AAN News
Federal Shield Law Heads to Senate Committee Today
The Free Flow of Information Act 2007, introduced by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Richard Lugar (R-IN) last month, will be considered today by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Saying the bill "would bring the federal government in line with 49 states and the District of Columbia," the Washington Post editorializes for its passage: "The legislation has gone through many constructive changes since it was first introduced in 2005 and deserves to become law." In addition to its opinion, the Post also runs opposing op-eds about the shield law. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald argues that the bill "poses unique obstacles to the protection of national security," and that the system isn't broken to begin with: "A compelling case has not been made for jettisoning the legal framework that has guided this process for the past 35 years," he writes. Yet former U.S. solicitor general Theodore B. Olson disagrees. "From the Valerie Plame imbroglio to the Wen Ho Lee case, it is now de rigueur to round up reporters, haul them before a court and threaten them with fines and jail sentences unless they reveal their sources," he writes. "The legislation would not give reporters special license beyond the type of common-sense protection we already accord to communications between lawyers and clients, between spouses and in other contexts where we believe some degree of confidentiality furthers societal goals. [It] is well balanced and long overdue, and it should be enacted." UPDATE: The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill this afternoon by a 15-2 vote.
The Washington Post |
10-04-2007 10:46 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Real Potential of Social Networks is Listening, Not Talkingnew
FastCompany.com |
10-04-2007 4:02 pm |
Industry News
Publishers Eyeing Big Name Blogs as Takeover Targetsnew
24/7 Wall St. |
10-03-2007 11:17 am |
Industry News
Weekly Dig Publisher on What Follows Editorial Shake-Upnew
"In the next six months, the Dig will look a lot different, and sound a lot different," Jeff Lawrence tells Boston magazine in the second of a two-part interview (the first part is here). Last week, after the Dig and editor Michael Brodeur parted ways, managing editor Shaula Clark and staff writer Julia Reischel both gave the paper notice. For now, Lawrence will take over as editor of the paper, but says he has no plans for making that a permanent position. He's also aware of the implications of such a move. "This publication is not going to turn into some advertorial piece of shit," Lawrence says. "Quite the contrary."
Boston Magazine |
10-02-2007 2:12 pm |
Industry News
Miami New Times Wins State Press Awardnew
Josh Schonwald took home a first-place award in the Florida Press Club Excellence In Journalism Contest's "light feature writing" category. Winners will be honored at an Oct. 20 reception.
Florida Press Club |
10-02-2007 10:38 am |
Honors & Achievements
Tags: Editorial, Miami New Times
SF Weekly's Fake Story on Barry Bonds Causes a Stirnew
"Steroids Confidential," penned by newbie Weekly writers Nic Foit and Ira Tes (anagrams of "fiction" and "satire"), promises to tell the "deepest secrets of the trainer behind baseball's new home run king," and it certainly delivers. Among the story's anecdotes: In 2002, Bonds "injected human growth hormone directly into his genitals;" in 2003, he "suddenly began lactating, forcing doctors to excise his mammary glands;" and he "now supplements his diet with 'Barry's brew,' a homemade high-energy drink made of elk semen." SFist sniffed out the fake story last week: "The anecdote about Bonds lactating from his steroid-enhanced breasts in the dugout is where we were like, 'heeeeey, wait a minute!'" But famed blogger Josh Wolf didn't take the Weekly's joke so lightly. "Satire is an integral part of the press, but it is of critical importance that readers are able to recognize where the 'real news' ends and the fiction begins," Wolf writes at CNET. "While 'Steroids Confidential' starts out in left-field and expands into the absurd, there's no 'gotcha' to reveal to the reader that it's all just a ruse."
