A New Raines at 'NYT'

Howell Raines, who exited as executive editor of the NYT after the Jayson Blair affair under less than loving conditions, returns online with this op-ed piece on the Greensboro sit-ins a half-century ago. Raines, of course, is a southerner who has written often and well about the civil rights struggle in decades past. After leaving the Times, he wrote op-eds for the Wash Post and other papers, and a monthly column for the original Portfolio. The new piece also probes the media role -- past and present. Here's an excerpt:

All Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond and Joe McNeil did was ask for coffee and doughnuts and politely decline to move until they were served — and try to engage a flustered white waitress and a bumbling store manager in a Socratic dialogue about the meanings of “serve.” Then, just like that, the black preachers who had challenged segregation in citadel cities like Montgomery, Ala., and Atlanta had found their natural allies: thousands of students who would become, before the end of the month, the shock troops of the civil rights movement.

It was always a fractious alliance. Not surprisingly, imposing black elders like the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. did not like being booed during church rallies for moving too slowly by militant students, many of whom cast themselves as radical Christian activists. But together, the team of preachers and students would show, within the space of three years, that the edifice of segregation was a lot like Georgia’s Stone Mountain, that imposing Confederate monument whose soft, exfoliating rock turns to dust under the hammer.

Now at the remove of 50 years, we can ask how it happened so fast — but not only that. We can also usefully ask how such an idealistic and altruistic movement might fare in today’s media environment.

Colbert iPads the Grammys

From High Jinks to Handcuffs

That's the headline of major new NYT piece from New Orleans on James O'Keefe, the prankster who calls himself an "investigative journalist" and was busted with three others in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office this week for allegedly tampering with her phone system. Fun detail: O'Keefe's mentor, Ben Wetmore, responded to NYT request for interview by sending reporter copies of photos of Jayson Blair. Excerpt:

In the incident in New Orleans, several of the group’s central players came together. They had met through a small community of conservative college newspaper editors that is fostered by advocacy organizations supported by old Republican families like the Coorses and Scaifes.

One of those arrested was Stan Dai, 24, a former editor in chief of the irreverent GW Patriot at George Washington University, where he published an anti-feminist article lampooning the play “The Vagina Monologues.” His version was called “The Penis Monologues.”

Another was Mr. Basel, 24, the co-founder of a conservative publication at the University of Minnesota, Morris, that features headlines like “Third World Countries Need SWEATSHOPS” and “I Hate Che Guevara T-Shirts.”

'NYT Magazine' Mixes Terror and Theater

The spadia, one of the newest print ad tools that wraps a half-page promo around the front of a publication, has reached The New York Times Magazine. And in a somewhat awkward way.

Tomorrow's magazine, with a chilling red cover and the headline "The Jihadist Next Door," is half-covered in its copies for readers (uncovered at left) by a celebratory Turner Classic Movie spadia offering its month of Oscar winning films for February -- with the key images being Audrey Hepburn and Dustin Hoffman as "Tootsie." Location is everything - Joe Strupp

Friday Afternoon Linkage

Finalists for Goldsmith investigative prize announced -- ProPublica and The Nation Institute get one.

Nevada teachers union tries to block article in school paper critical of member.

Canadian firm among "seven or eight" interested in, maybe, buying the two Philly dailies.

Survey: E-Readers May Not Bring Back Newspaper Readers

Portable E-readers like the Kindle (left) probably won't bring readers back to newspapers unless they have extra features like color, photographs and touch screens, according to a University of Georgia study.

Professors conducted the research project over a six-month period in 2009 when they asked local residents to read The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Kindle.

"For younger adults, the Kindle fell short when compared to their beloved smart phones, with touch screens and multiple applications—from music to surfing the Internet—available in a single small package. The e-reader felt 'old' to them," the survey said. "Older adults were overall more receptive to the concept of an e-reader. However, the Kindle failed to include aspects of the traditional newspaper they had grown fond of, such as comics and crossword puzzles."

The entire report is HERE - Joe Strupp

Everybody In the (White House) Pool!

Earlier this month, the White House Correspondents Association quietly changed its policies for distributing press pool reports on presidential trips.

For more than two years, pool reports had been distributed only to those who accompany the president on trips, according to WHCA Vice President David Jackson, a USA Today correspondent. But shortly after the beginning of 2010 WHCA changed the rules to allow distribution to all media.

“That had been the policy until 2007 and it was changed then,” Jackson said. “We are back to the original policy.”

