Romenesko

journalism.org
The Project for Excellence in Journalism reports 22% of the news links on blogs last week were about the Washington Post's story on the photo that made the BP crisis center look busier than it was. Second most popular on blogs was Gene Weingarten's column lamenting the changes to newspapers in the age of online news.

Romenesko Misc.
Wall Street Journal spokeswoman Ashley Huston says NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard "is not in a position to know about the sourcing of articles in The Wall Street Journal" and that "her comments that the Journal's [Toyota driver error] article was 'unsourced' and 'thinly sourced' are erroneous." Huston adds: "We were surprised that she didn't give us an opportunity to set her straight or comment before she published those strong words."

Wall Street Journal | MarketWatch
Washington Post Co. is balking at selling Newsweek to Avenue Capital Group amid concerns over the hedge fund's plans to partner with the publisher of the National Enquirer, report Russell Adams and Mike Spector. || Related from Jon Friedman.

True/Slant
"To be honest, I'll miss True/Slant," writes Neal Ungerleider. "The idea of matching experienced writers with a guaranteed network of advertisers and readers and a salary is a good one." || More farewells from True/Slant contributors.
> Earlier: True/Slant in for a major overhaul under Forbes Media

Village Voice | Austin Chronicle
Voice editor Tony Ortega thought Austin Chronicle editor Louis Black had accused him of giving up on the "alternative" ideal, and practicing "gotcha" journalism while ignoring the workings of government. That's wrong, Black responded in the Voice comments. "Well, you're no fun, Louis," said Ortega. "I thought we'd get several more rounds out of this."

Los Angeles Times | Twitter.com
"I'll definitely do it," Shirley Sherrod said at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in San Diego. || Politico.com: Andrew Breitbart didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. || Read tweets from the NABJ convention.
> Alterman on journalism's "Age of Shame"

Nieman Journalism Lab
Texas Tribune's plan calls for a third of the site's funding to come from memberships, aiming toward a goal of 10,000 members, reports Ken Doctor. MinnPost says it has signed up more than 2,000 members in its two-and-a-half year history.

Associated Press
Also, the newspaper chain says advertising trends are improving. Second quarter revenue fell 6 percent to $342 million from $365.3 million. Advertising revenue declined 8.2 percent, compared with an 11.2 percent decline in the first quarter and a 20.5 percent drop in the fourth quarter of 2009. || Read the release.

PBS.org
PBS "Need to Know" executive producer Shelley Lewis asks critics of Andy Borowitz's segment: "Is a little joking about Ms. Palin's penchant for malaprops really such a big deal?" PBS ombud Michael Getler doesn't think it is. || Watch the segment and read over 600 comments about it.

Washington Post
"Without more investigation [by mainstream media reporters], more work, more journalism, these [WikiLeaks] documents just don't matter that much," writes Anne Applebaum. || Washington Post: FBI and DOJ work with the military to identify WikiLeaks' source.

Romenesko Misc.
The American Society of News Editors' special census found that a small group of online-only news organizations appears to have more diverse newsrooms than the nation's traditional daily newspapers. The survey results released in April were thrown out because only 28 online-only sites were identified and just seven responded. || Earlier: ASNE to try again on online diversity survey.

Time.com
"Some think children are so used to seeing violence in the media that the image will have little effect," writes editor Rick Stengel, "but others believe that children will find it very scary and distressing -- that they will see it ... as 'a symbol of bad things that can happen to people.'" The editor says: "I thought long and hard about whether to put this image on the cover of Time."

Chicago Reader
The music website has a no "professional cameras, no detachable lenses" rule at its festivals, but Ben Joravsky and Sam Adams note there's a sign at the entrance gate warning concertgoers that "by entering here, you consent to the use of your image in filmed reproductions of this event." Joravsky and Adams write: "In other words: we can make money off pictures of you, but you can't take pictures of us with a decent camera."

Village Voice
"Rupert Murdoch was so enthralled with the story when it ran, that he called Post editor-in-chief Col Allan to personally congratulate him on it," writes Foster Kamer. "Logic would follow, then, that Murdoch called Allan to personally deliver his rage and desire to see an axe drop."
> Hospital says NY Post wrong about suspect's new liver

Washington Post
Seven Post reporters spent Wednesday listening to people at coffeehouses and gathering information for their stories. The pieces have been posted and readers are invited to pick their favorite. The one with the most votes runs on Friday. || Earlier: The Coffeehouse Experiment explained.

Slate | Daily Beast | Democracy Now
"Leave the reader wanting more and then deliver the next day," writes Jack Shafer. "By pouring out [WikiLeaks'] material so quickly, the press caused a flash flood that has already cleared." || Daily Beast: WikiLeaks founder calls NYT "pusillanimous" and "unprofessional." || Listen to him.

