American Anchor Quits Al Jazeera

Dave Marash, the most prominent American anchor on Al Jazeera English, has quit the 24-hour news channel, citing an increased amount of editorial control exercised by the channel’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar.

“To put it bluntly, the channel that’s on now — while excellent, and I plan to be a lifetime viewer — is not the channel that I signed up to do,” Mr. Marash, a former “Nightline” correspondent, said in his first interview since his departure was reported by The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday.

Not that most Americans would notice: although Al Jazeera English is available to everyone on YouTube, so far it has been unable to secure cable distribution in the United States. [Click for MORE]

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Journal Register Co. Stock Price Sinks Below Cost of a Daily Newspaper

Journal Register Co. stock price sinks below cost of a daily newspaper

It's now cheaper to buy a share of Journal Register Co. than its daily newspaper in Lorain, Ohio, The Morning Journal.

Is Yahoo the right fit for newspapers?

Wall Street calls Microsoft's generously priced but unwelcome bid for Yahoo Inc. a "bear hug" -- but will it be newspapers who get squeezed? Some of the newspaper industry's new-media gurus think so. No matter who wins, they say, the fight will distract Yahoo at a crucial time in the rollout of its next-generation online ad tools for the 600-plus papers in the newspaper consortium.

Hollinger Inc. to relinquish control of Sun-Times Media Group in litigation settlement

Conrad Black's former holding company will relinquish control of the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times under a settlement announced late Tuesday by Sun-Times Media Group (STMG).

Fitch to Tribune: Sell, Zell, sell

Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell's new senior management team and cost-cutting measures are unlikely to outrace deteriorating revenue, making the sale of assets like the Chicago Cubs -- and perhaps The Los Angeles Times and Newsday -- all the more critical, Fitch Ratings Service said in a report issued Tuesday.

Lawyer says fired Santa Barbara newspaper workers should be reinstated

A federal labor lawyer argued Monday that eight workers fired from the Santa Barbara News-Press should be put back on the job immediately because they are likely to prevail in their case claiming they were improperly fired for union activity.

[ChainLINKS]

> Sam, the viagra man
> Newspaper for Sale?
> Newspapers Aren't Dying
> Register Star offers buyouts to employees
> CNET lays off 120, 10 percent of U.S. workforce
> Zev on planning and the Los Angeles Times
> These are not the salad days of American newspapers

[Ed Padgett]

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Preview the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

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The Times Apologizes Over Article on Rapper

A Los Angeles Times story about a brutal 1994 attack on rap superstar Tupac Shakur was partially based on documents that appear to have been fabricated, the reporter and editor responsible for the story said Wednesday.

Reporter Chuck Philips and his supervisor, Deputy Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin, issued statements of apology Wednesday afternoon. The statements came after The Times took withering criticism for the Shakur article, which appeared on latimes.com last week and two days later in the paper's Calendar section.

The criticism came first from The Smoking Gun website, which said the newspaper had been the victim of a hoax, and then from subjects of the story, who said they had been defamed.

"In relying on documents that I now believe were fake, I failed to do my job," Philips said in a statement Wednesday. "I'm sorry."

In his statement, Duvoisin added: "We should not have let ourselves be fooled. That we were is as much my fault as Chuck's. I deeply regret that we let our readers down."

Times Editor Russ Stanton announced that the newspaper would launch an internal review of the documents and the reporting surrounding the story. Stanton said he took the criticisms of the March 17 report "very seriously." [Click for MORE]

> Combs' lawyer: A retraction may not be enough to avoid a lawsuit
> Humiliation for LAT reminiscent of CBS' black eye after Guard report
> Latimes.com visitors blast paper for Shakur story screw-up
> 'LA Times' fall on 'Puffy' story reveals new scrutiny of online documents
> Does deceiving a paper seem as funny today as it did last week? Sphere: Related Content

Assignment for March 31

1) Prepare a story pitch for the Student Voice based upon the format which was sent to you in a separate email. Email your pitch or revised pitch to your instructor prior to the next class meeting. You have been granted a final extension until then. Offering a story to the Student Voice is one of the requirements of this class.

For this assignment, you will come up with your own idea for a feature story which we will discuss in class. You are not locked into that idea and in fact, are encouraged to alter it if need be based on your colleagues' comments.

One of the best ways to come up with a feature story topic is to have the assignment in the back of your mind as you go about your daily work, studies and interactions. When you encounter a cool new gadget, hear someone's interesting tale of overcoming adversity, notice a new trend or hear a great speech, all of these things should trigger the reaction: Hey, that would make a great story! Then you've got a good feature topic. You can also use this story to answer your own curiosity about something.

For instance, early in a colleague's reporting career, she injured a knee playing softball and knew she would eventually have to have surgery. So she pitched and wrote a story on knee surgery. It was a perfect topic at Lake Tahoe where she was working since there are so many knee injuries from skiing there. She interviewed a couple of surgeons, including the doctor who was the U.S. Olympic team surgeon, and watched another in action. It was very interesting and answered her own curiosity. And it was a fun feature for that audience.

2) Consider doing an extra credit assignment. Everyone in the class needs some extra points.

