Mediagazer: What ad biz needs are writers (Michael Wolff/USA Today)

9:50 PM ET, October 1, 2012

Top News:

Washington Post Co. buys hospice firm Celtic Healthcare — The Washington Post Co. said Monday that it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Celtic Healthcare, a provider of skilled home health-care and hospice services in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Wrap, Gawker, @jeffsonderman, The New York Observer, JIMROMENESKO.COM, @jcstearns, @jeffjarvis, @scottrcrawford and The Newspaper Guild

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Washington Post buys hospice company — Talk about a dying industry. The Washington Post Co. risked becoming the punch line of an obvious joke this morning with the announcement that it has acquired a majority stake in a hospice company. — Hospice? Not as strange as it sounds if you know the company's ways.

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

More Mobile News Consumers Choosing Web Over Apps — Mobile apps were supposed to be the reset button for the news industry. The last fifteen years have shown how hard it is to get consumers to pay for content on websites or pay attention to ads there. In the app environment, all that was going to be different.

Discussion: Poynter, Nieman Journalism Lab, Free Press, Poynter, VatorNews, SocialTimes, TechCrunch, FishbowlNY, Journalism.org, MediaPost, Change of Subject and PC Magazine

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:
More mobile devices equals more news consumption, says study

Discussion: Poynter

James Ball / Washington Post:

Video emerges of Austin Tice, U.S. journalist who disappeared in Syria — Video footage has emerged showing U.S. freelance journalist Austin Tice being held by a group of masked men toting assault rifles in the first direct evidence of his condition since his disappearance in mid-August.

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Lede, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Business Insider, Boing Boing and @blakehounshell

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

For 2012 Presidential Debates, Campaigns Speed Up The Spin — NEW YORK — When President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney leave the debate stage at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, many of the 3,000 journalists churning out stories in the University of Denver's Hamilton Gymnasium will head to the spin room …

Discussion: TVNewser

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Penn State student journalist suspended for fabrication, plagiarism — Penn State's student newspaper has suspended a writer who fabricated and plagiarized quotes by Sue Paterno in a story about the opening of a center on campus named for her. Paterno is the widow of former coach Joe Paterno …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

The Guardian and Tumblr will ‘live-GIF’ first presidential debate — The animated GIF will be further enshrined as a reporting tool during the first presidential debate Wednesday, when “four GIF-making all-stars,” as a press-release puts it, will join Guardian reporter Adam Gabbatt to live-blog …

Discussion: Tumblr Staff, @michaelroston, The Verge, The Atlantic Wire and AllThingsD

Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:

Following Criticism, WSJ Identifies Writer Max Boot As A Romney Adviser — Following criticism of its disclosure practices, The Wall Street Journal identified frequent writer Max Boot as an adviser to Mitt Romney's campaign in a recent book review he wrote for the paper.

Discussion: Politico

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

YouTube Partners With ABC News To Offer Its First-Ever Live Stream Of The U.S. Presidential Debates — For the first time ever, YouTube will offer a live video stream of the U.S. presidential and vice presidential debates this year. To do this, YouTube has partnered with ABC News and the debates …

Discussion: Media & Entertainment, YouTube Blog, Forbes, Fast Company, CNET and Mashable!

Jim Romenesko:

Report: Over 100 layoffs at Syracuse Post-Standard … (Michael Benny is a Syracuse TV news anchor.) — The Syracuse Press Club's reaction: … * Post-Standard to announce layoffs as the paper prepares to cut its publishing schedule (ynn.com) — * Dick Case's columns (syracuse.com)

Discussion: Poynter

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Post reporter David Finkel among 23 awarded MacArthur grants — David Finkel, a Washington Post journalist whose immersive reporting has produced illuminating stories about the toll of war on American soldiers and the struggles of refugees around the world, has been named one of 23 MacArthur Fellows …

Discussion: The Huffington Post

John Cook / Gawker:

Yes, Mitt Romney Is Getting a Raw Deal From the Press — First off—there is no such thing as “the media.” The people and entities who shape our political coverage represent a fractured, disaggregated, chaotic mass of divergent agendas and interests. While they often display pack behavior …

Discussion: Mediaite, Politico, Los Angeles Times and New York Times

Miriam Arghandiwal / Reuters:

Afghan media claim small victory in fight for press freedom — (Reuters) - Afghan journalists are claiming a small victory in their battle for press freedom after the government agreed to some softening of media restrictions, industry representatives said on Monday.

Gordon Rayner / Telegraph:

Counter-terrorism officer appears in court over ‘leaks to News of the World’ — One of Scotland Yard's most senior counter-terrorism officers appeared in court charged with misconduct in public office after allegedly offering to provide information to the News of the World.

Discussion: Guardian