Philadelphia's two largest newspapers will lose 40 more newsroom employees this month, prompting union leaders Thursday to accuse management of bungling a tablet computer launch, censoring stories and deriding print newspapers as "legacy products." The AP's story follows up on a news release last week from the Philadelphia Newspaper Guild.
Mike Daisey, the off-Broadway performer who admitted that he made up parts of his one-man show about Apple products being made in Chinese sweatshops, cut questionable sections from the monologue and added a prologue explaining the controversy for the show's final performances this past weekend.
The AP Stylebook has updated its entry on when journalists should publish information about a person’s race. The update says that race is pertinent in stories about crime suspects who have been “sought by the police or missing person cases,” so long as “police or other credible, detailed descriptions” are used. When the suspect is found or apprehended, the update says, the racial reference should be removed
Just in time for Sunshine Week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled in favor of courtroom transparency project OpenCourt and its ability to record and stream online video of public court proceedings.
The New York Times company last Friday quietly disclosed a bonus structure that rewards bosses with 175 percent of their target payouts for achieving a mere 2.5 percent return on invested capital. That’s a fraction of the company’s cost of funds, and much lower than its own previous standard. A high bar for journalists doesn’t seem to extend to management.
While acknowleding that Huffpost is as aggressive as anyone when it comes to social media, Arianna Huffington says it's become a risky obsession. "Going viral has gone viral... The media world's fetishization of social media has reached idol-worshipping proportions. Media conference agendas are filled with panels devoted to social media and how to use social tools to amplify coverage, but you rarely see one discussing what that coverage should actually be about."
Journalist Marie Colvin was remembered Monday as a fearless seeker of truth by mourners from media mogul Rupert Murdoch to the immigrants who counted on her dispatches from their strife-ridden homelands to make a difference in global policy. When her casket emerged from St. Dominic’s Roman Catholic Church, a group of Sri Lankan immigrants held a placard dubbing her the “uncrowned queen of intrepid journalists.” Colvin was killed in Syria Feb. 22.
Lee Rogers, a California podiatrist and Democratic candidate for Congress won a charity auction, earning lunch for four with his opponent, incumbent Republican Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon. Rogers has invited three reporters to fill out the guest list.
It's Sunshine Week, a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public's right to know. The website has a wealth of information and a toolkit that includes art, cartoons, opinion columns and more to help anyone interested in publicizing the campaign.
A "Sunshine Week" report from SPJ finds that too often, public information oficers forget the "public" and "information" parts of their job. The report is based on an online survey of 146 Washington, D.C.-area reporters, who indicated overwhelming frustration trying to interview federal employees or get basic information to the public.
