Topic: Media

The Koch Brothers' Foray into Media Has Already Been a Success

Associated Press

Billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch are quite entrepreneurial in their attempts to influence public policy in their favor.

By Philip Bump

May 20, 2013

Robert Gibbs Does Not Think Much of Maureen Dowd

Robert Gibbs, press-secretary-for-Obama-turned-cable-news-appearer, is not a fan of Maureen Dowd. On Morning Joe, Gibbs claimed not to read the New York Times columnist, since she's been writing the same thing for the past eight years. He might have a point.

Comments | 4,972 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

May 14, 2013

Is the 'Press Photo of the Year' Actually Photoshop Art?

Photographer Paul Hansen is fighting back against claims — from hackers calling it a composite, bloggers calling it a "fake," and still others questioning the meaning of news photography in a digital age — that his winning image for the "World Press Photo of the Year" contest is nothing but a computer-aided forgery. Even the World Press judges are doing some forensic second-guessing.

Comments | 3,086 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

May 14, 2013

Media Diet

Emma Carmichael: What I Read

The new editor of The Hairpin treats mix-tapes like books and commutes by Instapaper.

Comments | 3,701 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

May 9, 2013

Class Action or Not, the Unpaid Intern Lawsuit at Hearst Will Go On

A judge may have thrown out class-action status for the lawsuit against Hearst for using unpaid interns at its magazines, but the disgruntled former coffee-fetchers will continue the fight. 

Comments | 1,016 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

May 9, 2013

Non-Satirical Advice from 'The Onion' on How Not to Get Hacked Like 'The Onion'

The Onion has released a detailed account of how it believes the Syrian Electronic Army hacked into its extremely popular Twitter account the other day, providing a rare glimpse at the simple yet devious spear-phishing emails that can crack major media outlets — and probably you.

Comments | 3,222 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 6, 2013

The Ghost of Sandra Fluke Is Haunting Rush Limbaugh's Mega-Deal

Rush Limbaugh enied that the advertiser boycott of his show after he called Fluke a slut would cost him anything, but a year later, it's clear that prediction wasn't true. It has, at the very least, cost him his relationship with the radio network giant Cumulus Media.

Comments | 8,438 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

May 3, 2013

The Drudge Report Fell Hard for This Fake Bloomberg Pizza Revenge Story

For a few brief shining moments on Friday morning, The Drudge Report's splashy top story linked to a "news" report from The Daily Currant about New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg that is not even close to being true.

Comments | 37,169 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

May 1, 2013

L.A. Times Ban on 'Illegal Immigrant' Puts Everybody Else on the Spot

The Los Angeles Times announced late Wednesday that it would join the Associated Press in dropping the phrase "illegal immigrant" from its style guide.

Comments | 1,976 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 30, 2013

Lindsey Graham Is a Terrible Expert on Everything

Of the Senator's latest expert suggestions — that the Boston bombings and Benghazi showed a national security weakness — President Obama said, "No, Mr. Graham is not right on this issue, although I'm sure it generated some headlines." Wrong. What it generated was cable news hits for Graham. And the No. 1 thing Lindsey Graham is an expert on... is getting on TV.

Comments | 3,548 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 30, 2013

The Gosnell Trial Is Producing Lots of News Coverage, Little News

The trial of Philadelphia doctor Kermit Gosnell has been sent to the jury for deliberations. The trial hasn't inspired a flurry of news articles, though — mostly because nothing much of interest is happening in the trial.

Comments | 591 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 29, 2013

Twitter Tells News Organizations to Expect Even More Hacks in the Future

A little less than a week after a hacked Associated Press account reported a non-existent bombing at the White House, Twitter decided it was time to comfort journalists by warning them that they should expect to get hacked.

Comments | 1,967 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 28, 2013

After Months of Hunting, HuffPost Finally Found a TV Network to Give It Airtime

The Huffington Post is teaming up with Mark Cuban to take its newish, money-losing video channel, HuffPost Live, from the laptop screen to the television screen.

