forward reporter Nathaniel Popper. "Orthodox or right-leaning Jewish newspapers criticized us. But almost no mainstream newspapers took up this story."
Posted 11:59 AM September 5, 2008
Recent Comments:
Maybe you missed it, but... The StarTribune did stories on the workers at the Postville... More.
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The reasons people give for not reading a newspaper are all unconvincing
Isthmus
That's according to Bill Lueders, news editor of Isthmus, the alt-weekly in Madison, Wis. "Newspapers are hurting because the people who should be relying on them don't, and because those who do rely on them have decided they ought to be able to do so for free," he tells a Rotary Club.
Posted 11:45 AM September 5, 2008
Recent Comments:
Don't blame the reader I certainly agree journalists need to be leaders, but demanding... More.
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Wycliff criticizes coverage of Palin girl's pregnancy
Chicago Tribune
"I have been appalled and, as a lifelong journalist, embarrassed at some of the explanations that have been offered to legitimate the pregnancy story," writes Loyola University Chicago journalism prof and former Chicago Tribune public editor Don Wycliff. "If [Sarah] Palin and her ardent GOP supporters have a real beef, it is less with the hated 'mainstream media' than with the bandits and highwaymen of the information superhighway, the Internet."
Posted 11:22 AM September 5, 2008
Recent Comments:
Meh thinks thou dost protesteth to mucheth It's not OK to discuss the pregnancy of a VP... More.
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Tribune blasts "egregious claims" in BW story
BusinessWeek
Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman says BusinessWeek's "Grave Dancer" story "was a disappointing compilation of inaccuracies, half-truths, and incomplete reporting" and "missed many of the positive things going on at Tribune."
Posted 11:08 AM September 5, 2008
Novak: Even my critics say they're praying for me
Creators Syndicate
"Support for me and promises of prayers sent for me poured in from all sides, including political figures who had not been happy with my columns," writes Robert Novak. "I probably never will be able to drive again, and I have sold the Corvette, which I dearly loved. Taking away my typewriter, however, may require modification of the First Amendment."
Posted 10:35 AM September 5, 2008
Recent Comments:
Novak's column In one passage, Novak writes: "The person I hit, identified... More.
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GOP attacks on media concern NBC News chief
Los Angeles Times
"I really do take exception to it," says NBC News president Steve Capus. "These terms get thrown around in an awfully cavalier way, and they're incredibly damaging. We're in the business where words matter, and those are awfully, awfully strong accusations." CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein said the best way to combat the charges "is to continually do solid reporting." He adds: "We don't want to engage in a war of slogans with professional sloganeers."
> Phil Rosenthal: "Me and everyone else in the media. We stink."
Posted 9:41 AM September 5, 2008
O'Reilly praises and pokes Obama on the "Factor"
Los Angeles Times | Hartford Courant | YouTube
James Rainey says Bill O'Reilly made sure his own positions got almost as much airtime as Barack Obama's on Thursday night's "O'Reilly Factor." || Roger Catlin: "When O'Reilly would interrupt as he does, saying 'no, no, no, no,' Obama stayed cool and shot back, 'no, no, no, no, hold on a second Bill.'" || Watch the interview or read the transcript.
> Folkenflik: O'Reilly likes the word "perspicacious" (see Lesson No. 3)
Posted 9:20 AM September 5, 2008
Belo to lay off dozens at papers after 413 take buyouts
Providence Journal
About 50 "involuntary job losses" will occur at the Dallas Morning News, with about 30 coming at the Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., and an unspecified number at The Providence Journal. || Romenesko Memos: Houston Chronicle to cut workforce by 5-6%.
Posted 8:53 AM September 5, 2008
New York Sun says city leaders are cheering it on
New York Sun
The Sun reports political, cultural, labor, and religious leaders rushed to praise the struggling paper Thursday and expressed hope that it will continue publishing. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says: "I actually think the Sun's municipal coverage is actually very good. It is one of the great strengths of the paper. While other papers seem to have done less in covering the city, the Sun has worked hard on coverage of municipal issues."
> Even Sun critic Alterman admits he's "a bit regretful"
Posted 8:26 AM September 5, 2008
Hume: I'm tired of covering this partisan poison
Washington Post
Brit Hume, who has just anchored his last political convention for Fox News, says: "I'd like to walk away while I'm still doing okay and not have people say 'he was fading.'" In cable news, he says, "you work quite hard. I've got to be in there with my hands. I'm 65, for God's sake. I don't want to do all that stuff anymore."
