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Columbia Journalism Review content tagged facebook

1. May 3, 2012 06:00 AM

   3 things big media can do to save independent journalism

   This is adapted from Rebecca MacKinnon's 2012 Hearst New Media Lecture, given at Columbia's J-school on April 19

   By The Editors

   By advocating Internet access that is open, interconnected, and neutral—which is not what's happening now—Rebecca MacKinnon argues that big media companies will be helping preserve conditions where a diverse media contingent can thrive. Specific points: 1. As app-based dissemination and social media supplant the Web, what’s good for the big media companies is not necessarily good for free speech and...

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2. May 10, 2012 02:12 AM

   Audit notes: Blodget’s anonymous Zuck fans, Ongo no-go, social news apps

   New York cover story dispenses with named sources

   By Ryan Chittum

   Here's the sourcing in Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget's New York cover story on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: "a colleague of Zuckerberg," "another early colleague of Zuckerberg," "one Silicon Valley veteran," "one Valley veteran," "A Zuckerberg confidant," "one insider," "a former Facebook employee," "a former Facebook executive fired by Zuckerberg," "A longtime Facebook exec," "some Zuckerberg skeptics," "One former Facebook...

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3. February 3, 2012 12:29 AM

   Audit Notes: CDO Charges, Facebook’s Board, Deficits

   By Ryan Chittum

   Sure enough, the Justice Department charged former Credit Suisse CDO executive Kareem Serageldin with fraud for allegedly artificially inflating CDO values. Two of his underlings pleaded guilty and say Serageldin orchestrated the scheme. The NYT: The government’s case against the former Credit Suisse traders depicts a brazen scheme to artificially increase the price of bonds on their books to create...

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4. August 27, 2012 06:50 AM

   Audit Notes: China slows, Romney’s taxes, copyright

   Inventories pile up, posing another threat to the global economy

   By Ryan Chittum

   The New York Times looks at a glut of goods clogging up Chinese warehouses—an ominous sign for the global economy: Problems in China give some economists nightmares in which, in the worst case, the United States and much of the world slip back into recession as the Chinese economy sputters, the European currency zone collapses and political gridlock paralyzes the...

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5. May 15, 2012 11:15 PM

   Audit notes: Commercialization, GM and Facebook, Saverin’s taxes

   By Ryan Chittum

   Conor Friedersdorf makes a nice catch on Tom Friedman's Sunday column bemoaning the commercialization of seemingly all aspects of American life: For example, his column is bizarrely titled, "This Column Is Not Sponsored by Anyone," despite the fact that right above it on NYTimes.com there is a banner ad for a Citi/American Airlines credit card. But Friedersdorf says Friedman is...

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6. April 11, 2012 01:26 AM

   Audit Notes: Dodger Money, Social News Apps, U.S. Mowing Bills

   By Ryan Chittum

   Andrew Ross Sorkin writes a tough column on the group of investors buying (or supposedly buying) the Los Angeles Dodgers for an eye-watering $2.15 billion. In addition to their own cash, Mr. Walter plans to use money from Guggenheim subsidiaries that are insurance companies — some state-regulated — to pay for a big chunk of his purchase of the Dodgers....

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7. May 22, 2012 05:58 PM

   Audit notes: Facebook disclosure, Facebook value, soft corruption

   By Ryan Chittum

   Business Insider's Henry Blodget, who knows a thing or two about analyst/IPO scandals, writes that Facebook and/or its bankers could be in trouble for not disclosing material information to the public about its financial health. Reuters has been reporting for several days that analysts at three of Facebook's bankers cut estimates for the company during the roadshow leading up to...

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8. May 21, 2012 05:03 PM

   Audit Notes: Facebook IPO edition

   By Ryan Chittum

   I'm happy to say I was wrong (and Felix was right) in guessing that retail investors would jump into Facebook shares and push it significantly higher. The stock stayed even on Friday only with the massive support of its underwriters, and it plunged 11 percent today. What happened? The company was overpriced, as many press stories suggested, and Facebook and...

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9. May 30, 2012 06:50 AM

   Audit Notes: Facebook IPO edition

   Why the flop matters

   By Ryan Chittum

   Joe Nocera glosses over the problem with Facebook's IPO in arguing that we shouldn't care whether its shares plunged after they started trading. But let’s be honest. Were there really any long-term investors in Facebook that first day? Judging by the torrent of criticism that has rained on Facebook and Morgan Stanley, it sure doesn’t appear that way. Instead, what...

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10. November 9, 2010 06:11 PM

    Audit Notes: Foreclosure Scandal, Gold Still Not a Record, Facebook Ads

    By Ryan Chittum

    The Washington Post drops this eye-raising info from a Long Island judge who's not happy with the banks' actions in the foreclosure scandal: It is not the only case that has big banks worried. Spinner and some of (his) colleagues in the New York City area estimate they are dismissing 20 to 50 percent of foreclosure cases on the basis...

