TUESDAY'S LINKS: 'Monday Crap Stories,' Outgoing 'Inky' ME, 'Strib' Ups Local Coverage

By: E&P Staff In today's links, Jack Shafer slams newspaper journalists' sometimes-lacking Monday morning fare, outgoing Philadelphia Inquirer Managing Editor Anne Gordon talks about leaving the paper, and New York Times Editor Bill Keller tells an audience at Stanford that newspapers are needed to keep governments and other major institutions in check.

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-- Philadelphia Weekly: "Newspapers are suffering the pain of their failure to innovate," says outgoing Philadelphia Inquirer Managing Editor Anne Gordon.

-- Slate: The Monday crap story is as nonperishable as a MoonPie, writes Jack Shafer.

-- New York Times: On a Stanford panel, New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller said that newsgathering helps the people keep track of what governments and institutions are doing.

-- Oakland Tribune: As of May 20, the Oakland Tribune will no longer be at the historic Tribune building and tower in downtown Oakland.

-- U.S. News & World Report: Journalists should not be socially chummy or even close to members of Congress or the White House staff. But let's not get silly or grandstand about it, writes John Mashek.

-- CNN/Money: 372 mergers in the traditional media business have taken place so far this year across the globe. While that's down slightly from the 448 deals done through the same point of 2006, the mergers are getting much bigger.