New York Times reporter says he's an unwitting Dell shill [Great Moments In Journalism]

Sur le même thème que "New York Times reporter says he's an unwitting Dell shill [Great Moments In Journalism]"

New York Times reporter poses as hooker on Twitter [Sex Trade]

Matt Richtel, the New York Times reporter and author of Hooked, has whored himself out on Twitter this week. The messages read as if they're written both by a hooker and the murderous john she meets, somewhere on the road to Denver for the Democratic National Convention. Tweeting in drag as a prostitute. Is it an old-fashioned Internet man stunt? Part of Richtel's recent day-job obsession with covering the Internet sex industry? Or is it some kind of experiment for his moonlight career as a novelist? Whatever Richtel's motive, the result is deeply creepy. His most whorish updates follow: [lien] [EN]

Another New York Times Reporter Freed in Afghanistan

A New York Times reporter held hostage by the Taliban has been freed by British commandos: “Stephen Farrell, a New York Times reporter held captive by militants in northern Afghanistan, was freed in a military commando raid early Wednesday, but his Afghan interpreter was killed during the rescue effort. In a brief telephone call about 0 p.m. New York time on Tuesday, Mr. Farrell told Susan Chira, the foreign editor of The Times: “I’m out! I’m free!” Ms. Chira said Mr. Farrell told her that he had been “extracted” by a commando raid carried out by “a lot of soldiers” in a fierce firefight with his captors. Mr. Farrell said he had also called his wife.” A British commando was also killed in the raid that freed Farrell. Farrell had traveled to Afghanistan to cover a recent NATO airstrike that reportedly killed up to 0 civilians. This is the second time the New York Times and other media kept secret a reporter’s abduction to protect his safety: “Until now, the kidnapping had been kept quiet by The Times and most other news media organizations out of concern for the men’s safety. “We feared that media attention would raise the temperature and increase the risk to the captives,” said Bill Keller, the executive editor of The Times. “We’re overjoyed that Steve is free, but deeply saddened that his freedom came at such a cost. We are doing all we can to learn the details of what happened. Our hearts go out to [interpreter] Sultan’s family.” The rescue of Mr. Farrell came about 1 weeks after David Rohde, another reporter for The Times, escaped and made his way to freedom after more than seven months of captivity in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In that case as well, The Times and other news organizations kept Mr. Rohde’s kidnapping silent out of fear for his safety.” I wondered before about a media double-standard in comparing the months of secrecy the media afforded the Rohde abduction with the immediate coverage about the capture of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, an American soldier whose story the BBC and other media published within days. Is there a double-standard that leads the media to protect their own reporters when they are taken hostage, but not others? I’m not the only one asking that question: “A New York Times reporter falls into the hands of the Taliban and not a word appears in major news outlets until after his escape seven months later. An American soldier in Afghanistan falls into the hands of the Taliban, and although the military seeks media restraint while it launches a search, his plight earns barely three days of silence. Maybe yes, maybe no.” ‘Maybe no’ because the military press office apparently mistakenly confirmed Bergdahl’s capture to the local media. ‘Maybe yes’ because the BBC relied on local reports that the media had ignored in Rohde’s case: “Interviews and research using the LexisNexis news database and other sources show that the BBC’s Worldwide Monitor picked up and relayed a report that day by a small news service, the Afghan Islamic Press, which said a Taliban commander had told it his forces had captured an American soldier and three Afghans. The Afghan Islamic Press added that the U.S. military in Afghanistan had confirmed that one of its soldiers was missing. This was the sort of report major media had ignored during Rohde’s captivity. But not this time. Less than an hour after the time stamped on the BBC’s imprimatur of the Afghan report, Bergdahl’s plight was international news, quickly picked up and reported on by what would become numerous other news outlets, including Stars and Stripes, and even draw public notice from President Barack Obama himself. Whitman said the military official who had provided the confirmation that opened the dam had mishandled it.” I’m happy for this reporter and his family. I wish the same for Pfc. Bergdahl and his family, too. [lien] [EN]

