Mediagazer: L.A. Weatherman Sues CBS Stations For Hiring Young, Attractive Women (Matthew Belloni/Hollywood Reporter)

7:05 PM ET, March 16, 2012

Top News:

Retracting “Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory” — Ira writes: — I have difficult news. We've learned that Mike Daisey's story about Apple in China - which we broadcast in January - contained significant fabrications. We're retracting the story because we can't vouch for its truth.

Rob Schmitz / Marketplace:

An acclaimed Apple critic made up the details — Apple got a lot of attention recently over conditions in the Chinese factories that make its iPhones and iPads. The public radio show “This American Life” aired an electrifying account of one man's visit to several factories.

Discussion: Jack Shafer, LA Observed, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, Show Tracker, GigaOM, MacRumors, The Daily Caller, Techdirt, Gizmodo, Hit & Run and 9to5Mac

Jay Yarow / Business Insider:

This American Life Retracts Its Damning Episode About Apple And Foxconn — This American Life has retracted its episode on Apple and Foxconn. The episode detailed life at Foxconn and painted a damaging picture of life for employees. It was led by a performer named Mike Daisey who went …

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, @joshuatopolsky, The Verge, The Next Web, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

How ‘This American Life’ Let Itself Get Burned By An Apple Fabulist — You can't say nobody warned the producers of “This American Life” that Mike Daisey's epic story about Apple's Foxconn factory in China might be the work of an untrustworthy individual. Someone did, in fact …

Discussion: The Wrap, thephoenix.com, The Huffington Post, Mashable! and TUAW

Steve Myers / Poynter:

New York Times could look outside journalism for next social media editor — How hard will it be for The New York Times to replace Liz Heron, who is leaving her job as social media editor to become director of social media and engagement for The Wall Street Journal?

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, Capital New York and The New York Observer

Steve Myers / Poynter:
Heron: WSJ pay wall will be an ‘interesting challenge’ for social media efforts

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg:

Goldman Op-Ed Writer Got $150 for Unsolicited Critique — The New York Times (NYT), drawing criticism for running an op-ed by a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) executive attacking the bank, said the piece was one of thousands of unsolicited submissions it receives weekly.

Adam Martin / The Atlantic Wire:

Mayor Bloomberg Proud of Bloomberg's Coverage of the Goldman Sachs Op-Ed — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is very disappointed in the way the media has handled the story of Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith's very public (and very expensive) resignation, except for one outlet.

Discussion: Forbes, Deal Journal and business.time.com

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Scripps Howard Awards announced — Editorial writer Jamie Lucke of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Sara Ganim of The Patriot-News, and Danny Hakim and Russell Buettner of The New York Times are among the winners of this year's Scripps Howard Awards, which were announced this morning.

Discussion: The E.W. Scripps Company, Columbia University …, The Wrap, The Rural Blog and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Lucas Shaw / The Wrap:

CNN Takes Social Media Crown in Cable ... But Where Are the Ratings? — CNN accounted for almost 13 percent of all social media mentions in February, making it the most social network of all cable for the month, according to social media analytics firm Trendrr.

Discussion: Forbes, Erik Wemple and Inside Cable News

Tim Carmody / Wired:

Wikipedia Didn't Kill Britannica. Windows Did — First edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Photo: Courtesy Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. — I have never owned a print edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. After the Britannica company's announcement that …

Discussion: Slate, O'Reilly Radar, Fast Company, @penenberg, InvestorPlace and The Week

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

NBC News Stays on Top, While Its Newsmagazine Struggles — NBC News celebrated its status as the top news division in television with a presentation for advertisers Thursday in New York, led by Brian Williams, the anchor of its top-rated evening newscast. — But NBC News and Mr. Williams …

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Capital New York, TVNewser and Mediaite

Guardian:

@fieldproducer quits Sky News | Media Monkey — The social media wunderkind Neal Mann, better known as @fieldproducer, has walked out on Sky News just weeks after bosses told journalists to curb their Twittering. Monkey hears that the new top-down guidelines - which have been widely lampooned …

Discussion: @dansabbagh and @fieldproducer

Matthew Belloni / Hollywood Reporter:

L.A. Weatherman Sues CBS Stations For Hiring Young, Attractive Women — Kyle Hunter has filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against CBS Broadcasting and its stations KCBS and KCAL. — A Los Angeles weatherman has filed a lawsuit claiming he was passed over for jobs at two prominent stations …

Discussion: The Informer, LA Observed, FishbowlLA, TVWeek.com and TVSpy