Jackson said the WHCA board determined with increased costs and security for trips, and more news outlets having to spend less, the old, wider distribution, policy was better. “I think they saw it should not be restricted.”

Steve Scully of C-SPAN, a former WHCA president and current board member, agreed: “I think our association seeks inclusion and we are going back to what has been the standard.” Scully said in today’s media world, the pool reports often get distributed anyway via e-mail and the Internet: “News organizations are cutting back on travel with the president. Fewer news organizations are able to travel with him.”

But the wider distribution has caused at least some opposition among bigger news outlets that still pay to travel with the president, WHCA official said. None of the larger outlets contacted by us would comment on the subject.

Margaret Talev, a McClatchy White House correspondent, said her newsroom welcomes the openness since they often travel with Obama, but not always. “We do travel on foreign presidential trips,” she said. “But less than we used to.” -- Joe Strupp

Salinger's Widow Writes Letter to Paper

Interesting and lengthy Rutland Herald piece on how neighbors of J.D. Salinger in Cornish, N.H. helped protect his privacy over the years. Plus his widow wrote a letter to the local paper, the Valley News, declaring: "Cornish is a truly remarkable place. This beautiful spot afforded my husband a place of awayness from the world. The people of this town protected him and his right to his privacy for many years. I hope, and believe, they will do the same for me." Love this detail:

Until last year, Salinger was a regular at the Hartland Congregational Church's roast beef suppers, arriving more than two hours early for the first seating.

He would bring along back issues of the Times and sit with other, mostly older, early birds waiting for the doors to open so he could claim the same seat at the head of the table nearest the pie rack.

Friday Morning Links

Bloomberg report: Online ad revenue to climb, magazines and newspapers sink -- tho not as much as once expected.

Simon Johnson joins Huff Post as contributing business editor.

L.A. Confidential: USC j-students to contribute to L.A. Times crime blog.

Rave reviews today for new play in NYC, Time Stands Still, revolving around two journos, including one damaged war photog who returns home from Iraq, starring Laura Linney, Eric Bogosian, Alicia Silverstone.

Wall Street thinks Apple might sell 1 to 5 million iPads in first year--quite a gap in that. NYT blogger on "seeing through the Apple hyperbole."

Can (Should) Twitter Replace CNN?

And Chris Matthews "one scotch away from being Ron Burgundy."
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One of Us on MSNBC Thursday Night

I appeared on Countdown tonight with Keith Olbermann to discuss the "journalism" angle surrounding the arrest of James O'Keefe and three other conservative activists accused of trying to tamper with the phones in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in New Orleans (and film it). Along the way I object to these fellows even being called journalists -- they're more Borat than Woodward and Bernstein, more Donald Segrettti than Seymour Hersh -- and how this smears the true reporters doing great investigative work every day with little fanfare across the country. -- Greg Mitchell

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

iPad: 2nd Day Problems

You've read about some of the tech complaints -- and the jokes about all of the feminine hygiene connections -- but there are some serious legal issues arising around the new Apple device. The NYT's Brad Stone has a big piece just up and here's just snatch:

The problem may be worse outside the United States; Japanese does not even have a sound for the “a” in iPad. Then there are more serious conflicts. Two other high-tech companies already market products called iPad and are laying claim to the trademark....

But the folks at Fujitsu, the Japanese technology firm, may not be quite so eager to forgive and forget. The company has applied for the iPad trademark in the United States and already sells an iPad — a $2,000 hand-held device that shop clerks use to check inventory.

STMicroelectronics, the Swiss semiconductor company, owns the iPad trademark in Europe and uses it as an acronym for integrated passive and active devices — which sounds less fun than playing games on a tablet. (A third company, MagTek of Seal Beach, Calif., makes a portable magnetic card reader of the same name.)

These kinds of naming conflicts have not stopped Apple before.

E&P In Exile on Olbermann Tonite

I'll be on a little after 8 talking about James O'Keefe and his busted buddies down in New Orleans and the next concept of dress-up "journalism." I was one of the first to write about the college newspapers days of O'Keefe and two of his cohorts the other day.

'NY Times' Salinger Obit Was Not Quite Ready

Apparently The New York Times obituary for J.D. Salinger, who died Thursday, was not quite ready when it went online.

