Mediagazer: Against ‘Objective’ Algorithms: The Case of Google News (Alexis C. Madrigal/The Atlantic Online)

3:05 AM ET, December 12, 2012

Top News:

Sara Morrison / CJR:

The limits of Internet research — “Rule number one of the Web: You don't mess with The Oatmeal” — Internet research helped Buzzfeed contributor Jack Stuef unmask @ComfortablySmug, the Twitter account that earned ire for posting false information during Hurricane Sandy. Stuef was praised for his work then.

Jeff John Roberts / GigaOM:

BuzzFeed apologizes (sort of) for smear of The Oatmeal cartoonist — Popular viral news site BuzzFeed this week slammed a cartoonist as an amoral hypocrite. Unfortunately, the story turns out to have been based on a grievous factual error — leading the cartoonist to issue a savage counterattack …

Discussion: Poynter, The Oatmeal, PandoDaily, @buzzfeedandrew, @carr2n and Betabeat

Slade Sohmer / HyperVocal:
Why This BuzzFeed v. The Oatmeal Fight Actually Does Matter

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu and CJR

Bloomberg:

Tribune Said to Seek Bankers for Newspaper Sale — Tribune Co., the bankrupt owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and six other daily newspapers, is interviewing bankers about selling its papers, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, bizjournals, The Atlantic Wire, Chicago Sun Times, Poynter, The Huffington Post, Deadline.com, @jcstearns and @thematthewkeys, Thanks:@jaredbkeller

Reuters:

Owners of Southern California dailies eye Tribune papers-sources — NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES Dec 11 (Reuters) - San Diego Union-Tribune owner Doug Manchester and Orange County Register owner Aaron Kushner are interested in acquiring Tribune's stable of newspapers, according to people familiar with the situation.

Ed Sherman / The Sherman Report:

Sporting News prints final magazine after 126 years; web site still continues — It was inevitable. — After the 126 years, The Sporting News is printing its last magazine. One of the great traditions in sports is yet another casualty of the modern news era. — The Sporting News, though, isn't going away.

Discussion: AdAge, Sporting News Feed RSS, Poynter, Adweek, LA Observed, FishbowlNY and The Wrap

Associated Press:

Committee To Protect Journalists: A Record 232 Reporters Jailed Worldwide — NEW YORK (AP) — The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report Tuesday that a record-number 232 journalists are imprisoned worldwide and that Turkey has the highest number with 49 journalists behind bars.

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, Guardian and CNN

Erik Wemple:

NBC News on George Zimmerman: A big mistake or intentional thrashing? — George Zimmerman last week filed a defamation suit against NBC News/NBC Universal for portraying him as a committed racial profiler in news stories on the Trayvon Martin case. In a post on the matter …

Discussion: Yahoo! News

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Free to FT subscribers, Nexus 7 will be a content Trojan Horse — Last week, I reported how News Corp's The Times is bundling a £199 Nexus 7 tablet for just £50 with its digital content subscription. — Now The Financial Times is going one better, giving away the tablet for free to new US digital or print subscribers.

Discussion: Mashable and One Man & His Blog

Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:

Against ‘Objective’ Algorithms: The Case of Google News — Whole new categories of weird noise are being introduced into the news world as a result of Google's algorithm, whatever its virtues. — If something comes out of a computer on the basis of statistics, it must be objective, right?

Discussion: Google News Blog, @alexismadrigal and Nieman Journalism Lab

Claire Atkinson / New York Post:

Late shift ap-Piers likely for CNN host — CNN host Piers Morgan could join the late-night crowd. — The slumping cable news network is considering moving his hour-long interview show from the prized 9 p.m. slot back to 10 p.m. — or even later, The Post has learned.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Chickaboomer and The Huffington Post

Michael Wolff / Guardian: Can Jeff Zucker fix what ails CNN?

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

For employees of Bloomberg LP, a megabonus deferred — The thousands of employees of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's eponymous media and finance company will have to wait longer than they thought for the megabonuses dangled in front of them two years ago, Capital has learned.

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Google News Gets An Updated Look On Tablets, Support For Gestures — Google just announced that it is updating the design of the Google News reading experience on tablets, including the Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and iPad. The new design, says Google, will make the service feel “even more natural and fluid on tablet devices.”

Discussion: Engadget, VentureBeat, The Next Web, Electronista and NetNewsCheck Latest

Elizabeth Jensen / Media Decoder:

PBS Names Beth Hoppe as Programming Chief — PBS has a new head of programming. — Beth Hoppe, who joined PBS in August 2011 as a vice president in the programming department, has been promoted to the top programming job, according to an internal memo distributed Tuesday.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter and Broadcasting & Cable

Ariel Zirulnick / Christian Science Monitor:

Family of journalist Austin Tice struggles with silence on kidnapping — Austin Tice was kidnapped near Damascus in August. His family went to Beirut recently in hopes of extending their reach into Syria and finding out more about who might be holding him.

Dan Sabbagh / Guardian:

Leveson report: editors seeking legal advice on third-party complaints — Alan Rusbridger says five clauses of report will only be accepted by counterparts subject to ‘being scrutinised by lawyers’ — Alan Rusbridger spoke of widespread opposition to how third-party complaints should be handled

BBC: PCC replacement to be set up in early 2013 - Lord Hunt