Results tagged “journalism>”

You know, a wise man once told me that if you make it really easy for someone to do something they feel compelled to do, then they'll probably do it -- despite all warnings to the contrary. Put a warm cookie in front of a child and tell them it will burn their mouth, and the kid will still grab and chomp. Put a cocktail in front of an alcoholic in distress and he'll probably drink it. Make it incredibly easy for someone to siphon your work for a few extra pageviews despite all conventional mores, and damn it, they'll be slapping Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V faster than you can get the words "fair use" out of your mouth.

Calling it "a planned new venture that went off track," Washington Post Publisher and CEO Katharine Weymouth apologized to readers today after it was revealed that the newspaper had been planning to trade access to journalists and government officials for cash in the form of "Post Salon" dinner events.

In case you haven't seen it yet, make sure to read Mike Allen's pretty amazing story over at Politico, which exposes a new business plan being put together by The Washington Post that would offer lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to high ranking government officials at "Post Salon" dinner events in exchange for huge cash payments, starting at $25,000 a pop. The really astonishing part of the story is already being walked back (sort of) by The Washington Post newsroom, however, as a flier obtained by Politico insinuated that access to the paper's own reporters and editors was also potentially for sale. Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli and spokesperson Kris Coratti told Politico that the newsroom would not participate in the first scheduled event, which will focus on health-care reform, because it would be inappropriate, but left room for the possibility that other Post Salons might feature editorial staffers. UPDATE 12:38 p.m.: Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth has just announced that she's canceling all the dinners. What a mess.

“So the thing you have to understand is this is radio,” says the voice in the darkness — a little bit squeaky, a little bit nasal, not at all the voice you’d assign to the leader of a benign radio cult if it weren't already so familiar.

Howard Kurtz's WaPo column today concerns the kerfuffle over Tim Page's angry email to Ward 8 Council Member Marion Barry's office that we told you about yesterday. As you'll recall, Page, who writes about classical music for the Post, received an unsolicited press release from Barry's office about the city's deal with Specialty Hospitals of America to purchase the Greater Southeast Community Hospital. Page then fired off an angry email in which he called the...

Do you have memories of long hours spent in video arcades, slowly becoming desensitized to the flashing lights, the boops, the beeps, the whistles and wails? Of endlessly trying to get the change machine to take that last crumpled dollar, to give you four more games before it was time to head home? Or maybe for you it was a dark-wood-paneled basement at your best friend's house, where you played an Atari 2600, a Colecovision, or, God forbid, a Commodore 64. Raise your hand if you know what a TI99/4A was, and took shit from your friends because you had to play a knock-off version of Pac-Man known as Munch Man. If any of these references mean anything to you, Seth Gordon's debut feature documentary may have particular resonance. What's more remarkable is that even if you've never so much as eaten a single ghost in a game of Ms. Pac-Man, King of Kong is still a remarkable (and remarkably hilarious) film.

Since 1983, Loose Lips, the City Paper's weekly local politics column, has been the place to get quirky news and commentary on the District's political figures. But today, James Jones, Loose Lips columnist for the last two years, bids farewell to the paper. Jones came to the City Paper after a stint at WAMU, and his first column was published on March 11, 2005. According to the folks at the City Paper, Jones has taken...

Today the National Press Club announced the craziest show to hit the Washington music scene since Dismemberment Plan decided to reunite for two performances this weekend. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, who's recovering well from his cancer surgery, and CBS anchor Bob Schieffer go head to head in a battle of the bands dubbed Honky Tonk Meets the White House Wonk. The veteran newsman sings with Honky Tonk Confidential, a country-western band, while...

Allow us to throw out some hearty congratulations to DCist alumna Catherine Andrews, who, like others before her, has broken free of the warm DCist nest to spread her wings and soar through the brilliant skies of Big Time Professional Journalism. Or you know, hooray, DCist Catherine got a cool job at Washingtonian Magazine! Having recently graduated with a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern, Catherine has just begun as a Senior Online Editor at the magazine, and we couldn't be prouder parents.

From the Associated Press via WTOP:The top editor of the Washington Business Journal was found dead at his home Monday. John McCalla was 38. A spokeswoman for the D.C. medical examiner says the cause of death would be determined pending further tests. Our readers may remember McCalla best as a perennial nominee in Fishbowl DC's Hottest Media contest. It's a tragic loss for local journalism, and we at DCist express our sympathies to his family,...

If you're anything like us here at DCist, you've really given up the pretense of doing any work, and are merely counting down the days to your holiday vacation. Despite the lack of cold weather, snow, or anything seasonal, actually, the spirit manges to make its way in to our cold, bitter, two-sizes-too-small hearts. Somehow.

