Newstand Sales of Glamour Unsightly

Image via WikipediaGlamour Magazine, Conde Nast's best-seller on newsstands, has suffered a 17 percent decline in sales over the first third of 2011, according to the WWDMedia Website.

With a $3.99 price tag, the drop-off in sales means a loss of newsstand revenue of more than $1.5 million. The Website post cited Audit Bureau of Circulations Rapid Report figures showing average sales of Glamour over the first four months of this year were 459,000, compared to 550,900 during the comparable period in 2010.

Glamour cover girls in 2011 have included actresses Reese Witherspoon, Emma Stone and Kate Winslet, along with the omnipresent Kim Kardashian. In contrast, fashion magazine Vogue experienced a 20 percent boost in newsstand sales during the first four months of 2011, but Elle's sales dropped 7 percent.

New Law Relaxes Press Restrictions in Qatar

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe Website www.Gulfnews.com reports a new media law approved in the Arab emirate of Qatar allows journalists to write about everything except national security matters.

The Peninsula, a Qatari daily, indicated the Ministry of Arts, Heritage & Culture is likely to be the authority licensing and overseeing the news media. Under the new measure, absent a court order, journalists cannot be detained by authorities. The new law also empowers journalists to protect the identity of confidential sources unless a court orders disclosure of the anonymous sources.

Additionally, the recently enacted media law shields journalists from being incarcerated if found liable for defamation, though such journalists could be subject to fines of up to QR50,000 ($13,729). Foreign journalists covering Qatar must possess a degree in mass communication, under the measure.

Magazine Nets a 'Tweet' Libel Settlement

Image via WikipediaPCMag.com reports on an unusual out-of-court resolution of a defamation suit--the defendant agreed to Tweet his apology to the plaintiff 100 times.

Malaysian blogger Fahmi Fadzil sent an unflattering post about Blu Inc. Media, publisher of Female Magazine, on June 25 that criticized the company about what he believed was its mistreatment of his pregnant friend that he claimed caused her to quit her employment with Blu Inc. Although Fadzil retracted his negative comment, Blu, Inc.'s attorneys sent him a letter demanding an apology and seeking monetary damages.

Instead, the parties agreed that Fadzil would Tweet the following mea culpa: "I've defamed Blu Inc Media & Female Magazine. My tweets on their HR policies are untrue. I retract those words and hereby apologize."  Who says you can't convey any message in 140 characters? Fadzil began sending his apology in 30-minute intervals to his approximate 5,300 followers.

Perhaps it's a cultural difference:  Malaysia employs the microblogging social platform of Twitter to resolve a defamation lawsuit, whereas in the U.S., as reported by this blog, the number of defamation suits involving Tweets are on the rise ("Twibel" is a likely entry in the next edition of the Oxford Dictionary).

Vermont Bolsters Public Records Law

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeVermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has signed H. 73, which strengthens the Green Mountain State's Public Records Law.

The measure, introduced by Rep. Donna G. Sweaney of Windsor, takes effect on July 1. Among the changes to the law are the requirement that individuals who successfully challenge a denied request for documents be reimbursed their legal fees and that state agencies designate a staffer "records officer" to handle requests and inquiries.

Municipalities do not have to appoint a records officer and the amended law does enable government agencies that lose a records request dispute to avoid paying the requester's attorneys fees if the entity produces the records being sought in the early stages of the legal action pursuing the documents. The new law also creates a panel to review the law's more than 200 exemptions, according to an article by the Associated Press.

TV Newser Sues Over False Porno Photos

Image via WikipediaThe U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee will hear a $50 million defamation case filed by a Chicago-native Memphis television reporter who claims the defendants posted false pornographic images purporting to be her online under the title: "Chicago Girls Need to Be Exposed."

The 14-page, nine-count Complaint in Lauren Lee Gauck v. Hooman Karamian a/k/a/Corbin Grimes a/k/a Nik Richie & Dirty World LLC et al. (Case No. 2:2011-cv-02346), includes claims alleging defamation, false light, misappropriation, emotional distress, intrusion and civil conspiracy. Gauck, 29,  known on-air as Lauren Lee, is a reporter for WHBQ-TV "Fox 13" in Memphis, according to an article on the Website of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Karamian, 32, of Scottsdale, Arizona, recently changed his name to Nik Lamas-Richie after marrying Shayne Lamas, the winner of "The Bachelor" reality show.

The complaint alleges the defendants' Website attracted 22,000 hits before the nude images that the plaintiff claims are not her were temporarily removed. The defendant touts himself as "The World's First Ever Reality Blogger" and concentrates on depicting embarrassing images and negative commentary of celebrities and non-famous individuals as well.

