Our sister site FBNY called our attention to this NYT piece about Craig Newmark, the "Craig" of Craigslist who is dismissing the accusation that he single-handedly destroyed newspapers but is -- funny enough -- financing investigative journalism.

In the face of this expansion, Mr. Newmark is becoming more of a public figure, capitalizing on his success to promote causes that include supporting the Barack Obama campaign and financing investigative journalism -- not, he insists, to compensate for any damage Craigslist has done to the newspaper business, which he calls "an urban myth."
Newmark has donated up to $20,000 to various journo organizations including factcheck.org, sunlightfoundation.com and publicintegrity.org. In case you're looking. And let's face it, you are.

For the first time in the history of this country a major political party is poised to nominate for president either an African American man or a woman. Senator Barack Obama’s lead in the primary race with wins in Colorado, Utah, Iowa and other states are a clear indication that American’s are making progress in being able to see beyond race and focus on real issues.

The fact that Senator Hillary Clinton is close to Senator Obama in delegates is an indication that American’s are also looking past sexism and focusing on real issues.

However, there are deep issues with this process and the manner in which mainstream media outlets are using distortions to distract the American electorate. These distractions are causing real problems for Senator Obama. Television networks ABC, NBC, CNN, and others, as well as newspaper sources such as the Washington Post and New York Times are deliberately distracting Americans with sound-bites and shallow analysis.

When you compare Michelle Obama’s comments regarding her pride in America, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons, Senator Obama’s “bitter” comment regarding economically oppressed individuals and their focus on religion and guns, and his not wearing a lapel pin, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, home foreclosures, job loss, and affordable health care you have to ask what’s really important in this election?

Read the complete story

I was deeply honored to receive the Consumer Federation of California’s 2008 Consumer Journalist Award on behalf of the California Progress Report in a ceremony in the basement of the state Capitol cafeteria. Others honored by the CFC, a consumer organization founded in 1960, included a number of my heroes, and the audience of over 100 included many distinguished guests and representatives of organizations I cherish. I joked that over half of the crowd had written articles for the California Progress Report which in fact was accurate.

What makes this award particularly memorable to me is that the CFC last bestowed this award on former Chronicle consumer reporter David Lazarus, who now writes for the Los Angeles Times. I consider Lazarus a giant in the field of business and consumer reporting.

Read the complete story

Comedy Central's faux news show "commits journalism on a regular basis, whether they want to admit it or not," says Tom Rosenstiel, director of Washington's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

"It gets people to think serious thoughts about the public square. This is a form of political commentary. They're doing it with razors, for laughs, but they're doing it."

PEJ released a report Thursday on "The Daily Show," comparing its "news agenda" with that of 48 other news sources including Big 3 evening newscasts and morning shows; cable news networks and newspapers.

The group analyzed "Daily Show" telecasts for all of 2007, tracking guests and segments.

No major surprises, Rosenstiel says, but now it's all official, with numbers and graphs and charts.

"There's an earnestness to a study like this that's a little embarrassing when you talk about comedy," he says. "We're easy targets. It's like trying to shoot a hole through cardboard. It's not that hard."

We'll keep our .48 holstered. What's the headline, Tom?

 "Daily Show has the same agenda as cable news. Stewart is absolutely playing off politics, Washington, the Bush administration, the war. It's very topical what happened today is front and center.

Read the complete story

It is without a doubt that the face of journalism is ever-changing. From the start of the newspaper in 1690 to the revolutionary technology of the Internet in the 90s, the way with which we cover and obtain the news has been power-boosted, digitized and morphed in more ways than we can count.

From dailies to weeklies, and all the glossy monthly magazines in between, readers can pick and choose which niche fits them best. And whether it's politics, lifestyle, arts and entertainment, gossip or celebrity news -- it's out there and being covered.

But what happens when mainstream sources aren't enough? When comment sections and reader feedback just don't cut it in regard to communication between the readers and the reporters? What's the next step?

Well in Richmond at least, there are a handful of people who have definitely and passed that "next step" and are continuing to create waves all over the city and beyond.

Those people, are our bloggers.

But I'm not talking about the thousands of Richmonders logged onto MySpace who one day decide to jot down their summer vacation plans for the ten readers who will maybe glance at it. I'm talking about the down-and-dirty, straight-to-the-point, citizen journalists we have taking over the Richmond Web scene.

Read the complete story

Several distinguished journalists including George Polk Journalism Award recipient Jerry Mitchell and PBS Senior Correspondent Ray Suarez shared their insight into the intersection of their work and their faith at the 2008 Journalism Through the Eyes of Faith Conference held this April at Bethel. Click here for the audio archives, now available through iTunes U.

In one of the Journalism Through the Eyes of Faith presentations, famed investigative journalist Mitchell urged Bethel students to persevere in their pursuit of truth, even when facing fierce opposition.