One of the first lessons you learn about blogging is that timing is everything. Earlier this week I was emailing DCist Matt about a story idea, a two part story that would ask the question that just had to be answered: Who is crazier more eccentric, Gilbert Arenas or Clinton Portis? We decided to write it over the weekend and run it next week. Great in theory, right? But then Esquire had to go...

Shocker: DCist thinks the Internets are just dandy and a great way to get our daily fill of news. But the debate concerning the effects of Internet journalism continues to rage, and our esteemed Editor-in-Chief is not above diving into the fray to defend our honor. Tune your radio to WETA, 90.9FM, and listen to Sommer Mathis discuss the virtues and vices of young people getting their information from a series of tubes, and how local journalism might change as this trend continues. Catch her on The Intersection, starting at 11 a.m.

You know, we have a lot of fun here at DCist, but we like to think that occasionally we serve to educate as well. It's a daunting task — there's a lot of material relevant to D.C. residents that we could cover, from how to get your car inspected to who's got the best burger to which bars have the heaviest intern infestations. But of all the lessons we could impart, perhaps the most important...

It goes without saying -- the District is a town full of Democrats. They occupy the majority of the elected offices, have the most registered voters by a long shot, and reliably vote for Democratic presidential candidates. In the most recent analysis of the voter registry, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics reported that 73.5 percent of registered voters were Democrats. Republicans could only claim 8 percent, the Statehood Green Party 1.6 percent, and...

It's been a chaotic month for AOL employees. First came news that the Dulles-based online giant would be cutting 5000 jobs. Today, another shoe is dropping: the company's accidental release of customer search data has finally reached the fall guy phase, resulting in the departure of CTO Maureen Govern and, presumably, others. Here's hoping that those previously laid-off can at least extract a little schadenfreude from the fiasco. Macaca Misstep Takes Toll In Poll: Yesterday WUSA released a new poll, and the news it brings is not good for George Allen. The numbers show that the senator's lead over Democratic challenger James Webb has evaporated from nineteen percentage points to a mere three. Perhaps most stunningly (if not importantly, given their generally low turnout rates), Allen has suffered a 40-point swing among young people. The poll also brings great news for Virginia homophobes: the fall ballot's marriage amendment is poised to pass by a 2:1 margin. Post Mayoral Endorsement Looms: How's this for meta-journalism: we're about to note another news outlet's story about yet another news outlet's potential endorsement in the mayoral race. Pretty ridiculous, we know. Still, there's no denying that the Post's endorsement could be a big deal in the election, and NBC4 does a fine job laying out the case. As you might expect, they identify the middle of the pack — and Marie Johns in particular — as the biggest potential beneficiaries. But it's anyone's guess who'll actually get the nod. Blacksburg Manhunt Starts And Ends Tragically: WTOP reports on yesterday's fugitive spree near Virginia Tech. William Morva escaped from Montgomery Regional Hospital, allegedly killing security guard Derrick McFarland in the process and prompting the nearby university to cancel classes for the day. Morva was recaptured around 3:30 p.m., but not before Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Sutphin's life had also been lost. The suspect is now being held at an unnamed regional facility. Traffic Study Prompts Controversy: The Post reports on a spat between Va. Governor Tim Kaine's administration and pro-growth forces in Loudoun. At the center of the dispute is a study conducted by VDOT and released last month that predicts traffic problems if the Dulles South development is allowed to proceed. The newly-formed Right Growth Policy Institute has now released a set of emails between the Kaine administration and study engineers demonstrating a hands-on approach aimed at enhancing the political consequences of the study. However, although the arrangement may have been shady, no one seems to be questioning the validity of the study's conclusions. Briefly Noted: Cropp releases another aggressively anti-Fenty flyer... Deadlock in Richmond over sentence for Arlington man... K-9 unit deployed to identify exact location of Wone murder... Virginia police handed out thousands of tickets last weekend... Georgetown jewelry store robbers were caught on tape... This Day In DCist: One year ago we profiled a jumbo slice alternative, nursed foolish dreams of a Nats playoff appearance, and penned a gloriously immature headline. Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user andertho

If you're looking for something to do tomorrow night, you may as well put your money towards supporting local music with a mission. Street Sense, a newspaper written and distributed by the homeless, is holding its annual benefit show at the Black Cat on Saturday night (even after the club balked at letting the show happen). Heading up the night's bill will be ex-Fugazi bass player Joe Lally, supported by Unbuckled alums The Hard Tomorrows and Fairfax-based Jinxed at Twelve. Cover at the door will set you back a mere $10, and all the money raised will go straight to the newspaper.

