Mediagazer: Newspapers take it on the chin as online ad revenue falls into the hands of a few tech giants (John Cook/GeekWire)

3:25 PM ET, March 19, 2012

Top News:

“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” — Many consider this week's THIS AMERICAN LIFE episode one of the most painful they've ever listened to. In particular the segment with me is excruciating—four hours of grilling edited down to fifteen minutes.

Discussion: The Wrap, The Huffington Post, Poynter, Slate, Techland and CNET

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

4 important truths about Mike Daisey's lies & the way ‘This American Life’ told them — Fact checking is a real process, but what “This America Life” did wasn't fact checking. — When the news broke that “This American Life” was retracting the episode “Mr. Daisey Goes to the Apple Factory …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Radio & Television …, CNET, Innovation in College Media, 9to5Mac, Techland, The Stranger …, Gizmodo and Chicago Tribune

David Carr / New York Times:

Theater, Disguised as Real Journalism — Is it O.K. to lie on the way to telling a greater truth? The short answer is also the right one. — No. — It's worth examining that question now that we have learned about the lies perforating the excerpt of Mike Daisey's one-man show …

Discussion: Gothamist, Media Decoder, MacStories, Capital New York, ReadWriteWeb, CNN, Forbes, Chickaboomer, ZDNet, bookforum.com, BetaNews, @jayrosen_nyu and The Huffington Post

Matthew Baldwin / defective yeti:

Putting the I in Story — I worked as a customer service rep at Amazon in the late 90s, at the same time as Mike Daisey. I don't think he and I ever interacted one-on-one, but I knew who he was, saw him around the ol' cube farm, and received the emails he periodically sent to the department …

Discussion: Gawker, Mashable!, Fast Company and AllThingsD

Adrian Chen / Gawker:
How I Was Duped By Mike Daisey's Lies

Discussion: BetaNews, The Next Web and Business Insider

John Cook / GeekWire:

Newspapers take it on the chin as online ad revenue falls into the hands of a few tech giants — Americans are spending more time consuming news, using devices such as smartphones and tablets to track events on the go. But even as news consumption rises, the traditional media companies …

Discussion: Forbes, paidContent, TVNewser, Kirk LaPointe's …, Forbes and Nieman Journalism Lab

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Pew: Twitter, Facebook Aren't Moving As Much News As You Think — We've heard that social media is a great source of traffic for news outlets so often that it's close to textbook. Yes, Facebook, Twitter and the rest are important, according the 2012 State of the News Media report …

Discussion: Guardian, TPM IdeaLab, Adam Sherk, Betabeat, Online NewsHour and eMedia Vitals

stateofthemedia.org:

What Facebook and Twitter Mean for News — Perhaps no topic in technology attracted more attention in 2011 than the rise of social media and its potential impact on news. “If searching for news was the most important development of the last decade, sharing news may be among the most important of the next …

Discussion: Poynter, TVNewser, PC Magazine, Broadcasting & Cable, Adweek, AllThingsD, Media Buyer Planner, ZDNet, broadstuff, BtoB Magazine, WebProNews, @butterworthy, Journalism.co.uk, Media Decoder and MediaPost

Jeff Roberts / paidContent:

Newspapers And Video: Slow And Steady Or Flood The Zone? — The Wall Street Journal (NSDQ: NWS) has embraced video with gusto. The venerable paper is pumping out hours of live news clips and splashing them onto everything from the iPhone to the X-Box. — According to Alisa Bowen …

Discussion: Beet.TV and NetNewsCheck Latest, Thanks:@jeffjohnroberts

Alan Travis / Guardian:

Murdoch met Thatcher before Times takeover — The media mogul requested a meeting at Chequers to personally lobby the PM, and explicitly briefed her on his bid - something long denied by both sides — • Read the original documents here — A secret meeting between Rupert Murdoch …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk and The Independent

Natalie Peck / Hacking inquiry:
News of the World jeopardised Ipswich murders investigation, claims former police investigator

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Daily Mail:
FBI threaten to step in on Met's investigation into Rupert Murdoch's empire in case Scotland Yard ‘drops the ball’

Discussion: The Independent

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:

Where Pimps Peddle Their Goods — I WENT on a walk in Manhattan the other day with a young woman who once had to work these streets, hired out by eight pimps while she was just 16 and 17. She pointed out a McDonald's where pimps sit while monitoring the girls outside …

Discussion: NYConvergence.com and Via Meadia

Pandora Young / FishbowlLA:
Former Underage Prostitute Sold on Backpage.com: ‘Like Going Back to Slave Times’

Discussion: FishbowlNY

John Plunkett / Guardian:

Mark Thompson to step down in autumn — UK's top TV executive confirms he is to leave after the Olympics — BBC director general Mark Thompson has confirmed he will step down from the role in the autumn following the London Olympics. — Thompson, who has been in the job since 2004 …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Deadline.com, Press Gazette and Journalism.co.uk

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

A year into the ‘Times’ digital subscription program, analysts and insiders see surprising success, and more challenges to come — Almost exactly a year ago, on March 17, about two dozen New York Times employees gathered in a conference room not far from where the paper's journalists …

Discussion: Capital New York and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Keach Hagey / Politico:

Breitbart to announce new management — Two of Andrew Breitbart's closest friends and business associates are stepping in to take over the roles he held in his eponymous media company and carry out the expansion plans he made before his sudden death earlier this month.

Discussion: mediabistro.com