Mediagazer: Tyrant Editor Sends a Reporter Off the Deep End (Ryan Tate/Gawker)

12:55 PM ET, September 21, 2011

Top News:

Al-Jazeera chief's surprise resignation raises fears for channel's independence — Wadah Khanfar stood down after eight years that consolidated the satellite network's reputation and his own position — Seated behind a vast desk, surrounded by TV screens, deep leather sofas and a wall …

Discussion: Poynter, Business Insider, mediabistro.com, The First Post and New York Magazine

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

After Disclosures by WikiLeaks, Al Jazeera Replaces Its Top News Director — CAIRO — Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab news network controlled by Qatar, named a member of the Qatari royal family on Tuesday to replace its top news director following disclosures from the group WikiLeaks indicating …

Discussion: Guardian, Yahoo! News, ShortFormBlog and Foreign Policy

Aljazeera:
Al Jazeera director general steps down

Discussion: Associated Press, Broadband TV News, Guardian and On Media's Blog

John Koblin / WWD:

More, and Less, of Harper's Bazaar — MORE, AND LESS, OF HARPER'S BAZAAR: Now that Hearst has had its hand on Elle for four months, the publisher is ready to roll out some changes at one of its other fashion titles: Harper's Bazaar. WWD has learned that, in the coming months …

Discussion: Adweek, FishbowlNY and The New York Observer

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Study: Commenters on CNN.com may call you an idiot; on msnbc.com they tell you why you're an idiot — Tim Libert, a Web developer for NYU's journalism department, conducted a detailed study of about 2,400 article comments posted on six news sites to learn how commenters view the hacking group LulzSec.

Discussion: timlibert.me

Ben Fenton / Financial Times:

Newspaper editors argue for self-regulation — Newspapers need to maintain a self-regulatory regime despite the excesses that led to the phone hacking scandal, members of a high-level panel said last night as they discussed whether the UK got the press it deserved.

Discussion: Erik Wemple

Guardian:
Met police drop action against the Guardian over hacking sources

Discussion: Jon Slattery, The First Post, Press Gazette and Journalism.co.uk

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

10 ways journalists can use Twitter before, during and after reporting a story — There's no doubt that Twitter is a useful tool for news organizations. I see journalists use it throughout the day to find story ideas, share news and talk with one another, so I've long known …

Discussion: The News About The News and App Advice

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

BBC Overhauling Its Website For ‘Swipabiity’ — Expect to see more of this. The BBC is redesigning its website to take account of how users are now “swiping” using touchscreen devices. — The programme began under new future media director Ralph Rivera's regime on Wednesday …

Discussion: Pocket-lint, Guardian, the Econsultancy blog and The Next Web

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

On the Media: It's time for America to talk class — Income disparity isn't a headline-grabbing topic, but the nation needs to have a serious discussion about it. — In a week that saw the number of people in poverty hit a half-century high and President Obama propose a tax increase …

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:

Sasha Frere-Jones Backs Away from Duties at The Daily — Sasha Frere-Jones, The Daily's bold-face culture editor and New Yorker pop music critic, has relinquished his full-time editing duties at the iPad tabloid, a source familiar with the operations told The Observer.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Wall Street Journal:

TV Lures Ads but Viewers Drop Out — Here's a business riddle: More people are turning off their televisions. So why are advertisers spending ever-larger sums—at ever-steeper rates—to advertise on TV? — In many ways, the very fragmentation of modern media has made television all the more valuable.

Ryan Tate / Gawker:

Tyrant Editor Sends a Reporter Off the Deep End — Matthew Winkler was down under last week, and on top of the world. The Bloomberg co-founder interviewed the Aussie prime minister, and gushed in a laudatory Australian profile that “it's really an extraordinary time to be around, to be alive …

Discussion: Media Diary

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:

Awl My Children: Spawn of Gawker Inspires and Advises Editorial Ideologues — During his first company-wide meeting two weeks ago, Nick Denton declared that Gawker Media is a technology company, not an editorial one, according to a report published on The Awl.

New York Post:

Talent drain saps health-conscious Rodale — Rodale, the family-run publishing empire that publishes Men's Health, Runner's World and a host of other titles, has just seen one of its top non-family executives, chief operating officer Ken Citron, exit. — The move comes two years …

Rip Empson / TechCrunch:

New Enterprise, Benchmark, Ron Conway And More Pour $10 Million Into Web Talk Radio Startup Stitcher — Last we heard, video had killed the radio star. But thanks to the Web, radio is finding new distribution channels and a new mobile home. When you think of Web radio, you might think of Pandora — and for good reason.

Discussion: VentureBeat, GigaOM, AllThingsD and Electronista, more at Techmeme »

Greg Marx / CJR:

Passing Interference — As politicians find new ways to connect with voters, journalists need a fresh playbook — At the Poynter site last week, Jason Fry had a sharp post about a major change reshaping the sports journalism landscape. The endless MSM-vs.-bloggers feuds are fading …