Amazon takes a tax hit, finally

Reuters reports early signs that collecting sales taxes affected the company’s sales

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 18, 2013 at 06:50 AM

Reuters reports that Amazon's fourth quarter results may take a hit from new laws that force it to collect sales... More

Digital First goes the Newhouse route in upstate New York

In Oneida, the paper moves to three days a week, following the Post-Standard

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 17, 2013 at 06:50 AM

The three-day-a-week newspaper model pioneered by Advance Publications in Michigan is now spreading to Digital First Media. The company will... More

Reuters’s OKC gusher

Its outstanding Chesapeake Energy investigation turns toward the gas driller SandRidge

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 16, 2013 at 06:50 AM

Reuters's reporting on Oklahoma natural gas giant Chesapeake Energy was some of the best corporate journalism of last year. Its... More

Audit Notes: insider trading versus CDO fraud, 401(k)s, lead and crime

Rough treatment for inside-trading suspects contrasts with CDO probes

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 16, 2013 at 06:50 AM

The contrast between how aggressively authorities have gone after inside-trading hedge fund impresarios and how softly they've tiptoed around Wall... More

CBS’s CNET Fiasco

An egregious breach of editorial dependence damages its credibility

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 15, 2013 at 06:50 AM

Last week, CNET picked Dish Network's Hopper with Sling, a DVR that can skip ads even more efficiently than other... More

Audit Notes: The Big Lie of the crisis, Hubbard and Mozilo, institutions

The attempts to muddy the historical record continue

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 14, 2013 at 06:50 AM

Jesse Eisinger has a good New York Times column skewering Edward Pinto, the American Enterprise Institute economist behind much of... More

Geithner gets his exit hagiography

Soft Washington Post and New York Times coverage of the departing Treasury secretary

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 11, 2013 at 03:29 PM

Speaking of hagiography, the Washington Post's Neil Irwin gives Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner his own parting kiss. This line sums... More

Audit Notes: WSJ Libor scoop, Business Insider, reader revenue

Deutsche Bank made big money betting on the rigged rate

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 11, 2013 at 06:50 AM

The Wall Street Journal posts an interesting page-one report on Deutsche Bank and the big profits it made betting on... More

The Times gives the SEC’s Khuzami a parting kiss

The enforcement chief still gets the “new sheriff in town” treatment

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 10, 2013 at 06:50 AM

It's at least easy to understand the logic, however icky, of the beat sweetener, that staple of news coverage that... More

Audit Notes: NYT on AIG, subsidizing fraud, free logic

Probably a bit hyped

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 9, 2013 at 06:50 AM

The New York Times scoops that AIG, recipient of a $180 billion bailout from taxpayers, will meet today to hear... More

Audit Notes: Gore gorges, 60 Minutes in New Orleans, Wired

The former vice president twists arms and cashes in on Current TV

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 7, 2013 at 06:50 AM

Read Brian Stelter's excellent coverage in The New York Times of Al Gore's role in building and selling Current TV:... More

Best of 2012: Ryan Chittum

The Audit’s deputy editor picks his favorite posts of the year

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 28, 2012 at 05:33 PM

The Washington Post Co.’s Self-Destructive Course — Dividends, share buybacks, and an anti-paywall stance help bleed the paper dry. CNBC:... More

Must-reads of 2012: business

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 26, 2012 at 06:50 AM

As 2012 draws to a close, CJR writers brainstormed the year's best reads in their beats. Vast Mexico Bribery Case... More

The Louisiana newspaper war

The Advocate picks up 23,500 readers in less than three months in New Orleans

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 21, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The Baton Rouge Advocate is making a run at a weakened Times-Picayune in New Orleans. The paper, which started a... More

Hearst buckles under advertiser pressure

The Times Union caves after reader-response post dinged real estate agents

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 19, 2012 at 03:00 PM

It's been a long time since we've seen anything as craven as the Albany Times-Union's capitulation to real estate agents... More

Audit Notes: Instaflim-flam, off the Hamster Wheel, Hulu

The New York Times raises questions about a CEO’s sworn testimony

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 18, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The New York Times's Nick Bilton reports that Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom appears to have misled regulators asking about Facebook's... More

Bloomberg on the impacts of inequality

One longtime McDonald’s worker’s story says a lot about the economy

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 17, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Bloomberg has an excellent story on low-wage work and inequality, comparing a longtime McDonald's worker to the company's CEO, who... More

Audit Notes: Amazon’s shell company, The Lens, Plain Dealer cuts

Reuters unwinds how the online retail giant avoided taxes via Luxembourg

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 14, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Reuters has a nice investigation into Amazon's vigorous tax avoidance, and this time it's not about sales taxes. The wire... More

Paywall illogic

Steve Buttry distorts our arguments—and the evidence

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 13, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Followers of the hot ‘n heavy paywall debate—all seven of you—may find it hard to believe, but there’s plenty of... More

Audit Notes: paying for news edition

NYT cuts would surely have been much worse without its paywall

By Ryan Chittum   Dec 5, 2012 at 02:12 PM

The New York Times, after a weak third quarter, is cutting 30 senior editors positions. "Senior editor" can mean a... More