Mediagazer: PolitiFact without the ‘Truth-O-Meter’ (Dylan Byers/Politico)

12:35 PM ET, February 16, 2012

Top News:

Interference Seen in Philadelphia Papers — Last week, Gregory J. Osberg, chief executive and publisher of the Philadelphia Media Network, which publishes The Inquirer, The Daily News and Philly.com, summoned the news organization's three most senior editors to his office.

Discussion: The Awl and Gannett Blog

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Philly papers to lose 37 positions through buyouts, layoffs — Philadelphia Media Network executives announced at a meeting with Guild leaders today that they will reduce the newsrooms of the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com by 37 positions. The company will offer buyouts first, and then begin layoffs if necessary.

Discussion: Philly.com, @chanders, Poynter, The Philly Post and Erik Wemple

Jim Romenesko:

You shouldn't lie to David Carr and NYT — By Wednesday morning, Chozick and Carr had multiple sources confirming Osberg's meeting with editors, and the two knew they were going to use it in their story. “So that was one of my first questions [to Osberg]: 'Did you hold the meeting with the three editors? …

Buzz Bissinger / New York Times:

Who Will Tell Philadelphia's Story? — I LIVE in Philadelphia. I have for nearly 40 of my 57 years. It is a wonderful city but also a corrupt one. Power is concentrated in the hands of a select few, who sometimes act in the public interest but too often act in their own interests …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM and Joel On The Road

Frances Martel / Mediaite:

Colbert Report Suspends Production For The Week, Reasons Unknown — If you just flipped over to Comedy Central to catch Stephen Colbert after a new episode of the Daily Show, you may have been surprised to catch Colbert talking about Herman Cain. Yes, there is a rerun of the show tonight …

Discussion: The New York Observer, New York Magazine, Gawker, Third Beat, @brianstelter, @producermatthew, Splitsider, TVWeek.com, newsfeed.time.com, @producermatthew, Vanity Fair, Deadline.com and Gothamist

Tim Mak / @timkmak:
POLITICO confirms Colbert will not air Wed/Thurs “due to unforeseen circumstances,” per response from Comedy Central. No further deets

Discussion: @timkmak and @timkmak

Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:

Murdoch Set to Face Sun Newsroom After Arrests — Rupert Murdoch faced down angry labor unions and journalists a quarter-century ago to establish a new printing plant in east London. This week he travels to the same part of town to calm unhappy employees.

Discussion: Capital New York, Guardian, Company Town, The Independent, Deadline.com, totalpolitics.com and CJR

The Huffington Post:
Neville Thurlbeck, News Of The World Reporter, Uses Blog To Launch NUJ Recruitment Campaign

Discussion: Neville Thurlbeck

Lena Groeger / ProPublica: Murdoch's Circle: The Growing News International Scandal

Josh Halliday / Guardian:
Journalists' employers must protect sources, says Lords committee chair

Discussion: Jon Slattery

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Met probes claims that Sun paid some public officials more than £10k a year

Discussion: Digital Spy, Jon Slattery, Press Gazette, Capital New York, themediablog.typepad.com and Reuters

Dylan Byers / Politico:

PolitiFact without the ‘Truth-O-Meter’ — PolitiFact, the Tampa Bay Times fact-checking project, has come under fire this week for a ruling that seems to contradict common sense. Yesterday, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow — PolitiFact's most vocal critic — went to town on the group for claiming …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Saint Petersblog

Rem Rieder / American Journalism Review:
Ignoring the Facts at PolitiFact

Discussion: Saint Petersblog, Erik Wemple, The Huffington Post and The Raw Story

Craig Silverman / Poynter:
Fact from fiction: PolitiFact draws ire for checking ‘Glee’

Discussion: Mediaite and Politico

Robert Rosenthal / Center for Investigative Reporting:

CIR receives $1 million MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced today that the Center for Investigative Reporting is one of 15 organizations in six countries that has received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.

Stu Woo / Wall Street Journal:
Bay Citizen Aims to Regroup, Turn Page

Discussion: San Francisco Chronicle

Erik Wemple:

Politico TV coming to a station on your dial? — TV Newser reports that Politico late last year filed a fresh application to trademark “Politico TV.” The filing, reports the site, indicates that Politico “has intent to use it.” — Politico isn't commenting on the matter.

Discussion: FishbowlDC and TVNewser

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

CBS May Produce New Show for Netflix — The digital video boom has generated lots of extra money for big media companies, who are selling off old shows to services like Amazon, Hulu and Netflix. — But as those services start to dabble in creating their own shows, big media companies …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, Inside TV and MarketingVox News & Trends

Jon Russell / The Next Web:

Blockbuster Australian film will become first to premiere on Facebook in the US — Facebook is about to get it first box office coup as Tomorrow, When the War Began, an Australian smash hit title, is to become the first film to be released on the social network at the same time that it hits cinemas in the US.

Joe Flint / Company Town:

CNN officially severs ties with Larry King — CNN and Larry King are going their separate ways. — Though King gave up his daily prime-time talk show on CNN in December 2010, he still had a deal for several specials. The last of those — “A Larry King Special: Dinner With the Kings” — aired in December.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, TVNewser, Chickaboomer, Media Decoder and The Huffington Post

Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:

A Month In, Facebook Timeline Brings New Growth For Myspace, Yahoo News, Pinterest, And Others — Having rolled out Timeline at the end of last year, Facebook followed up in mid January by letting third-party apps integrate with the reverse-chronological scrapbooking feature.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest