Category: Industry commentary

Now this is news

CJR’s Campaign Desk has glommed onto the fact that AP’s reporting goes out into the world with the assumption that other editors at member publications will finish the editing. “Lots of papers run AP unedited” is a running joke at…

Why newspapers will never die

It’s not just because you can read one while sitting on the throne. In retrospect, I question whether I ever truly mastered the change from print to pixel. Sure, I can navigate a Web page with the best of them,…

Two great “10 things about…” lists

Scalzi on 10 things all aspiring writers need to know. (link via Mme. Paquin.) Michael McDonough?s Top Ten Things They Never Taught Me in Design School. (link via Nicole Stockdale) These are long reads but worth bookmarking for consumption later…

Those fabrications

I’m still trying to figure out what to think of the raft of fabrication scandals we keep having. I wonder how many reporters have made up quotes or invented sources. The temptation must be powerful. Think of it, you’re 20…

Gay couple can’t cover same-sex issues

Clay mentions the S.F. Chronicle’s decision to bar two women who’ve wedded from covering the same-sex marriage issue. Seems the Chron is sensitive to the charge that married gay couples have a conflict of interest if they cover the issue.…

Wakeup call No. 1,234

From USA Today: And as investment in journalism declines, many journalists face real pressure trying to maintain quality. Newsroom cutbacks (2,200 newspaper jobs lost since 1990), changes in content and a focus on profits rather than innovation raise serious questions…

Confession: a nun slapped me once

I was in the first grade and a bunch of us boys — you know, 6-year-olds — were noisily goofing off in the boys’ bathroom. Then this big ol’ nun comes barging through the door and slaps me right across…

That culture thing

The Poynter faculty brings us this summary of ways for managers to improve their newsroom’s culture. I don’t know why they’re such sponges for ridicule over there — but I am thankful for it. A few choice tidbits. What Poynter…

‘Dear Abby’…

I’m a blue-haired housewife who will change my life forever according to whatever you say in your newspaper column. And by the way, my husband is Homer Simpson.

That pesky survival question

Vin Crosbie outlines all the stuff newspapers must do to survive in the next 20 years. His contention is that the one-size-fits all model of newspapering is done for, that newspapers must be zoned by interest and specialized to suit…