Mediagazer: African-Americans take greater hit in Times-Picayune layoffs (Steve Myers/Poynter)

4:25 PM ET, June 20, 2012

Top News:

Jonah Lehrer ‘understands he made a serious mistake’ — Will Jonah Lehrer remain at The New Yorker? NewYorker.com editor Nicholas Thompson “couldn't comment on Lehrer's future at the magazine,” writes Jacob Silverman, but Thompson made it clear that the recycling issue first disclosed on JimRomenesko.com …

Discussion: Poynter, FishbowlNY, Reluctant Habits, The Awl, New York Magazine and paidContent

Jacob Silverman / The Daily Beast:

Jonah Lehrer's ‘Self-Plagiarism’ Scandal Rocks The New Yorker — On June 5, bestselling pop-neuroscience writer Jonah Lehrer announced that he was leaving Wired, where he was a contributing editor, and moving his Frontal Cortex blog to The New Yorker, where he would be a staff writer.

Discussion: Erik Wemple, Poynter and Slate

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

Jonah Lehrer is the latest target of Google Game, crowdsourced investigation — Timothy Goeglein. — Does that name ring a bell? I imagine most folks have forgotten about him, but at one time he worked in the White House for President George W. Bush as a special assistant and public liaison deputy director.

Discussion: GalleyCat, CJR and Gawker

Jim Romenesko:

Questions about Jonah Lehrer's reporting were raised in 2009 — From Stephen S. Hall's review of Jonah Lehrer's “How We Decide” in the Summer 2009 issue of Columbia Magazine (second item on the page): Despite Lehrer's agile handling of a lot of complicated material, I never was quite sure …

Felix Salmon / CJR:
How Jonah Lehrer should blog

Discussion: Poynter, Gawker and New York Magazine

Guardian:

Mail on Sunday journalist who claimed Leveson threatened to quit to appear at inquiry — The journalist responsible for a Mail on Sunday story which claimed Lord Justice Leveson had threatened to quit over comments made by a government minister is expected to appear before the inquiry next week.

Discussion: Big News Network.com

Martin Hickman / The Independent:
Boris Johnson under fresh pressure over Murdoch meeting

Discussion: BBC

James Ball / Guardian:

Julian Assange's drama: in the third act, we still don't know what the story is — With its stand-off at the tiny Ecuadorian embassy in London, the Assange melodrama has entered its third act. But despite the drama, we don't yet know for sure what kind of story it is.

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Steve Myers / Poynter:

African-Americans take greater hit in Times-Picayune layoffs — African-Americans were disproportionately hit in last week's layoffs at The Times-Picayune, meaning the newspaper serving the majority-black city will become less diverse unless the difference is made up with new hires.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Gail Shister / TVNewser:

Will a TV Show About the News be More Compelling Than the Real Thing? — I admire Aaron Sorkin, but he gives me a headache. By the time his characters finish a monologue, I'm ready for a nap. Sorkin's latest work, “The Newsroom,” which debuts Sunday on HBO, is no exception.

Discussion: mediabistro.com and The Corsair

Michael Powell / New York Times:

Andrew Sarris, Influential Film Critic, Dies at 83 — Andrew Sarris, one of the nation's most influential film critics and a champion of auteur theory, which holds that a director's voice is central to great filmmaking, died on Wednesday morning in Manhattan. He was 83.

Discussion: LA Observed, Gawker, The Wrap, @joepompeo, Reviews, Runnin' Scared, Guardian and Gothamist

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

American Prospect Exceeds Fundraising Goal, Raises Enough To Stay Alive — The American Prospect, the liberal politics and policy magazine that was on the verge of shutting down last month, has exceeded its fundraising goal and will remain alive. Editor Kit Rachlis told The Huffington Post …

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Rollingstone.com lays off staffers — Wenner Media has laid off at least five staffers for Rollingstone.com, according to sources there. Managing Editor Evie Nagy and Associate Editor Matthew Perpetua are among those let go Tuesday. Last week the company informed employees in a note …

Discussion: FishbowlNY and Gawker

Jon Russell / The Next Web:

YouTube founders to launch mysterious publishing service Zeen next week — Speaking at Le Web 2012 London, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley has revealed that the mystery around Zeen, a site that helps create online magazines and publications, will soon be lifted as the service will launch next week.

Discussion: PC Magazine and mediabistro.com

Adrienne LaFrance / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Tor Project helps journalists and whistleblowers go online without leaving a trace — Originally built in a U.S. Naval laboratory as a way to protect government communications, Tor has grown into a wide-reaching project that helps individuals stay anonymous online.

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