Grown-ups Surpassing the 'Baby Twitters'

Image via WikipediaPoynter.org's Romanesko media blog today offers up the latest results of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which finds 13 percent of adults who are active online use the microblogging social platform, Twitter, compared to only 8 percent of grown-ups who said they "Tweeted" when surveyed in November 2010.

Blacks and Latinos continue to be a fast-growing segment of Twitter users, as the survey found 25 percent of African-Americans online claim to Tweet now and then. Internet users in the 25-34 age group have turned to Twitter at double the rate in 2010, with 19 percent Tweeting, compared to 9 percent a year ago. Likewise, 14 percent of online-active adults aged 35 to 44 use Twitter, up from 8 percent in 2010.

Dutch Official Presses for Information Access Curbs: 'We was Wobbed'

Image via WikipediaPiet Hein Donner, The Netherlands' Home Affairs Minister, criticizing runaway costs and journalists' abuse, wants to restrict his country's Freedom of Information laws [Wet Openbaarheid Bestuur], known as "WOB."

Donner blamed journalists for engaging in fishing expeditions. WOB allows Dutch citizens to view government documents. Donner wants to empower officials to reject WOB requests that are "improper," and to narrow the scope of information searches  through officials consulting with individuals seeking the government documents, according to a story on the Website www.dutchnews.nl.

Article 111 of the Constitution of The Netherlands states that: "in the exercise of their duties, government bodies shall observe the principles of transparency in accordance with the rules to be prescribed by Act of Parliament."  WOB, enacted in 1991, allows an individual in writing or orally to request information involving an administrative matter if the data is contained in documents possessed by public authorities or companies carrying out work for a public authority. The authority has a two-week window in which to respond to a request.

It's unfortunate, given the people of The Netherlands' longstanding collective support for transparency in government and access to information to see Donner advocating "going Dutch" as it were.

Trio of Italian Journalists Jailed for Criminal Libel

Image via WikipediaTwo reporters for Il Centro, an Italian daily newspaper, and the paper's former editor, were convicted of criminal libel and jailed, according to the International Press Institute (IPI).

Walter Nerone and Claudio Lattanzio each received one-year jail terms, and former editor Luigi Vicinanza eight months in jail after a court in Chieti, Italy, found the three men defamed Franco La Civita, the former Mayor of  Sulmona, by writing in 2007 that he allegedly was being investigated concerning purported overseas bank accounts in his name. The court considered the allegations unfounded and further ordered the journalists to compensate La Civita 12,000 euros ($17,253).

Journalism organizations, including the Italian National Press Federation and the Journalists' Syndicate in Abruzzo,  were quick to condemn the "chilling effect" on free speech by the jailing of the reporters.

Appeals Court Orders Internal Affairs Cop Probe Be Produced to TV Station

Image via WikipediaIn Romero v. City of Fountain et al. (Case No. 11CA0690), the Colorado Court of Appeals this month ordered the Fountain Police Dept. to turn over  to ABC affiliate KRDO-TV a redacted disciplinary investigatory probe of a police officer who subsequently resigned.

As initially reported by the Website of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (www.rcfp.org), the appellate court declined former police officer Frank Romero's motion for a preliminary injunction, ruling that a "lengthy delay of the disclosure [of the report] may disserve the public interest." The television station initially sought a summary of the internal affairs inquiry through the Colorado Open Records Act [C.R.S. 24-72-201 to 24-72-309], but the court held the records at issue were covered under the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act [C.R.S. 24-72-301 et seq.].

The department's investigation recommended terminating Romero, but he resigned instead.  The officer was targeted by several women, who complained about his behavior toward them.  Romero fought the release of the internal affairs document on the grounds that it contained personal information that would irreparably injure him if it were released. The document at issue was redacted to protect the identity of the female complainant.

Crossing the Pond by Subpoena to Get Brit Twitterer's Personal Data

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe Herald Scotland reports that the South Tyneside Council of the coastal town of South Shields, England, has brought a California legal action against San Francisco-based Twitter to ferret out the identity of Mr. Monkey.

What sounds like a prolonged Monty Python sketch may have profound implications for social media users in the U.K. A pseudonymous microblogger, "Mr. Monkey," has been posting allegedly false and defamatory remarks about South Tyneside councillors and staffers. Suit was instituted in California and a subpoena sent to Twitter seeking personal information concerning the Mr. Monkey account.  Twitter did not comment in The Herald Scotland article.

Ranks of Facebook Users Swelling Toward Three-Quarters of a Billion

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeSocialbakers, a blog whose focus is Facebook, claims that 700 million people are using the Palo Alto, Calif.-based social networking service, according to an article on www.BusinessInsider.com.

The boost in Facebook users has been fueled by skyrocketing growth in Indonesia, Brazil and India, BusinessInsider reports. The news is sure to press Mark Zuckerberg's "like" button, though from "TUOL"'s standpoint, never have so many with so much done so little.