Posted 7:54 AM September 5, 2008
"Media elite" aren't too bruised by GOP attacks
New York Observer | Slate
"It's just part of politics," says New York Times political editor Dick Stevenson. "I don't think anybody here takes it personally. ...There may have been a few moments when we looked around nervously and wondered whether the Republicans would storm out of the arena and into the workspace and come after us, but by and large we know we're just a prop in the process." || Jack Shafer: Beating up on the press always attracts votes, but rarely enough to turn an election.
Posted 6:29 PM September 4, 2008
Recent Comments:
I'm sure you aren't People aren't too bruised by canaries in coalmines either. Now... More.
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Gannett Blog is a must-read in the chain's newsrooms
Columbia Journalism Review
The corporate offices check it out, too. Gannett spokeswoman Tara Connell initially responded to Gannett Blog founder Jim Hopkins as she would to any journalist. "But over time, the blog has changed," she says. "When we asked the blogger to correct factual inaccuracies, nothing happened. Standards of accuracy and fairness were dropped in favor of rumor mongering and sensationalism. The attacks he inspired became personal, particularly against women in the company. For these reasons, we don’t participate."
Posted 4:34 PM September 4, 2008
Student paper's photo adviser isn't angry about being jailed in St. Paul
Louisville Courier-Journal
Kentucky Kernel adviser James Winn and two University of Kentucky student photographers aren't expected to be charged after spending about 36 hours in a St. Paul detention center. "From my perspective, it was fairly obvious I was a journalist," says Winn. But officers at the protest scene "had everybody in a circle and they were putting people into processing no matter what their appearance was. I don't think I was treated terribly unfairly. It's part of the process."
Posted 3:10 PM September 4, 2008
Why New York Sun investors are getting cold feet
Cityfile
"Why are the Sun's current backers -- including Bruce Kovner, Tom Tisch, and Michael Steinhardt -- giving up?" asks Cityfile. "They've got plenty of other stuff to worry about, that's why." (Actually, they're not giving up; Sun editor Seth Lipsky says the original investors will continue to support the paper with new capital.)
> It would be a pity to see the Sun set so early in its second life
> The Sun may be old-fashioned, but it's been anything but tired
Posted 2:12 PM September 4, 2008
Palin speech prompts ex-Life editor to dig up an old cover
Romenesko Misc. | Etaoin Shrdlu
lifesmall
"After The Speech last night, I couldn't help recall our third cover featuring McCain and....," former Life managing editor Bill Shapiro writes to Romenesko. "Take a peek. I think you'll find it very fun and rather prescient." He adds that John McCain "was thrilled" to meet Tina Fey. "They got along very well: They had lunch and he gave her an impromptu tour of the Senate building. Makes us wonder if when McCain met Palin for the first time, he said, 'You know, you remind me of someone..." || NY Observer on Fey's pose. || Update on McClatchy news veep's Palin column: It brings in dozens of comments, and a follow-up post by Howard Weaver.
Posted 12:49 PM September 4, 2008
Rogers steps down as NYT futurist-in-residence
Portfolio.com
Michael Rogers says during his two years at the Times he's become more worried about some newspapers but less about what the Times is doing. "They're doing all the right things. We're looking at quite a shakeout over the next five to eight years, but I think many companies are positioning themselves properly to get through it. I think the Times is doing more than most any other media company I've worked with in the past."
> Earlier: Rogers sees NYT Co. becoming a digital foundry
Posted 11:35 AM September 4, 2008
"On behalf of the elite media, I'd like to say we're very sorry" (Not really)
Politico.com | Fox News | Huffington Post
Roger Simon on why he's "apologizing": "We have asked pathetic questions like: Who is Sarah Palin? What is her record? Where does she stand on the issues? And is she is qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency? We have asked mean questions like: How well did John McCain know her before he selected her? How well did his campaign vet her? Bad questions. Bad media. Bad." || Newt Gingrich: "The American people are going to discount the elite media 90% by October." || Rachel Sklar: If the media are the enemy, they're doing something right.
> Old friends in the media see a new side of McCain
Posted 11:14 AM September 4, 2008
IRE expands training operations with new hires
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Investigative Reporters and Editors has hired Columbus Dispatch projects editor Doug Haddix and St. Louis Post-Dispatch computer-assisted reporting editor Jaimi Dowdell. They'll share on-the-road training duties, and run IRE workshops and seminars.
