News Photogs Snap Over Exclusion From White House Photo Ops

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The news media's and the Obama Administration's tenuous relationship has taken a turn for the worse as 38 news organizations, ranging from the New York Times and the major networks to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, fired off a letter to Obama Press Secretary Jay Carney objecting to photojournalists being excluded from numerous White House events.

According to accounts by Reuters and the Washington Post, the press members are upset that news photographers have been barred from snapping pictures at "private" events where the White House subsequently releases its own photos through the social media, generally taken by Chief Official White House Photographer Pete Souza (full disclosure: the photo-lovin' staff of "TUOL" last month attended an event honoring Souza at Boston University's College of Communication, from which Souza and "TUOL" both graduated).

The press corps cited a half-dozen events, including President Obama being photographed sitting in the same bus as civil rights heroine Rosa Parks rode in 1955 and the President sitting in the same jail cell once occupied by Nelson Mandela, that were newsworthy but photographed only by the White House's own photographer.

Whereas the White House considers the photos generated by Souza and other White House photographers as extending to the public access to the president's activities, those who sent Carney the letter dismiss them as "visual press releases."

With the disastrous rollout of the Affordable Care Act and the ongoing NSA spying disclosures, the Obama Administration doesn't need to erode further its shaky relationship to the press by reserving to itself the decision as to what constitutes news versus an Obama family "Kodak moment."

UPDATE (11/26/13): USA Today and the Tacoma News Tribune today said they no longer will accept for publication photos provided by the White House for events that the news outlets believe should have been accessible to the press.

Ethics Lapse, 'Plane' & Simple: NBC News Pays for Exclusive Coverage of Aerial Mishap

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Credit NBC News with the best disaster coverage money can buy, after the Washington Post detailed how the Peacock Network agreed to pay more than $100k to nine skydivers and the pilots who survived the midair crash of two small planes for exclusive coverage of their mishap.

The checkbook journalism nets NBC the right to air amateur footage from the divers' helmet cameras on Today, Dateline and the Nightly News with Brian Williams and two-week exclusive rights to interview the fortunate survivors, according to the Post article. Although print and radio journalists may speak to those involved in the accident, the divers and pilots will not sit down for any tv interviews other than for NBC during the two-week window, the Post quoted one of the survivors as saying.

Paying for stories is frowned on by the Society of Professional Journalists and other news groups because it encourages lazy journalism, tempts payees to embellish their stories and threatens to compromise the payor news organization's objectivity in its coverage. "TUOL" questions if NBC News' money is well-spent and wonders whether the midair crash, however thrilling to watch, is particularly informative for viewers. Here's hoping financially challenged would-be daredevils don't begin staging accidents in search of a big payday from a news organization.

College Daily Dumps Online Editor for Stealing, Not Sharing, Others' Opinions

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Grand Junction based Colorado Mesa Univ.'s student paper, The Criterion, has dismissed its online editor for allegedly committing at least 16 instances of plagiarism from more than 22 publications, Poynter.org reports.

The Criterion's editor-in-chief axed the online editor, who was not identified in the paper's post about the transgressions, and invited readers to report on any additional purported purloining by the online editor. At least the former Criterion staffer, who ought to be re-thinking her career choice about now, infringed on copyrighted material from noteworthy sources, including AP, The Washington Post and The Wall St. Journal.

NPR Offering Buyouts; Hopes to Reduce Staff by 10 Percent

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In a closed board meeting yesterday, NPR tackled an anticipated $6.1 million operating deficit for the coming fiscal year by agreeing to offer buyouts in hopes of reducing its workforce by 10 percent.

The Washington Post reported today that 80 to 84 employees would be cut loose from NPR's 840-member staff if the buyouts work as intended. The NPR board also named former SEC attorney Paul G. Haaga, Jr., a member of NPR's board since 2011, its interim CEO, replacing Gary Knell, who is departing in November to take the helm of the National Geographic Society.

The 10 percent staff reduction is one of the largest in NPR's history, according to the Post article.  The astute "TUOL" staff suspected something was amiss when it noticed NPR's giveaway tote bags seemed smaller.

