Mediagazer: With so much overlap in coverage, upstarts like Fusion, Vox, and Vice struggle to create unique identities (Fredrik deBoer)

10:55 AM ET, February 22, 2015

Top News:

O'Reilly Indeed Embellishing War Reporting Experience, Says CBS Colleague — Buenos Aires was neither a “war zone” nor a “combat situation” after Argentina surrendered to Britain in the Falklands War, says one of Bill O'Reilly's former colleagues at CBS who was with him in the capital at the time.

Discussion: Facebook, TVNewser, Mediaite, Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, RT, Mediaite, @jilldlawrence, Raw Story, PoliticusUSA, Hollywood Reporter, Politico, Mother Jones, The Wrap, USA Today, Mashable and Talking Points Memo

David Corn / Mother Jones:

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly hits back at Mother Jones report about his war zone reporting experience — Bill O'Reilly Responds. We Annotate. — The Fox News host still hasn't gotten back to us, but here's his monologue—factchecked. — On Thursday, Mother Jones published an article …

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

NYT media desk in flux after death of David Carr and staff reductions, while beat remains unrelenting and important — In Big Media Town, ‘Core’ Beat in Flux — AS Dean Baquet sees it, there are some coverage areas at which The Times simply must excel. — International reporting is one …

Discussion: @nytfridge, @katierosman, @jswatz, @gerryfsmith, @jeffjarvis, @dangillmor, @ahmed and New Yorker

Jim Waterson / BuzzFeed:

Daily Telegraph Writes “Despicable” Report Linking Suicides At The Times To Commercial Pressure — The Daily Telegraph has faced days of criticism for allegedly allowing a major advertiser to influence its editorial coverage. On Friday it hit back with an anonymous article which has been condemned …

Discussion: Guardian, Guardian, @tomgara, Observer, @themurdochtimes, @buzzfeedukpol, @danielrzasa, @jaomahony, @davidfolkenflik, @joelmgunter, @garwboy, @reasther, @jimwaterson, @leojcarey and @tobyharnden

Telegraph:

Times publisher, News UK, launches internal investigation after suicides of two members of its commercial staff — News UK, the publisher of The Times and The Sun, denies claims that the lines have been blurred between its commercial and editorial operations, despite boasts from a senior executive …

Paul Vale / Huffington Post UK:
The Telegraph responds to accusations of advertising influence over editorial by hitting back at the Guardian

Discussion: @ianprior, Financial Times and Guardian

Fredrik deBoer:

With so much overlap in coverage, upstarts like Fusion, Vox, and Vice struggle to create unique identities — unless your site is about one thing, it's about everything — I have, for some reason, spent a couple hours on Fusion tonight. (.net, teehee.)

Discussion: @jeffjarvis, @jeffjarvis, @jbenton, @rafat, @normative, @mathewi, @mathewi, @sfiegerman, @neoconmaudit and @mikepepi

Matthew Shaer / New York Times:

Citizen journalists shed light on Brazil's favelas, where traditional media coverage fails — 'The Media Doesn't Care What Happens Here' — Can amateur journalism bring justice to Rio's favelas? — The favelas of Complexo do Alemão, one of the largest urban slums in Brazil …

Discussion: @digiphile, @mathewi and WITNESS

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:

Report examines the rise of games and quizzes in online media and how news orgs take advantage — Riddle me this: How can news orgs better use games and quizzes? — The New York Times' most popular piece of content in 2013 wasn't an article — it was, of course, its now famous dialogue quiz.

Toronto Star:

After intense criticism, Toronto Star takes down its misleading HPV vaccine story from website — A note from the publisher — On Feb. 5, the Toronto Star published a Page 1 article with the headline “A wonder drug's dark side” beneath a “Star investigation” label.

Discussion: Vox, @jayrosen_nyu and @dtmcculloch

Eric Kelsey / Reuters:

Laura Poitras' Snowden documentary “Citizenfour” expected to win best documentary at Oscars — Eight days on edge may seal documentary Oscar for ‘Citizenfour’ — (Reuters) - Unlike the often long, arduous slog of making documentary films, with subjects sometimes followed for years …

Discussion: New York Times, Courthouse News Service, CBC News and Vulture

Catalina Albeanu / Journalism.co.uk:

Language barriers, low data literacy, and lack of established independent media make data journalism difficult in Afghanistan — Open data in Afghanistan: The key challenges for journalists — Data journalism adviser Eva Constantaras, who runs workshops for local media in developing countries …

Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:

Politico's plan to launch a gossip column in the gossip-saturated capital — Monday is the first day for Kate Bennett, Politico's new gossip columnist. When Politico editor Susan Glasser announced Bennett's hire earlier this month, she promised “a great read multiple times a week” …