Mediagazer: ‘Yes Men’ claim hoax GE tax press release (msnbc.com)

4:55 PM ET, April 13, 2011

Top News:

Sidney Harman 1918-2011 — Sidney Harman died last night of complications from acute myeloid leukemia at the young age of almost 93. He first learned of his illness one month ago and remained vigorously engaged as Executive Chairman of Newsweek, and Chairman of the Academy for Polymathic Study …

Media Decoder:

For Newsweek's Future, More Questions — Updated — A question mark looms over Newsweek now that the man who pledged to revive its fading fortunes is gone. — Sidney Harman, who died Tuesday night at 92, was a stabilizing force for the troubled magazine, and it remains to be seen how his commitments will be honored.

Discussion: The Wrap and DealBook

Samantha Henig / The New Yorker Blog:
Postscript: Sidney Harman

Discussion: The Daily Beast and American Journalism Review

Associated Press:

AP Mistakenly Reports on Fake GE Press Release — AP mistakenly publishes story about General Electric that was based on a fake press release — The Associated Press mistakenly published a story Wednesday about General Electric Co. that was based on a fake press release.

Discussion: On Media's Blog, CNBC, Associated Press, Talking Biz News and AOL News

Joe Weisenthal / The Wire:

WHOOPS: AP Falls For Hoax Press Release Saying That GE Will Repay Government $3.8 Billion Tax Break — Original post: The AP just fell for a hoax press release, which claimed that GE would repay the government the $3.8 billion tax loss carryforward it received.

Discussion: Poynter, CJR, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, Associated Press, Hot Air, Regret the Error and FishbowlNY

msnbc.com:
‘Yes Men’ claim hoax GE tax press release

Discussion: Poynter and New York Observer

Meghan Peters / Mashable!:

How Paywalls Are Changing News Organizations' Social Media Strategies — The recent launch of The New York Times paywall has prompted debates about the viability and fairness of paying for news online. Are publications unrealistic about subscription prices? Should the community rally to support journalism?

Discussion: blogs.journalism.co.uk, Editors Weblog, Noted and Future of Journalism, Thanks:lavrusik

Vadim Lavrusik / Mashable!:

Why Social Media Reinvigorates the Market for Quality Journalism — Social media has created a human filter for quality content. The social web, like the old water cooler, favors conversations around news and even in-depth journalism that may not otherwise receive the exposure it deserves.

Discussion: MediaPost, Online NewsHour and Noted, Thanks:cmmeetup

Brett Pulley / Bloomberg:

AOL's Huffington to Add News Staff in Local Site Revamp — AOL Inc. (AOL), seeking to revive sales growth after buying the Huffington Post, is hiring as many as 800 full-time employees at local-news operations across the country and reducing the use of freelancers.

Discussion: paidContent, Street Fight, Poynter, VatorNews, Noted, Digits and Techdirt

Jack Shafer / Slate:

Huffington Post lawsuit: The bloggers' class action against Arianna's site is pure bunk. … Like This Story — Follow Slate's Press Box … - Why Obama and Reid Were Smart To Use D.C. as a Bargaining Chip- Hitchens: How Has Robert Mugabe Been Able To Rule Zimbabwe for So Long?

Discussion: Mixed Media, Washington Post, Forbes.com, The Atlantic Online, Editors Weblog, GigaOM, VentureBeat, The Wire, The First Post, Working Life and Crikey

Douglas Martin / New York Times:

Charles Laufer, Founder of Tiger Beat, Dies at 87 — Charles Laufer, who as a high school teacher in 1955 despaired that his students had nothing entertaining to read and responded with magazines aimed at teenage girls desperate to know much, much more about the lives of their favorite cute stars …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, The Daily Caller and PopEater

New York Post:

CNN tries ‘diverse’ approach — CNN brass are scrambling to find a new host for their troubled 7 p.m. timeslot, and trying to win back the African-American and Hispanic viewers sources say they've lost since the 2008 presidential campaign. — Hoping to accomplish both things at once …

Discussion: TVWeek.com, The Wire, Inside Cable News and Chickaboomer

Andy Isaacson / The Atlantic Online:

Are You Following a Bot? — How to manipulate social movements by hacking Twitter — ONE DAY LAST February, a Twitter user in California named Billy received a tweet from @JamesMTitus, identified in his profile as a “24 year old dude” from Christchurch, New Zealand, who had the avatar of a tabby cat.

Discussion: SAI and Scocca

David Goldman / CNNMoney.com:

Surprise! Online TV is billion-dollar biz — NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — As broadcasters and television networks try to figure out what to do with these newfangled Interwebs they've been hearing about, the limited TV content that actually is online is making quite a pretty penny.

New York Post:

New AMI shake-up: Perel named Star editor — In the latest shake-up to rock American Media Inc., Candace Trunzo was given the heave-ho as editor-in-chief of Star Magazine after four years and replaced by Radar Online editor David Perel. — AMI also hired Jose Lambiet …

Discussion: MediaPost, Adweek and WWD Media Headlines

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Sweeet!: Sugar Gets $15 Million More in New Funding From IVP and Sequoia — Sassy women-focused content site, Sugar Inc., has raised another $15 million in late-stage venture funding from new investor Institutional Venture Partners, as well as its original one, Sequoia Capital.

Discussion: MediaPost, TechCrunch, VatorNews, paidContent, VentureBeat and SAI, more at Techmeme »

Kat Stoeffel / New York Observer:

Citizen Glenn Beck: The Former Fox Pundit Channels Orson Welles — When Glenn Beck announced he would be leaving Fox News last week, he fixed his maniacal gaze on the camera, which was still for once, and delivered a cryptic promise. — “We will find each other,” he said.

Discussion: TVNewser, The Wire, Yahoo! News and Poynter

Subtraction.com:

Commented Out — Last week I had to shut down the comment thread for a post I wrote about The Daily when it turned into an unexpectedly snarky exchange on the merits of various approaches to iPad publishing. To look at the twenty comments that were published before I shut it off …

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Time Inc. Veteran John Squires Lands at Digital Bookstore — Longtime Time Inc. executive John Squires, last seen running the magazine industry's version of Hulu, has a new gig: He's at Akademos, a Connecticut-based company that runs digital bookstores for small and mid-sized colleges.

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

AOL Jumps To No. 2 Spot In comScore Online Video Rankings — Online video views continue to rise. ComScore has released data from its Video Metrix service, showing that 174 million Internet users in the United States watched online video content in March for an average of 14.8 hours per viewer.

Discussion: Nielsen Wire, Forbes.com, CNET News, comScore, Inc. and TVbytheNumbers