Comments | 1,963 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 26, 2013

Glenn Beck Glad He Escaped Fox News Before He Got 'Too Enamored'

It's generally understood that in the Fox News and Glenn Beck breakup, Fox was the dumper and Beck the dumpee. But, in most breakups where the couple shares a social circle, neither party wants a reputation as the dumpee. Beck says he's the one who wanted to leave — because the network was so depressing so amazing.

Comments | 3,131 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 26, 2013

Since When Is Anyone Being Nice About the (Alleged) Boston Bombers?

You might have watched the first riveting week of the Boston bombing news coverage and thought people needed to calm down a little bit. But now, after a second week with few public answers and a brand-new federal prosecution, it turns out we've been too restrained, apparently.

Comments | 6,838 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 26, 2013

Washington: More Incestuous Than Ever — and Proud of It!

Politico gives the big "Behind the Curtain" splash today to a shameless embrace of shameless DC navel-gazing, and just in time for the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the annual peak of media loathing. So who's really the most incestuous here?

Comments | 1,370 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Apr 25, 2013

The New York Times Is Getting a Cheaper Paywall Because It Has To

The business drama behind the New York Times paywall is, at its core, this: can the news organization find new subscription revenue faster than it loses advertising revenue? And, while it has pioneered the paywall, signing up 676,000 subscribers through the end of the fourth quarter, the announcement that it will offer new, cheaper tiers shows that is not enough paying customers.

Comments | 6,625 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Apr 24, 2013

Why Can't a Female Leader Be Celebrated Until She's Bullied?

Jill Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times and the first woman to hold that position, is literally a poster child for Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In mantra. And, yet, that doesn't seem to matter to many of her defenders today, who also happen to dislike Sheryl Sandberg and her Lean In movement because it only represents corporate power women just like Abramson.

Comments | 2,137 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 23, 2013

2012 Campaign May Be Fought Forever on the Return of 'Crossfire'

If you enjoyed the endless, empty rhetorical skirmishes that failed to have any affect on the 2012 presidential campaign, tune in to CNN in June. Two veterans of those useless fights, Stephanie Cutter and Newt Gingrich, may be back at it on Crossfire.

Comments | 973 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 23, 2013

Rush Limbaugh Thinks 'Lovable' Photos of Tsarnaev & Trayvon Are a Conspiracy

"He's not a normal kid," Limbaugh said on his radio show Tuesday. "There's nothing normal about this, and we don't want it to be normal." Well, yeah, that's the point.

Comments | 6,422 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 22, 2013

Reuters Fired Its Indicted Social Media Editor After Bad Social Media Editing

Thomson Reuters could handle Matthew Keys being indicted on federal hacking charges. But after a week in which he was harshly criticized for inaccurate tweets to his 35,000-plus followers about the Boston attacks — and in which he had a public spat with his boss — Keys finds himself out of a job.

Comments | 10,593 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 21, 2013

Last Week, CNN Itself Became the Poop Cruise

As reactions to the media's handling (or rather, mishandling) of breaking news during a busy week continue to flow in, perhaps none is more condemning than David Carr's latest column in The New York Times.

Comments | 4,248 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 21, 2013

Twitter's Hashtag-Powered Comedy Festival Sounds Confusing

The entertainment industry's looking pretty experimental these days, with the announcement of a new five-day-long comedy festival on Twitter. Yes, there is a hashtag involved.

Comments | 969 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 14, 2013

'Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead' Just Missed Becoming the Meanest Number One Song Ever

The results are in, and "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead" has failed to climb to the number one slot on British charts. It was just 5,700 copies behind Duke Dumont's "Need Me (100 Percent)" when the official tally was taken.

Comments | 1,526 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 11, 2013

The BBC's Not Sure How to Deal with the Sudden Popularity of 'Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead'

In the handful of days since Margaret Thatcher's death, there's been no indicator of her opponents' satisfaction more troubling than the resurgence of the near-century-old song, "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead."