Montreal Gazette Erects Paywall for Online Edition

Image via WikipediaThe Montreal Gazette, which claims its online edition attracts a million unique North American visitors monthly, has announced that it is implementing a  metered payment system (or for those, like the "TUOL" staff who mastered high school French--paiement mesuree) similar to The New York Times.

Gazette online visitors will get 20 free views of premium content monthly before the paywall kicks in.  Non-subscribers to the print version of the paper will be asked to fork over $69.95 a year or $6.95 a month. Those who receive the paper edition receive free access after entering identifying information.  Hockeyinsideout.com and westislandgazette.com will not be subject to metering, because the Montreal Gazette knows better than to try to get in the way of online Canadian hockey fans looking for puck news gratis.

Montrealgazette.com boasts that it received 11 million page views last month. Whether online visitors are willing to part with their hard-earned Canadian Dollars remains to be seen.

'Anti-Social Media': Courtney Love Faces Another Online Defamation Suit

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Two months after actress and "Hole" chanteuse Courtney Love agreed to dole out $430,000 to settle a libel claim involving impolitic comments she Tweeted about a fashion designer (Dawn Simorangkir a/k/a Dawn Younger-Smith v. Courtney Michelle Love et al. (Case No. BC41059)) [see "TUOL" posts 3/4/11, 8/25/09], Kurt Cobain's widow again finds herself a defendant in a Los Angeles Superior Court libel suit, this time, filed by her former attorneys, Frederic Gordon and Rhonda Holmes.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter's THR, Esq. blog and the ABA Journal Law News Now blog, the San Diego-based Holmes & Gordon law firm, which represented Love in 2008-2009 in litigation seeking to recover assets allegedly filched from Cobain's Estate, has sued its former client for defamation, false light invasion of privacy and intentional interference with advantageous economic relations.

The plaintiffs contends that Love fired them as counsel after they purportedly urged her not to engage in substance abuse during the existence of their attorney-client relationship. After the firm allegedly resisted Love's efforts to rehire it, the Complaint alleges that Love Tweeted that Attorney Holmes was "bought off." The plaintiff also alleges that in a subsequent July 2010, online interview, Love said "they got to her [Holmes]" in explaining why her former attorney had stopped taking her calls.

Holmes & Gordon is seeking punitive damages against the Hole vocalist. "TUOL" recommends that Love purchase an electric typewriter because she doesn't seem to handle social media platforms all that well.

'Hockeyton Post': News Aggregator Storms Canada, Eh?

Image via WikipediaThe Huffington Post, backed by advertising launch partner Scotiabank, went live in Canada today, the AOL Huffington Post Media Group announced in a press release.

More than 1.5 million Canadians visited the U.S. version of the news aggregator in March, according to Arianna Huffington.  The Canadian HuffPost raided the Globeandmail.com for talent, hiring Kenny Yum and Brodie Fenlon as managing editor and senior news editor, respectively.

The Canadian Huffington Post, like its U.S. counterpart, will offer the same combination of repackaged news, original content, commentary and titillating photos, only more politely.

UPDATE: Lawsuit Not Going Off in a Huff

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeNew York Supreme Court Justice Charles F. Ramos yesterday denied defendants' motion to dismiss, allowing two former political consultants' lawsuit against Huffington Post co-founders Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer to proceed to discovery, the Associated Press reports.

Peter Daou and James Boyce sued last year, claiming Huffington and Lerer stole their idea for an online news aggregating site (see "TUOL" post 11/17/10). Their 26-page Complaint includes counts alleging idea appropriation, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, fraud and unjust enrichment. 

NBC News Taps Guthrie as Chief Legal Analyst

Image via WikipediaThirty-nine-year-old Savannah Guthrie is the Today Show's new chief legal analyst.

Guthrie, who joined NBC News in 2007 and is the former co-host of MSNBC's  Daily Rundown.  She is a former litigator and a magna cum laude graduate of  the Georgetown University Law Center.

She succeeds ABC Legal Analyst and Mediaite mogul Dan Abrams.

'Botox Brittney' Story Needs an Injection of Media Ethics

Image via WikipediaIt's hard to find anyone to root for as the saga of "Botox Brittney" Upton, the 8-year-old girl who allegedly received Botox injections and virgin waxes, and purportedly was in line for a nose job and breast enhancement surgery, continues to unfold, or more accurately, unravel.

The stinkyjournalism.org Website today chronicles the depressing saga, which began with a March 23 story in the U.K. tabloid The Sun about 34-year-old Sheena Upton, a Birmingham, England, native residing in San Francisco with her daughter Brittney. The article, which included a photo of Sheena purportedly injecting her moppet's forehead with Botox, triggered a hailstorm of criticism and condemnation, which naturally, led to television appearances by Mom & daughter on ABC News' Good Morning America and CBS News" Inside Edition.

