AltWeeklies Wire
Examiner.com Lays Off Members of Senior Staffnew
Examiner.com, an ambitious online content provider that's part of mega-rich Phil Anschutz's media empire, underwent a restructuring at its Denver headquarters this morning that's resulted in a number of layoffs.
The New News Economynew

As newspapers struggle, nonprofit news is being touted as the key to the future. Is it?
East Bay Express |
Rachel Swan and Ellen Cushing |
05-30-2012 |
Media
Tags: Nonprofit News, Media
The Pravda-ization of the News
Try as they may to make the news as boring as possible, U.S. media outlets keep churning out hilarious "news" stories. Hardly a day passes without the release of some piece whose content is so ridiculous, its tone so absurdly credulous, that it makes us feel as if we live in a bizarre reincarnation of the propaganda-soaked Soviet Union.
The Pejorative Reportnew

It's not just the Rush Limbaughs who use language to degrade and insult. As politicians throw around emotionally packed words on the attack, some journalists wind up repeating them.
Jackson Free Press |
Valerie Wells |
04-06-2012 |
Media
Tags: NPR, Journalism, Media, FOX, Rush Limbaugh, Obamacare, objectivity, Affordable Care Act, Sandra Fluke
Rules of Etiquette, Decency and Fairness Should Apply Across the Boardnew
It was a quiet Thursday afternoon when a co-worker strolled into my office, sat in a chair and asked me a seemingly innocent—but loaded—question. "Why did you write about that?" His facial expression and tone were telling—it wasn't something he wanted to read about. To each his own, but what concerned me was the idea that writing about this topic was somehow wrong.
Tucson Weekly |
Irene Messina |
03-17-2010 |
Media
More Local News Folks Leave the Field Behind Before it Leaves Themnew
Carl Agnelly devised a backup plan, applying for work at Epic Systems, the Verona-based medical software giant. He got word he was hired last Nov. 9, his 29th birthday, and immediately told WKOW 27 he would be leaving when his contract expired at year's end.
How Cablevision Is Destroying Newsdaynew
The nation’s fifth-largest cable TV operator is tearing apart what was once one of the mightiest newspapers in the country. Interviews, financial documents and internal memos paint a picture of a paper under siege, both financially and journalistically.
Long Island Press |
Christopher Twarowski and Michael Patrick Nelson |
03-05-2010 |
Media
Tags: James Dolan, Times Mirror, journalism, media, newspapers, Cablevision, publishing, Newsday, Sam Zell
On the Late Molly Ivins and Her Crusade Against Corporatized Americanew

My old Columbia classmate Molly Ivins has been gone for three years now. Things have slipped fast since her funeral. Even Molly, with her keen nose for mendacity, might be amazed by the ethical dry rot that's eating away at the business of news.
South Carolina's Broadband: How Officials Quietly Privatized a Key State Assetnew
To its supporters, auctioning off the state's broadband spectrum has meant snaring millions of much-needed dollars for the state's ailing coffers. But opponents say the deal privatizes the public trust and will deepen the state's massive digital divide.
Columbia Free Times |
Corey Hutchins |
11-19-2009 |
Media
Tears of a Clown: On the Glenn Beck Phenomenonnew

The ex-Top 40 disc jockey, recovering drug addict and alcoholic, convert to Mormonism and the National Rifle Association, is American popular culture at its most incomprehensibly weird and offensive. He's also a huge success, a hit, a phenomenon -- a star.
Birth of a Blowhard: Glenn Beck in Connecticutnew

When Beck arrived at KC 101 in early 1992, he was a semi-failed, drug-and-alcohol addicted, Top-40s radio jock desperately looking for a route to stardom. By the time he left seven years later, he had figured out that talk radio was the future and conservative shtick could be revamped to serve as his escalator to fame and fortune.
Hartford Advocate |
Gregory B. Hladky |
10-21-2009 |
Media
Blogger Busted: Free Speech Goes on Trial in Central Illinoisnew

Scott Humphrey, a 57-year-old man from Springfield, Ill., faces four criminal misdemeanor charges for two specific online statements that he made on a political blog. Sources say civil suits and criminal charges will increasingly be used to stop speech on the internet.
Illinois Times |
Amanda Robert |
10-15-2009 |
Media
Al Giordano's School of Authentic Journalism Tweaks J-School Conventionsnew
The school, which is located on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, has grown steadily in the past seven years. And this past month, the school announced it will be offering 24 scholarships for "up-and-coming journalists and communicators" to attend a 10-day session there this February.
Boston Phoenix |
Mike Miliard |
10-14-2009 |
Media
Philly's Journalists Won't Return to 1989new
It wasn't difficult to see this coming: Brian Tierney's "Keep It Local" campaign to retain control of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News apparently applies only to ownership -- not to the employees of those newspapers.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Joel Mathis |
10-05-2009 |
Media
Censored! The Top 10 Stories Not Brought to You by Mainstream Medianew

Every year since 1976, Project Censored has spotlighted the 25 most significant news stories that were largely ignored or misrepresented by the mainstream press. Here's what you might not have read this year.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Rebecca Bowe |
09-30-2009 |
Media
Tags: media, Project Censored