Mediagazer: LA Times posts reporter opening - the day before layoffs * (Kevin Roderick/LA Observed)

10:25 PM ET, March 20, 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: Media Decoder, Associated Press, @weareyourfek and The Caucus

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Media scrubs Malia Obama vacation story — The AFP, the Huffington Post and other websites have scrubbed a report about first daughter Malia Obama's Spring Break vacation. — On Monday, the AFP reported that Obama's daughter was vacationing abroad, along with a number of friends and 25 Secret Service agents.

Discussion: TheBlaze.com, National Review, Mediaite, TVNewser, Capital New York, BuzzFeed, Reason and The Raw Story

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: Erik Wemple, Grist and DCist

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

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

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

Discussion: Erik Wemple, Quote and Comment and ArtsBeat

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

Discussion: AdPulp, MOTHERBOARD, The Jane Dough, Nieman Journalism Lab, Forbes, CJR, Erik Wemple and Mike Daisey

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

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, Telegraph, @ingridlunden, @emilybell 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: Poynter, @carr2n, The FJP, National Review, bookforum.com and Media Decoder

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: Inside Cable News, TVNewser and Felix Salmon

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.”

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, DeBord Report and Talking Biz News

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 …

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:

Diller-backed Aereo countersues Fox, PBS — (Reuters) - Aereo Inc, an online television service backed by billionaire Barry Diller, filed a second countersuit against major broadcasters that want to stop it from retransmitting their programming. — Tuesday's lawsuit against News Corp's Fox …

Discussion: VentureBeat, The Verge and Engadget

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.

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: The New York Observer

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