For a short time, the Web version included space set aside for a quote "to come" or TK in newspaper lingo. Sean Blanda's blog at eMedia Vitals found it before it was fixed earlier today. Good work. --Joe Strupp

'NYT', Young and the Reckless on John Edwards

On its site late today, the NYT posted a review of Andrew Young's bombshell book about the John Edwards affair (as it were), including an excerpt even. The excerpt, here, opens with John bizarrely speaking in legalistic code to his mistress, then veers off into buying a Christmas tree -- and a fiasco involving Elizabeth Edwards and a Play Station, believe it or not.

In the review, Janet Maslin calls the book, The Politician, "mindboggling." Here's an excerpt:

Although the basics of the Edwards meltdown are summarized in the current best seller “Game Change” (a book that got its reporting right, if Mr. Young is to be believed), the devil is in the details. And those details reflect an astonishing degree of either cynicism or delusional thinking on Mr. Edwards’s part. Having worked as an assistant to Mr. Edwards for 10 years, Mr. Young thought he knew a lot about how this politician’s mind worked. Still, Mr. Edwards could surprise him in chillingly Hitchcockian ways.

For instance, after Mr. Young finagled a way to explain Ms. Hunter’s presence in Mr. Edwards’s hotel room in Florida and get her out of there unnoticed, he says, Mr. Edwards just looked at him blankly and said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Rielle wasn’t in Florida.” What was this: “Gaslight”? A trip to the Twilight Zone? An exercise in lawyerly deniability, to which Mr. Edwards apparently often resorted? A conversation being secretly recorded? Or something even scarier?

“I could tell from his tone of voice that he truly believed what he was saying,” Mr. Young writes. “I decided that he was either the best liar in the world or he was having some sort of psychological episode.”

Afternoon Links

Google exec claims NYT pay plan won't make money because too easy to "bypass."

Uproar continues over Wash Post killing a blog post.

How web guru Rob Curley failed in Las Vegas, according to local alt-weekly.

'Newsday' Pay Wall Not Such a Failure

Writes CJR's Ryan Chittum today, after the widely-touted embarrassing number of 35 paid online subscribers came out. He cites internal memo claiming that core audience has not been affected hardly at all and this is audience they care about. Already others have pointed out that Newsday in almost unique situation because of its Cablevision link and so many on Long Island getting free access due to cable TV or Web hookup.

Press Never Did Get That Big Interview

J.D. Salinger, author of Catcher in the Rye and much more, dies at 91, it's reported today. For decades reporters have pursued, like the Holy Grail, a major interview with the super-reclusive one up in Cornish, NH, but no one quite pulled it off (there were a few very limited ones). Raise high the roofbeams, carpenters! UPDATE: NYT's Charles McGrath already out with excellent and obviously long-ready obit.

The Arts Section

Trailer for upcoming Wall Street sequel from Oliver Stone released this afternoon. Gordon Gecko is back and out of the pen. "I once said greed is good. Now I find...it's legal."

UPDATED: Gov't Subsidizing Newspapers? Nothing New

When people float new ideas to help "save" newspapers by getting more government help, the notion is often dismissed as something new and/far out. In fact, a new study out today from USC Annenberg's Geoff Cowan and David Westphal looks at the history of government subsidies for newspapers since the days of George Washington -- and finds that it has actually declined in the past forty years -- cut in half since 1970, from about $4 billion in help to $2 billion.

Just one e.g. noted by NYT: "The federal government has discounted postage rates for publications since 1792, but in the last 40 years, the discount has fallen to less than $300 million from almost $2 billion, adjusted for inflation." UPDATE: Poynter's Bill Mitchell weighs in with good post.

Legal Eagle: Joe Walsh vs. Joe Walsh

NYT today covers hysterical uproar over an Illinois tea party candidate for Congress name Joe Walsh using famous "Lead the Way" song by the "other" Joe Walsh (Eagles, James Gang, etc.) in campaign and in video below, with new right-leaning lyrics, such as: "We’ve all had enough / Of this health-care stuff / We’re losing more jobs every day." "We've all been betrayed/by this cap and trade." "Pelosi and Reid wanna screw ya." "Joe Walsh is just the perfect guy to lead the way."

Lawyer for old Joe has sent letter to new Joe on gross copyright infringement -- guy in video uses the whole song with new lyrics. Joe the Candidate defends.

Will Saints Go Marching In?

Stats geek who does those NFL analyses for NYT runs the numbers and finds Colts should only be slight favorites over Saints, with 52% probable vs. 48%. Then he says he just hopes for "a good game."

