With so many readers turning to BostonGlobe.com for breaking news throughout the day, we have added a live blog on the home page that provides breaking news and critical information in a format that makes it easy to share stories through social media, reinforcing BostonGlobe.com’s role as the go-to destination for timely, accurate, in-depth coverage for everyone.
The site’s paywall, which has been turned off the past few days as a result of the bombing and the unprecedented city shutdown, is separate from the online-only Boston.com.
The hardest part of this was how far from any actual evidence there actually was, and how quickly and how painfully this traveled…We find it incredibly unfortunate that media outlets were so quick to jump without checking with authorities, but we hope they use the same energy and intensity they showed in the past 24 hours to really help us find Sunil.We spoke with Sangeeta Tripathi, whose innocent brother Sunil was made into a Boston Marathon bombing suspect by social media and news organizations. (via motherjones)
dapenguinninja asks: you think the tumblr editorial team should still be working? that it is an unprecedented layoff?
» SFB says: I wouldn’t call it “unprecedented,” per se—people get laid off all the time, sad as it is—but I do think that it’s a shame because they did a lot to “class up” the joint, so to say. Storyboard stretched out Tumblr’s voice in a way that it needed to be stretched and showed that deep, interesting things can be done with the format in truly engaging ways. But as my friend Josh Sternberg points out on Digiday, that may not be exactly what Tumblr needs right now from a business strategy point. “An editorial outfit is a nice idea, but it’s hardly what the company most needs, which is experienced sales people and a differentiated message to bring to agencies and brands,” he wrote today. “Ironically enough, firing its editorial staff can be seen as a needed step in becoming a real media business.” So from a pure business standpoint, perhaps the move makes sense. But from a cultural and journalistic standpoint, it’s a bummer. — Ernie @ SFB
A year ago, Tumblr did something unprecedented — we created an editorial team of experienced journalists and editors assigned to cover Tumblr as a living, breathing community. The team’s mandate was to tell the stories of Tumblr creators in a truly thoughtful way — focusing on the people, their work, and their stories. The result of this ambitious experiment was Storyboard.
After hundreds of stories and videos, features by publishers ranging from Time to MTV to WNYC — not to mention a nomination for a James Beard Award and entries into this year’s NY Press Club Awards — we couldn’t be happier with our team’s effort. And as Tumblr continues to evolve, we’ll always be experimenting with new ways to shine light on our creators.
What we’ve accomplished with Storyboard has run its course for now, and our editorial team will be closing up shop and moving on. I want to personally thank them for their great work. And please join us in wishing them well.
Smart people doing smart things get laid off. Depressing.
Some people, including a former NY Times reporter jailed for refusing to reveal her sources, are blaming the public perception of Fox News for a lack of media interest in this case.
That is probably true.
Get over it. This is a big deal. Report on it.
Also, look past the fact that the former NY Times reporter is Judith Miller, who has faced controversy regarding her reporting in the run-up to the Iraq War. That doesn’t matter in this case.
What matters is that a reporter could go to jail for failing to divulge their sources.
More on Roger Ebert’s passing: Legendary film critic Roger Ebert has died at the age of 70 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Ebert’s career began with the Chicago Sun-Times back in 1967, and many assumed it would be over after a June 2006 surgery cost Ebert his jaw and voice. However, the film critic persisted, reviewing more than 200 films a year for the Sun-Times, and more than 300 during 2012. Ebert became the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize back in 1975, and was added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005. He is survived by his wife, step-daughter, and two step-grandchildren. (Photo via Chicago Magazine)
One group that advocates against illegal immigration said it will begin using the term “illegal invaders” after the Associated Press announced it would no longer use the term “illegal” or “illegal immigrant.
Group to use ‘illegal invaders’ term in response to AP ban [Los Angeles Times]
I have another I-Word for describing people who want to incorporate the terms “invaders” or “infiltrator” into this discussion, the word is idiots.