New York Times reporter shills for Dell site [Great Moments In Journalism]

newVideoPlayer("/mark_santora.flv", 506, 423,"");Why is Marc Santora, a respected war correspondent for the New York Times, appearing in ads chattering about mobile technology? Click on the ad, running on sites like VentureBeat, and you're taken to a site, DigitalNomads, which appears to be a collection of blog-filler pablum about the wonders of the wireless Internet. Buried at the bottom is a tiny disclaimer: "Powered by Dell." Dig under the ad-placement code, and you'll see that the ad is sold by Federated Media, John Battelle's online-ad network. Battelle's outfit grew infamous last summer for getting some of the bloggers for whom he sells ads to recite a sponsor's slogan. That last time, it was Microsoft. At no point does Santora mention Dell's name. But his underlying message, that new technological gear helps us all do our jobs better, certainly serves Dell's purposes. I would have thought that the strict Times ethics code would forbid such an endorsement, paid or otherwise. Why bloody the reputation of someone who's taking a bullet to get stories for the newspaper? I've asked the Times what's going on, but haven't heard back yet. Read More: Mainstream media decides Google no longer makes you stupid, Calacanis attempts to liveblog entire world, In today's news, I met Al Gore!, Jason Calacanis missive unpublished by Silicon Alley Insider [lien] [EN]

Fox News distorts photos of New York Times reporters.

This morning on Fox & Friends, co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade called Jacques Steinberg’s June 28 New York Times article on Fox News’s declining ratings a “hit piece,” adding that Steinberg and Times editor Steven Reddicliffe are “attack dogs.” During the segment, Fox aired blatantly distorted photos of Steinberg and Reddicliffe with their teeth [...] [lien] [EN]

New York Times: MasterCard Reports Dissappointing Holiday Sales

[Guest post by DRJ] In an article dated December 26, 2007 (but available online at 3:00 PM EST Christmas Day), The New York Times reports “bleak” holiday sales based on disappointing MasterCard charges: “American consumers, uneasy about the economy and unimpressed by the merchandise in stores, delivered the bleak holiday shopping season retailers had expected, if not feared, according to one early but influential projection. Spending between Thanksgiving and Christmas rose just 3.6 percent over last year, the weakest performance in at least four years, according to MasterCard Advisors, a division of the credit card company. By comparison, sales grew 6.6 percent in 2006, and 8 percent in 2005. “There was not a recipe for a pick up in sales growth,” said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis at MasterCard Advisors, citing higher gas prices, a slowing housing market and a tight credit market. Strong demand at the start of the season for a handful of must-have electronics, like digital frames and portable GPS navigation systems trailed off in December. And robust sales of luxury products could not make up for sluggish sales of jewelry and women’s clothing. What did eventually sell was generally marked down — once, if not twice — which could hurt retailers’ profits in the final three months of year. “Stores are buying those sales at a cost,” said Sherif Mityas, a partner at the consulting firm A.T. Kearney, who specializes in retailing.” However, online and luxury sales increased significantly: “MasterCard found that online spending rose 22.4 percent, a healthy, if not robust, showing, given fears that Web purchases would slow after a decade of impressive growth. Clothing sales rose a meager 1.4 percent, but there was a stark split between genders. Sales for women’s apparel dropped 2.4 percent. Sales for men’s apparel rose 2.3 percent. Analysts said women complained of dreary fashions. “Even when the dust settles, women’s clothing is likely to be one of the weakest categories in retail this season,” said John D. Morris, senior retail analyst at Wachovia Securities. Luxury purchases rose 7.1 percent, as the nation’s well-heeled splurged on $600 Marc Jacobs trench coats and $800 Christian Louboutin shoes. Footwear, at all prices, proved a bright spot for the clothing industry, with sales surging 6 percent.” An increase of 22% is definitely robust by anyone’s evaluation. I’m sure the New York Times would be glad to see its ad rates and stock price increase 22%. The article noted Target’s sales were weak while Wal-Mart and Best Buy were big winners. That makes me curious how the author knows - as stated in the first line of the article - that people didn’t use their MasterCards because they were unimpressed with the merchandise. Apparently they liked the merchandise at Wal-Mart and Best Buy. This illustrates why it’s hard to extrapolate MasterCard’s data to the US Christmas market and answer “Why?” questions based on solely on data. Nevertheless, the author’s conclusion may be correct. Certainly one reason that supports his conclusion that people are uneasy about the economy is that more people have reached their credit card limits or are in default. There can be many reasons for credit card defaults, including not only the reasons mentioned in the Times’ article but also things like changes in federal bankruptcy law and the ready availability of credit. Easy credit lets people use credit cards to incur debt far beyond what they can reasonably repay, and more and more people are taking advantage of that kind of credit. In addition, I think health care costs are a factor for some households. Even with health insurance, catastrophic medical events can devastate a family’s budget. The nature of our health care system makes it almost impossible to determine what treatment will cost until it’s completed, so people have no ability or incentive to evaluate whether the costs are worth incurring. – DRJ [lien] [EN]

