Mediagazer: Jodi Kantor gets a grilling from Upper West Side Barnes & Noble Patrons about her book, ‘The Obamas’ (Joe Pompeo/Capital New York)

5:15 PM ET, January 12, 2012

Top News:

Arthur S. Brisbane / New York Times:

Should The Times Be a Truth Vigilante? — I'm looking for reader input on whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge “facts” that are asserted by newsmakers they write about. — One example mentioned recently by a reader: As cited in an Adam Liptak article on the Supreme Court …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Gawker, The FJP, Boing Boing, National Review, Mediaite, Media Matters for America, American Journalism Review, Business Insider, Gothamist, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Just Well Mixed, The Atlantic Wire, @lheron, FishbowlNY, Vanity Fair, The Awl and Daring Fireball

Jim Romenesko:

NYT public editor on reaction to Truth Vigilante post — What I was trying to ask was whether reporters should always rebut dubious facts in the body of the stories they are writing. I was hoping for diverse and even nuanced responses to what I think is a difficult question.

Discussion: Poynter and FishbowlNY

Jay Rosen / Pressthink:

So whaddaya think: should we put truthtelling back up there at number one? — Somewhere along the way, telling truth from falsehood was surpassed by other priorities to which the press felt a stronger duty. Arthur Brisbane, public editor of the New York Times, was unaware of this history …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

Journalists incredulous as Times public editor asks: ‘Should the Times be a Truth Vigilante?’ — New York Times Public Editor Arthur S. Brisbane is attracting attention and derision for his latest blog post, “Should The Times Be a Truth Vigilante?” — “I'm looking for reader input on whether …

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Steve Myers / Poynter: Keller: 'I wonder if Art hasn't confused matters a bit'

Bloomberg:

News Corp. Tells Judge About Tabloid Editor's $1,150 Bribe to Prison Guard — News Corp. (NWSA) for the first time publicly detailed bribery by a journalist at its now-defunct News of the World, telling a court that a former editor agreed to pay a prison guard to get a story about a child killer.

Discussion: @lisaocarroll, mediabistro.com, FishbowlNY and The Huffington Post

Andrew Pugh / Press Gazette:

Express continued to use convicted PI Whittamore — Richard Desmond's Express Newspapers continued using convicted private investigator Steve Whittamore until as late as July 2010, the Leveson Inquiry heard this morning. — The company's legal chief Nicole Patterson was also unable …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Guardian, Guardian, @dansabbagh, @benfenton and Press Gazette

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
‘Daily Express right to quit PCC because it failed to stop McCann libels’

Discussion: Press Gazette

Press Association:
Why I published Madeleine stories

Discussion: Guardian

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:

Homeland Security watches Twitter, social media — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report, according to a government document.

Discussion: Techland, MediaFile and WebProNews

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Jodi Kantor gets a grilling from Upper West Side Barnes & Noble Patrons about her book, ‘The Obamas’ — It's been a busy, rough week for Jodi Kantor, the New York Times reporter whose new book about the first family, The Obamas, entered the world on Tuesday to mixed reviews and controversy …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Erik Wemple, Politico, Globe and Mail, Politico, The Huffington Post, CBS News, Associated Press and newsfeed.time.com

Erik Wemple:
How did the Tennessean scoop the White House press corps on the Johnny Depp Halloween party?

Discussion: Future of Journalism and NetNewsCheck Latest, Thanks:erikwemple

Nat Ives / AdAge:

Newsweek Reviving Its 1960s Design for ‘Mad Men’ Issue, Down to the Ads — Effort Marks Season-Five Premiere of AMC Show — Newsweek is planning an issue marking the return of “Mad Men” this March by adopting the magazine's 1960s design throughout — all the way, it hopes, to the ads.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Amazon Kindle Owners Are “Borrowing” Nearly 300,000 Electronic Books A Month — Amazon is releasing new data on its Kindle Lending Library, which the e-commerce site says now has over 75,000 books. The Kindle Owners' Lending Library is a collection of books that Amazon Prime members who own …

Discussion: Future of Journalism, Business Wire, MediaFile, VatorNews, paidContent, ZDNet and GalleyCat, more at Techmeme »

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:

James O'Keefe's Weak New Hampshire Exposé Could Get Him Arrested — The Alfred E. Newman of investigative journalism, James O'Keefe, staged his latest undercover video at the New Hampshire primary, where members of his team attempted to expose voter fraud by obtaining ballots for dead people.

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

CNN Reporter Becomes Target Of Ron Paul Supporters — A group of Ron Paul supporters are calling on CNN to remove the correspondent covering the candidate from her assignment, claiming that she is too biased against Paul. Dana Bash aroused the ire of the pro-Paul brigade on Monday …

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

New Republic owner quashes reports of liberal journal's sale — Despite reports to the contrary, the New Republic's principal owner insists the 98-year-old journal of liberal political opinion, reporting and arts criticism isn't shopping for a new owner. — “There's nothing there to the story …