Famed War Correspondent Says Goodbye

After half a century literally in the trenches, my friend, the legendary war reporter Joseph L. Galloway, has penned what he calls his final regular newspaper piece this week. Joe covered at least seven foreign conflicts with distinction but is perhaps best known for the book he co-authored on a tragic Vietnam battle and its aftermath, We Were Soldiers Once..and Young, later made into a Mel Gibson movie. He wrote for me at E&P and penned the intro to my book on Iraq and the media, So Wrong for So Long. Since the Iraq invasion, he has been one of the most frequent and eloquent critics of the handling of that war, often in his regular columns for Knight Ridder and then McClatchy. In his final column he hails current McClatchy D.C. chief John Walcott as his best editor ever, going back to previous jobs. More later, but for now an excerpt from the final column. -- Greg Mitchell

I was a state bureau chief for United Press International before I could legally take a drink or vote. My friends and mentors were former President Harry Truman and former governor and presidential candidate Alf M. Landon. I stood in courthouse corridors on smoke breaks and talked to Richard Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, the "In Cold Blood" killers. On a freezing cold midnight I watched as the state of Kansas hanged Lowell Lee Andrews by the neck until death for shooting his mom and dad for the insurance money.

In 1964, at age 24, I headed off to Asia to cover a war I was certain was coming in a little-known country called South Vietnam. Within four months the first American troops, Marines, were landing on the beaches of Danang, and I was right behind them.

It would be 16 years before I returned to work in the United States - years of wars, coups d'etat, disasters natural and otherwise in places like Vietnam, Laos, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, East Timor, Afghanistan, the U.S.S.R.

You grew up fast covering the infantry at war in the jungles and mountain highlands and broad rice paddies of Vietnam. Seventy reporters, photographers and cameramen, many of them friends, were killed covering the war.

Newspaper Association's 'Cattle-Call' Debate

In what one newspaper described as a cattle call, at least 20 candidates for Minnesota governor appeared at a debate event Wednesday night sponsored by the Minnesota Newspaper Association. The group debate was part of the association's annual convention in Bloomington, Minn. State precinct caucuses are scheduled for next Tuesday.

"With that many candidates, the organizers limited participants to one-minute answers to the questions, and not all the candidates got to answer the same questions," the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. "So at best, the audience got a brief introduction to each contender and heard his or her favorite talking points." Democracy in action, or is it inaction? -- Joe Strupp

Morning Links

Politico: Hackers broke into web sites of 20 members of House to attack Obama.

Pioneer black journalist Dale Wright dies, first to integrate a leading New York City paper.

NiemanLab promotes new game "sweeping the newspaper industry"-- Paywall. Play it here.

Chris Matthews hit for saying after State of Union that he "forgot" Obama was black for an hour.

Note: See links for reaction to State of the Union on iPad launch below.

'Daily Show' on Busted 'Journos'

This Is Spiteful Tap

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Reactions to State of the Union Speech

Big roundup of blogosphere reactions from left and right.

NYT: As it happened, and after.

Robert Kaiser of Wash Post does an online chat.

Tweeting it, a collection.

GOP response.

Timothy Egan: "A Jolt of Common Sense."

iPad Demo Includes Newspaper Use

The official demo is kind of sappy, but good illustration of use, and has portion on NYT.

More Reactions to iPad

David Pogue, popular NYT tech writer offers his instant hands-on reaction this afternoon. The length report is here but one highlight: "The New York Times app is especially appealing to me—and yes, this is my completely independent opinion—because it seems to work like the much-adored Times Reader app for Windows."

Poynter faculty weigh in on all sorts of angles, including design but much more.

David Carr of NYT offers his usual vital view. "You get the feeling that the iPad is creating and killing categories at the same time. The game changed today."

More from Gizmodo, Crunchgear, Gdgt and others.

Journos, Pranksters, Criminals

The NYT has a new piece tonight on the 4 men, including anti-ACORN video star James O'Keefe, charged with illegal activities inside Sen. Mary Landrieu's office this week, which may or may not involved attempted wiretapping. But as we did yesterday, the Times focuses on their past "journalism" efforts, partly on campus. Excerpt:

At least three of the men charged in the episode have backgrounds in campus journalism. Both Mr. O’Keefe, 25, a graduate of Rutgers, and Joseph Basel, 24, a graduate of the University of Minnesota-Morris, started conservative newspapers on their campuses, which they saw as counterweights in a liberal campus environment. (Mr. Basel actually called his paper The Counterweight.) Stan Dai, 24, was editor in chief of The GW Patriot, a conservative campus newspaper at George Washington University....