Posted 11:07 AM September 4, 2008
Redesigned WSJ.com will have "lots of wonderful gizmos"
Associated Press | Content Bridges | New York Times
Its launches Sept. 16. The new design will provide easier access to free content, says Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson. || Ken Doctor:: "That redesign is overdue, with WSJ.com looking a bit long in the tooth these days." PLUS: More on WSJ. magazine.
> NYO to launch its first editorially driven magazine
Posted 9:37 AM September 4, 2008
Us Weekly editor defends "nasty" Palin cover story
Los Angeles Times
James Rainey wonders if "the extra punch" in US Weekly's Sarah Palin cover story was ordered by the magazine's owner, Barack Obama supporter Jann Wenner. Editor-in-chief Janice Min says her boss played no role in the story, and that "reporting on the people who are going to lead the country in an aggressive way is what the press should be doing." Rainey's reaction: "There's aggressive and then there's nasty. And Us clearly tilts toward the latter."
Posted 9:10 AM September 4, 2008
Everyone wants to interview PBS' Ifill about the presidential race
Washington Post
Ifill
"I'm in great demand," says PBS correspondent Gwen Ifill, "but I'm not speaking for the whole race. My job is to be a reporter. I cannot be the great interpreter. It's not my job to be on someone else's air telling them what black people think." She tells Howard Kurtz that a white TV reporter asked her after Barack Obama accepted the nomination in Denver: "Aren't you just blown away by all of this?" She said she wasn't. "Aren't you in the tank?" the reporter wondered.
Posted 7:56 AM September 4, 2008
"A great editor is motivated by fear," says Esquire's Granger
Forbes
"Reading Clay Felker's obits, I was reminded Clay himself once said he was afraid that television would completely overwhelm magazines," says David Granger. "And that didn't happen. I don't buy that anything else will either." The Esquire editor rejects the idea that the golden age of magazines has passed. "Some of the best magazine journalism I know of is running right now in Esquire and The New Yorker and New York magazine and a lot of others."
Posted 7:39 AM September 4, 2008
Noonan, others should write what they're really thinking
Wordyard | WSJ.com
If Peggy Noonan wrote a column that was as honest with her readers as she is when she thinks the microphone is off, Scott Rosenberg would read it religiously. "Virtually every journalist in DC could go a lot farther down the road of writing what they know and think," he says. || Noonan discusses the incident.
Posted 8:14 PM September 3, 2008
NY Sun needs new investors to keep publishing
New York Post | New York Observer | Wall Street Journal
new york sun
Investors are said to have given the Sun until the end of the month to find new angel investors -- or else the plug will be pulled, reports Keith J. Kelly. He hears the paper is losing money at the rate of $1 million a month. || Editor Seth Lipsky tells John Koblin: "I would encourage you not to assume that the paper is doomed." || More Lipsky: "I'm resisting the suggestions that it's over."
> Gawker calls the Sun's guidelines for interns "pretty hilarious"
Posted 7:06 PM September 3, 2008
LAT updates its Taste and Obscenities policy
LATimes.com Readers' Representative Journal
The policy for the first time takes into account the online world vs. the print world. A cover note that was sent to LAT staffers with the updated policy says "a less formal voice may be appropriate in online stories and on blogs (as is often the case in feature stories too), but a conversational style is not an invitation to abandon The Times' high standards by introducing gratuitous obscenities." || Did two words in a recent Times book review prompt this?
Posted 5:40 PM September 3, 2008
Does Kristol owe NYT readers a disclosure?
Romenesko Letters
kristol
John Maggs has some questions for New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal: Is columnist Bill Kristol still a part of John McCain's kitchen cabinet? Are there any rules about a columnist actively advising a political campaign that he's writing about? Are there any rules about disclosing such a role? Should New York Times readers know, one way or the other?
Posted 5:08 PM September 3, 2008
Recent Comments:
It's like saying ... ... George W. Bush needs to admit "mistakes were made."... More.
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McClatchy reporters should read this before quizzing Palin
Etaoin Shrdlu
"I believe I'd fire any reporter who wasted a chance to question Gov. Sarah Palin by asking a single question about pregnancies, DUIs or thuggish boyfriends," writes McClatchy vice president/news Howard Weaver.
