Mediagazer: Following Tony Scott error, will news orgs now think twice about following ABC News scoops? (Craig Silverman/Poynter)

3:10 PM ET, August 21, 2012

Top News:

In Praise of Fact-Checkers — In the wake of Niall Ferguson's dishonesty, Dylan Byers decided to contact Newsweek to see what controls the magazine had in place to prevent authors from lying to them. As it turns out, none: “We, like other news organisations today, rely on our writers …

Discussion: Politico and Mother Jones

Charlie Warzel / Adweek:

‘Newsweek’ Tumblr Adds to Publication's Woes — As if Newsweek needed another headache this week. — Already mired in a controversy over this week's Niall Ferguson cover story, Newsweek is receiving even more backlash this afternoon over a decision on the magazine's Tumblr account.

Discussion: Poynter, Mediaite, Newsweek and Gawker

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Niall Ferguson: ‘Credibility’ not undermined — Niall Ferguson went on Bloomberg TV this morning to defend himself against the tropical depression of criticism that met his recent Newsweek cover story about President Obama. — Accusing the “liberal blogosphere” of “nit-picking,” …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, The Daily Dish, Guardian and Business Insider

Tom McGeveran / Capital New York:
Is Tina Brown serious about Newsweek anymore?

Discussion: Politico, JIMROMENESKO.COM, The Daily Beast and The Huffington Post

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:
Niall Ferguson Smacked Down Over Another Questionable Newsweek Cover

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Maddow Blog, CJR, The Atlantic Online, The Huffington Post, Politico, Salon, Business Insider, The Daily Dish, Noahpinion, Brad DeLong, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, news.firedoglake.com and Slate

Ann DeMatteo / New Haven Register:

Journalist Fareed Zakaria resigns from Yale Corporation (document) — NEW HAVEN — The plagiarism scandal connected to a nationally known journalist has hit home. Fareed Zakaria, an editor-at-large at Time magazine and CNN host, on Monday resigned from the Yale Corporation.

Discussion: New York Times

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Plagiarism, defamation and the power of hyperlinks

Discussion: Reuters, Gatekeeper, Media Decoder and New York Magazine, Thanks:@mikeyavo

Brooks Barnes / Media Decoder:

ABC News Stumbles in Report on Tony Scott's Suicide — ABC News appears to have stumbled on flawed reporting for the second time in a month. — Late Monday, ABC backed off an earlier report saying that Tony Scott, the movie director who committed suicide on Sunday, had inoperable brain cancer.

Discussion: Business Insider, Deadline.com, TVNewser, TMZ.com, Telegraph, newsfeed.time.com, ABCNEWS, Poynter, People.com, Inside Movies and Pressing Issues

Craig Silverman / Poynter:
Following Tony Scott error, will news orgs now think twice about following ABC News scoops?

Discussion: Poynter, ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post and Mother Jones

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

Jimmy Kimmel to Move to 11:30 in January, ABC Announces — Jimmy Kimmel will jump to the big stage in late-night television in January, moving to 11:35 p.m. where he will take on the two titans of that time slot, David Letterman and Jay Leno. — ABC announced the move Tuesday …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, ABCNEWS, TVNewser, The Huffington Post, Poynter and Splitsider

Brian Stelter / The Caucus:

Akin's No-Show on ‘Piers Morgan’ is Boon for Program — When Representative Todd Akin abruptly cancelled an interview with Piers Morgan on Monday night, Mr. Morgan trotted out an empty chair instead. — The scene, irresistible to political insiders, played out in prime time on CNN on Monday night …

Discussion: New York Times, Poynter, The Huffington Post, CNN, Media Decoder, Yahoo! News, ThinkProgress and The Maddow Blog

BBC:

Julian Assange row: Embassy entry ‘would be suicide for UK’ — President Rafael Correa said he thought there was still a threat of the UK entering the embassy — The UK would be committing diplomatic suicide if it tried to enter his country's embassy in London, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has said.

Discussion: Gawker, The Week and New York Times

Kiran Randhawa / London Evening Standard: Friend of Julian Assange names ‘sexual assault victim’ on live television

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Barnes & Noble Q1 revenues up slightly, but Nook device sales fall — Barnes & Noble reported first quarter earnings for fiscal year 2013 on Tuesday morning. The bookstore chain's revenues were up slightly, to $1.45 billion, and in line with analyst estimates of $1.48 billion.

Discussion: New York Times, The Digital Reader, AdAge, AllThingsD, CNET and ZDNet

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

Head of ABC's ‘This Week’ Is Leaving to Join PepsiCo — ABC News will cover this presidential campaign without one of its veteran journalists. Jon Banner, executive producer of George Stephanopoulos's Sunday morning public affairs show “This Week,” will leave ABC News for a job at PepsiCo.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable and TVNewser

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Amazon Prime Instant Video Beefs Up Sports And Documentary Content, Adds ESPN's 30 For 30 Film Series — Amazon continues to ramp up the content in its Amazon Prime film catalog to draw users to the premium service, with the latest licensing acquisition expanding its back catalog of sports and documentary content.

Discussion: Forbes, PC Magazine, Home Media Magazine, Business Wire, VatorNews and The Next Web

Sarah Lacy / PandoDaily:

NFW: Adam Penenberg Joins PandoDaily as Editor — Everyone in the startup ecosystem will tell you that the most successful entrepreneurs surround themselves with people who are better than them. So I know I'm on the right track, when I hire someone who makes me wonder how on earth I have managed to get him.

Discussion: @digiphile, @penenberg and @moorehn

Richard Wilson / Press Gazette:

Death toll of journalists in Syria rises to 15 this year — Syria has been labelled “the most dangerous place in the world” for journalists after Japanese reporter Mika Yamamota was killed amid fighting in Aleppo. — Yamamoto, 45, was an experienced war reporter who had covered conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq for Japan Press.

Miwa Suzuki / Agence France Presse:
Japanese reporter killed in Syria: Japan govt

Discussion: Committee to Protect … and The Atlantic Wire

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Confirmed: Gannett Has Bought Social Media Ad Company BLiNQ — As we first reported the other day, the social media advertising company BLiNQ is getting bought by Gannett, owner of USA Today, a number of local newspapers, and broadcasters. The news was formally announced today.

Discussion: Adweek, GigaOM and Gannett Blog