MONDAY'S LINKS: Sudan Confiscates Newspaper, Jury Out on McClatchy/KR Deal, Corporations Pay for Coverage

By: E&P Staff In today's links, a court rules that freelance journalist Josh Wolf must comply with a federal subpoena compelling him to release unpublished video footage, China tightens its grip on foreign news agencies operating in the country, and the Sudanese government this weekend confiscated all copies of the independent al-Sudani newspaper.

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Ninth Circuit Rules That Freelance Journalist Josh Wolf Must Comply With Federal Subpoena
Stephen Kaus on Huffington Post: In an unpublished ruling issued Thursday, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled against freelance video journalist Josh Wolf and stated that he must comply with a grand jury subpoena for his unpublished footage. Wolf must now decide whether to testify or go back to jail. He could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but relief there is not going to happen.

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China Tightens Controls on Foreign News
Associated Press: China tightened its control over the distribution of news by foreign agencies Sunday, further restricting international access to the already tightly regulated Chinese media market. The new measures took effect immediately upon being issued by the state Xinhua News Agency. The regulations give Xinhua broad authority over foreign news agencies, requiring them to distribute stories, photos and other services solely through Xinhua or entities authorized by Xinhua. The rules would affect The Associated Press, Reuters and other foreign news agencies seeking wider access to the rapidly expanding Chinese market.

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Jury Still Out on McClatchy's KR Deal
So far the returns have not been promising. McClatchy's stock is down nearly 19 percent this year and nearly 40 percent over the past 12 months. That's a bigger decline than its rivals have had in an out-of-favor industry. McClatchy insists that the deal is sound. In fact, the McClatchy board in July paid CEO Gary Pruitt a special $1 million bonus for completing the $6 billion acquisition of Knight Ridder. The deal makes California-based McClatchy, parent of the Star Tribune, the No. 2 newspaper peddler in the country, behind Gannett Co., publisher of USA Today, among other papers.

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Sudanese Authorities Confiscate Newspaper
Reuters: Sudan authorities confiscated all copies of the independent al-Sudani newspaper on Saturday, the latest move in a resurgence of censorship since the beheading of a journalist last week. Mohamed Taha, editor of al-Wifaq newspaper was seized from his home and his decapitated body dumped in a dirt street on Wednesday.

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To Be or Not To Be: The Future of Newspapers
The Korea Times: The recent oversensitive responses from the newspaper against bad treatment and disdain are easily expected and understood, the following circumstances considered. There was the golden age of newspaper when what it said was accepted as an unarguable fact and truth. It was once believed to be able to form, control or at least strongly influence public opinion. It dreamed and threatened to make and break governments, to swing an election, to stop a war or start a revolution. It was once a real main character spotlighted on the stage of history and society. It was crowned as a flower of civilization under the name of the representative of the voice of people. However, the wheel of fortune for the newspaper has turned around. It became just a "paper" with its literary meaning in a dictionary, a publication containing news and information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper. People in common no longer gave uncritical justification and trust to it, but have rather sped up the turning of the wheel with disbelief and disdain.


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Journos and Columnists Paid Off to Parrot Corporate Spin
St. Petersburg Times: If McDonald's makes the case that fast food is nutritious or ExxonMobil argues against higher taxes, it looks like simple self-interest. But when an independent voice makes the case, the ideas gain credibility. So big corporations have devised a form of idea laundering, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to seemingly independent groups that act as spokesmen under disguise. Their views wind up on the opinion pages of the nation's newspapers -- often with no disclosure that the writer has financial ties to the companies involved.

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'Wall Street Journal' Fashion Bureau All About Fashion/Luxury Ads?
Philip Stone in Follow the Media: there seems to be little doubt that Journal executives do believe they are on to a good thing with fashion/luxury -- it is a different advertiser to the usual categories that have been in decline over the years. The Journal can no longer rely on the declining tombstone announcements that used to be its bread and butter (such and such a bank was happy to assist such and such a company buyout such and such company, etc.). The newspaper knows it needs to make up that lost revenue elsewhere, and just relying on plain cost cutting (reducing the width size of the newspaper as the Journal is going to do, etc.,) won?t do it.