Posted 3:52 PM September 3, 2008
MSNBC feuding makes anchor Williams uncomfortable
Time.com
WilliamsB
"To the extent that Brian Williams is ever flappable, he got a bit flapped" when Jon Stewart asked him about the MSNBC family feud, reports James Poniewozik. The Time critic notes that Williams represents stability and even-handedness in the news and "when he, and NBC News' other straight-news folks, make their frequent appearances on MSNBC (or vice versa), the drama clings to them by association."
Posted 3:34 PM September 3, 2008
Bercovici: McCain camp will keep griping about the media if it helps them
Portfolio.com
"Obviously, part of the strategy here is to 'work the refs' -- that is, to mau-mau reporters, editors, producers and commentators into going easier on John McCain and harder on Barack Obama," writes Jeff Bercovici. "That can work in a limited way -- skeptical coverage of Obama seemed to increase somewhat after Hillary Clinton aired similar grievances. But the hyper-aggressive way Team McCain's pursuing it it risks alienating neutral journalists."
> Palin coverage "has been well within the bounds of responsibility"
> McCain strategist "is outraged by journalists doing their jobs"
Posted 3:17 PM September 3, 2008
AP photographer at RNC sensed cops regretted arresting him
MinnPost.com
Matt Rourke, who was arrested in St. Paul on Monday, says: "I heard an officer say, 'What are we supposed to do with him?' And the arresting officer say, 'What do we charge him with?' It seemed they knew I was press but no one knew what to do. I was getting passed around but no one was willing to do anything." The Associated Press photographer was hauled in for "Riot -- gross misdemeanor," but the DA isn't expected to charge him.
Posted 1:52 PM September 3, 2008
Recent Comments:
Any answers? Anyone? Could someone please explain why there has been so little... More.
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Huffington, Keller, Mossberg, Brokaw make Vanity Fair's power list
Vanity Fair
Huffington
Several other media people are on the Vanity Fair 100 list. From the summaries:
* "The curmudgeonly Walt Mossberg, 61, has exerted a power rarely matched by critics in any field."
* "Huffington Post passed the Drudge Report, its longtime rival, to claim the title of top political-news blog."
* "Often characterized as a right-wing ideologue, Rupert Murdoch is a clear-eyed pragmatist."
* "Soft-spoken Bill Keller had the nerve to publish bold exposes of the Bush administration's secretive tactics in the war on terror."
> The Next Establishment list includes Anderson Cooper, Joshua Micah Marshall, Jared Kushner, and Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Posted 1:27 PM September 3, 2008
How Wired editors kept Google Chrome a secret
Valleywag
Steven Levy got exclusive access and information for a Chrome story in the October Wired. "This story was trickier than most, since Chrome was still a secret when the issue was under production," writes Owen Thomas. "Normally, dozens of eyes would fall on the story." Wired executive editor Bob Cohn how he pulled it off.
Posted 12:31 PM September 3, 2008
Anchorage editor warns press against stereotyping Palin, Alaska
Editor & Publisher
Anchorage Daily News executive editor Pat Dougherty says about 50 media outlets have called for his views on Sarah Palin in recent days. He tells Joe Strupp that some depictions of Alaska have been a bit unfair. "It is in the nature of these things to be somewhat caricaturish. We are a long way away and people are not that familiar with the state. The sketch is a little cartoonish." On Palin, the editor says the inquiries are fair, but outside press needs to avoid stereotyping the governor.
> Ex-Anchorage columnist calls Palin's term "a mixed bag"
Posted 11:51 AM September 3, 2008
Thomson: "We don't have the fetid air of failure" at Dow Jones
Portfolio.com
Thomson named Wall Street Journal managing editor
"The eschatological angst that characterizes much of the newspaper industry does not exist at Dow Jones," said Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson as he introduced the new WSJ. magazine. He also took a swipe at New York Times' T magazine: "I can think of a newspaper in New York that regards its glossy magazine as something of a house of ill repute."
> Wall Street Journal starts its hub desk next week
Posted 11:13 AM September 3, 2008
Gannett buys 10% interest in CareerBuilder from Tribune
Associated Press | Gannett
Gannett now has a majority stake -- 50.8% -- in the employment website. Tribune owns 30.8% of CareerBuilder; McClatchy, 14.4%; and Microsoft, 4%. || The release.
Posted 10:15 AM September 3, 2008
Cincy Enquirer cartoonist Borgman takes buyout
Cincinnati Enquirer
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jim Borgman has been with the Enquirer for 32 years. "I've enjoyed doing two of the best jobs I can imagine -- drawing editorial cartoons and my comic strip 'Zits' -- and I have loved it all, although it is exhausting," he says.
> Tennessean editorial page editor Gibson announces retirement
Posted 10:00 AM September 3, 2008
Kentucky Kernel adviser, photogs jailed in St. Paul
Kentucky Kernel | Lexington Herald-Leader
Two University of Kentucky students and the photo adviser for the Kentucky Kernel student newspaper were arrested at the Republican convention on charges of felony rioting. "They were still clearly marked as media," says Kernel editor-in-chief Brad Luttrell. "They’re two of the most experienced and ethical photographers we have, and I'm certain they were not participating in the protests." || Related story.
> Fox News reporter Jenkins gets grief from convention protesters
Posted 9:39 AM September 3, 2008
Ailes: I told Obama that Fox News wouldn't "be in the tank for you, like MSNBC and CNN"
Washington Post
Ailes
Fox News chief Roger Ailes talks to Howard Kurtz about the network's meeting with Barack Obama, which Michael Wolff writes about his in his new book. When Obama pledged to appear on Bill O'Reilly's show before the election, Ailes promised there would be no "embarrassing or underhanded stuff" in the interview. Obama appears on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Thursday.
Posted 9:10 AM September 3, 2008
McCain aide says news media are "on a mission to destroy" Palin
Washington Post
Claiming that media queries about Sarah Palin are being fueled by "every rumor and smear" posted on left-wing websites, John McCain's top campaign strategist said mainstream journalists are giving "closer scrutiny" to McCain's running mate than to Barack Obama. Steve Schmidt told Post staffers that the McCain camp is in the middle of the worst media "feeding frenzy" he's ever seen.
> "We're in a full-fledged feeding frenzy," writes Folkenflik
> Eagleton investigator Hoyt says press is right to scrutinize Palin
> Saunders: What enrages the press is that Palin is a bit of a risk
> CNN chief defends Campbell Brown's interview with McCain aide
Posted 8:26 AM September 3, 2008
Recent Comments:
Enough I guess I'm old school (56 years old) because I... More.
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Everything the press touches about Palin turns into a scoop
Slate
There are Sarah Palin's earmark flip-flops, her political inexperience, her Alaska Independence Party connection, her views on teaching "creationism," her book-banning phase, and the list goes on. "The press is merely doing on short notice what the John McCain campaign's vetting team should have done between March -- when he clinched the nomination -- and now: properly vetting his vice-presidential candidate," writes Jack Shafer.
Posted 7:32 AM September 3, 2008
J-prof: "This is the most inspiring time in history to be an aspiring journalist"
Philadelphia Weekly
"How in good conscience can I stand in front of a classroom and encourage college kids to enter a dying profession?" asks working journalist and Temple University journalism instructor G.W. Miller III. "My answer: Journalism isn’t dying. It's just evolving. ...The students of today -- more so than ever before -- have the ability to shape what the profession will someday look like. It's my job to make sure they know that."
Posted 5:50 PM September 2, 2008
Recent Comments:
Just a few questions  for Prof. G.W. Miller III. You know, just so that... More.
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San Diego Union-Trib staffers camp out for buyouts
San Diego CityBeat
About 20 Union-Tribune staffers slept in the newspaper's lobby last night, determined not to miss their chance to take what's expected to be the final buyout offer. "The staffers couldn't or wouldn't open the main doors to let me in, so I couldn't speak with any of them," writes Eric Wolff. "Still, they must really want those buyouts, which will be worth two weeks of pay for each year of continuous service, up to one year of pay."
Posted 4:33 PM September 2, 2008
News orgs don't have to regret committing so many resources to covering conventions
WashingtonPost.com
Robinson
"This whole convention cycle is turning out to be more interesting and unpredictable than we had thought," says Post columnist Eugene Robinson. This year, news organizations don't have to regret committing so many resources to cover a couple of lengthy infomercials. Stuff happens, it turns out, and it's a good thing that we're all here to cover it." || More RNC coverage discussion in the Howard Kurtz chat. || Video: Leonard Downie Jr. discusses previous campaigns and conventions.
Posted 4:12 PM September 2, 2008
"Newspapers are not going anywhere," says NYTimes.com exec
NYTimes.com
"Advertising revenue may be in decline, but publishing newspapers is still a very profitable business and we intend to keep our presses running for a long time to come," says NYTimes.com general manager Vivian Schiller. "Second, online advertising revenue is increasing at a double-digit clip, and with our brand and audience we're well positioned to capture our fair share. Third, we do not believe that a robust website is bad for our newspaper."
Posted 3:20 PM September 2, 2008
Recent Comments:
Is that irony? "Newspapers are not going anywhere," says NYTimes.com exec. Yes, that's... More.
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Report: Tampa Tribune considers a one-section paper
Poynter's Tampabay.com | Common Sense Journalism
Eric Deggans hears the Tampa Tribune may soon begin publishing as a one-section paper weekdays, with very few stories jumping off the front page. || Doug Fisher: "It's more than a rumor. ...As described by eyes that have seen it: One section for everything, though business and sports have separate covers inside the main section."
> Twenty-six in St. Pete Times newsroom take retirement deal
Posted 2:48 PM September 2, 2008
Recent Comments:
Good idea A one-section paper is not only a good idea, it's... More.
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Bee editor: We don't set out to report bad news -- about ourselves or others
Sacramento Bee
Sill
Some at the Sacramento Bee think the paper reports too much on newspaper industry woes. "Others think our stories should describe more of the positive trends; for instance, our growing audience and advertising sales online," writes editor Melanie Sill (at left). "In that way, too, we're like other companies that feel stung when The Bee reports their problems, minor or major." || Armando Acuna: It's a shame the Bee has killed the public editor position. || More editor/ombud columns:
> Rocky editor Temple on lessons learned from Dem convention
> Publisher's wife's contribution "may cause a perception problem"
> Modesto Bee editor to critics: Sorry, but I'm not taking a buyout
> Anti-Obama "Mallard Fillmore" strips irk Democrats who read N&O
> Some Times-Union readers don't get Borowitz's humor (last item)
> Copy editing needs to evolve with changes transforming news biz
> Ohio papers have been fact-checking presidential campaign TV ads
Posted 1:50 PM September 2, 2008
Mutter questions Florida papers' story-sharing plan
Reflections of a Newsosaur
The idea of splitting news coverage among the three big South Florida papers is journalistically and commercially dangerous, says Alan Mutter. "The only way editors can make a story-sharing plan work efficiently is by huddling several times a day to tell each other what they are working on. If the papers have no secrets from each other, then the lack of competition stands a good chance of turning the reporting from 'basic' to 'routine' to 'boring.'"
Posted 12:39 PM September 2, 2008
Utah lawmakers attack Deseret News via blog posts
Salt Lake Tribune
Depending on your point of view, says Paul Rolly, the legislators' attack on the Deseret News and political editor Bob Bernick is either an attempt to temper criticism of their actions, or it's a burst of pent-up frustration about what lawmakers see as a history of unfair and inaccurate reporting by the news media.
Posted 12:24 PM September 2, 2008
Times-Picayune keeps going with an emergency generator
Editor & Publisher
The Times-Picayune hasn't delivered a print newspaper since Saturday, and has been without power since Monday morning. Still, the staff remains in the paper's main building and is producing a full edition for its website. "The big problem is there is no air conditioning in the building," managing editor/news Dan Shea tells Joe Strupp.
> Times-Picayune's Kirkham has been blogging from a shrimp boat
Posted 11:32 AM September 2, 2008
"Hey, RNC media. Could you at least stay until dessert?"
Minneapolis Star Tribune | MinnPost.com
Nick Coleman fears the Republican Convention could turn out to be as exciting as a model railroaders convention in February. "Hey, media! We've been planning this party for two years!" writes the Twin Cities columnist. "Could you at least stay till dessert? We've already confiscated many buckets of urine! Hey! Come back! Please?" || David Brauer: The loss of any tube star wounds insecurity-plagued Twin Citians. "" More from Brauer: Twitter was the place to get news about the Twin Cities raids that netted urine and other items.
> TV titans depart Republican convention for Gulf Coast
> Foreign journalists observe American political process in St. Paul
Posted 10:43 AM September 2, 2008
The problem with Murdoch's WSJ, according to Nocera
NYTimes.com Executive Suite blog
NYTer Joe Nocera speaks not as a someone who works for a competitor but as someone who's always liked the Wall Street Journal when he says that Rupert Murdoch's Journal "is less distinctive, less interesting and less important to its core business readership." What struck him about the Journal last week was how little business news the first section of the paper contained.
