http://www.cjr.org/ en Copyright 2009 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:55:13 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Greg Marx We may, thankfully, be putting Pitneygate behind us. But reading through press coverage of President Obama’s town hall meeting on health care reform yesterday, one could be forgiven for thinking that the episode is still weighing on the minds of the Washington press corps. Nico Pitney, of course, is the national editor of The Huffington Post, who made... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/more_pitneygate_fallout.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/more_pitneygate_fallout.php Campaign Desk Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:55:13 -0500 Clint Hendler Like Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz, I am sincerely worried about the future, as the revenue streams dry up and along with it, support for in depth, investigative, and accountability journalism by newspapers. I’m also not a fan of the solution she outlined to protect newspaper profits in her June 28 column. It’s unworkable, illogical, and... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/in_partial_defense_of_connie_s.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/in_partial_defense_of_connie_s.php Behind the News Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:39:44 -0500 Greg Marx With the near-daily drip of bleak news about the journalism world (today’s edition: Gannett reportedly plans to cut at least 1,000 jobs), we could all use some reason for optimism. And, fortunately, some has arrived: A consortium of non-profit news publishers including the Center for Public Integrity, NPR, MinnPost and many others has announced plans to launch an... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/good_news_for_a_change.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/good_news_for_a_change.php Behind the News Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:57:39 -0500 Megan Garber Jay Rosen calls it "the Froomkin kissoff." Others call it, less colorfully, "l'affaire Froomkin." Many call it politically motivated. Some call it "dumb, short-sighted, and self-destructive." Some just call it stupid. However you choose to describe it, the event in question--the unceremonious dismissal of Dan Froomkin, the immensely popular blogger, from... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/laffaire_froomkin_as_told_by_f.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/laffaire_froomkin_as_told_by_f.php Behind the News Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:58:51 -0500 Megan Garber Twitter, as of yesterday afternoon, has a new a new hashtag: #Dickwhisperer. Nope, not a typo: #Dickwhisperer. This being a reference to the exchange—entertaining, granted, but only by virtue of its supremely cringe-inducing awkwardness—that took place between Huffington Post editor Nico Pitney and Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank on yesterday morning's Reliable Sources. The exchange that... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/dickwhisperer_a_history.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/dickwhisperer_a_history.php Behind the News Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:16:48 -0500 Megan Garber Traditional news got beat yesterday. First, the professional celebrity-stalkers over at TMZ broke the news--a full hour before any other news outlet did--that Michael Jackson had died. Then Wikipedia, in a reprise of the role it played upon Tim Russert's death last year, updated its MJ entry to reflect the news--before major news outlets posted anything... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/braking_news.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/braking_news.php Behind the News Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:23:50 -0500 Craig Silverman Matt McCann wasn’t supposed to spend his summer working for St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. For the second year in a row, McCann, a journalism student at St. Thomas, had landed a summer internship at the Telegraph-Journal. But that ended abruptly in May when he was fired a day after the paper published a story... http://www.cjr.org/regret_the_error/three_strikes_and_youre_fired.php http://www.cjr.org/regret_the_error/three_strikes_and_youre_fired.php Regret the Error Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:00:42 -0500 Richard Wexler Can you tell the real reporter from the fictional character, based only on the messages they send on Twitter? The real person: Name: Howard Kurtz Title on Twitter: Media Guy, Washington Post Followers include: Roland Hedley Twitter ID: HowardKurtz The fictional character: Name: Roland Burton Hedley... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_great_american_tweetoff.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_great_american_tweetoff.php Behind the News Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:38:24 -0500 Joshua Young Robert Scoble, the man with the quickest laugh in the room, any room, strode up on stage, triumphant. He grinned wide, even for a fellow who's already the jolliest about town, Silicon Valley normally, where his personal brand as a far-sighted observer of social technology trends looms large. On stage Tuesday at the 140 Characters Conference,... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/140_one_billion.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/140_one_billion.php Behind the News Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:22:28 -0500 Craig Silverman South Korean construction worker Bae Seok-bum is used to being teased about his uncanny resemblance to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. His friends sometimes call him “Comrade Chairman.” He takes it in stride, and at one point uploaded a photo of himself to a Web site in order to show people how much he looks like the Dear Leader.... http://www.cjr.org/regret_the_error/whats_wrong_with_this_picture.php http://www.cjr.org/regret_the_error/whats_wrong_with_this_picture.php Regret the Error Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:36:08 -0500 Megan Garber Here's something you might have missed in all the talk about Iran's "Twitter Revolution": it's totally mockable! Indeed. During his segment on "IranDecision2009"—a play on The Daily Show's "Indecision" election series—last night, Jon Stewart briefly described the unrest in Iran (framing the protests as a conflict between supporters of Mahmoud "I'm-a-dick-in-a-jad" and "the guy who looks... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/dailyshowfail.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/dailyshowfail.php Behind the News Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:23:18 -0500 Megan Garber "However things turn out in Iran, this will probably be forever known as the Twitter Revolution," Kevin Drum noted yesterday. "It's too easy to call the weekend's activities the first revolution that was Twittered," Marc Ambinder declared, "but when histories of the Iranian election are written, Twitter will doubtless be cast as a protagonal technology that... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/remember_moldova.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/remember_moldova.php Behind the News Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:31:42 -0500 Daniel Denvir Personal rivalries have spiraled into defamation at a Spanish-language newspaper in Philadelphia. In April, Al Día, the area’s largest-circulation Latino community paper, paid out $210,000 after losing a libel suit to former city solicitor Kenneth Trujillo. It’s a big story with implications for Philly’s media community—but you wouldn’t know it if you relied on the English-language press. Trujillo sued... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/brothers_keeper.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/brothers_keeper.php Behind the News Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:00:52 -0500 Matthew Harwood Two hundred years ago this week, the radical journalist and pamphleteer Thomas Paine died an ignominious death. But during his life, Paine was renowned as the philosophical architect of the American Revolution, a true democratic populist who voiced ideas that are still considered dangerous. Common people can govern themselves justly and democractically. Liberty should not be forsaken for security. Both... http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/world_of_paine.php http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/world_of_paine.php Behind the News Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:50:09 -0500 Craig Silverman In exploring the emerging universe of Twitter, the service’s users have created hashtags and retweets, and have helped popularize URL shorteners. Alongside these innovations, Twitter users have also adopted a practice that is decidedly old media. Yes, I’m talking about the correction. Years ago, when blogs began taking hold in the minds and browsers of the people, bloggers were faced... http://www.cjr.org/regret_the_error/retweet_the_error.php http://www.cjr.org/regret_the_error/retweet_the_error.php Regret the Error Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:24:55 -0500