Mediagazer: Truth, Lies, Politics, and the Press, in Three Acts (James Fallows/The Atlantic Online)

3:30 AM ET, August 20, 2012

Top News:

Journalists Dancing on the Edge of Truth — Before writing this column on recent incidents of plagiarism and fabrication, I spent time on the Web reading all known thought on the subject, making notes as I went. When I wrote it up, I used those notes to help create something I am now claiming as my own.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Slate, Vanity Fair and Erik Wemple

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

Another source claims Lehrer misconduct: 'I know I didn't say' half of that — Milton Glaser, the artist best known for inventing the “I ♥ NY” logo, tells interviewer Ryan Kohls he never said half of what Jonah Lehrer attributed to him in his book “Imagine.” He also calls Lehrer's behavior “self-sabotage.”

Discussion: I WANNA KNOW WHAT I …

Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:

Hulu CEO faces big changes — Jason Kilar set for mega payday; owners to alter content deals — “Outline transition plan for new CEO. Discuss potential candidates and process.” — These sentences are the topmost bullet points of a confidential internal memo regarding the business of Hulu obtained by Variety.

Discussion: GigaOM, TechCrunch and CNET

Aaron Blake / The Fix:

Obama adviser says People magazine ‘equally important’ as political media — President Obama's deputy campaign manager, Stephanie Cutter said Sunday that entertainment media like People magazine and Entertainment Tonight are just as important as the national political press in the 2012 campaign.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Daily Caller and CNN

Politico:
Obama's soft-media strategy

Discussion: New York Magazine

New York Times:

Criticism Greets List of Debate Moderators — Complaining about the moderators of the presidential debates is a time-honored tradition of the election season. Usually, the complaints wait until the moderators have actually asked a question. — Not this year.

Discussion: TVNewser, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, theGrio, Pressing Issues, Media Decoder and TVNewser

Zack Whittaker / CNET:

Assange: The WikiLeaks ‘witch-hunt’ must end — Speaking to the public from Ecuador's embassy in London, Julian Assange calls for the U.S. to cease its “witch-hunt” against WikiLeaks and to not “persecute its staff and its supporters.” — LONDON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange today addressed …

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Times, BBC, Guardian, Agence France Presse, CBS News, ZDNet, BBC, Guardian and Guardian

Dan Frommer / ReadWriteWeb:

Why Twitter Just Pushed Developers Aside: To Secure Its Future — Twitter's long-awaited crackdown on outside apps could prove to be one of the boldest and most controversial moves in its history. But if you consider Twitter's position, it's actually reasonable. And it could play an important role in Twitter's survival.

Discussion: PandoDaily, NYT Bits, Daily Dot, GigaOM, Storify, Nieman Journalism Lab, Techland and Reportr.net

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

How Management Killed “The Village Voice” — Mike Lacey figured out sex ads on the Internet, but little else. The paper edges toward collapse. — Follow — Alt-weeklies are always dying. But the news Friday that four editorial staffers were laid off or had their hours cut to part …

Discussion: bookforum.com, JIMROMENESKO.COM, The New York Observer and AAN

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The newsonomics of breakthrough digital TV, from Aereo to Dyle and MundoFox to Google Fiber — In 1998, when Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought the Los Angeles Dodgers, the storied franchise was worth $380 million. News Corp. sold the team in 2003 for $430 million.

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:

Truth, Lies, Politics, and the Press, in Three Acts — Catching up on several related indicators, which together might point toward a positive and potentially major development in journalism and public life. — 1) An excellent item this week by the Atlantic's Garance Franke-Ruta …

Discussion: CJR

J. Nathan Matias / MediaShift Idea Lab:

Did Global Voices Use Diverse Sources on Twitter for Arab Spring Coverage? — Citizen journalism and social media have become major sources for the news, especially after the Arab uprisings of early 2011. From Al Jazeera Stream and NPR's Andy Carvin to the Guardian's “Three Pigs” …

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:

Mobile's not the next big thing, just a path to it — The Knight Foundation's News Challenge just announced its next theme: mobile. And that's a good thing because news organizations have been all-too pokey in figuring out how to serve people in this venue.