SFist | CNET |
10-02-2007 8:26 am |
Industry News
Washington City Paper's Food Writer Talks Shopnew
"My mother back in Kansas City likes to tell her friends that I work at the Washington Post, because I think she's embarrassed about alternative newspapers," says Tim Carman, who writes the Young & Hungry column for City Paper. He tells Cork & Knife that working with the award-winning critic Robb Walsh at the Houston Press earlier this decade (when Carman was managing editor) jump-started his desire to "do something with food," but his bum knee prevented him from actually working in a restaurant. He landed the City Paper gig ("I didn't think I had a shot," he says), and now eats in restaurants close to twice a day. "Your dining routine is an endless search for the new and interesting," he says when asked about the toughest part of his job. "Sometimes, I (or my wife, Carrie, god bless her) would just like to relax and unwind in an old familiar place."
Cork & Knife |
10-01-2007 12:10 pm |
Industry News
Online News Service Launches Facebook-Like Featuresnew
Editor & Publisher |
10-01-2007 1:15 pm |
Industry News
Do Home Pages Have a Place in Web 2.0's Future?new
Advertising Age |
10-01-2007 12:52 pm |
Industry News
Michael Lacey Attempts to Give LA Observed 'A Little Perspective'new
"As a source of gossip, half truths, lies, slander, unfounded speculation and general lazy-ass foolishness, LA Observed remains invaluable," Village Voice Media's executive editor writes in an e-mail published on the site. "Comes the news flash that three writers have, or will soon, depart the L.A. Weekly. To LA Observed, these are not matters of opportunity but signs of darkening skies," he writes. "In a city like Los Angeles writers find books, scripts and other opportunities. At any newspaper you have the occasional clash. You might have ascertained all of the above if you ever picked up the phone and talked to the targets of your biliousness."
LA Observed |
09-27-2007 9:27 am |
Industry News
Does Poynter's Eyetrack Study Only Show Half the Picture?new
eMedia Tibits/Poynter |
09-27-2007 12:09 pm |
Industry News
Willamette Week Cover Story Turns into Book Project
What began as a May 2004 story on Starbucks for Taylor Clark has turned into his first book, Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture, soon to be released by Little, Brown. The former staff writer "chronicles the rise of Starbucks from a modest Northwest operation to a global powerhouse, examines the ways the company impacts society, and what it says about our culture that the company can place stores literally within sight of one another and turn a healthy profit in both," according to a press release." Publisher's Weekly says that Clark's "dubious perspective on one of the modern world's most ubiquitous icons is just frothy enough to prove entertaining."
(FULL STORY)
Hachette Book Group Press Release |
09-26-2007 11:59 am |
Press Releases
Tags: Editorial, Willamette Week
The Pulse's Founding Editor Steps Downnew
"This week's issue marks my last as editor," Bill Colrus writes in a farewell column. He's leaving the Chattanooga alt-weekly "for a new and exciting opportunity in the world of custom publishing," and will be replaced by current co-publisher Michael Kull. "This paper has been devoted to digging for bits of truth buried in mountains of dishonesty and spin, and I've been glad to man the shovel," writes Colrus, who was hired prior to the paper's launch in 2003. "As I leave, I am confident that The Pulse will continue its mission to give a voice to the voiceless, go deeper on stories when a superficial snapshot is not enough, and strive to tell the stories nobody else will tell."
The Pulse |
09-26-2007 8:26 am |
Industry News
Deadline Approaching for Journalism Fellowships in Science & Religion
John Templeton Foundation Press Release |
09-26-2007 9:57 am |
Press Releases
Tags: Editorial
Alt-Weeklies Win Three Regional SPJ Awardsnew
The San Francisco Bay Guardian's G.W. Schulz won "the coveted Public Service award" for his coverage of MediaNews Group's purchase of nearly all Bay Area daily newspapers. SPJ's panel of judges noted that the Bay Guardian "demonstrated by example the value of diversity in news media ownership." Eliza Strickland's examination of questionable practices at an expensive cooking school and how California has failed to regulate for-profit schools for SF Weekly won for investigative reporting, while East Bay Express' Kara Platoni took home the award for feature writing for her piece on gun violence and gun availability. The Society of Professional Journalists' Northern California Chapter will honor the winners at a Nov. 8 dinner.
Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter |
09-25-2007 8:16 am |
Honors & Achievements
