Media
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Bay Citizen to Merge with the Center for Investigative Reporting
Media Rachel Swan — Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 4:41 PM
A lot of hand-wringing followed last week's announcement that The Bay Citizen had entered merger talks with the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Berkeley-based nonprofit run by former San Francisco Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein. Launched by the late San Francisco philanthropist Warren Hellman as a potential replacement for the money-losing Chronicle, The Bay Citizen had been poised to become the daily paper of note in San Francisco. Yet it was crippled not only by Hellman's death in December, but also by the departure of several top employees, including interim editor-in-chief Steve Fainaru and founding chief executive Lisa Frazier. Its contract with the New York Times, which currently runs Bay Area news on a weekly basis, was apparently not sufficient to halt the merge, announced this afternoon.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Friday’s Top Stories: Komen Changes Mind on Planned Parenthood; Bay Citizen and California Watch Are in Merger Talks
Media / Politics / Health & Medicine Robert Gammon — Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 9:58 AM
Today’s top stories:
1. The Susan G. Komen foundation, a breast cancer organization that was under siege for its decision earlier this week to defund Planned Parenthood, reversed course today, The New York Times reports. In a statement, the Komen foundation said it had changed its policies and would continue to fund Planned Parenthood. Earlier this week, Komen had said that it wouldn’t give money to any nonprofits that were under “investigation.” But today, Komen said it was altering that policy to clarify that the investigation would have to be criminal in nature and not political. Congressional Republicans, who want to kill Planned Parenthood because it provides abortion services, had launched an investigation of Planned Parenthood, but the probe is widely considered to be nothing more than a political stunt.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Lawsuit May Decide Who Owns Your Twitter Account
Media Rachel Swan — Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 2:30 PM
An Oakland writer might be the subject of a precedent-setting lawsuit to decide to whether or not a business can expropriate the Twitter feeds of current and former employees. Noah Kravitz garnered 17,000 Twitter followers as a product reviewer and publicist for the site PhoneDog, The Guardian reported. He left the company with the understanding that he could keep the account for personal use, so long as he tweeted on behalf of the company from time to time. Then his former employer sued on the theory that Kravitz has stolen the company's customer database. PhoneDog is seeking $2.50 per follower in damages, which would amount to a total of $340,000, The Guardian reports. Kravitz, who is now the editor-at-large for TechnoBuffalo.com, is suing PhoneDog for backpay, as he announced on a wildly popular KQED Forum broadcast this morning. He expects the company launched this counter-suit for leverage, and he compared his resignation to "an amicable divorce" that required the divvying of assets — including social media. That said, it could have far-reaching consequences.
New York Times May Sell 16 Papers, Including the Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Media Rachel Swan — Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 10:54 AM
Evidently, the holidays weren't enough to stanch the bloodletting in journalism, as more bad news came over the transom yesterday. The New York Times announced "tentative" plans to sell sixteen regional papers — including the Santa Rosa Press Democrat — to Florida media group Halifax Holdings LLC. According to Press Dem reporter Kevin McCallum, the impetus was to slough off smaller papers so the Times can focus on strengthening its core. At present the deal isn't final, but Bay Citizen writer Aaron Glantz assured that it could mean "big, immediate changes" in the North Bay media landscape, should the sale go through. Jim Romenesko published an FAQ for NYT Regional Media Group employees on his website, along with a copy of the letter that NYT Company vice president Susan Murphy sent to announce the potential sale. We'll keep you posted as new details arise.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Trib Reporter Sean Maher on Olbermann
Media / Occupy Rachel Swan — Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 12:00 PM
Trib reporter Sean Maher, who has been assiduously documenting the events at Occupy Oakland over this past week, was featured on Olbermann last night. He's about to be transferred to the Contra Costa Times in Antioch, and Oakland will surely miss him. Here's the clip, for those who missed it:
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
In Support of the 99 Percent
Media / Politics / Business / Occupy Robert Gammon — Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 1:03 PM
The Express is running the following statement of support in tomorrow's paper:
As the East Bay's independently-owned newspaper, we stand in support of the 99% as they Occupy Everywhere. The time has come to shift the power over our economy back to the people of this country and out of the hands of the small minority. It's time our politicians serve the best interest of their constituents, rather than acting as tools for greedy corporations. It's time for our citizens to take to the streets and demand economic, social, and environmental justice...