NPR.org
Alicia Shepard says a Wall Street Journal reporter's story about Toyota and driver errors -- aired on "All Things Considered" -- shows why NPR should reconsider using "two-ways." "I am not a fan of using journalists from other news organizations to tell stories," she writes.

Fox Business News | Washington Post
Dunstan Prial says a provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities." Lawyers say given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency. || Zach Goldfarb: "It may not be time to take up arms over the latest charge by Fox Business News."

Voice of Orange County
"The Bell spectacle is what happens to communities without their own old-fashioned diligent news coverage by veteran newspaper reporters," writes Terry Francke. "The result need not be on paper, but it must be done with the community memory and professional savvy almost unique to newspaper-trained journalists with experience watching small-town politics."
> Shrunken LAT still had the resources to uncover this, but...

Poynter Online | Forbes | Neon Tommy | WSJ
It's an information broker that collects secrets and negotiates how they will be revealed. Steve Myers writes: "WikiLeaks has shifted power away from the monoliths that once determined what is news and toward the people who, before the Web, would have been stopped in the newspaper lobby before they could see a reporter." || WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (left) talks to Dirk Smillie. || He'll be chatting, too. || Related interviews with Jay Rosen and Floyd Abrams.
> The story behind the publication of WikiLeaks' war logs

AdAge.com
"When I think about those guys, I think about something I saw in the movie version of the Cormac McCarthy novel, 'The Road,'" says Capital contributor Matt Haber. "I think about the speech the man gives to his son where he says we're the good guys because we keep the fire of humanity in our hearts. Tom [McGeveran] and Josh [Benson], they're carrying that fire. They're not dumbing it down. ...They're the good guys."

Pitch.com
Joe Tone sees Gay Talese's "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" (Esquire, 1966) boiled down to a tweet: "@GayTaleseEsq RT @OldBlueEyes: I'm feeling kind of sniffly. Think I may be coming down with something."

NPR.org
Thirty-five photojournalists recently met in Oregon to surprise former Topeka Capital-Journal photo director Rich Clarkson (left). "What Clarkson did for them was build a newsroom with a singular visual voice," writes Claire O'Neill. "Starting in the 1950s, he hired a bunch of young ruffians and, with tough love that seemed more like hate, turned them into the photojournalists that dominate the industry today." || Related story.

Politico.com
NBC's Chuck Todd included. "Journolist was pretty offensive," he tells Roger Simon. "Those of us who are mainstream journalists got mixed in with journalists with an agenda. Those folks who thought they were improving journalism are destroying the credibility of journalism. This has kept me up nights. I try to be fair. It's very depressing." || More from Todd.

Politics Today
Walter Shapiro doesn't like that, and proposes a Slow News Movement.

New York Post
Margaret Russell didn't want to discuss the rumors with Keith J. Kelly. "[She] nearly slammed down the phone, but not before [saying], 'I have absolutely no comment on that,' Kelly writes in his last column item. || PLUS: Controversy over Essence hiring a white fashion director.

New York Observer
"I do really love crafting a great magazine," says Deborah Needleman, who was just named editor of WSJ. magazine. "As corny as it sounds, I really love serving readers. ... The Journal has a dream reader that every editor hopes for-smart, successful, affluent and busy. It is terribly exciting." PLUS: WSJ. vs. NYT's T magazine.

MarketWatch
"It's not dedication," insists New Yorker editor David Remnick when asked if he's overly dedicated to his job. "It's just the way you're built, right? I wish at many times that I was otherwise and could do other things with a clearer head for a longer time but that's not the way I'm built."

Philly.com | Madison.com
"If I was going to have an impact at all, it would never have been through a private email list, and why would I want that, anyway?" writes Will Bunch. "When I have anything to say, I'll say it right here." || John Nichols: "I am a humble reporter and columnist, not a JournoLister."

Washington Post
Quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan's genius "may have been informed by his disability, but it was not dependent on it or beholden to it," writes Gene Weingarten. "Callahan's work needed no special accommodation for the handicapped, and to suggest it did is a disservice to him and to humor itself." || NYT's obituary.

The Upshot
Slate editor David Plotz calls Dave Weigel "a ball of energy and fearlessness and curiosity. ...We're delighted to have him." || Earlier: Weigel out at WP after apologizing for e-mails.

Cleveland Plain Dealer
"I've lost my identity as the classical music critic," Donald Rosenberg (left) testified on Monday. "I'm not even allowed to call myself a music critic in The Plain Dealer anymore. I'm only reporter or a dance critic." He sued after being taken off the symphony beat two years ago.