New York Times Reporters Are Secret Pageview Whores [Newspapers]

It would be too obvious as well as unreasonable to suggest that Aron Pilhofer, the New York Times's editor for interactive news, drag himself into the 21st century. Here's a more modest objective: understanding the mindset of his own colleagues. At this week's dire Mediabistro conference, Pilhofer scorned the "ridiculous" obsession of organizations such as Gawker with the popularity of individual articles: "I think we're a long way from reporters paying attention to page views." Wot?! Sites such as Google and Digg already prioritize their news stories according to the number of links or users' votes; and magazines such as Vanity Fair and New York have become endearingly proud of the pageviews they draw when starlets are persuaded to strip. But let's put aside the breathtaking insularity of the Times exec's contention. What about the newspaper's own journalists? Well, it is true that they don't know the pageviews on each article they byline. But they have one measure: the Times' list of the most emailed items of each day. And some Times reporters set so much store by an appearance on the list that they'll fix the numbers by emailing around an article themselves. "It's not that everybody does it, but some do," a Times staffer confirms in email. "I know some editors will send stories around when they appear online in the evening, to hopefully boost the rankings before getting into work the next day. It's one of the few measurement sticks we have for online success, unfortunately. We're not supposed to care about the Most Popular lists. But when we get on the lists, we get congratulated." Of course reporters care who's reading their work. They're egomaniacs—as hungry for attention in their own way as the most spotlight-hogging movie star. The New York Times may pretend that all its journalists are paid according to union scale. Its official standard of journalistic value may indeed be measured by Pulitzer juries and uptown dinner parties rather than server logs. But the internet's algorithmic calculation of worth has influenced at least the tech-savvy younger reporters—and it's absurd for Times executives such as Pilhofer to pretend the newspaper can seal itself off from the crass outside world. Incidentally, has anyone noticed that the Most Emailed list has become more high-minded in its mix over the last few years. In 2004, the most popular article was apparently the hilariously detailed law-firm memo on the ordering of lunchtime sushi for partners. Now the lists are dominated by political commentary and investigations of the brain. Either the Times audience is reverting to type in an election year; or someone has tweaked the results to present to the Gray Lady's readers the image they want to see of themselves. [lien] [EN]

