Grantland || May 22, 2013
Two months ago, I sat in a crowded banquet hall in Austin, Texas, as TMZ founder, managing editor, and TMZ on TV host Harvey Levin gave an impassioned, highly charismatic, completely unapologetic keynote about the invasive empire that he has steadily built since 2005.
Want to point you all to the journosofcolor Tumblr, which is exactly what it sounds like—a feed that surfaces smart, interesting stories written by journalists of color. (via the Online News Association’s Jeanne Brooks)
If you wouldn’t mind using another publication to advertise your infringement tool, we’d appreciate it.The New York Times senior counsel Richard Samson • Offering a harsh-as-heck response to the creator of Scrollkit, a startup which allows you to visually lay out web content. Cody Brown, the creator of the app, used it to show how one can create an equivalent design to the NYT’s iconic “Snow Fall” layout quickly, leading the newspaper’s lawyers to strike back with full brunt force, ordering Brown to take down a claim that the app can recreate the story within an hour — something Brown actually did and posted video of — from Scrollkit’s website. FWIW: We’ve used Scrollkit before, and it existed long before this current issue. It’s not simply an infringement tool and to call it as such is not fair to Brown.
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)
Fair and Balanced: Here’s a handwritten note, circa-2005, wherein the president of Fox News writes to a Bush administration official—on Fox News stationary—and offers to “help off the record” if needed. The administration official in question was Condoleezza Rice, then-Secretary of State; Rice replied with a generic form letter. The note was obtained by Gawker’s John Cook, who wrote: “Please just imagine for a moment how Fox News would cover the publication of a private note from the editor of the New York Times to an Obama Administration official offering ‘help off the record.’” source
“There is no greater dishonor when reflecting on the death of a young journalist than by referring to them as aspiring.” Some important thoughts from freelance journalist Andrew Katz, writing in Time on the deaths of AP intern Armando “Mando” Montaño (above), who died earlier this week while working in Mexico City, and Marina Keegan, a Yale journalist who died in a car accident days after graduating.
5 Ways Journalists Can Use Pinterest - 10,000 Words
some of these ideas feel forced (teasers), but others are spot on (showcasing features and staff, and user participation, of course).
We’d love to try Pinterest for some of these ideas. We’re bothered, though, that they haven’t validated its journalistic use by putting in categories for news and politics, meaning that if we were to use it for this reason, it’d be hard for people to find it because it doesn’t fit neatly in any of the other main categories. But Pinterest is clearly where things are going: We’ve run into numerous people who have never used Tumblr or Twitter who are singing the praises of Pinterest. Clearly they’ve hit an untapped market here.
I’m w/ a NY Post reporter who says he was roughed up by riot police as Zuccotti was cleared. He thinks violence was ‘completely deliberate.’The New York Times’ Brian Stelter • Discussing some of the violence and roadblocks journalists faced last night when trying to cover the Zuccotti Park eviction. Journalists faced much trouble trying to tell a difficult story last night, as there are reports that they were kept long distances away and prevented from providing information to readers about what was happening in the cleanup. As Mediaite so eloquently put it, “Press badges apparently meant nothing.”
I applied for my first internship by turning in some high school essays. No one else applied, so I got the job. I was on academic probation twice in college. I’ve peed in the trash can of a rickety, old press box so I wouldn’t miss deadline. I got stumped on a story, went out to the bars, got re-inspired and passed out on my keyboard. Dennis Miller saw what I was eating at an event and made fun of me. It was hot dogs and cheesecake — free for working reporters. Bad grammar? I’ll probably hold it against you. Some weekends I don’t read a thing. I know I could make a mint doing something else but would it make the same difference? My father worked at a newspaper. He was a blue collar guy who worked graveyard shifts. It made him proud when he showed off my first byline to his friends in the press room.
I am a newspaper reporter.
Here’s a “We are the 99 percent” for the journalists out there: “We are journalists. We are proud of what we do. We are tired of bad press about the press. We are trying to be “team players.” We are terrified of more layoffs and paycuts. We would like to produce quality work without ‘obamasux99’ posting some non-sequitur rant at the end of it. We complain because we want things to be better. We would like some respect, plz. We are journalists.”
Poynter posts an exerpt from an email in which Google News explains their policy against indexing individual journalists:
“We don’t include sites that are written and maintained by one individual. We currently only include articles from sources that could be considered organizations, generally characterized by multiple writers and editors, availability of organizational information, and accessible contact information.”
Yet they index sites which do nothing but scrape content from other sources. This is a terrible policy they have. They will have to reconsider this policy as individual journalism becomes more of a thing. (</annoyed because we applied months ago and they never got back to us>)
One of the perks of being an early employee...
Over the last 90 days, the Digg...
#FMMDI (at 30 Rockefeller Plaza)
Thanks. I guess my thoughts are as follows:
1. I think...
Two Months Ago I set out to interview the principal cast...
This guy’s name is Gen. Keith...
mpowers123 asks: A twitter user [@alphaleah] has posted a list of the reporters stuck in the Rixos hotel. Can Shortformblog keep us posted on the situation these reporters face as events in Libya continue? Thanks for the top notch Libya coverage! "List of reporters in the #Rixos Hotel > @jomanacnn @missy_ryan @mchancecnn @matthewwprice @anniephr @jnyhutton"
» SFB says: We’ll definitely keep an eye on this — many of these folks are already in our list for Tripoli. The situation, as you might guess, does not sound like very much fun. Remember, these journalists are having to go through a lot to bring you the news. — Ernie @ SFB
» At long last: Gaddafi’s authorities have set Nigel Chandler, Manu Brabo, Claire Gillis and James Foley free — and authorities said that they may stay in the country if they wish (though journalistic professionalism aside, one could understand if they didn’t especially want to). Brabo, Gillis and Foley were all captured near Brega on April 5th. As for Chandler, however, who Libyan authorities believed worked with the BBC (they have since said they have no journalist in their employ by that name, and no other organization has claimed him), no location of his detainment is yet known. The four are now under consular care of Tripoli’s South African embassy.
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