Mediagazer: Mike Daisey's brief guide to answering difficult questions (Jack Shafer)

3:25 AM ET, March 21, 2012

Top News:

McKay Coppins / Buzzfeed:

Story About White House Scrubbing Obama Daughter Travel Story Has Now Been Scrubbed — The White House's campaign to scrub a story from the internet yesterday about Malia Obama's trip to Mexico has gone meta: a media reporter's blog post about the administration's efforts to scrub the story …

Discussion: Associated Press, Media Decoder, @weareyourfek and The Caucus

Dylan Byers / Politico:

White House scrubs Malia Obama story — The White House is now confirming that it asked media organizations to pull a report about Malia Obama's Spring Break vacation. — “From the beginning of the administration, the White House has asked news outlets not to report on or photograph …

Discussion: National Review, TheBlaze.com, TVNewser, Mediaite and KASW-TV

Jack Shafer:

Mike Daisey's brief guide to answering difficult questions — Thanks to the “Retraction” episode of This American Life and his appearance at Georgetown University last night, we now know more than we ever wanted to about Mike Daisey's damage control theories. — On the radio, Daisey tendered the non-apology apology.

Discussion: Knight Science Journalism …, DCist, AllThingsD, Melville House Books, Grist, Forbes and The latest episodes …

Michael Wolff / Guardian:
In defence of Mike Daisey: never mind the facts, focus on the writing

Discussion: CJR, Erik Wemple, Quote and Comment and ArtsBeat

Greg Sandoval / CNET:
Woz supports Mike Daisey's message and says you should too

Discussion: The New York Observer, Erik Wemple, BetaNews, Gizmodo, The Verge and VentureBeat

Poynter:
The unanswered questions about ‘This American Life’ and journalism

Discussion: MOTHERBOARD, AdPulp, The Jane Dough, Nieman Journalism Lab, CJR, The Huffington Post and Mike Daisey

Daniel Victor / ProPublica:

If TV Stations Won't Post Their Data on Political Ads, We Will — Every local broadcast station has a repository of documents about political advertising that you have a legal right to see, but are accessible only by physically traveling to the station and asking to see “the public file.”

Press Gazette:

Press Awards: The full list of winners — The Daily Mail led the way at tonight's Press Awards - scooping Newspaper of the Year, Website of the Year and News Team of the Year. It also picked up Campaign of the Year and the Cudlipp Award, while writer Craig Brown won Columnist of the Year …

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:
Daily Mail is named Newspaper of the Year

Discussion: Guardian, @emilybell, Telegraph, @ingridlunden and Guardian

David Weigel / Slate:

The Media Shouldn't Apologize for Reporting What Voters Actually Say — And the journalists who report on them don't need to apologize for it. — If you don't hate Alexandra Pelosi, you hate America. A week ago, Pelosi delivered a micro-documentary to Real Time With Bill Maher about angry …

Discussion: @carr2n, The FJP, National Review, bookforum.com and Poynter

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg:

New York Times Co. Said to Focus on External CEO Candidates — New York Times Co. (NYT), which hired executive-recruiting firm Spencer Stuart to conduct a search for a new CEO, is focusing on external candidates, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation.

Discussion: Politico and Poynter

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:
NYT: We Have 454,000 Digital Subs So Let's Turn Down The Meter

Discussion: MediaPost, NetNewsCheck Latest, Guardian, Media & Entertainment, 10,000 Words, Globe and Mail, New York Times, CJR, JIMROMENESKO.COM, AllThingsD and Capital New York

Zach Christman / nbcchicago.com:

Police Handcuff NBC Chicago Photojournalist — Police release media members after about 10 minutes — Chicago police took two members of the media into custody Saturday, including an NBC Chicago photographer. — Photographer Donte Williams and WGN Reporter Dan Ponce were detained …

Discussion: Reporter's Committee …, @tvnewslab and The Huffington Post

Kevin Roderick / LA Observed:

LA Times posts reporter opening - the day before layoffs * — The involuntary layoffs in the Los Angeles Times newsroom that began last night are rolling through the ranks today, falling hardest on the features floor downstairs from the main newsroom. As many as 20 people may be out, sources there say.

Discussion: The Wrap and Talking Biz News

Emma Bazilian / Adweek:

ASME Names Digital ‘Ellies’ Winners ‘New York’ magazine, Condé Nast's ‘Wired’ win multiple awards By Emma Bazilian — Condé Nast's Wired and New York magazine were the big winners of the American Society of Magazine Editors' 2012 National Magazine Awards for Digital Media …

Discussion: MinOnline, WWD Media Headlines and The New York Observer

Paul Starobin / CJR:

Money Talks — Gillian Tett, the US managing editor of the London-based Financial Times, is “sharp” and “glamorous,” according to a 2010 profile by The Daily Beast. She may even be “the most powerful woman in newspapers,” the Beast said, as the FT “intends to become a status symbol of American business.”

Discussion: Reuters, Inside Cable News and TVNewser

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Social Magazine Apps Grapple With Advertising — Now that Forbes has 460,000 subscribers on Flipboard and 900,000 across properties on Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Currents, the brand is close to advertising deals with both social magazine platforms, Forbes Media's Bruce Upbin says.

Discussion: Publishing Executive … and Adweek

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Audit Bureau Of Circulations Endorses Meaningful Metrics On Digital Mags — The Audit Bureau of Circulations is hoping to make its reporting more relevant to an e-reading age with a new set of standards requiring much more detailed reporting of digital magazine sales.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest and MediaPost

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Sebastian Junger Launches Medical Training Program For Freelance Journalists In War Zones — NEW YORK — Tim Hetherington didn't have to die in Libya. It's that belief that has led Sebastian Junger, a close friend and colleague of the award-winning photojournalist, to launch Reporters Instructed …

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Investigative News Network gets IRS nonprofit status — The association, which aims to help nonprofit news sites collaborate and share resources, was approved as a 501(c)(3) organization Friday, 19 months after applying and “following numerous discussions with the IRS over INN's mission and goals,” according to the group.

Discussion: Investigative News Network and Nieman Journalism Lab