Thermostat Outrage Hits New York Times

The New York Times has done a story on the Impending Thermostat Outrage, here. It begins: The conceit in the 1960s show “The Outer Limits” was that outside forces had taken control of your television set. Next year in California, state regulators are likely to have the emergency power to control individual thermostats, sending temperatures up or down through a radio-controlled device that will be required in new or substantially modified houses and buildings to manage electricity shortages. This will bring more attention to this ridiculous outrage. Of course, the reporter doesn’t quite seem to get what’s going on, as evidenced by this passage: The fact that similar radio-controlled technologies have been used on a voluntary basis in irrigation systems on farm fields and golf courses and in limited programs for buildings on Long Island is seldom mentioned in Internet postings that make liberal use of references of George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984” and “Big Brother,” the omnipresent voice of Orwell’s police state. Why would we mention it? That little word I bolded is the difference between the proposed plan and what has happened in the past. You want to have people voluntarily let the government control their thermostats? Great. As long as I don’t have to sign up. But that’s OK. Even if New York Times reporters can’t understand this, I think homeowners can. This article will help get the word out — and that’s a good thing. Once again, hats off to Somsel (and to Fikes for bringing the story to print media). [lien] [EN]

New York Times deigns to note Mark Zuckerberg's turn on TMZ [Great Moments In Journalism]

"TMZ seemed to be straining to find material" when it posted video of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week, the New York Times reports today. A week later. Then reporter Maria Aspan cites a... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] [lien] [EN]

Google silencing Obama critics? Memo to New York Times bloggers: ur doing it rong [Great Moments In Journalism]

"Did Google use its network of online services to silence critics of Barack Obama?" asks New York Times reporter Miguel Helft today, in what reads like the Gray Lady's attempt to do Valleywag-style gossipmongering. There's something very wrong with the post: Read it and see if you think Helft believed for a minute that any Google employees deliberately and maliciously turned off a few Google-hosted blogs supporting Hillary Clinton and John McCain. No, it reads like a classic IT malfunction. Second-tier bloggers were accidentally identified as splogs — spam blogs — and disabled. At worst, Google's computers were fooled by Obamatards who maliciously flagged other candidates' sites en masse as "objectionable," triggering an automated shutoff. That's a good enough story that it doesn't need to be wrapped in a far more serious pretend charge. Google silencing Obama critics? If Times editors thought for a moment it had really happened, the story wouldn't be on the Bits blog. It would be on Page 1. [lien] [EN]

New York Times: Secretary of State Clinton

[Guest post by DRJ] The New York Times reports Hillary Clinton has decided to relinquish her Senate seat and accept the position as Obama’s Secretary of State. The source(s) are unnamed Clinton confidantes so skepticism is appropriate. However, if this is true, it stuns me that Obama would pass over the chance to choose Hillary as his VP and assure his election while relegating her to a marginal position in his administration, only to hand her the keys to the State Department and significant influence over foreign policy during his transition. Obama must be feeling overwhelmed and very lonely to do this. – DRJ [lien] [EN]

New York Times Publishes Reporter's Terribly Misspelled Notes [Journalism 101]

What is this crap, you ask? Well, as of 8:53 p.m., the New York Times' article about Pope Ratzi — the lead story on their website right now — currently says "END" on page three, and is followed by several pages of the reporter's notes and drafts. Too bad this never happened with any of Judy Miller's articles. Stupid Pope! [NYT] [lien] [EN]

New York Times music reporter resurfaces at Buzznet [Jeff Leeds]