TODAY.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
An Open Letter to Jean Quan, Progressives, and Occupy Oakland
Media / Politics / People / Occupy Robert Gammon — Sun, Oct 30, 2011 at 9:55 AM
Dear Jean Quan,
Please ignore those who continue to push you to crack down on Occupy Oakland. Their position is irresponsible, dangerous, and completely out of touch. You already tried a crackdown, and it was a disaster.
As you know, you’ve been vilified by liberals and progressives throughout the world for green-lighting the October 25 raid on the encampment in front of City Hall and the over-the-top police action later that night. Another crackdown will not break up the Occupy Movement. The protesters will just keep coming back.
Friday, October 28, 2011
PSA: Chief Batts Resigned Two Weeks Ago; Please Stop Retweeting Our Story
Media Ellen Cushing — Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 10:38 AM
Guys, we need to talk. Specifically, about the fact that our two-week-old story on former police chief Anthony Batts resigning has now gone mega-viral, apparently because people are mistakenly thinking he resigned because of the Occupy Oakland shitstorm. (For the record: Batts resigned two weeks ago for reasons entirely unrelated to Occupy — and his replacement, interim chief Howard Jordan, who's been leading the department through said shitstorm, is totally still there.) Regardless, though, looks like someone shared the story on Twitter at some point yesterday, and it then, somehow, managed to get retweeted by hundreds of people — including various Occupy-related Twitter accounts, Morgan Fairchild (!!), and Dave Weigel of Slate (he quickly corrected). But despite his, our, and other tweeps' efforts to correct the record, people are still fucking retweeting it. The post has been the top-read story on the site for at least 24 hours, and is now one of our most-Facebooked articles of all time — which would be awesome except it isn't true. So please, for the love of all that is true and holy, take a sec to check the story's publication date, read the oh-so-subtle all-caps editors' note we've appended to the top of it, and move along. There's nothing to see here.
Friday Must Read: Quan Tries to Apologize, Gets Booed; Occupy Oakland Reestablishes Tent City
Media / Politics / People / Occupy Robert Gammon — Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 10:31 AM
Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan tried to apologize to the Occupy Oakland general assembly last night, but was booed off the stage, the Chron and Trib report. The mayor, who has been under intense fire since Oakland police raided the Occupy encampment on Tuesday, then posted a statement and video of her apology. Quan also took responsibility for Tuesday’s actions by police and vowed to oversee an investigation into allegations of police brutality. During a visit to Highland Hospital earlier in the day, Quan also apologized to Iraqi war veteran Scott Olsen, who suffered a fractured skull apparently after being shot with a less-than-lethal weapon by police during the melee on Tuesday night.
2. Quan also asked that Occupy Oakland demonstrators not camp overnight in front of City Hall, but the protesters ignored that request and began to reestablish the encampment, the Chron and Trib report. Liberal icon Michael Moore is scheduled to visit Occupy Oakland in a show of solidarity tonight.
3. The intense focus this week on the violence in Oakland also apparently has solidified and strengthened Occupy San Francisco. The Chron reports that after city officials decided not to raid Occupy SF, following the outrage about the raid in Oakland, the encampment in San Francisco is drawing more people and is expanding.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
How the World Viewed the Occupy Oakland Protest Last Night
Breaking News / Occupy / Media / Law Enforcement & Crime Kathleen Richards — Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 1:26 PM
Last night's Occupy Oakland protest — and the heavy-handed police response to it — didn't just make headlines in the local news; it was also the subject of national and international media attention, including The New York Times, Huffington Post, CNN, and Al Jazeera. (Videos on YouTube are getting tens of thousands of hits.) Here's a sample roundup of the coverage:
