Good morning. Here are 10 media stories.
- A more personal look at the Cuba story
On Wednesday, Maria Carrillo, a senior editor at the Houston Chronicle, spent a lot of time on the phone with her mother, a Cuban exile. “I am an American, born here, raised here, never been to the island where my parents were born. But those are my people, as surely as if I’d toddled into the surf at Varadero or spent summer nights along the Malecón. And this has all been painful to watch. We are separated — by that embargo, by politics, by distance, by time. We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting.” (Houston Chronicle) | CNN’s Patrick Oppmann is based in Havana. “Church bells ringing in Havana. Covering history…” (@CNN_Oppmann)
- ProPublica is watching you, China
Since mid-November, ProPublica has been monitoring accessibility to international news sites in China. “Of the 18 in our test, 9 are currently blocked.” (ProPublica) | It’s getting even harder to report there. (The New York Times) | And, as reported yesterday, it’s getting even easier to get arrested there. (Committee to Protect Journalists)
- Serial’s first season is over. Now what?
Maybe it’s time to seek advice elsewhere. Like in a new podcast. WBUR has started Dear Sugar, from the advice column by Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond. (WBUR) | Serial was “the Best Reality Show of 2014.” (Bloomberg View) | But it wasn’t journalism. (Dan Kennedy) | Oh yes, it was. (Dan Kennedy)
- Foreign journalists took a tour of New Jersey
On Tuesday, The New York Foreign Press Center took a group of 16 foreign journalists on a tour of Camden, New Jersey, to see what a good police department looks like. On Wednesday, another 18 visited. Salim Siddiqi, bureau chief of Online News Agency in Pakistan, hoped his reporting on Camden would offer an example back home. “I’m hoping to file a story that can be very, very useful.” (South Jersey Times)
- Al Jazeera journalists have been in jail in Egypt for nearly a year
“Our colleagues have been jailed for 354 days. Remember them w/ us & post a pic of what you would’ve missed #ThisYear” (@AJAMStream) | This year, journalists around the world joined the social media campaign to #FreeAJStaff. (Poynter) | Peter Greste, Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy have been jailed since Dec. 29. An appeal is set for Jan. 1, 2015. (Al Jazeera America)
- The continuing Sony story in three tweets
“Of all the symbols of free speech and standing up to terrorism, did it have to be a dumb movie with Seth Rogen and James Franco?” (@mathewi) | “.@mathewi The terrorists choose the targets. We don’t often get perfect cases to test our commitment to our ideals.” (@stevebuttry) | “@stevebuttry: I know, I know — and the real test of free speech is when you defend the crap you despise :-)” (@mathewi)
- Oh, 2014. What can we say?
A lot, apparently. Craig Silverman’s annual list of the year’s best and worst errors, corrections and apologies is out, and it includes a few late but notable entries. Also Kim Kardashian. (Poynter) | Digg shares its most dugg of the year. (Digg) | Vox has the year on video. (Vox) | Here’s Circa’s list of most followed news stories for the year. (Circa) | Capital New York looked back at 2014 at The New York Times. (Capital New York) | PBS MediaShift targets some things that actually made money for journalism in 2014. (PBS MediaShift) | And finally, Wired gazes down deep into the digital news organizations that have made news themselves this year, including Circa, First Look Media and BuzzFeed. “Here is the big secret: Nobody has it figured out.” (Wired)
- ‘Nearing death, two people offer a journalist and caregiver life lessons’
Francine Orr’s story on caregiving leads the front page of the Los Angeles Times today. “I wanted to document the emotional impact of caregiving on families, and the Huntington Senior Care Network in Pasadena suggested Evelyn. She agreed to participate even before we met. My interest in the subject was journalistic but also personal: As the caregiver for my father, I had been living the story for more than a decade.” (Los Angeles Times)
- Front page of the day
The Boston Herald led with a postcard-like view of Cuba (Courtesy the Newseum)
- Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin
Russell Contreras will be president of UNITY. He is a reporter at The Associated Press. (NAJA) | Sam Figler is now head of global business development at BuzzFeed. Previously, he was vice president of business development at Yahoo. (Capital) | Wendy Carrillo is now an anchor and producer at Reported.ly. Previously, she was a writer and digital producer for NuvoTV. (MediaMoves) | Will Hobson will be a sports news reporter at The Washington Post. Previously, he was a cops and courts reporter at the Tampa Bay Times. (Washington Post) | Ryan O’Hara will be CEO of Move, Inc. Previously, he was president at the Madison Square Garden Company. (News Corp) | Katy McColl is now senior executive editor at Southern Living. Previously, she was an editorial consultant. Whitney Wright is now general manager at Southern Living. Previously, she was deputy food director there. (Time Inc.) | Job of the day: The Des Moines Register is looking for a business columnist. Get your résumés in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org.
Corrections? Tips? Running out of ideas for your Elf on the Shelf? Please email me: khare@poynter.org. Would you like to get this roundup emailed to you every morning? Sign up here.