Perhaps the company can hit up its favorite philanthropist, Hugh R. Lisnerz, for some money.

UPDATE: Senate Judiciary Panel Approves Shield Law By 13-5 Vote; Full Senate to Decide

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The Senate Judiciary Committee today voted 13-5 in favor of the Free Flow of Information Act of 2013 (S. 987), setting the stage for a full Senate vote on a federal shield law to protect journalists' confidential sources and information.

According to accounts in The Washington Post and Huffington Post, the Committee, which was unable reach a consensus on the bill before summer recess (See "TUOL" post 8/2/13), found a compromise between Sen. Charles Schumer's (D.-N.Y.) broad definition of a journalist and Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D.-Calif.) narrow interpretation of who should be protected by the federal shield law.

The measure sent to the full Senate covers student journalists and "persons whom a federal judge has decided should be able to avail him or herself of the protections of the privilege, consistent with the interests of justice and the protection of lawful and legitimate newsgathering activities."  Groups such as Wikileaks, would not be shielded under the law.

The measure embraces journalists who had an "employment relationship" for one year within the past 20 years, or three months within the past five years, as well as someone with a "substantial track record" of freelance writing in the past five years. If enacted, the law would not provide an absolute privilege to journalists from having to disclose confidential information in all instances.

From 'Spin Cycle' to Washed Up: Howard Kurtz Joins Fox News Watch

Howard Kurtz, former long-time Washington Post media critic and current host of CNN's Reliable Sources, will anchor Fox News Watch beginning July 1 and will also serve as an on-air analyst and online columnist for Fox News, Mediaite.com reports.

The 59-year-old Brooklyn native has not had the best of years. Reportedly, CNN had no plans to renew Kurtz's contract. Last month, Kurtz was dumped by The Daily Beast ("TDB") for whom he was Washington bureau chief, because of his error-laden reporting about NBA player Jason Collins coming out as gay and because of what TDB perceived was his excessive time commitment to an outside venture, The Daily Download.

Kurtz, a one-time fave of "TUOL," is the author of The Fortune Tellers, Spin Cycle, Media Circus and Hot Air, the latter of which focuses on right-leaning talk radio. Now Fox News chief Roger Ailes, whom Kurtz has interviewed on numerous occasions, is his boss.

It remains to be seen whether Kurtz will be able to ply what he considers his stock and trade--independent media criticism--for Fox.

UPDATE: WaPo Paywall Rollout Begins Next Week

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The Washington Post Co. today announced it will begin a several-week-long phase-in of a metered paywall for its online edition next Wednesday.

Online visitors will have access to 20 free articles before being offered options ranging from $9.99 a month for desktop and mobile access to digital content to a $14.99 Digital Premium package that offers access to WaPo's custom apps.  The daily has been slow to join the 300 plus newspapers nationwide in putting up a paywall (see "TUOL" post 12/7/12), and still doesn't have its heart really in it, based on the liberal giveaways.

Not only will home delivery customers of the paper edition have complimentary access to WaPo's digital offerings, but also students, teachers, military personnel, government employees and school administrators will have unlimited free access to the online version while in their respective workplace and school. Moreover, the daily's home page, section front pages, classified ads and videos will be free to all visitors.

Presently, the Post has a first-year, $3.16 a month Sunday-only digital subscription available that increases to $7.40 a month after the trial period.

WaPo: DOJ Tracked Fox News Reporter in North Korea Leak Probe

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The furor over the U.S. Department of Justice subpoena of the phone records of Associated Press reporters and bureaus (see "TUOL" post 5/14/13) has yet to abate, but in a story yesterday that is sure raise the concern of journalists and free press advocates, the Washington Post reported that the DOJ zeroed in on a Fox News correspondent in its probe and subsequent charges against government adviser Stephen Jin-Woo Kim in 2010 for allegedly disclosing national defense information concerning North Korea.

Kim's trial arising from the alleged leak of classified information in 2009, regarding possible nuclear tests by North Korea in response to U.N. sanctions may go forward in 2014, but in its review of  affidavits and other court documents and an interview with Kim's attorney, the Sunday Washington Post story disclosed DOJ's purported actions against James Rosen, a Fox Washington correspondent, who did a story in June 2009, about U.S. intelligence officers warning about reprisals from North Korea.

The Post story claims DOJ employed security badge access records to monitor Rosen's visits to and from the State Department and obtained a search warrant to review Rosen's emails as part of its investigation of Kim.

Although at present, there is no federal shield law and the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment does not create a reporter's privilege regarding confidential sources, government has generally subpoenaed reporters as a last resort when unable to obtain vital information through other means, and traditionally has negotiated with the news media over the release of confidential information.

This blog has railed about the threat to the First Amendment and the "chilling effect" on the marketplace of ideas that would result from sources not speaking to reporters out of fear of being exposed by the government. The staff of "TUOL" is resisting its glib instinct to respond to the WaPo story by noting that because Fox News is involved, no journalist is being threatened.

Rather, "TUOL" will join the chorus lamenting a DOJ that is running amok in its pursuit of "leakers" at the expense of freedom of speech and of the press, the cornerstone of American society, and advises President (and former Constitutional Law Professor) Barack Obama to bone-up on his First Amendment lecture notes.

Washington Post-Apocalypse: 1Q Net Income Plunges 85 Percent

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Congress isn't the only Washington, D.C. institution that hemorrhages money.

Slammed by the double whammy of newspaper readers and advertising revenue going out the door and a poor performance by online educator Kaplan, Inc., the Washington Post Co. Friday reported an 85 percent decrease in First Quarter earnings compared to a year ago, according to a Reuters report.

The Washington Post suffered a 4 percent drop in advertising revenue to $127.3 million and was saddled with a $34 million operating loss associated with severance costs. On a very modest positive note, the company's cable and television holdings pushed overall revenue up .4 percent to $959.1 million, according to the Reuters article.

The breadth of the company's grim performance is evident in the 2013 1Q net income figure of $4.7 million or 64 cents a share, compared to 1Q results a year ago of $31 million or $4.07 a share. Poor financial performance by the WaPo Co. is becoming the norm (see "TUOL" post 5/10/11).

AP Stylebook Drops Use of 'Illegal Immigrant'

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The Associated Press Stylebook no longer will use the hot-button term illegal immigrant, the wire service announced this week.

The Huffington Post (which favors undocumented immigrant) reported that The New York Times and Washington Post have yet to decide whether to follow other newspapers nationwide in adopting AP's decision to avoid the term.

The AP Stylebook is widely used by all branches of the news media, so its policy change may have an impact on the national dialogue concerning immigration reform.

It's not likely to affect Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska.) who recently attracted unwanted attention to the GOP in an interview in which he reminisced about his family's ranch hiring wetbacks.  With a blogosphere eager to lambaste whatever term is used in public discussion of immigration reform, don't be surprised if visa-challenged immigrant and specially visiting immigrant enter the lexicon.

Did Jane Goodall's New Book 'Ape' Other Works?

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Seeds of Hope is the new book co-authored by conservationist/animal activist Dame Jane Goodall and Gail Hudson, but according to The Washington Post, some of the "roots" of Seeds were pulled from other sources without attribution.

Initially discovered by a Post book reviewer, the daily allegedly uncovered at least a dozen passages in Seeds of Hope that lacked footnotes or attribution, and in some instances, appeared verbatim on Web sites. Additionally, the Post raised questions about the authenticity of  interviews and quotes that appear in the book.

The book, for example, attributes a quote to a purported interview with botanist Matt Daws, but the same quote appeared in a 2009 article on the Gardens Web site, and Daws responded to a Post email that he did not recall ever speaking to Goodall. The book also includes unattributed passages from the Choice Organic Teas Web site, an institution that contributes to the Jane Goodall Institute, according to the Post article.