New York Times music reporter Jeff Leeds, who had reported on stories such as Apple's behind-the-scenes fight with Universal last year, was given the newspaper's version of a layoff — a "buyout" — earlier this year. Leeds is now editor-in-chief of Buzznet, the music community site that also bought Idolator from Valleywag publisher Gawker Media. What we'll find out in the next few week: Can Leeds get the same kind of well-placed sources to talk to him now that he doesn't have the Times backing him up? Here's the full press release: BUZZNET HIRES FORMER NEW YORK TIMES JOURNALIST AS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF; APPOINTS NEW SENIOR EDITOR FROM ALTERNATIVE PRESS MAGAZINE Top Newspaper Music Reporter Jeff Leeds to Expand and Oversee Editorial Content for Leading Online Music Community HOLLYWOOD, CA – October 1, 2008 Buzznet (www.buzznet.com), the Web's leading social media community for music, announced today that it is expanding its music editorial team with the hiring of Jeff Leeds, former New York Times music reporter, as its new Editor-in-Chief. In addition, former Alternative Press magazine Managing Editor Leslie Simon has joined the company as Senior Editor. In this newly created position, Leeds will spearhead an expansion of editorial offerings on Buzznet.com that will combine the best original news, commentary, photos and other contributions from staff writers and the site's millions of community members with additional programming, including exclusive MP3 releases, videos and in-studio performances. Leeds will direct editorial strategy at Buzznet.com, and manage editors at the company's partner sites, Stereogum, Absolute Punk, Idolator, Vampire Freaks, FOE and The Gauntlet. Leeds will report to General Manager Scott Boyd. Simon, managing editor and star writer for leading pop-punk/emo magazine Alternative Press and co-author of Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture, will work directly with Leeds to oversee and edit the day-to-day editorial for Buzznet.com as well as manage the site's staff of in-house and freelance writers, photographers and videographers. “We looked at many candidates for the editor-in-chief position and Jeff's wealth of music and journalism experience, and knowledge of social programming and the fast-changing media landscape made him by far the best fit,” said Boyd. “Leslie's passion and expertise in emo music and culture, coupled with her strong writing and management skills are a perfect match for Buzznet.com. Both are joining us at a very important and exciting time, as we gear up to expand our editorial coverage and unveil new content features that are sure to resonate with our music community, as well as anyone with an interest in music.” “Buzznet is ahead of the game in grasping the transformative role of social media,” said Leeds. “It's hard not to be thrilled by the possibilities that arise when you blend the best practices of traditional reporting and criticism with the profound passion and genuine talent of Buzznet's army of fans. I am looking forward to working with the entrepreneurs and sterling writers at all of Buzznet's properties.” Leeds brings more than 12 years of journalism experience to his role at Buzznet. At The New York Times he covered the business and culture of music, chronicling the radical shifts of the industry as well as the events shaping the careers of stars from Britney Spears to Guns N' Roses. Leeds also spent time exploring journalism's evolution into a digital enterprise and regularly produced segments for the Times' weekly music podcast. In 2007, he shared in a Times award for a Web video/blog package tied to the SXSW music festival, which he co-produced. He has also appeared as a commentator on KCRW, WNYC and other outlets. Prior to joining the Times in 2004, Leeds spent nine years at the Los Angeles Times, where he covered the music business, in addition to politics, aerospace, white-collar crime and other beats. Simon began at Alternative Press magazine in 2001 and quickly rose through ranks culminating as managing editor. She is also the co-author of Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide To Emo Culture, which was released in 2007 through Harper Collins, and is eagerly anticipating the release of her follow-up, Wish You Were Here: An Essential Guide To Your Favorite Music Scenes—From Punk To Indie To Everything In Between, this April also through HarperCollins. In addition to making appearances on Fuse and MTV, her work has appeared in Stuff, E! Online, Kerrang! and Teen People. About Buzznet.com Buzznet Inc. is a media company focused on building the most active and engaged online communities around pop culture topics. Utilizing its sophisticated social media platform, Buzznet's editorial team empowers millions of people with the tools to create, contribute, program, and share content around topics they are most passionate about. Buzznet's music community is among the largest on the Web. Users program around millions of photos, videos and blog posts every day. Its communities power the most robust, diverse and all-encompassing music experience online and include Buzznet.com, Stereogum, Absolute Punk, Idolator, Vampire Freaks, FOE and The Gauntlet. [lien] [EN]

'New York Times' Reporters Take Corporate Jet Home From Iowa Caucus [Cost-cutting]

Getting out of Iowa today was a complete bitch, thanks to the throngs of reporters fleeing frozen Iowa for frozen New Hampshire. The airport is supposedly 50% busier than usual and nearly 2,000... [lien] [EN]

New York Times trying to offload About.com [New York, Minute]

The New York Times has hired a bank in order to sell About.com, Silicon Alley Insider reports. The Times bought the site -- a collection of bloggers posting Google- friendly content -- back in 2005... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] [lien] [EN]