Mediagazer: When journalists take money from Wall Street (Felix Salmon)

6:55 AM ET, March 22, 2012

Top News:

John Cook / Gawker:

There Is No Such Thing as a ‘Larger Truth’: This American Life's Rich History of Embellishment — Mike Daisey has been roundly and justly castigated for selling his bulls**t stories about visiting the Foxconn complex in Shenzhen, China, to This American Life.

Discussion: Slate, PopWatch, The Huffington Post and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Adam Martin / The Atlantic Wire:
Mike Daisey Blames Other Reporters for Perpetuating His Lies

Discussion: CNN and The Huffington Post

Rebecca J. Rosen / The Atlantic Online:
Mike Daisey's First Public Talk After the ‘This American Life’ Retraction

Discussion: The Stranger …, Thanks:@jaredbkeller

Felix Salmon:

When journalists take money from Wall Street — Many thanks to Paul Starobin for getting to the bottom of the question of journalists being paid by Wall Street to give speeches. This is one of those issues, a bit like the exact meaning of “off the record”, where everybody thinks …

Andrew Phelps / Nieman Journalism Lab:

I can't stop reading this analysis of Gawker's editorial strategy — In January, newly minted Gawker editor A.J. Daulerio announced an experiment: Each day for two weeks, a single staff writer would be assigned “traffic-whoring duty.” [Language alert.]

Discussion: CJR, Gawker, Online Journalism Blog and News for Digital Journalists

Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:

Brooks Said to Be Quizzed by Police on Defense Official Payment — Rebekah Brooks, the former Chief Executive Officer of News Corp. (NWSA)'s U.K. publishing unit, was questioned by police about payments made to a source at the Ministry of Defence, a person familiar with the investigation said.

Discussion: Guardian and Telegraph

Martin Brunt / @skymartinbrunt:
#policebungs Ex-News Int chief exec Rebekah Brooks rebailed over illegal payments to public officials. Bailed until May.

Discussion: Milton Keynes Citizen

@skynewsbreak: PA sources: Former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks questioned about alleged payments to MoD officials

Nicholas Kristof / On The Ground:

Responding to Village Voice on Sex Trafficking — After my Sunday column criticizing Village Voice Media for providing a forum for sex traffickers on its Backpage.com websites, Village Voice has struck back. It has just gone on line with an article “What Nick Kristof got wrong”: — The article begins:

Discussion: Hit & Run, WebProNews, FrontBurner and Forbes

Village Voice:
What Nick Kristof Got Wrong: Village Voice Media Responds

Discussion: Poynter, Runnin' Scared, The Huffington Post and Erik Wemple

Sarah Marshall / journalism.co.uk:

Social predicted to overtake search as Guardian traffic driver — The Guardian's Facebook app has been downloaded eight million times since it was launched six months ago, seeing around 40,000 downloads a day. — Speaking at the Guardian Changing Media Summit, Tanya Cordrey …

Discussion: @antderosa and Guardian

Emma Bazilian / Adweek:

Will the Kindle Fire Be an iPad Killer? — When Amazon released the Kindle Fire last November, it was heralded as the first tablet with a shot at loosening Apple's stronghold on the market. But with Apple still dominating the tablet game—according to eMarketer, 83 percent of tablet owners have an iPad …

Alan Jacobs / The Atlantic Online:

Will Kindle's Free Samples Change the Structures of Plots? — Search-engine optimization reshaped the craft of a good headline. Will Amazon's book promotions have a similar effect on novels? — We all know that people who run websites have a hatful of little tricks intended to give their sites more prominence in searches.

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

All Your Online Ad Revenue Are Belong To Google … - Spitzer: The JOBS Act Would Undo the Most Important Reforms Placed on Wall Street in a Generation - Southern Voters Answer the Question They Find Hardest To Understand - Mike Daisey Was Nowhere Near Being Substantially True About Apple in China …

Andy Fixmer / Bloomberg:

Discovery Oprah Network to Lose $143 Million, SNL Kagan Says — Oprah Winfrey Network, the cable- television venture between Discovery Communications Inc. (DISCA) and the talk-show host, may lose $142.9 million in 2012 as it struggles to gain viewers, according to researcher SNL Kagan.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap

Associated Press:

Gary Pruitt of McClatchy new AP president, CEO — NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press has announced that Gary Pruitt, a former First Amendment lawyer who heads the third-largest newspaper company in the U.S., will become the news cooperative's next president and CEO.

Discussion: Poynter, Sacramento Bee and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Daniel Frankel / paidContent:

The Good And Bad News From The Latest Pay TV Subscriber Figures — The good news for the traditional subscription TV industry: subscriber counts across the cable/satellite/telco television services industry grew by 380,000 in 2011. The bad news? Growth of satellite and telco subscriptions …

Erik Wemple:

Jason Mattera interviews someone — is it Bono? — Jason Mattera, editor at large at Human Events, is famous for rough-and-tumble journalism. Last year he created a sensation when he pulled something of a fast one on Vice President Biden. He distracted the veep by pretending he wanted to pose for a picture with him.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Lede, Media Matters for America, The Atlantic Wire, Business Insider, Mediaite, Gawker, Rolling Stone, The Stranger … and TheBlaze.com

Peter Osnos / The Atlantic Online:

Toasting the Columbia Journalism Review at 50 — Looking back at a half century of conversation and criticism at a publication that believes journalism matters — The Columbia Journalism Review is in the midst of its 50th anniversary year, a considerable achievement.

Betsy Rothstein / FishbowlDC:

Former Roll Call Editor Spills Beans About Questionable Racial Hiring Practices — UPDATE: Roll Call Editorial Director Mike Mills Responds. — Roll Call's former Features Editor Debra Bruno (a.k.a. Bebbie Druno) is bound to burn a few bridges today with a story in the Opinion Pages …

Discussion: FishbowlNY