Government says Sotloff video is real

Good morning. Here are 10 media stories.

1. Steven Sotloff video is real: National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden says a video showing the journalist’s execution by Islamic State “is authentic.” (AP) | Sotloff “began many of his articles with personal anecdotes and sprinkled his reporting with mundane details like the precise price of bread, reminding readers that faceless forces like Syria’s civil war and Egypt’s military coup were fundamentally altering the lives of real people, in divergent but no less devastating ways.” (The Atlantic) | President Obama: “His killers try to claim that they defend the oppressed but it was Steven who traveled across the Middle East risking his life to tell the story of Muslim men and women demanding justice and dignity.” (Politico) | Time Editor Nancy Gibbs: Sotloff “gave his life so readers would have access to information from some of the most dangerous places in the world.” (Time) | “It appears from chatter on ISIS forums that the initial video release was an unintentional leak from within ISIS circles” (Vocativ)
2. Fred Ryan meets Washington Post newsroom: The news organization’s new publisher declined to say how he got the job, said “a key for Wapo is winning the morning.” (@erikwemple) | Washington Post reporters figure out how he got the job: He told Jean Case he was interested, and she introduced him to Post owner Jeff Bezos. (WP) | Ryan “likewise preferred to remain vague about his vision for the Post, saying it was too early to get into strategy specifics.” (Capital)
3. News orgs ask oversight board to investigate effects of government surveillance: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 24 signatory news organizations “have asked the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) to investigate whether journalists’ confidential sources and other newsgathering is being compromised by widespread national security surveillance programs.” (RCFP)
4. AOL content shakeup: Susan Lyne steps down from running brand group. Luke Beatty will “get the tech, automobile and entertainment brands,” Kara Swisher reports, and Maureen Sullivan will continue to run “AOL.com and the various lifestyle and money content brands.” Also: “no shockeroo, Arianna is still in charge of Arianna.” (Re/code) | “When I asked if the brand group is being scaled back as AOL invests more on the ad-tech side of the business, another AOL spokesperson on the call jumped in, saying that even though AOL has shut down some existing sites (and it spun out hyperlocal news effort Patch), it’s investing more in its existing brands.” (TechCrunch)
5. Florida International University credentials Miami Herald reporter after all: David J. Neal “attended Saturday’s 14-12 loss to Bethune-Cookman with a ticket and sat in the stands, but did not write a game story or post-game blog, as he would have were he credentialed.” (Miami Herald) | “What good is a football team nobody covers? Chances are, FIU didn’t want to find out.” (Deadspin)
6. Boston Globe launches site covering Catholicism: “The problem with the Vatican as a beat is it’s too far away, too weird, and utterly unlike any institution people cover,” John Allen says. “It’s hard to penetrate and it’s expensive to have someone who has the luxury to focus full time on that beat.” (Nieman)
7. Dept. of Irony: Study about how misinformation spreads becomes the star of a poorly informed story. (CJR) | Related: The Huffington Post is running a multipart series on V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai, who claims to have invented email. “Huffington Post is either not disclosing a paid-for series of posts (which would be a massive ethical breach) or they’ve been taken for a ride.” (Techdirt)
8. New York’s shield law protects another journalist: Wall Street Journal reporter Gregory Zuckerman won’t have to deliver his notes to Sue Ann Hamm, who is divorcing Harold Hamm. (Village Voice) | The Hamm divorce “appears it will be the most expensive divorce in history.” (CNN)
9. Newspaper front of the day, selected by Kristen Hare: The South Florida Sun-Sentinel fronts the murder of Steven Sotloff, who was from Pinecrest, Florida. (Courtesy the Newseum)

   
    

10. Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin: Fred Ryan has been named publisher of The Washington Post. Previously, he was president of Allbritton Communications Company. (Poynter) | John Reiss is now executive producer of “Meet the Press.” Previously, he was executive producer for “Hardball with Chris Matthews.” (TV Newser) | Emily Bazelon will be a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. Previously, she was a senior editor for Slate. (New York Times) | David Weigel is joining Bloomberg Politics. Previously, he was a political reporter for Slate. (Slate) | Chuck Culpepper will be a college football reporter for The Washington Post. Previously, he was a staff writer for Sports on Earth. (The Washington Post) | Susan Lyne will join AOL’s venture division to run the Build Fund. Previously, she was CEO of AOL’s brand group (Recode) | Craig Silverman will be a fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. He is an adjunct faculty member for Poynter. (Poynter) | Zach Wolf is now managing editor for digital at CNN Politics. Previously, he was managing editor for news at Politico. (Fishbowl DC) | Job of the day: Women’s Wear Daily is looking for a copy editor. Get your résumés in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org.

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