Former students and alumni of the student publications remembered Mr. O’Keefe and Mr. Dai, especially, for their aggressive, often prank-filled brand of journalism. At Rutgers and George Washington, both publications have taken a less confrontational approach.

“James always said, ‘Journalism is putting a camera in someone’s face until they do something stupid,’ ” said Cain Barry, who worked with Mr. O’Keefe at The Centurion, a conservative publication at Rutgers, until Mr. O’Keefe graduated in 2006. “A lot of people wanted to follow what he did.”

'WSJ' Not Ready to Challenge 'NYT' -- Says 'NYT'

That much discussed effort by Wall St. Journal to go head to head with the Times in New York--they just announced a big hiring splurge -- has run into tech delays, claims the NYT in new article. Also, story suggests they could get help -- from NYT. The problem is, they want to start publishing in April but won't have plant in use. Daily News turned them down so now Times is considering helping, for a fee. Excerpt:

Scott Heekin-Canedy, president and general manager of The Times, said, “We are in discussions with News Corp. to allow them to make use of our presses,” but refused to elaborate. “This is an advantageous business transaction and nothing more,” he said.

Industry executives said that at typical printing rates, the work would yield The Times no more than $200,000, and they questioned the logic of helping a rival for so little return. But people briefed on the discussions said the price was likely to be significantly higher.

What's Up, Dock?

Laptop killer, say some, thanks to Apple....new dock/keyboard for the iPad. (Photo NYT)

PLUS: in shocker, iPad price starts at low $499, builds up with storage... only works with AT&T, not yet Verizon.

Another Look at 'NYT' on iPad

We presented the first photo down the page here--now another, this time courtesy of NYT photog.

'NYT' Reveals Its iPad App

Just now from NYT Bits blog:

Our colleague Martin Nisenholtz is taking the stage now. Three weeks ago, The Times came to Cupertino, Calif., to develop an application for the iPad, Mr. Nisenholtz says. “We want to create the best of print and best of digital, all rolled up into one,” he says.

“We think we captured the essence of reading a newspaper,” says Jennifer Brook, another Times colleague.

The app allows people to save stories to the device, resize text and change the number of columns, skim photos and play video. It appears to look quite a bit like the Times Reader application. “It’s everything you love about the paper, everything you love about the Web and everything you expect from The Times,” Ms. Brook says.

Take a Tablet: Links to iPad Reaction!

Salon's Andrew Leonard: too much of a toy?

Ken Doctor on what it means for news biz.

USAToday blog with live coverage and response.

NYT with detailed blog coverage and updates.

Allen Mutter: How media can profit.

CJR. "It's so much more intimate than a laptop, and so much more capable than a smartphone."

No link: CNBC anchor said iPad name sounds too much like "a feminine product."

What 'NYT' Looks Like on iPad

Steve Jobs at rollout just now showed NYT home page, which looks pretty full and good on the 9.7" screen.

'NYT' Introduces New 'Comments' Options

You can now highlight, vote on others, and more -- trying it out here. And here. And here. Only at select blogs so far. But you will have to register. What they say:

For the first time, readers will be able to recommend the best comments to other readers. We will also have the ability to highlight comments that strike us as especially interesting and informative. And if we jump into the comment stream to reply to you, you will be able to see our replies next to the original comment.

The new system also allows you to sort comments in a variety of ways with a single click: newest first, oldest first, readers’ recommendations, editors’ selections and comments to which we’ve replied.

The biggest change, which some commenters might dislike but we feel will improve the quality of the discussion: All comment contributors will need to register for a free NYTimes.com account, if they don’t already have one.

Frum: Send Busted 'Journos' to J-School

David Frum, the former Bush speechwriter and conservative author, posted a rather easygoing response to the arrest of ACORN nemesis James O'Keeffe and three cohorts in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office yesterday, concluding by urging that they be sent off to journalism school (as punishment?).

I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict: the James O’Keefe/Landrieu phone interference case will be resolved with a very stern talking to by a judge, no criminal record, and 100 hours of community service each for the four arrested young people. Which seems about right. After which … you know there really IS a case for aspiring journalists going to journalism school!

Today's Fun Newspaper Commercial Pick

We've been featuring the best or most fun from around the world. Here's a (very costly) globe-trotting spot from Germany:

Prime Trib

Delaware judge okays bonuses for Tribune Co. execs, over wishes of guild and bankruptcy trustee.