(via thenoobyorker)
It’s worth noting that the difference here is that one runs a wire service that everyone relies on, and the other is just some advocacy group that you didn’t know existed until the LA Times did this story. So once this story fades, nobody will notice.
Will the new guidance make it harder for writers? Perhaps just a bit at first. But while labels may be more facile, they are not accurate.The Associated Press’ reasoning (in a nutshell) for officially dropping the term “illegal immigrant” from the AP Stylebook on Tuesday. Official AP style now calls for writers to specifically state that a person(s) is living in a given location illegally, rather than referring to the person(s) themselves as being illegal. source
Look, it’s not fair to pick on a single media outlet. I respect the fact that journalists have been lucky enough to keep their jobs in Seattle — during a recession — despite all this. But, this is a potential microcosm of what could happen to newspapers around the country, and we need to talk about this before another flailing big paper tries something similar.
I see what’s happened to the P-I in the past few years, and I worry that this is the model that newspapers — slowly looking to put the genie back in the bottle — are going to have to rely on.
My posts the other night about this ad inspired a Medium rant. I was tough, but fair (I think). Enjoy. — Ernie @ SFB
blackcrowcalling says: Ah be nice to the PI - they’ve been struggling to stay afloat for years.
» SFB says: I don’t consider it being mean to the P-I. I know they’ve had a tough run and many people have lost their jobs as a result. But there’s gotta be a point where you say “this isn’t working.” When you’re laying four layers of ads on top of a wire story, something’s broken. There are high-up businesspeople making decisions that lead to cluster you-know-whats like that. It’s an injustice to everyone that still works at that paper to say, “You know what we need? Another layer of ads!” As someone who remembers that they were a good newspaper that actually printed physical copies, I’d rather think of it as intervention to say that a new approach needs to be taken. — Ernie @ SFB
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
The Washington Post commissions a piece on pre-Iraq media failures, kills it, runs one about how the media did great.Via @mlcalderone
There’s a wrinkle here: In its recounting of today’s revelations, the Daily Caller writes that the lawyer “blamed four news outlets — CNN, The Daily Caller, Telemundo and Univision — for allegedly encouraging him to fabricate false accusations about Menendez.” This isn’t true; according to the Post, the man only accused the Daily Caller—not the other three outlets—of offering to bribe him (the other three were mentioned as having requested to interview the man after he made the claims). The lawyer’s reliability is already shot, having reversed his story at least once, but the Daily Caller has seriously undermined its own credibility by reporting the original story in such a misleading, and indeed factually inaccurate, way. This is one of those weird news stories where all parties involved seem to have been dishonest to some degree—with the possible exception of Menendez himself.
“We have accomplished a great deal over the past seven years, as we built The Washington Examiner into a credible and respected brand in a very competitive market. The strong foundation we established with the website and daily newspaper presents us with the opportunity to shift our focus and meet a pressing need in the political content marketplace,” said Ryan McKibben, president of Clarity Media Group, the Denver-based company that owns The Washington Examiner. “As a result of research and analysis conducted over the past year, we have determined that there is an opportunity to bring our style of investigative journalism and keen analysis and commentary to covering national government and politics. The re-positioned Washington Examiner will meet that demand.”
The company also announced it has named Lou Ann Sabatier, a long-time executive and consultant in the publishing industry, chief executive officer of Clarity’s Washington Group, which in addition to The Washington Examiner includes The Weekly Standard and the website Red Alert Politics.
Under the plan announced today, the daily newspaper will continue to be published through June 14 with the new website launching June 17 and the first issue of the weekly coming out June 20. The change will require significant staffing adjustments in editorial and operations as the Examiner eliminates coverage of local news, sports and entertainment. In addition to 88 days notice, affected employees will receive severance and other separation benefits.
Rough translation: We want to be The Daily Caller, but by having a daily newspaper, we’re forced to cover local news and sports. So let’s get rid of the daily newspaper.
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