Mediagazer: Is it OK for AOL's Techcrunch Editors to invest in companies they write about? (Tom Foremski/IMHO Blog| ZDNet)

9:40 AM ET, April 28, 2011

Top News:

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

In Trying to Debunk a Theory, the News Media Extended Its Life — The facts about Barack Obama's birth never wavered. But the more the fraudulent theories were debated and dispelled in major news media outlets, the more people seemed to believe them. — The conspiracy theories …

Discussion: The New Yorker Blog

Julie Moos / Poynter:
Factchecking Obama: Birther controversy was 4% of newshole, not ‘dominant’ story

Discussion: White House.gov Blog, Democracy in America, Online NewsHour, Journalism.org, New York Times, The Huffington Post, TVNewser, Mediaite, doublex.com, The Wire and Pajamas Media

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
Obama Scolds Media For Focusing On Birthers

Joel Meares / CJR:

The Royals Ban Satirical Coverage of Kate and Wills' Big Day — A video feed rule change and CJR's call for a royal boycott — Finally, CJR finds a Royal Wedding angle. — It comes to us all the way from Sydney, Australia, where the national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Network …

Discussion: Speakeasy, Yahoo! News, ABC News, Crikey, AdAge, Sydney Morning Herald and The Daily Beast

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

How the AP will cover the Royal Wedding — “Friday is royal wedding day in London and our report will look a little different,” says a memo to Associated Press staff. “The Associated Press will be alerting every development, running live video in SD and HD, tweeting and posting on Facebook …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Tom Foremski / IMHO Blog| ZDNet:

Is it OK for AOL's Techcrunch Editors to invest in companies they write about? — It's a question we once had figured out but a new generation of editors says it's OK. As long as it's disclosed. But is that enough? — Mike Arrington, editor and founder of Techcrunch, an AOL company …

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

An Update To My Investment Policy — Before TechCrunch I was an occasional angel investor, going back to the mid 1990s. I've also made investments since TechCrunch, in companies like Dogster, DanceJam, Seesmic and Daylife. Some people have seen this as a conflict of interest, which it of course is.

Discussion: Gawker, @benparr, SAI and SAI, more at Techmeme »

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

CNBC's Burnett Is Said Ready to Jump to CNN — The CNBC anchor Erin Burnett is poised to sign a long-term contract with CNN, according to three people with knowledge of her plans. — The signing will represent a shift to general news anchoring for Ms. Burnett, who has shown interest …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, TVNewser, Poynter and Dealbreaker

Andrew Phelps / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Want to keep mobile users engaged longer? Just add audio — NPR's iPhone, iPad, and Android apps have together surpassed five million downloads, an impressive number — but most of their users never stream audio. When they do listen, however, they are far more engaged.

Discussion: MediaPost and eMedia Vitals

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Finding the value in Guardian local ‘experiment’ — Yesterday the Guardian announced it was winding down its local blogging “experiment” Guardian Local. — The platform, which ran three blogs for Cardiff, Leeds and Edinburgh, was first launched in March 2010, described at the time by Guardian editor …

Discussion: Street Fight and Jon Slattery

Meg Pickard / Guardian:
Guardian Local - an update on the experiment

Discussion: matt.me63.com, Tom Foremski, paidContent:UK, Journalism.co.uk, AndyDickinson.net and Jon Slattery

Jennifer Saba / Reuters:

Thomson Reuters revenue rises, plans divestitures — NEW YORK (Reuters) - News and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp's revenue growth accelerated in the first quarter as it reaped the benefits of heavy spending on new products, and the company said it plans to sell two more businesses to fund further investment.

Katie Feola / Adweek:

The New York Times Has Not Sunk...Yet Sulzberger talks up company at annual meeting — NEW YORK—At the New York Times Company's annual meeting here on Wednesday, company chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. did his best to keep the focus on the flagship paper's high quality journalism.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

MediaShift Idea Lab:

'There's No Problem!' Newsrooms in Denial About Rampant Errors — Jonathan Stray has opened a new conversation about measuring accuracy in news reports. Stray, who works at the Associated Press and blogs on the side, comes at the issue with a refreshingly analytical, data-driven perspective.

Jeffrey Benzing / American Journalism Review:

On the Front Lines — Former TBD.com honcho Jim Brady is helping the Journal Register Company reinvent itself for the digital age. Posted: Wed, April 27, 2011 — Jeffrey Benzing (jbenzing@ajr.umd.edu) is an AJR editorial assistant. — They're building Thunderdome.

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Ahead of Earnings Next Week, Demand Media Shares Drastic Dip Due to Googley Panda-Monium — April showers bring...well, a bad month for the still-young stock of online content maker Demand Media. — After a successful IPO in January, shares of the Santa Monica, Calif. …

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Jesse Thorn on making your own thing in public radio (while still being able to feed your family) — Two years ago, I did an interview with Jesse Thorn, the host of the public radio program The Sound of Young America and, to my mind, one of the most interesting entrepreneurs in public media today.

Yvette Kantrow / The Huffington Post:

The Maginot Media — Nearly three years after the financial world imploded, the business media is still operating under a cloud of shame for failing to sound the alarm that the end was near. The press, the story goes, should have warned us sooner that real estate was a bubble …

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

Journalists call for independent investigation of Protess controversy at Medill — Romenesko Misc. — The 35 people who signed the statement say they “are deeply concerned about what appears to be a retaliatory — campaign by law enforcement authorities and Northwestern University …