Grand Central, publisher of the book, which lacks end notes or a bibliography, promised to add credits in subsequent editions of Seeds of Hope. The 78-year-old Goodall, best-known for her 45-year study of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe Stream National Park, emailed the Post that she was "distressed to discover that some of the excellent and valuable sources were not properly cited, and I want to express my sincere apologies."

When it comes to book research, as the old adage says: "Monkey see, monkey cite."

Summer Job: WaPo Building Digital Paywall

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As reported here previously (see "TUOL" post 12/7/12), the Washington Post confirmed yesterday that it will unveil a metered paywall for its digital edition this summer.

Subscription rates are still being finalized, but the daily reported yesterday that Web site visitors will be able to access 20 free articles a month before being asked to pony up. Print edition subscribers, a vanishing breed, will have unlimited access to the digital version.

The Post also will offer unlimited viewing online  to students, military personnel, government employees and school administrators if they access the Web site from their respective school or workplace. All visitors will continue to receive free access to section lead pages, classifieds and the homepage, according to the Post article.

According to the article, the Post Web site attracts 1.4 million D.C. visitors among its total monthly 20 million visitors. The Post has been rocked by dwindling circulation and advertising revenues in its print version, suffering a 14 percent drop in ad revenues and an 8.9 percent decline in daily circulation to 462,228, based on Alliance for Audited Media figures.

Thin paper, thin skin?

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After 43 years, the Washington Post has eliminated the position of ombudsman, but getting to the bottom of why the struggling daily dropped the readers' champion slot requires the services of, er, an ombudsman.

According to an item by The Wrap.com, WaPo Publisher Katherine Weymouth said the paper will replace the position with that of a reader's representative. Unlike the ombudsman, however, the reader's rep will be a WaPo employee and will not write a weekly column about issues of interest to the readership.

Patrick Pexton, whose WaPo ombudsman contract just expired, described the change as a cost-savings measure, which the paper's management has not done.  The Wrap quotes a spokesperson for the Organization of News Ombudsmen (O No?!) who noted that nationwide, 20 members of his group are working as ombudsmen, reader's editors or reader's representatives.

Subscribers can share their concerns at readers@washpost.com beginning this week.

NY Times Heralds Change of International Daily

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Sometime this Fall, the International Herald Tribune, the English language daily that is sold in more than 160 nations, will be re-dubbed the International New York Times and a revamped Web site will be rolled out, the New York Times reported today.

The daily, which is printed at 38 sites worldwide, debuted in 1887, thanks to founder James Gordon Bennett, Jr., as the European edition of The New York Herald, later becoming The New York Herald Tribune in 1959.

After that paper folded, The Washington Post and New York Times rescued the European daily in 1967 and renamed it The International Herald Tribune, formally becoming co-owners in 1991. The Times bought out the Post's interest in 2003.

The Times article said the paper's masthead would undergo change as well.  "TUOL"'s worldly staff has always relied on the Trib during European sojourns to keep abreast of how its beloved New York Yankees and Boston Celtics are faring and to subdue bouts of homesickness.

Prognosticator Morris Has More Lives than a Cat, but not at Fox

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Political ouija board enthusiast Dick Morris, no longer red-faced over his unequivocal forecast of a Mitt Romney landslide victory in last November's presidential election, is out as a commentator for Fox News, the Washington Post reported.

True to form, the 63-year-old Morris didn't predict being jettisoned by Fox News, which apparently believes it is sufficiently covered in divorced-from-reality political prognostication by keeping Karl Rove on the payroll.  Fret not about the future of the former mainstay on The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity conservative gabfests, as the Washington Times reports that Morris will appear on Piers Morgan's talk show on CNN tonight and is bringing a steamer trunk and several suitcases with him. "TUOL" sees a Dick Morris hologram in CNN's future.

Merida Named WaPo Managing Editor

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Twenty-year Washington Post veteran Kevin Merida has been elevated to Managing Editor, the mediabistro.com Fishbowl DC blog reported this week.

Merida, a Washington, D.C., native who has been serving as WaPo's National Editor, will oversee the Universal News Desk along with the daily's news and features coverage. Like the intrepid staff of "TUOL," Merida earned a journalism degree from Boston University's College of Communication.