Comments | 40,134 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 11, 2013

'The Bible' Would Have Fit Right in at Fox News

Rupert Murdoch wanted Fox News to air The Bible, the hit miniseries on History with an Obama-esque Satan. But Murdoch and Survivor bigwig Mark Burnett couldn't come to an agreement on the money or the rights. This is an unsettling revelation.

Comments | 1,110 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Apr 10, 2013

Can CNN Make Water-Cooler News That Works for the Middle?

New CNN president Jeff Zucker, as The Washington Post's Paul Farhi explains in a lengthy profile today, is a "hyper-competitive" but patient man who will try anything and everything to "blow up the place" and get you to watch the still struggling network without alienating the base — of viewers or advertisers.

Comments | 368 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 10, 2013

Anthony Weiner, Bill Clinton & Twitter: The Awkward Marriage of Insecurity

In addition to admitting his run for mayor, Weiner admits he got caught up in the thrill of social media, which allows regular citizens to interact with politicians in a way that's never been possible before. It feels very democratic. But sometimes it also feels like you've seen a kind of desperation that you shouldn't have seen.

Comments | 2,881 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 8, 2013

One Secret to BuzzFeed's Viral Success: Buying Ads

There is no question that BuzzFeed and its founder Jonah Peretti are good at marketing. Pondering the future of making money selling ads, New York magazine asks this week: "Does BuzzFeed Know the Secret?" The answer, as Andrew Rice explains, is yes. But, then, so do you.

Comments | 1,081 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Apr 5, 2013

Who's Afraid of Michael Arrington?

The reason the press has stayed mostly silent in the wake of sexual assault allegations connected to Silicon Valley big-wig Michael is not because, as several have suggested, the tech world is scared of the TechCrunch founder.

Comments | 7,470 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 3, 2013

The Bitcoin Blogging Bubble Is Bursting

It could probably have been predicted that a hyper-geeky, shockingly valuable new economic system would be all it took to compress the full cycle of internet awareness into one 24-hour period.

Comments | 890 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 3, 2013

It's a Crime for 12-Year-Olds to Read The New York Times Online

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a word of warning: many teenagers are wantonly breaking the law every day by reading news sites on the web because the Department of Justice's weird implementation of vague laws has left a number of media outlets with odd age-based legal prohibitions.

Comments | 13,548 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 1, 2013

Conservatives Can't Agree on Which TV Show Brought Us Gay Marriage

According to Bill Kristol and Rick Santorum and other pundits, there's one reason for a surge in American support for gay marriage: television. But the question is: Which television show? We crunched the numbers. Sort of.

Comments | 8,155 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Apr 1, 2013

Can Vice Save the Media from the Business Insider?

Advertently or not, The New Yorker this week presents a sort of Goofus-and-Gallant account of the kinds of media organizations to emerge in the digital age: Henry Blodget's news aggregator Business Insider and hipster clothing store-turned-magazine-turned-advertising empire Vice.

Comments | 886 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 29, 2013

NPR's Talk of the Nation Is Signing Off

"East Coast liberal elites" have lost another outlet for their opinions now that National Public Radio is putting an end to one of its signature shows.

Comments | 2,635 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 28, 2013

Chart of the Day

The Rise of 'In One Chart' In One Chart

When The Washington Post's Brad Plumer posted "This is actually the scariest chart about Europe" on Thursday morning, there was a spontaneous reaction of mockery on Twitter that could, in the style of many social movements, mark the beginning of a full-scale rebellion against the maniacal competition to create The One Chart That Will Rule Them All.

Comments | 8,247 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 27, 2013

What's Moderating Fox News Want with a Right-Winger Like Tucker Carlson?

Fox News has hired Tucker Carlson to co-host Fox & Friends Weekend, even though the two are on opposite ideological trajectories -- Fox is getting more moderate while Carlson is getting more fringe.

