Mediagazer: Sorkin On ‘The Newsroom’: ‘None of the characters are inspired by real people, not even a little bit’ (Alex Weprin/TVNewser)

2:15 PM ET, May 31, 2012

Top News:

To GOP, blatant bias in vetting — On the front page of its Sunday edition, the New York Times gave a big spread to Ann Romney spending lots of time and tons of money on an exotic genre of horse-riding. The clear implication: The Romneys are silly rich, move in rarefied and exotic circles, and are perhaps a tad shady.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Erik Wemple, New York Magazine, Poynter, NewsBusters.org blogs and Weekly Standard

Devin Gordon / GQ:
Five Points About Politico's Hatchet Job On NYT and WaPo

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Mike Daisey: Perhaps tech writers 'aren't actually journalists either?' — KQED | Mike Daisey, back with more media criticism, casts a steely eye at AllThingsD's D10 (or is that DX?) conference, currently teching it up in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Daisey thought AllThingsD's co-executive …

Discussion: Mike Daisey, KQED News Fix, CNET, Softpedia News, Media Decoder and Wired

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Letters to the DOJ: Public speaks out on e-book pricing case — As the Department of Justice's lawsuit against Apple and five big publishers for allegedly colluding to fix e-book prices moves forward, the public has the chance to respond with their take on the allegations.

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:
Penguin, Macmillan respond to DOJ in e-book price fixing suit

Discussion: paidContent

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Sorkin On ‘The Newsroom’: ‘None of the characters are inspired by real people, not even a little bit’ — TV and film writer Aaron Sorkin appeared at the All Things D conference, where he talked about writing the Steve Jobs biopic, and of course “The Newsroom,” his upcoming cable news-centric show on HBO.

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Will other Advance newspapers face cuts like Times-Picayune, Alabama papers? — Advance Publications' decision to cut staff and reduce printing to three days a week at its papers in New Orleans and Alabama has worried journalists at its other newspapers. Cleveland Scene's Kyle Swenson reported …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, JIMROMENESKO.COM and New York Post

Claire Atkinson / New York Post:

Google, Facebook vie for stake in Vevo — Vevo — a joint venture of Universal Music Group and Sony Music along with the Abu Dhabi Media Co. — is valued at about $1 billion on revenue of $150 million, according to industry sources. Vevo licenses its content to a number of partners …

Discussion: CNET, VentureBeat and The Next Web

London Evening Standard:

Jeremy Hunt on the rack over BSkyB text to James Murdoch — Jeremy Hunt sent a congratulatory text message to James Murdoch the day Vince Cable was removed from presiding over News Corp's controversial £8 billion BSkyB bid, it was revealed today.

Discussion: Guardian, Telegraph, Huffington Post UK, Guardian, @benfenton, Guido Fawkes, Associated Press, New York Times, @arusbridger, Guardian, @tomjharper, @tomjharper, BBC and Press Gazette

Jim Romenesko:

Newspaper Guild blasts Reuters' Performance Improvement Plans — From A REUTERS JOURNALIST who asks not to be named: Reuters management has launched a push to supposedly help selected reporters improve their job performance through a legalistic process known as a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP).

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:

Gawker Goes Colonial with New Commenting System — Gawker Media is eyeing an international expansion to harvest licensing revenue from its shiny, new commenting system, according to an internal memo sent out by proprietor Nick Denton Wednesday afternoon. — “Our international efforts …

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Obama Video on Fox News Criticized as Attack Ad — The “Fox and Friends” video. — The Fox News Channel came under withering criticism on Wednesday for a four-minute video, broadcast on its morning show “Fox & Friends” that portrayed President Obama's tenure as a series of failed promises.

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

Dish Network wins first ruling against networks in ad-skipping case — The menu for Dish Network's AutoHop commercial-skipping feature. — Dish Networks landed the first punch in its fight against broadcasters ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC over whether its new ad-skipping feature called AutoHop is legal.

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

Cable News Ratings Fall Across the Board, From Fox to MSNBC — Is a presidential election a turnoff to news viewers, even those who generally like to hear political opinions reflected in cable news shows? — In what seems an incongruous development, the month of May …

Discussion: Capital New York, Radio & Television …, TVNewser and Los Angeles Times