Last month, former Boston Globe editor Marty Baron officially became Executive Editor of the Washington Post (see "TUOL" post 11/14/12).

Unhealthy Environment: WaPo Apologizes for Plagiarism

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Correspondent William Booth is in hot water after the Washington Post apologized to readers for Booth's alleged plagiarism of a professor's article for a  monthly scientific journal, the Poynter.org Web site reported yesterday.

Booth allegedly lifted four sentences without attribution from an article by Prof. Andrea Hricko entitled "Progress and Pollution: Port Cities Prepare for the Panama Canal Expansion," from the December 3 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. An editor's note apologized to the author and readers for the "serious lapse," and promised Booth faced "severe and appropriate" action for his transgression.

Federal Judge Backs Photog in Social Media Copyright Claim

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United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Alison Nathan this week in Agence France Presse v. Morel (Case No. 10-cv-02730) granted, in part, a summary judgment motion brought by a photographer who claims news organizations infringed on copyrighted images he posted on Twitter.

According to a report by the wire service Reuters, photographer Daniel Morel tweeted photos he took of the destruction caused by an earthquake in Haiti in January 2010. Defendant Agence France Presse (AFP) transmitted Morel's photos to defendant Getty Images, four of which were published on the Web site of defendant Washington Post , which subscribes to Getty, according to the court ruling.

AFP contended the photos in question were available for re-use once they were posted on Twitter, but Judge Nathan found AFP and the Washington Post infringed on Morel's copyright because the social media platform's terms of service did not grant a license to the defendants to reproduce the images without Morel's permission. The court imposed a ceiling on the amount of damages Morel could recover, did not rule on the infringement claim as to Getty Images, and left unresolved other issues for trial, a date for which has not yet been set.

The Reuters article reported that Morel countersued the defendants after AFP initially filed suit against Morel in March 2010, seeking a determination that it had not infringed on Morel's copyright. Twitter, which is not a party to the suit, takes the view that users of the service own their photographs that are posted on Twitter.

HuffPo Cites Politico Journo Layoffs

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The Huffington Post yesterday reported that five-year-old Politico has trimmed its editorial staff, but the Rosslyn, Va.-based online political news organization denies the job reduction is a sign of distress.

HuffPo singled out photographer Jess Kamen, who tweeted that Politico had cut him loose, and technology reporter Jay Westcott, whom HuffPo sources said was also let go, as among those pink-slipped. Reporter Dave Catanese resigned from Politico last week. The HuffPo article did not report on the total number of editorial positions affected by the layoffs. Politico's editorial staff is 156 strong, according to a Washington Post article.

Politico Editor-in-Chief John Harris insists his organization is growing, and is up 30 employees compared to last year, when its editorial and business workforce reportedly exceeded 225. HuffPo has previously reported that Politico was diverting resources to Politico Pro, a subscribers-only service concentrating on policy.

Whether Politico is shrinking or merely restructuring remains unclear, though axed staffers probably care little about the distinction. If only certain actual Washington Politicos would follow suit and leave their jobs, the nation would be better off.

Washington (Hard) Times: Staff Layoffs Mount

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Roughly 20 Washington Times staffers were pink-slipped today, with the photography department and Web desk especially hard hit, according to reports by rival Washington Post and the Washington City Paper.

Times Executive Editor David Jackson imparted the bad news in a group announcement. Reportedly, terminated employees will receive a half-week's severance pay for each year of service and continued health care coverage through January.

Although the Times hasn't formally identified those who were laid off, staffers who tweeted that they were among the casualties include sportswriter Patrick Stevens and Steve Repsher, who had the dubious honor of being laid off by the Times in 2009, and later reinstated, only to be axed a second time.

The Washington Times was founded in 1982 by a media conglomerate of Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, News World Communications ("NWU"). Rev. Moon and a handful of former Times editors acquired the broadsheet daily from NWU in 2010 for $1, and apparently, got a raw deal.