Comments | 1,404 Views

By Philip Bump

Mar 27, 2013

Breitbart Turns Its Reporting Apparatus to the Vacationing Obama Girls

Breitbart.com's feeble rationalization for its leering coverage of a trip taken by the Obama daughters shouldn't surprise anyone. It's by Matthew Boyle, the Murrow-wannabe at the center of nearly every recent embarrassment in the conservative media.

Comments | 4,547 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 26, 2013

A History of Gay Rights Going Mainstream, as Told by Newsweekly Covers

You can measure how quickly public opinion on gay rights has changed by looking at poll numbers, or you can see it on the covers of the national newsweeklies. 

Comments | 4,362 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 22, 2013

Matt Yglesias' $1.2 Million House Stokes Class Envy in Conservatives

Slate's liberal economics blogger Matt Yglesias bought a $1.2 million three-bedroom condo in Washington, D.C., and a bunch of conservatives are pretty appalled that a liberal would have the gall to be rich. 

Comments | 5,548 Views

By Philip Bump

Mar 22, 2013

This Time We Actually Believe the Daily Caller

The Washington Post is reporting that the man who reportedly paid women to accuse Senator Robert Menendez of prostitution says he was hired by the conservative political outlet that reported the news. Prompting this unprecedented statement: We must rise in defense of the Daily Caller.

Comments | 2,253 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 20, 2013

Matthew Keys Needs to Stop Talking

It's fairly safe to say that Matthew Keys won some sympathy in the days after his indictment for hacking charges. But after staying relatively silent, the Reuters social media editor is starting to talk publicly about this case. This feels like a bad idea.

Comments | 3,068 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 20, 2013

Roger Ailes on His Counter-Biography: Mission Accomplished

When Fox News chief Roger Ailes found out a reporter was writing mean biography about him, he commissioned a glowing one to counter it, Roger Ailes: Off Camera. It's only been out for a day, but both Ailes chief and favored biographer Zev Chafets are quite pleased with the result.

Comments | 173 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 19, 2013

At Least 200,000 People Want CNN to Apologize for Its Sympathetic Steubenville Coverage

Remember the CNN broadcast a few days ago, when Candy Crowley and friends bemoaned the fates of the Steubenville rapists? That didn't go over well, and nearly a quarter million people want the network to do something about it.

Comments | 229,247 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 19, 2013

The Invasion of Iraq, in 7 GIFs the World Has Never Seen

Crusty old reporters like to complain that the Internet, Twitter, memes, GIFs, and whatever are ruining journalism and America. But when you look back at, say, the invasion of Iraq, it's hard not to think the country could have benefitted from a little mass mockery to puncture the madness.  

Comments | 2,242 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 18, 2013

Roger Ailes Admits He'd Be a Bad Politician

Roger Ailes, president of Fox News and maker of sinister expressions, shows his true colors in a new biography, Roger Ailes: Off Camera, by Zev Chafets. We've seen them before. 

Comments | 1,207 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Mar 18, 2013

How Easy Will It Be to Steal the News from the Washington Post's Paywall?

The paper has a "new" way to make money off its "savvy" readers: This summer, it will adopt a metered paywall system that's very similar to The New York Times — and, just like the Times, actually savvy readers will find a way to access it for free.

Comments | 683 Views

By Philip Bump

Mar 18, 2013

The Bleak Outlook for Legacy News Media, in Charts

A massive set of data outlining the health of the news media in 2012 suggests that even the defibrillation of a presidential campaign couldn't shift the long-term trend: less money, fewer resources, more distractions, an unclear path forward.

Comments | 345 Views

By Philip Bump

Mar 14, 2013

Overzealous Biden Staffers Deprive the World of More Joe Biden Photos

Let no one again say that the White House is too mean to reporters. A Biden aide tried to assure fairness among the media pool, albeit in an unorthodox way: by making a reporter delete photos he'd taken at an event.

Comments | 674 Views

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