Posted 9:52 AM September 2, 2008
"Democracy Now!" crew, AP photog arrested at RNC
Washington Post
"Democracy Now!" radio host Amy Goodman was arrested in St. Paul after trying to find out why two of her producers had been arrested. She was released after being held for over three hours, but is still waiting to hear when Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar will be let go. || Associated Press: AP photographer Matt Rourke "was swept up as police moved in on a group of protesters," reports AP. || ALSO: CNN pundit Donna Brazile was hit by pepper spray while walking to the convention.
Posted 9:30 AM September 2, 2008
Juneau newsman heard Bristol Palin pregnancy rumor "a long time ago"
Politico.com
"I probably would not have wasted any time on it," says Juneau Empire political reporter Pat Forgey. Empire managing editor Michael Plett adds that "for us, there really isn't a story there." Blogger Andrew Halcro tells Michael Calderone: "I knew Bristol was pregnant in May. So that rumor's been out there, but it would have never come out." || Radar Online: The National Enquirer was hot on the story.
> Aaron Barnhart: "There was enough there to question Sarah Palin's pregnancy, just like there was enough there to question John Edwards' fidelity."
Posted 8:48 AM September 2, 2008
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ProPublica announces final hires for its initial news team
ProPublica release
T. Christian Miller of the Los Angeles Times joins ProPublica as a reporter, Dan Nguyen leaves the Sacramento Bee to become web producer, and freelancer researcher Lisa Schwartz joins as research director. "Now that our full news team is in place, we're gearing up to produce more investigative stories with 'moral force,'" says managing editor Stephen Engelberg. "We have several pieces that we're close to finalizing and many more in development. By the end of the year, we hope to have partnered with perhaps a half dozen media outlets to get those stories to the public."
Posted 8:15 AM September 2, 2008
TV reporters insist on interacting with the weather
Washington Post
Paul Farhi points out that no one covers a house fire by rushing into the burning building, or reports on a war by doing stand-ups in the middle of a tank battle. "With the weather, however, participation is mandatory," he writes. On Monday, CNN's Brian Todd hit the jackpot when he had to hang on to a pole while doing his report from Baton Rouge.
Posted 8:03 AM September 2, 2008
Wolff: "Murdoch is becoming a liberal -- sort of"
Vanity Fair
Murdoch
For a long time Rupert Murdoch was in love with Fox chief Roger Ailes because he was even more Murdoch than Murdoch, writes Michael Wolff. "And yet now the embarrassment can't be missed -- he mumbles even more than usual when called on to justify it; he barely pretends to hide the way he feels about Bill O'Reilly. And while it is not possible that he would give Fox up -- because the money is the money; success trumps all -- in the larger sense of who he is, he seems to want to hedge his bets."
Posted 7:28 AM September 2, 2008
Pulitzer-winning investigative journalist Guthman dies at 89
Los Angeles Times
Edwin O. Guthman's aggressive pursuit of Watergate stories for the Los Angeles Times earned him the enmity of President Nixon and the No. 3 spot on Nixon's infamous enemies list. Former LAT reporter Kenneth Reich once said that Guthman "was very proud to have made the enemies list," but outraged at the same time. After leaving the Times, he spent a decade at the Philadelphia Inquirer, then joined the faculty of USC's Annenberg School for Communication. He retired last year. || Obits from the Inquirer and Seattle Times.
Posted 7:14 AM September 2, 2008
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Posted 7:06 AM September 2, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008 Headlines
Sulzberger told to submit to deposition in Trump case
Friday, August 29, 2008 Headlines
Asian journalists blast Kathie Lee Gifford's antics
PBS gets many pats on the back for its DNC coverage
Additional items for August 29, 2008
Where are citizen journalists when you need them?
WSJ posts excerpt of Sept. 6 mag piece on Palin
Three South Florida papers to share editorial content
NBC News: Will Portland, Maine soon be without a paper?
Young journalists "pull the student card" to cover DNC
CNN's Cooper is prepared to go from politics to storms
Politico's off to a great start, but ambition is expensive
Bloomberg: No firings over Steve Jobs obit snafu
Report: Some in media cheered, clapped for Obama
Spokane paper challenges AP's cancellation notice rule
CNN says it won Wednesday's convention ratings war
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