The insular world of the local media may have been broken wide open by NBC 4 today, allowing us a valuable insight into what some employees at the television station think of each other.

If you're a fan of sushi, it may come as a bit of a surprise to know that your eating habits may directly be propping up the Washington Times and the rest of Rev. Sun Myung Moon's quirky religious empire. A reader recently tipped us off to an article in the Chicago Tribune outlining how Moon -- a self-proclaimed messiah and leader of the Unification Church -- has all but cornered the sushi market, using...

We awoke this morning to a new and shocking sight -- the Washington City Paper, the District's godfather of alternative press, had redone their website. And not a minute too early, we might add. The City Paper's website was always, to put it mildly, stuck in 1998. Such an online presentation was a clear injustice to what was otherwise good writing, quirky features, and solid alternative journalism. The paper's new site is brighter, sharper, and...

The Post has long been struggling with an apparent lack of diversity in their ranks, a reflection of the sad fact that much of American journalism remains dominated by white reporters, editors, and managers. In late 2004 Post staffers openly expressed their unhappiness that a white man had been chosen over a woman and a black man to be the paper's managing editor, and, more recently, there were grumblings over the promotion of Robert McCartney, who is white, to the position of Metro assistant managing editor, beating Hispanic City Editor Gabe Escobar to the punch.

As we reported last week, the Post has finally come around to the ugly reality that online comments are not all peaches and cream.

Courtesy of our media-obsessed friends over at Fishbowl DC, today we find that the Post has been struggling with commenters on their official blog, so much so that yesterday they resorted to shutting down comments altogether. In a message posted yesterday afternoon, Jim Brady, Executive Editor of washingtonpost.com, wrote: Great journalism companies need feedback from readers to stay sharp. But there are things that we said we would not allow, including personal attacks, the use...

...is exactly what we hope to hear sometime down the line. No, seriously.

Just one man's opinion, but now is a good time to say it: The New York Times is not any longer -- in my mind -- the greatest newspaper in the land. Nor is it the base line for the public narrative that it once was. Some time in the least year or so I moved the Washington Post into that position ... The Post, I believe, is our great national newspaper now; the Times is number two, with the Wall Street Journal close behind. Still a strong fleet. With a new ship in the lead perhaps it will sail to unexpected places.

For a while there, we thought D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams was regretting having started a blog -- two of his first three posts involved apologizing for his slow pace of posting, a huge no-no in a fast-paced information society that demands at least one new post a day. Since then, though, Williams has picked up the pace, offering unfiltered opinions on everything from public schools to the benefits of the power of eminent domain. In fact, he has had a particularly good run over the last six days, having posted on September 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and today. Not bad, Tony!

Hurricane Katrina has come in fast and furious on the Gulf coast, and we can't stop looking for news about it. From news of the Superdome roof leaking, to how the disaster will affect crude oil prices, to the human stories of loss and tragedy, the information is overwhelming. And where are the best stories and accounts coming from? Without a doubt, the blogs. True, we've got CNN on in the background, and we're certainly...

In an interesting move that could have repercussions for new media and other online newspapers, washingtonpost.com today switched to a dual homepage format. One homepage features more local and regionalized news, and the other has a national/international focus that won't highlight the Post's regional content (like the Entertainment Guide) as much. Which homepage you view is based on your registered zip code -- if you provide a local zip code, you will get the local page, and if you're outside of the Metro area, you'll get the other. You're also able to manually choose which homepage you would like to view. Jim Brady, the executive editor of washingtonpost.com, writes today that:

While the home page you first receive will be tied to your registration zip code, you will be able to override that setting, since we realize providing choice is crucial in the Web world. It's also important to note that, regardless of which page you receive, you won't be cut off from any content on washingtonpost.com.

Continue reading "Washingtonpost.com Switches to Dual Homepage"

(Editor's Note: Last weekend, we introduced a new feature called Weekend Reading, a look at what newspapers are featuring in their Sunday and weekend editions. Some of you were confused at first, since the first newspaper up was the Post, which many of you read on Sundays anyway, so we'll try to mix it up a bit more today. Like we said before, some people in D.C. make their weekend reading into a competitive sport. Here's our attempt to help you plot your strategy.)

(DCist would like to take a moment to introduce one of our summer interns, Lindsay. Lindsay is a University of Maryland journalism major who is spending her summer interning for a new political comedy radio show End of Politics (think Daily Show). She also spends time in the local stand-up comedy circuit. Look for her posts on intern highlights and general around town bits and pieces this summer... well, if she can find time to...