Category: Journalism

‘Truth’ vs. ‘facts’ from America’s media — latimes.com:

Maybe Americans should know better. Maybe they shouldn’t fall for the latest imbecilic propaganda and scare tactics. Maybe. But a citizenry is only as well-informed as the quality of information it receives. One can’t expect Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin or the Republican Party or even the Democrats to provide serious, truthful assessments of a complex health plan. Truth has to come from somewhere else — from a reliable, objective, trustworthy source.

In South Korea, Freed U.S. Journalists Come Under Harsh Criticism – NYTimes.com:

The accusations stem from a central fear repeated in newspapers and blogs here: that the notes and videotapes the journalists gathered in China before their ill-fated venture to the border fell into the hands of the authorities, potentially compromising the identities of refugees and activists dedicated to spiriting people out of the North.

Letter from Top News Outlets Protesting Off-The-Record Briefings Sent to 600 Press Secretaries:

Added Rick Blum, coordinator of the Sunshine in Government Initiative: “In today’s age of Twitter and blogs, an ‘off-the-record’ speech will be publicized, just not by reporters. It just doesn’t make sense anymore and the practice should stop.”

Revisiting the Death of Photojournalism, Part II: THE WIRES – The Digital Journalist:

The precipitous decline in budgets at magazines and newspapers is now threatening the ability of the wires to continue to service these members and clients. For photojournalists, these developments are genuinely alarming, since the wires collectively represent their biggest single employer in the industry. For society, the effects of pressures on the wires, in their unique role as the provider of first resort for our news, could be devastating.

What’s a Big City Without a Newspaper? – NYTimes.com:

A former reporter from Philadelphia returns to the place that could end up being the first without a daily.

Financial Times – Murdoch vows to charge for all online content

Report: Two journalists imprisoned in North Korea to be released – Boing Boing

PDNPulse: Is Time Magazine Even Trying Any More?:

Here’s an idea for a news magazine cover: Dress up President Obama as a doctor!

CLICK NOTE: This piece, on the New York Times error-riddled Walter Cronkite obit, is an example of proper transparency when things go wrong in the newsroom.

The Public Editor – How Did This Happen? – Op-Ed – NYTimes.com:

Though the correct date of the moon landing was fresh in his mind, Manly said, he read right over that mistake. Catching it might have flagged the need for more careful vetting. For all her skills as a critic, Stanley was the cause of so many corrections in 2005 that she was assigned a single copy editor responsible for checking her facts. Her error rate dropped precipitously and stayed down after the editor was promoted and the arrangement was discontinued. Until the Cronkite errors, she was not even in the top 20 among reporters and editors most responsible for corrections this year. Now, she has jumped to No. 4 and will again get special editing attention.

PDNPulse: Newsweek Losing Millions, Advertising Down 40 Percent

Daring Fireball: Pay Walls:

The fundamental problem facing the news industry is simple: As the shift from print to the web accelerates, their revenues are no longer covering the cost of their operations. It’s not that they aren’t making money online, it’s that they aren’t making enough to cover their operations.

What worked for HBO won’t work for news (Scripting News):

David Simon wrote a remarkable piece in the Columbia Journalism Review, saying that the NY Times and Washington Post must charge for their work the way HBO charges for shows like The Wire.  

With all due respect, putting up a “pay wall” is exactly what these organizations don’t need. They need to decentralize, get further out into the world, not hole-up behind a wall and try to tough it out.

Why Did No One Inform Us Of The Imminent Death Of The American Newspaper Industry? – America’s Finest News Source:

Disloyal Americans! You have aided these treasonous snakes in their plot against Yu Wan Mei. First you refuse to ingest our coagulated octopus paste at a fast enough rate, and now you hold a dagger to the throat of the printed word itself! Your obsession with personal liberty has been a burden on your nation’s success for generations, and now you sit there like livestock as an entire industry falls to dust around you—the very industry upon which you construct your imaginary foundation of free speech!

Associated Press Plans Content Registry, Will Include Photos

Daring Fireball: Charging for Access to News Sites:

I wish them good luck with this, and I mean that sincerely, but I believe this is a fundamentally flawed strategy. People bought (and continue to buy) real paper newspapers and magazines because it feels like you’re getting something worth the price. A real physical object.

PDNPulse: Gannett to Cut Another 1,400 Newspaper Jobs:

we must take these steps because the advertising environment remains challenged.