By: E&P Staff In today's edition, a rumor about Karl Rove sets bloggers' tongues wagging, a journalist revives the great tradition of muckraking, and some lessons Slate magazine could teach newspapers about moving to the web.
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Bloggers Swarm Over RumorsWith more people turning to the Internet for news, bloggers have blurred the lines with traditional media and changed both the dynamics of the reporting process and how political rumors swirl. "The system for keeping unverifiable reports out of the news is totally broken down when you look at the online world," says Jay Rosen, a professor of journalism at New York University and a blogger himself at www.pressthink.org. Instead, he says, there is a "let's see if this holds up" philosophy that he thinks has merit in today's fast-paced news world, though he admits it isn't a practice that major news organizations could or should adopt.
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A Muckraker's Day in the SunWashington investigative journalist Murray Waas, 47, has been around awhile. Yet the slightly disheveled Philly native has always managed to remain well under the public's radar -- refusing to appear on television, toiling independently as a freelancer until recently joining the respected National Journal, and always working the phones and a network of sources from his Northwest Washington home. But his cover's been blown. With the publication in recent months of his news-breaking stories on the Bush administration's involvement in manipulating prewar Iraq intelligence, Waas has gotten a sometimes bitter taste of what he refers to as his "five minutes of fame.
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Newspapers Could Learn Web Lessons From SlateAlthough Slate, America's most popular online magazine, understands today's online journalism, it has no idea where the medium will be in 10 years. It is, however, preparing itself for the future. Newspapers could learn a few things about where they should be taking their own journalism, but there are other aspects of Slate's journalism that are questionable.
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What Makes a Great Editor?"In this moment of bidding farewell to the iconic Abe Rosenthal, it is worth remembering that the truest legacy of editors is never just clean copy, smoothly packaged," writes Peter Osnos. "It is leadership in matters large (such as protecting the integrity of institutions and fielding the demands of publishers) and small (such as making each writer and subeditor better practioners of their craft)."
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Singleton: Newspapers Still a Good InvestmentCirculation levels at major metropolitan newspapers are falling. At the San Francisco Chronicle, daily circulation dropped 15.5% during the past six months that ended in March, according to the U.S. Audit Bureau of Circulation. A few other big-city papers have eked out tiny circulation improvements, but the overall trend continued precipitously downward, with 700 newspapers dropping an average of 2.5%. So why on earth is William Dean Singleton, the chief executive of MediaNews Group, still investing in newspapers?
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Is the Future Paperless?Will there come a day when readers, advertisers and revenue fleeing the newspapers will be captured by the Web site - in numbers sufficient to sustain the expensive business of covering news, sports, arts and culture in the nation's sixth-largest metropolitan area? "I think it's safe to say that the consensus in the industry right now is that nobody has figured it out. That's the holy grail," said Ken Doctor, lead analyst with Outsell, a media research company, and a former vice president for the digital arm of Knight Ridder Inc.
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Fla. ACLU Sues on Behalf of JournalistThe Greater Miami chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of freelance journalist David Lippman. According to the ACLU, documents obtained by them indicate that Lippman was under Federal Bureau of Investigation surveillance for being a "known protestor w/history" as he traveled from his home in North Carolina to Miami to cover the Free Trade Area of the Americas protests.
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Can Suburban Newspapers Deliver?GateHouse Media Inc.'s $400 million deal to buy 124 newspapers surrounding Boston shows where investors see promise in an otherwise troubled newspaper industry: the suburbs. The deal also introduces a new company with its roots in the business of finance, not journalism, to the region's media market.
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Russian Prosecutors Appeal Ruling in Case of Editor's MurderRussian prosecutors have asked the Supreme Court to overturn a jury's decision to acquit two men charged with murdering a U.S. journalist two years ago, local news agencies reported on Monday. Paul Klebnikov, the editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was shot four times as he left his office in July 2004. Murders in Russia -- especially assassination-style killings like Klebnikov's -- often go unsolved.
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