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11. January 5, 2011 08:52 PM

    Audit Notes: Goldman and Facebook, Chainsaws, Hudson on Tax History

    By Ryan Chittum

    Francine McKenna sums up the problem with Facebook's Goldman Sachs investment pretty succinctly over at Forbes: Facebook wants the public’s money - and their trust - with none of the disclosure and none of the regulatory scrutiny of a public company. Goldman is getting around public disclosure rules that trigger when a company reaches 500 investors by creating a special-purpose...

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12. February 3, 2012 06:44 PM

    Audit Notes: Minimum Wage and the Recession, Facebook’s Numbers, Most Powerless

    By Ryan Chittum

    The Wall Street Journal runs an editorial today criticizing Mitt Romney for his support for increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation. Few policies are as destructive as the minimum wage at keeping the young and least skilled out of the job market. By setting an arbitrary wage floor, politicians make it impossible for businesses to hire people...

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13. September 6, 2012 06:50 AM

    Audit Notes: NYT yacht coverage, Diluted tech stocks, CNBC

    How stock options obscure what companies like Facebook are really worth

    By Ryan Chittum

    The New York Times takes a tough look at a pressing issue in our struggling economy: "How to Keep Yachting Expenses Manageable." Another risk is that you buy the wrong boat for the waters where you want to cruise. Jeff Vrana, who oversees one man’s five yachts, the largest of which is a 192-foot Lurssen called Ronin, said new buyers...

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14. June 5, 2012 08:21 PM

    Audit Notes: that 1930s feeling, Facebook small fry, Carter’s Grove

    Martin Wolf's hair is on fire

    By Ryan Chittum

    Martin Wolf's hair is on fire in the Financial Times: Suppose that in June 2007 you had been told that the UK 10-year bond would be yielding 1.54 per cent, the US Treasury 10-year 1.47 per cent and the German 10-year 1.17 per cent on June 1 2012. Suppose, too, you had been told that official short rates varied from...

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15. April 10, 2012 01:28 AM

    Audit Notes: Wells Bells, Nontaxpayers, Facebook Apps and Privacy

    By Ryan Chittum

    The Huffington Post reports that Elizabeth Magner, a federal judge in Louisiana, hit Wells Fargo with $3.1 million in punitive damages for gouging a New Orleans man for $24,000 in illegal fees on his mortgage, and then putting the full weight of its legal resources on him to discourage a lawsuit (emphasis mine) In the most recent opinion, Magner describes...

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16. March 24, 2011 05:42 PM

    Better to Be Skeptical Than Sanguine About Soaring Tech Valuations (UPDATED)

    By Ryan Chittum

    Henry Blodget's Business Insider runs a column today from a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist arguing that there's no new Web bubble. Blodget says on Twitter: "Anyone who disagrees, please refute logic. Don't just huff and snort." Well, okay. Here's what the VC, Ben Horowitz, says is his reason No. 1 why there's no new tech bubble: In the great...

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17. May 3, 2012 06:00 AM

    Collateral damage: news organizations, free speech, and the Internet

    This is the text of this year's Hearst New Media Lecture, given April 19 at the Columbia Journalism School

    By Rebecca MacKinnon

    How many more years will need to pass before we can stop calling digitally networked media “new”? After all, this year’s graduating class of students—and most of their generation—have spent their entire news-consuming and producing lives in a digitally networked environment. This digitally networked environment has not only transformed how professional journalists do their jobs—or how news organizations package and...

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18. May 23, 2012 01:04 PM

    Facebook fiasco

    The well connected made out while retail investors got hosed

    By Ryan Chittum

    We're starting to get a better picture of what happened with Facebook on Friday and in the run-up to its IPO, and it's not pretty. The repercussions have already begun, with a class-action lawsuit already filed against Facebook and Wall Street for misleading investors about the company's prospects. You can bet the recrimination from participants won't be too far behind....

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19. May 4, 2012 04:00 PM

    Facebook’s low, low ad rates

    The Journal reports on the site's problems with advertisers

    By Ryan Chittum

    The Wall Street Journal has a nice piece on advertisers' doubts about Facebook. As I noted a few months ago, Facebook brings in just penny a day of revenue for each of its users and its rate of ad growth was slowing considerably. It continued to slow in the first quarter: The Journal reports that Facebook would have to grow...

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20. October 21, 2011 02:32 PM

    Get a Life (Beyond the Web)

    Science writers struggle with time management

    By Cristine Russell

    FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA — Freelance science writer Steve Silberman might not be physically addicted to Twitter, but sometimes it seems like it. With nearly 15,000 followers and 25,000 tweets, he gets an online rush when tweeting and surfing the web and can easily see hours slip by without knowing it, falling into what he calls his “Twitter alcoholic blackout.” Silberman, who...

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