Poll Finds Need for Better Reporting on Obama

Americans want better reporting on the Obama administration’s policies and practices on the economy and health care in the coming year, according to a new Gallup poll conducted last week for the First Amendment Center and the Newseum. The national survey was conducted Jan. 20-21, one year after President Obama took office.

Among the survey results, released today: "Overall, 40% of those responding said the economy was the area in which they would 'most like to see the news media do a better job of reporting on the policies and practices of the Obama administration,' followed by 30% who said health care. Better reporting regarding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was cited by 12%, and on the war on terror, 11%." Complete survey results and methodology are available HERE. -- Joe Strupp

Details on 'NOT Overhyped" Tablet Revealed

Longtime Web entrepreneur Jason Calacanis reveals on Twitter that he was given the new tablet 10 days ago and early this morning he started revealing some of the details. He claims it was well worth waiting for. Some highlights:

Ok, I'm going to bed (with apple tablet after reading nytimes+Vanity Fair on it!), steve jobs outdid himself, its greatest device ever!!!

The price will be 599, 699 and 799 depending on size and memory in apple tablet. Also, wireless keyboard + monitor connection for tv

Also, the apple tablet is really amazing for newspapers. Video conferencing is super stable, but nothing new.

Where To Watch Apple Tablet Debut 'Live'

Poynter has assembled a growing list of streaming, and Twitter, feeds. McGraw-Hill let the cat partly out of the bag last night. AdAge has a take on print to tablet fallout here. Meanwhile, you can play the Apple Tablet announcement game designed by a NYTer. Details here and image below.

ASNE Confab Now An 'Ideas Summit'

Nearly a year after changing its name and dropping the "paper" part, American Society of News Editors is launching a much different kind of convention for 2010.

The notice on its Web site declares the annual event is not a convention or conference, but an "Ideas Summit." With a fresh logo that touts a light bulb over the head approach.

Credit new ASNE executive director Richard Karpel, a former alternative newspaper association leader. It is clear his footprint is all over the new approach, along with chairs David Boardman of The Seattle Times and former Indianapolis Star Managing Editor Pam Fine, now a University of Kansas professor. Among the topics, "tech trends," "editor as curator" and, of course, "social media." -- Joe Strupp

Wednesday Morning Linkage

It's Apple tablet day! But will announcement focus more on content than the device itself?

McClatchy reports revenue gains in 4Q with trend continuing early this year. Much more here.

Paid Content: More on Newsday nabbing just 35 paid online subs -- but they always claimed that wasn't the idea.

Gallup polls public on whether they think media probing Obama enough -- guess who are most critica?

The "citizen journalism" site AllVoices gets another $3 million investment.

Those 8 journos at Santa Barbara paper axed by owner Wendy McCaw who have tried for ages in courts to get jobs back lose a big appeal.

Krugman Bombs Obama (Again)

For the second straight day, Paul Krugman, on a day off from his NYT column, has taken to his blog at the paper's site to blast President Obama, following his announcement of a partial "spending freeze." The title? "Same As He Ever War." Krugman, the Nobel winning economist, had been a big supporter of much of Obama's economic plan (though a backer of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary season). Here's an excerpt:

There was a lot of delusion among progressives who convinced themselves, in the face of clear evidence to the contrary, that Obama was a strong champion of their values. He wasn’t and isn’t.

That doesn’t mean that there’s no difference between the parties, that everything would have been the same if McCain had won. But progressives are in the process of losing a big chance to change the narrative, and that’s largely because they have a leader who never had any inclination to do so.

'NYT' Finds 'Salvation' in Pay Wall?

So suggests well-known writer and bloggingheads.tv chief Robert Wright in a new online-only commentary at the Times' site. His plan has the NYT using, among other things, Amazon or iTunes payment setups already in place. Excerpt:

[Clay] Shirky’s case against micropayments rests largely on the fact that they demand “mental transaction costs” — that is, “the energy required to decide whether something is worth buying or not, regardless of price.”

Now, if this were by itself a killer objection, then human history would feature no commerce whatsoever, since all transactions initially require this energy. But Shirky backs up his argument with evidence: micropayments have never worked.

Well, that’s true. Then again, no one has ever come up with a micropayment system so simple that the “mental transaction cost” was the sole energy drain.