Romenesko Memos
Tribune's top two execs tell employees: "The examiner's report has gotten some media attention, which we expected. Nonetheless, it is important that we all stay focused ...As we enter what we hope are the last stages of the Chapter 11 process, try not to be distracted by the media attention it may receive."
> Earlier: Examiner finds fraud evidence in Tribune sale

Editor & Publisher | Newsonomics
One of the changes: Newspapers that publish in many forms -- print, mobile, e-readers, etc. -- may be able to count one subscriber multiple times. || Ken Doctor's reaction: Circulation up 1042%!

Orange County Register
From Mary Ann Milbourn's Q-and-A with Freedom Communications CEO Mitch Stern:

Q: It has been suggested that because the same investors have stakes in the Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, and Freedom, that the Times and the Register will merge once Tribune exits bankruptcy. Is that in the cards?
A. It's not as easy as just saying they have the same investors. The investors have different time frames. Some want out in a year; others three to five years. Some have a strategic interest. And how do you consolidate a bunch of companies that all have a lot of debt?

> Earlier: Freedom, Tribune held sale talks prior to bankruptcy filings

The Upshot
John Cook found documents showing that Afghan radio stations were under contract to air content produced by the United States. Other reports show U.S. military personnel apparently referring to Afghan reporters as "our journalists" and directing them in how to do their jobs.

Current
Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Judith Lewis (left) says she's bringing back "Fresh Air" -- at a later hour and with an "adult content" warning -- because of "the people of Mississippi who sent in thoughtful, helpful and sincere feedback." Those people, she says, aren't "accustomed to hearing word 'orgasm' on the air, and three o'clock in the afternoon is not the best time to air this."

Nieman Foundation
"Many concerned individuals worked together to support Hollman [Morris] during the past month and we're looking forward to having him join us at Harvard," says Nieman curator Bob Giles.
> Earlier: US denies visa to Nieman fellow from Colombia

Romenesko Misc.
iNeedaGreatStory.com project director Neil Dixon Smith insists there's a need for his company's services. "We surveyed the marketplace and realized it's difficult to find interesting, high-quality stories that can stand up to critical scrutiny," he says in a launch press release.

New York Observer
Deborah Needleman replaces Tina Gaudoin as editor of the Journal's glossy lifestyle magazine. She'll also edit a new weekly Saturday lifestyle section in development for the Journal for the fall.
> Needleman: "I wasn't looking for a fulltime job, but..."

FreelanceUnbound.com
You have to register as a member of the press on the Clinique website, then wait a few weeks to hear back. You might be asked a few more questions about the publication you're working for. "My deadline has already been and gone," writes the Freelance Unbound editor. "So, you know, thanks for nothing."

nmisscommentator.com
Beginning August 2, MPB will put "Fresh Air" on at 9 p.m. The program had aired at 3 p.m., until it was pulled earlier this month because of a Louis C.K. interview. "We have had constructive conversations with Fresh Air and we will now include notices saying that the program may include adult content," says MPB executive director Judith Lewis. || Related cartoon and reaction on MPB's Facebook page.

Wordyard.com | Poynter Online
"It's avoiding torrents of trollery, negativity, and bullying that a 'dislike' button would unleash," writes Scott Rosenberg. "Some journalists might be happier in a world full of dislikeness, but I think most everyone else would be bummed." || Mallary Jean Tenore: What NPR is doing for the 1 million-plus people who "like" it on Facebook.
> Facebook launches a "Facebook + Media" page

Baltimore Sun
Only with public support of a news culture grounded in the fundamentals of good journalism does this democracy survive, says Dan Rodricks. "Settling for less means settling for Andrew Breitbart."

Washington Post | Los Angeles Times
"This is the largest unauthorized disclosure since the Pentagon Papers," notes Daniel Ellsberg. The reporters who interviewed him -- Paul Farhi and Ellen Nakashima -- write that "superficially, the two episodes do seem related. In substance, however, the case may be weaker." || Richard Cohen: The news from WikiLeaks isn't news at all.
> Pentagon Papers reporter Sheehan discusses war logs

Washington Post Story Lab
The six Washington Post reporters participating in Wednesday's coffee house experiment are testing the truism in journalism that says stories are everywhere. "These may be stories about individual people who are struggling to make ends meet, or to find love or happiness, or to map out their futures," writes Marc Fisher.

Chicago Tribune | ProtectConsumerJustice.org
Senior managers of the "old" Tribune and their advisory firm prepared presentations that didn't accurately reflect the company's rapid deterioration in 2007, according to the examiner. His findings, writes Michael Oneal, "will likely further roil a [bankruptcy] case that that has dragged on for almost 20 months." || Read the report and the Sun-Times' story.
> Tribune pressured to cut back on bonuses