media

Somebody Should Figure Out How to Pay for Journalism, Says Guy Whose Job It Is to Do That

Hamilton Nolan · 03/11/13 08:33AM

For a solid week now, media types have been discussing the ethical and economic quandaries of asking writers to write for free. For—oh, about a decade and a half now, at least—media types have been discussing how the internet might affect the longstanding economic model of journalism as an industry. Now, one of most highly credentialed media thinkers in America weighs in with a proposal: Hey, someone should do something about that.

How to Talk to a Female Journalist

Hamilton Nolan · 03/01/13 12:52PM

Working in journalism is, like life, harder for women than it is for men, what with the patriarchy and all. This point was driven home this week by Marin Cogan's New Republic story on the various sexual harassment-themed indignities of being a female reporter in Washington, and by the "Said to Lady Journos" Tumblr, which chronicles fun on-the-job remarks like, "Are you lost, little girl?"

It's Time to Give Journalistic Criminals Like Jonah Lehrer the Journalistic Death Penalty

Hamilton Nolan · 02/14/13 12:14PM

Jonah Lehrer, promising young golden boy of Gladwellian think-journalism, has had a bad eight months. Caught plagiarizing himself last June; soon after, caught fabricating quotes, and forced to resign from his plum gig at the New Yorker, and rapidly cast out of the chosen fold to wander the wilderness as a sort of fallen angel. Even the Knight Foundation, which just this week paid Lehrer $20K for his big mea culpa speech, is already saying that it regrets doing so. Some are urging him to donate the money to charity. All in all, his no doubt meticulously-planned return to the spotlight has fallen flat.

Cord Jefferson · 02/13/13 03:26PM

Time Warner is reportedly trying to unload the increasingly heavy burden of its publishing division/money pit, Time Inc.

ABC to Air Disturbing New Footage of Fort Hood Massacre, Interviews with 'Betrayed' Survivors

Robert Kessler · 02/12/13 01:12PM

On tonight's World News with Diane Sawyer, ABC will air several interviews with victims of the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, as well as graphic video showing the chaos in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. The video is incredibly disturbing, and shows bodies of the dead and injured scattered across the floor, pools of blood everywhere. What the victims have to say is equally impactful.

Daughter of Newsman Brian Williams Has Flack Censor Softball Interview Question

Hamilton Nolan · 02/11/13 02:28PM

Allison Williams, co-star of the HBO hit Girls, is the daughter of NBC News anchor Brian Williams, a man who makes his living by asking the tough questions. A cynic might even allege that Allison Williams would not be a famous TV star now were it not for her famous newsman dad. It would seem ironic, then, for Allison Williams to be instructing her PR soldiers to CENSOR even the gentlest of puff interviews.

Frank Bruni Column Based Entirely on Things that Flickered Across His Laptop Screen One Lazy Afternoon

Hamilton Nolan · 02/11/13 09:28AM

Well-meaning but inept New York Times columnist Frank Bruni is living proof that being a newspaper columnist is harder than it looks. As a normal newspaper writer and food critic, he seemed like a smart, erudite guy; as a columnist, he has proven to be remarkably free of insight or interesting ideas of any sort. Say, did you catch Frank Bruni's column Sunday entitle "The Land of the Binge?" If not, allow us to sum it up for you.

Hamilton Nolan · 02/07/13 03:54PM

New app lets kids "hold a smartphone over the newspaper to see a child-friendly version." It's called "Huffington Post."

America's Wrongest TV Critic Forgot About Brett Butler

Robert Kessler · 01/31/13 04:21PM

New York Times television critic Alessandra Stanley's casual relationship with the truth has been well documented. She decided America invaded Iraq in 2002 and not 2003. She re-appropriated a common CNN slogan to MSNBC. And her crowning accomplishment: a rare triple correction on Walter Cronkite's obituary which earned her a scolding from Katie Couric. Her summary of NBC's 30 Rock, which has its series finale tonight, is only a little bit less wrong than usual.

Manti Te'o Hoaxer Tells Dr. Phil He Was 'Deeply, Romantically in Love'

Robert Kessler · 01/30/13 12:05PM

Dr. Phil says the man behind Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend Lennay Kekua, Roniah Tuiasosopo, told him he was "deeply, romantically in love" with Te'o and claims that the voice talking back to Te'o for countless hours on the phone was not his cousin, as reported by the New York Post, but him. Asked by Dr. Phil if he is gay, Tuiasosopo says that, yes, he is, then clarifies that he is "confused."

Thomas Friedman: Hyperconnected

Hamilton Nolan · 01/30/13 10:22AM

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, a mustachioed humanoid robot with a limited vocabulary, was programmed by his creators to do whatever it takes to get his simple, cartoonish message across, even if that means repeating that message over and over and over without end in the nation's premier news outlet until all of us bow down and accept it, just to get him to stop saying it.

Jeff Zucker Is Blowing Up CNN

Max Read · 01/29/13 12:39PM

Jeff Zucker, the flesh egg whose destruction of NBC earned him a job running CNN, has launched his reign of terror over the network: James Carville and Mary Matalin — gone! Erick Erickson — gone! Managing editor Mark Whitaker — gone! And lo: Chris Cuomo's silhouette appears on the horizon, ready to take on "a major role in a new CNN morning show and across the network."

Robert Kessler · 01/28/13 05:35PM

Fox will test-run a Kris Jenner talk show this summer. It's just one step closer to a 24-hour Kardashian kable khannel.