Mediagazer: How the byline beast was born (Jack Shafer)

7:25 PM ET, July 6, 2012

Top News:

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Journal Critique of Romney Shows Murdoch Doubt on Candidacy — To hear Rupert Murdoch tell it lately, Mitt Romney lacks stomach and heart. He “seems to play everything safe.” And he is not nearly as tough as he needs to be on President Obama. — Mr. Murdoch's thoughts on the Republican presidential candidate's prospects?

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Salon, Weekly Standard, Capital New York, FishbowlNY, Gawker, The Caucus, Media Decoder, The Daily Caller, CJR, Capital New York, New York Magazine, Chickaboomer and Guardian

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes Real Time:

News Corp. After the Split: Bright Outlook for WSJ; The NY Post, Not So Much — Employees of The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and other News Corp.-owned newspapers are feeling nervous over the prospect of being severed from the parts of the media conglomerate responsible for the vast majority of its profits.

Discussion: mediabistro.com, FishbowlNY, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Talking Biz News and Media Decoder

David Folkenflik / NPR:

Fake Bylines Reveal Hidden Costs Of Local News … Newspapers acknowledged publishing dozens of items in print or online from outsourcing firm Journatic that appeared under fake bylines. The Chicago Tribune, for example, said the matter is under investigation.

Discussion: Poynter, NPR, Media Nation and Poynter

Jack Shafer:

How the byline beast was born — The church of journalism threw a minor fit last week after This American Life exposed the inner workings of local-news company Journatic. Based in Chicago, Journatic contracts with newspapers around the country to provide them with local news stories.

Discussion: mediabistro.com

Ryan Smith / Guardian:

My adventures in Journatic's new media landscape of outsourced hyperlocal news — I went public about my experience at Journatic because people should know how their local newspapers are being hollowed out — HBO's new late-night series The Newsroom is set in the busy backstage of a CNN …

Discussion: CJR

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
The future of media and forcing new content into old models

Discussion: Street Fight and eMedia Vitals

Sarah Marshall / Journalism.co.uk:

BBC global news chief on trust: ‘If they believe us, they will share it’ — Peter Horrocks tells World Media Summit in Moscow audiences trust news shared by their family and friends more than articles shared by ‘most traditional media’ — The BBC's director of global news has today …

Discussion: bbc.co.uk

Jessica Culshaw / BBC:

BBC warns of ‘unprecedented threat’ to independent news — The BBC has today warned of an ‘unprecedented global threat to impartial and independent news’ and called on relevant authorities worldwide to protect the rights of journalists to report freely. — The call follows news …

Alex Wilhelm / The Next Web:

Huge: Reddit's largest subsections command more than 100 million monthly impressions — Yes, Reddit is big, but did you know how big? As it turns out, the social links and news site is likely larger than you imagined. Released today is a pile of traffic data from several of the sites largest ‘subreddits,’ or subsections.

Discussion: Daily Dot and WebProNews

Vanity Fair:

The Late Marie Colvin: “I Feel Like I Am the Last Reporter in the YouTube World” — “My darling, I have come back in to Baba Amr, the besieged neighbourhood of Homs, and am now freezing in my hovel with no windows. I just thought, I cannot cover the modern day Srebrenica from the suburbs …

Tracie Powell / Poynter:

Where Joe Williams' departure leaves Politico's newsroom diversity — Reporter Joe Williams' departure from Politico is part of a longer story that began back in 2009 when the National Association of Black Journalists and others publicly chastised the publication for its lack of diversity.

Discussion: FishbowlDC and The Daily Caller

Alan Prendergast / Westword:

Armando Montano: Account of “accidental” finding in journalist's death disputed — Mexican authorities have concluded that the death of Armando Montaño, a promising young journalist from Colorado Springs whose body was found June 30 in an elevator shaft in Mexico City …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Tim Molloy / The Wrap:

Ratings: ‘GMA,’ ‘Today’ Tie in Ann Curry's Final Week — “Good Morning America” continued to even the field with “Today” by tying the NBC broadcast in total viewers in Ann Curry's last week as “Today” co-host, according to preliminary numbers. — Curry was bumped from hosting duties as “Today” tries to increase its lead over “GMA.”

Discussion: B&C, TVNewser, The Huffington Post and Broadcasting & Cable