3) Review Chapters 8 and 9 in the text. Continue to review contents of the AP Stylebook. Sphere: Related Content

Smoking Gun Says LA Times Got Hoaxed

The Smoking Gun claims that the L.A. Times relied on FBI documents fabricated by con man James Sabatino for the paper's report last week that the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur was carried out by associates of Sean "Diddy" Combs (photo, right) and that he knew of the plot beforehand. The documents don't show up in FBI records and show obvious signs of fakery, the site says:

The Times appears to have been hoaxed by an imprisoned con man and accomplished document forger, an audacious swindler who has created a fantasy world in which he managed hip-hop luminaries, conducted business with Combs, Shakur, Busta Rhymes, and The Notorious B.I.G., and even served as Combs's trusted emissary to Death Row Records boss Marion "Suge" Knight during the outset of hostilities in the bloody East Coast-West Coast rap feud.

The con man, James Sabatino, 31, has long sought to insinuate himself, after the fact, in a series of important hip-hop events, from Shakur's shooting to the murder of The Notorious B.I.G.. [Romenesko] [LAO]

L.A. Times Editor Stanton reacts: The Times will investigate the claim, Editor Russ Stanton says in a story on the paper's website. Regarding the original piece, the LAT.com story adds:

"This story is beyond ridiculous and is completely false," Combs said in a statement last week. "Neither Biggie [Notorious B.I.G.] nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any involvement by Biggie or myself. I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story."

Following the posting of the article on latimes.com, Combs' attorney, Howard Weitzman, sent a letter to The Times calling for a retraction and demanding that the paper hold the story out of its print edition. Weitzman expressed particular concern about the assertion, based on anonymous sources, that Combs had been told in advance that Shakur would be attacked....The paper had not responded to the retraction demand as of Tuesday. [LAO]

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Assignment for March 26

1) Continue to monitor this class blog . Several interesting and important media news items were posted over the Spring Break.

2) Read Chapter 8 in the text. Review Chapter 9 which was previously assigned.

3) Prepare a story pitch for the Student Voice based upon the format which was sent to you in a separate email.

For this assignment, you will come up with your own idea for a feature story which we will discuss in class. You are not locked into that idea and in fact, are encouraged to alter it if need be based on your colleagues' comments.

One of the best ways to come up with a feature story topic is to have the assignment in the back of your mind as you go about your daily work, studies and interactions. When you encounter a cool new gadget, hear someone's interesting tale of overcoming adversity, notice a new trend or hear a great speech, all of these things should trigger the reaction: Hey, that would make a great story! Then you've got a good feature topic. You can also use this story to answer your own curiosity about something.

For instance, early in a colleague's reporting career, she injured a knee playing softball and knew she would eventually have to have surgery. So she pitched and wrote a story on knee surgery. It was a perfect topic at Lake Tahoe where she was working since there are so many knee injuries from skiing there. She interviewed a couple of surgeons, including the doctor who was the U.S. Olympic team surgeon, and watched another in action. It was very interesting and answered her own curiosity. And it was a fun feature for that audience.

4) Continue to review contents of the AP Stylebook. Sphere: Related Content

The Death and Life of the American Newspaper

By Eric Alterman
The New Yorker

The American newspaper has been around for approximately three hundred years. Benjamin Harris’s spirited Publick Occurrences, Both Forreign and Domestick managed just one issue, in 1690, before the Massachusetts authorities closed it down. Harris had suggested a politically incorrect hard line on Indian removal and shocked local sensibilities by reporting that the King of France had been taking liberties with the Prince’s wife.

It really was not until 1721, when the printer James Franklin launched the New England Courant, that any of Britain’s North American colonies saw what we might recognize today as a real newspaper. Franklin, Benjamin’s older brother, refused to adhere to customary licensing arrangements and constantly attacked the ruling powers of New England, thereby achieving both editorial independence and commercial success. He filled his paper with crusades (on everything from pirates to the power of Cotton and Increase Mather), literary essays by Addison and Steele, character sketches, and assorted philosophical ruminations.

Three centuries after the appearance of Franklin’s Courant, it no longer requires a dystopic imagination to wonder who will have the dubious distinction of publishing America’s last genuine newspaper. Few believe that newspapers in their current printed form will survive. Newspaper companies are losing advertisers, readers, market value, and, in some cases, their sense of mission at a pace that would have been barely imaginable just four years ago. [Click for MORE] Sphere: Related Content

Bad news for Big Media

As the United States slips into recession, advertising spending is set to fall - spelling trouble for traditional media companies already battered by Internet upstarts.

Media industry watchers are no longer debating whether the United States economy is in recession. Rather the question is, "how bad will it get?" If recent trends continue, the outlook is likely bleak for broadcasters, magazine publishers, newspapers, cable operators and the conglomerates that own them. [Click for MORE]

> Newspapers’ New Owners Turn Grim
> Tribune owner hopes to revive embattled Times
> The Perilous Fall of the Press-Telegram
> Star-News, LA Times hit hard in latest round of cuts

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New FM News Station Coming

Radio One has agreed to sell KRBV-FM, also known as V100, to the company that used to operate KBIG and KZLA here. Bonneville is paying $137.5 million for the station, which is now programmed for urban adult contemporary music. Speculation in the industry is that the station will switch to an all-news format under the guidance of Jim Farley, a veteran of ABC and NBC who has led WTOP in Washington, D.C. in a similar direction. It could be interesting to have another radio newsroom covering Los Angeles. Radio Online, MediaWeek [LAO]

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