Mitchell, a reporter with the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger and an evangelical Christian, has worked since 1987 on Civil Rights era murders in the South, leading to 23 convictions. His work on 29 cold cases put five Ku Klux Klan members behind bars.

“I had friends of mine tell me to write about something else; I had calls and threats,” he said. “I even had an editor wanting me to stop. But I didn’t.”

Mitchell said the impetus came from his Christian faith: “I think being a Christian and being a journalist are synonymous in a lot of ways because both are truth-seekers,” he said. "Justice 'brings joy to the righteous and terror to evildoers.' [Prov. 21:15] I love justice because God loves justice.”

“Sure we in the press are criticized, but I happen to believe that journalism is one of the noblest professions,” Mitchell said. “We have been called to find truth and deliver it to the public clearly and succinctly.”

Loyola University Chicago journalism student as she drove her car on Chicago's South Side Sunday night may be connected to another shooting the same evening in which two people are being questioned, authorities said.

Ishma Stewart, 20, was driving a Pontiac G6 sedan in the 4800 block of South Indiana Avenue just before 11 p.m. when another vehicle pulled alongside hers and numerous shots were fired, police said.

The slaying, not far from Stewart's Chicago home, left her family reeling.

"There's no issues of gangs, drugs, crime or anything like that [in her family]," said her uncle, La Coulton Walls, a Maywood lawyer. "All the kids have jobs or are going to school. . . . So you would never expect the prize of the family, one who really got it for something like this to happen."

After Stewart was wounded Sunday night, her boyfriend moved behind the wheel and drove her about four blocks to Provident Hospital of Cook County, police said. She died in the hospital soon afterward.

An autopsy showed Stewart, of the 5000 block of South Drexel Boulevard in the Kenwood neighborhood, died from a bullet wound in the arm.

The shooting may be connected to another shooting about an hour later in which two men were injured and two men were taken into custody. The victims were sitting in a vehicle parked in the 5500 block of South Shields Avenue in the Fuller Park neighborhood about 10 p.m. when they were fired upon from a passing car, Englewood District police said.

Read the complete story

Tom Brokaw, who anchored "NBC Nightly News" for 21 years, spoke about the future of journalism this past weekend with prominent officials and donors at the UI, which he attended briefly in the late 1950s.

"I had a wonderful time here, probably the most important part of my life I learned here," he said. "I was a whiz kid coming out of high school, and I came here and went seriously off the rails: I learned it was a lot easier to fail than it is to succeed."

Brokaw, originally from South Dakota, attended the UI during the 1958-59 school year, but after having a self-described less-than-distinguished academic experience, returned to the Mount Rushmore State. Despite that, he still went on to a prominent career in broadcast journalism and to write for influential newspapers and a number of well-known books, including The Greatest Generation.

Over the years, he has seen journalism undergo a number of changes, most recently with the advent of the Internet and the appearance of a younger generation less likely to consume traditional media.
"Journalists have to figure out where they can best serve the public," he said in an interview with The Daily Iowan. "There will always be a need for journalism. That is the most important thing … it is, after all, the oxygen of a democracy."

Read the complete story

Dutch website Skoeps, which invites citizens to submit pictures and video clips of breaking news, will shut down after failing to find a sustainable business model, its owners said on Friday.

Such "citizen journalism" sites have become increasingly popular in recent years and have been seen as a possible challenge to the more established publishers.

Many media companies, such as broadcasters CNN and BBC, also ask viewers to submit photos or videos as local people armed with cameras on their mobile phones are often the first on the scene when a major event develops.

"The ambition of the news site was partially successful, but Skoeps did not succeed in developing a financially healthy perspective," the owners, publisher PCM Uitgevers and investment company Talpa Media, said in a statement.

Read the complete story

Arat Dink, the son of slain Hrant Dink, received the Guardian Journalism Award from the campaigning group Index on Censorship. It was not just to commemorate his father’s work, but for his own brave refusal to buckle under the censorship laws that led to his father’s death.

Since it was introduced three years ago, article 301 of Turkey’s penal code, which makes insulting Turkishness a criminal offence, has been used to bring charges against illustrious names in literature, academia and journalism: Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel prize-winning author; Noam Chomsky; the novelist Elif Safak; Hrant Dink, the Armenian-Turkish journalist who was assassinated by radical nationalists; and last year Hrant’s son Arat.

Arat, executive director of Agos, an Armenian newspaper in Istanbul, was brought to trial as a co-defendant, along with Serkis Seropyan, holder of the weekly’s publishing license. Their crime was to have republished an interview that Hrant gave to Reuters in which he referred to the 1915 massacre of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as Genocide. Arat was convicted as charged and given a one-year suspended sentence. The Agos staff continues to be threatened by extreme nationalists but remain determined in the face of bigotry and physical threat. Arat Dink believes both Turks and Armenians are postponing a common historical reckoning and looks forward to the day when both peoples can commemorate the events in 1915 as a common part of their history, without threatening each other’s identity. Like father, like son,