Reporter Remembers Dead Iraqi Friend

In a moving blog post just up tonight at NYT, Stephen Farrell--who was kidnapped last year--pays tribute to a fellow journo who died yesterday in the multiple Baghdad bombings. It focuses on reporting anecdotes and his bravery and personal memories, such as Farrell attending his brother's funeral. Excerpt:

We can’t print Yasser’s full name because he works — worked — for a Western news organization, and it would endanger the rest of his family. That is in itself a telling fact about the state of Iraq today, seven years after the invasion. No one outside Iraq save a handful of foreign correspondents and photographers knew him — a religious Shiite, a husband, a father and a devoted son. And one of the bravest, kindest people I ever met.

Yasser worked for The London Times for seven years - with me for four of them - and his family’s story in many ways parallels that of Baghdad.

Newspaper Publishers Have Faith in Apple Tablet

With Apple planning to announce its new tablet on Wednesday, the Audit Bureau of Circulations revealed findings today from a recent survey of newspaper publishers that shows they are putting a lot of faith in the popularity of such e-readers, but not abandoning print just yet. The survey also finds publishers consider Apple the best source for producing a successful e-reader model, with Amazon a close second.

The survey, titled "Going Mobile: How Print Publishers Are Preparing for the Burgeoning Mobile Market," found the following:

*"Publishers are placing bets on both smartphone and e-reader platforms today, working with a variety of manufacturers and developers on formats, distribution agreements, and brand extending apps. More than half of respondents believe that smartphones will become a vital way to distribute their publication within three years, while nearly 42 percent said the same about e-reader devices."

*"Publishers do not plan to abandon their print publications in favor of a digital-only product in the near term. While 55 percent believe that digital delivery of their publication is important to their strategic future, three-fourths believe that their publication will be available in a print form five years from now."

*"More than half of the survey respondents believe the future business model of mobile content, including e-readers, will be supported by both advertising and subscriptions. Nearly a third believe that mobile will have a significant impact on their publication’s revenue in just three years."

*"Interestingly, publishers were split on which company would develop the e-reader device that would be most successful. Apple, Amazon.com and Sony were all cited as leaders in this space. The survey was conducted last summer, before rumors of Apple’s tablet ramped up." --Joe Strupp

Thirty Something (Subscribers) at 'Newsday'

NY Observer reports that at a meeting last week a Newsday official casually admitted that in the three months after erecting a pay wall at the paper's site only 35 people have forked over any dough for free access. That's 35, not 3500. Of course, Newsday is a special case -- because of Cablevision link, 3 out of 4 in the area get free access with that. Still. As one Newsday staffer put it, "We're the freebie newsletter" for Cablevision.

3 Arrested for Bugging Landrieu Have Campus Newspaper Past

Three of the four men arrested yesterday by the FBI for a bizarre attempt to bug Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in New Orleans got their start, one might say, as editors at campus newspapers that they helped form in response to alleged dominance or misdeeds by liberal papers. Two were started with grants from the Leadership Institute's "Balance in Media" project. One of the young men, of course, later came to national fame and infamy portraying a pimp in videos that exposed (or, if you will, entrapped) ACORN workers. That's James O'Keefe. He started The Centurion at Rutgers. Another man is Joe Basel, former chief of Counterweight at the University of Minnesota (Morris). Then there's Stan Dai who was the editor-in-chief of The GW Patriot, an alternative conservative student newspaper at George Washington U.

Here is an interview with them at CampusReform.org posted two weeks ago in which they (O'Keefe and Basel) talk about their college days. O'Keefe says: "Don't just respond to news, but actually create your own headlines." More from O'Keefe:

The more bold you are, the more opportunities will be open to you. The less bold you are, the less opportunities in life will be open to you. The less calculated risk you take in college, the more you're going to be looking for a job.

But the more you put yourself out there and you take those calculated risks--the contrary of what people actually think is going to happen--you're actually going to get opportunities.

Paging Woodward & Bernstein!

Bizarre news out of New Orleans, covered in depth first by the Times-Picayune: 4 arrested by FBI in apparent attempt to bug phones of Sen. Mary Landrieu--and one of the inept is James O'Keefe, who recently rose to media (largely Fox News) and political fame for his anti-ACORN videos., where he posted as a pimp. Two people dressed as phone workers and O'Keefe was in office trying to record it. Already this afternoon all of the great Watergate lingo being recycled, from "follow the money" to "just a third-rate burglary."
The Times-Picayune in headline refers to O'Keefe as "ACORN Gotcha Man." One of O'Keefe's "co-conspirators" is Joe Basel, editor of a conservative campus paper at University of Minnesota-Morris.

The first report on a clearly flustered Fox News (below):

Cinematic Ad for Greek Newspaper

As you may know, we love to feature here TV spots for newspapers around the globe. A reader, Ed Padgett, sent us this new one for Greek paper "Veto." Wild. Send translation please.

A Super Idea

Pro Publica is asking its readers to find out if their congressional reps are going to the Super Bowl in Miami and -- here's the rub or nub -- HOW they are getting their tickets. Excerp on why:

While most of us can’t afford a ticket to the Super Bowl, we know the NFL sets aside a large number of them for public officials and corporations to buy at face value (the cheapest tickets are going for as much as $1,799 on StubHub). Politicians use the tickets to reward big donors, and corporations use them to reward politicians.

Overheard in the Newsroom

If you aren't following the popular Twitter feed reporting, or imagining, overheard conversations in the newsroom, you really ought to consider it. Just from the past few days at OHNewsroom:

Copy Editor: “Somewhere there are a bunch of foul-mouthed sailors sitting around saying, ‘You are cursing like a news designer.’”

Editor: “Even my piss smells like coffee.” Managing Editor: “That is disgusting.” Editor: “No… that is awesome.”

“I wish my passion was engineering.”

Photographer: “When news breaks, so does our equipment.”

Editor, regarding headline: “OK guys, this sounds gross, but I’m going to need to remove this colon.”

Graphic Designer: “Just face it, your computer is possessed by the devil.” Intern: “And the devil is addicted to porn.”

Midday Linkage

How a case in Kansas could hasten debate over shield law.

Apple tablet announcement only 24 hours away -- can you feel it?

But: Ad Age writer warns of new "splintered Web" caused by tablet and other new platforms -- not everyone can get everywhere anymore.

Teen threatens to kill library staff--then write about it for local paper.

Editor of National Enquirer hits "MSM" for ruling it out for Pulitzer (but did it deserve it anyway?)

UPDATE: Thanks for Your Support for This Blog

It's been a gratifying week or so here for us with so many words (and links) of support and major surge in traffic--we've swamped E&P's one remaining blog every day, with numbers for the entire past week showing a better than 4-1 edge. All of this in just a few days since our hasty exit from E&P (seems so much longer ago). Anyway: Thanks a lot and watch this space. -- Mitchell and Strupp

'Seattle Times' to MediaNews: 'Go Local'

The Seattle Times, long known for its support of locally owned newspapers and boasts that it is the only one in Seattle, took a shot at MediaNews Group today in an editorial that urged the financially-troubled company to sell off its papers to local folks. "That Bank of America and other lenders are taking an 88 percent stake in The Denver Post, The Salt Lake Tribune, the San Jose Mercury News and dozens of other U.S. newspapers is not welcome," the editorial began, noting MediaNews Group's recent pre-packaged bankruptcy filing for its holding company. "Banks do not belong in the newspaper industry and should find a quick and honorable way out of it.

"The nature, the role and the mentality of newspapers are too different from banking. Newspapers report on the banks; they should not be owned by them. Newspapers should be independent. That is a difficult charge at the moment, but the difficulty of it makes it no less necessary." --Joe Strupp

Krugman on Obama: "Appalling"

NYT columnist Paul Krugman in a blog post just now really goes off on Obama's after his spending freeze decision, calling it, among others things, appalling. The headline: "Obama Liquidates Himself." Excerpt:

And it’s a betrayal of everything Obama’s supporters thought they were working for. Just like that, Obama has embraced and validated the Republican world-view — and more specifically, he has embraced the policy ideas of the man he defeated in 2008. A correspondent writes, “I feel like an idiot for supporting this guy.”

Now, I still cling to a fantasy: maybe, just possibly, Obama is going to tie his spending freeze to something that would actually help the economy, like an employment tax credit. (No, trivial tax breaks don’t count). There has, however, been no hint of anything like that in the reports so far. Right now, this looks like pure disaster.

Don't Worry, They'll Make More

The Times-Picayune of New Orleans thought it had printed enough copies of Monday's paper declaring the local Saints NFC championship victory and advancement to the Super Bowl. They went back to press early Monday, and later had to do it again. Now the Advance Publicatons daily has them ready for sale this morning, along with the regular Tuesday edition. See the details HERE. -Joe Strupp

UPDATED: Colbert Mocks 'Alpha Dog'

And it's Harold Ford, Jr. of Tennessee, who is thinking of running for Senate in... New York. But will he have last laugh? New poll finds that he trails incumbent (the appointed) Gillibrand by only 41% to 27% and he hasn't even announced yet. Primary in September.

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Alpha Dog of the Week - Harold Ford Jr.
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