Sometimes, however, publicity is not such a good thing, as Mom learned when child protective services took Brittney away from needle-happy Sheena. Suddenly, Sheena Upton was calling herself Kerry Campbell and telling TMZ (not to be confused with The New York Times) that the whole saga was a hoax. She told the gossip site that she didn't even know what Botox was and that the whole story was staged.

If it's true that it's not true (so to speak), then the tv news organizations and the newspaper should be admonished for being so easily pranked and for not investigating the story thoroughly before it went viral. But as long as the media outlets already are at the proverbial woodshed, they also should be taken to task for engaging in mindless checkbook journalism, which is no substitute for real journalism.

According to Stinkyjournalism.org, The Sun allegedly gave Upton $200 for the story, fake name and faux photo. Inside Edition allegedly doled out $9,500 to Upton/Campbell and GMA was prepared to pay $10k to a British booker for the story. Rather than characterize the payment as checkbook journalism, GMA considered the $10k a photo licensing fee.

The sensationalism-hungry morning show viewers, eager to be outraged at the drop of a heat or needle-pricking of a pre-teen forehead, should be having some mea culpas with their morning coffee. The devoted staff of "TUOL" was angered by the distraction of the Botox story, which interrupted journalists and caused them to lose count of the number of Schwarzenegger love children.

Alaska Corp. Drops Libel Suit Against Nonprofit Investigative Reporting Group

Image via WikipediaSuuluutaaq, Inc. and its CEO Samuel Boyle have abandoned their defamation action against the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting's CaliforniaWatch.org, according to a CaliforniaWatch article.

The case, Suuluutaaq, Inc. & Samuel Boyle v. Lance Williams, Center for Investigative Reporting & San Francisco Chronicle (Case No. 3:10-cv-00048), filed March 10, 2010, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, claimed an article written by California Watch senior reporter Lance Williams and published in the San Francisco Chronicle January 30, 2010, contained 11 offensive statements that defamed the company and its chief executive.

Suuluutaaq, an Alaskan corporation, received a $54 million federal stimulus contract to relocate the Napa Valley Wine Train tracks. The company had sought $24 million in damages, and Boyle, $8 million in damages from the defendants. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess last December dismissed much of the plaintiffs' claims as legally insuficient, according to California Watch.

Sandal's Resort to Pre-Litigation Discovery to ID Anonymous E=mailer Snubbed by Judge

Image via WikipediaIn Sandals Resorts International Ltd. v. Google (Case No.100628/10), a unanimous New York Appellate Division, First Department panel this week refused a potential defamation plaintiff's pre-litigation request for information identifying the pseudonymous sender of the allegedly libelous email.

The New York Law Journal reports that the appellate court's decision, written by Justice David B. Saxe, said taken as a whole, the allegedly defamatory online post constituted opinion and was not actionable. The offending email criticized the resort operator's treatment of Jamaicans, alleging they were hired only for low-paying menial jobs, but the Court refused to compel Google to produce to Sandals information concerning email account asjft3092@gmail.com.

The Court cautioned against companies employing subpoenas to "enlist the help of (ISPs) via court orders to silence their online critics (which) threatens to stifle the free exchange of ideas."  Judge Saxe said Sandals failed to show it was harmed by the email in question. 

"To the extent the email suggests that Sandals' hiring of native Jamaicans is limited to menial and low-paying jobs, Judge Saxe wrote, "a reasonable reader would understand that as an allegation to be investigated, rather than as a fact."

Sacramento Bee Stung By More Staff Layoffs

Image via WikipediaThe McClatchy Co.-owned Sacramento Bee has slashed its work force by 6 percent, including nine newsroom slots among the 44 eliminated positions, according to The Sacramento Business Journal.

Bee management blamed lagging circulation and diminished advertising revenues for the latest round of cutbacks. First Quarter results in April reflected a 9.5 percent decline in  revenues and an 11 percent decrease in advertising revenues compared to corresponding figures in 2010. (See "TUOL" posts 5/4/11 & 2/1/11.)


The Sacramento Business Journal reported that the Bee has shed roughly 400 jobs over the past three years, halving its staff from 1,400 to 700 since March 2008. Those receiving pink slips are eligible for severance pay commensurate with their length of service.

The Bee is one of 30 dailies owned by McClatchy Co, the nation's third-largest newspaper chain, which overall, has eliminated more than 4,300 staff positions from its stable of newspapers dating back to June 2008, according to the Journal article.

Ariz. Reporter Fired for Tweets Gets the Bird in NLRB Ruling

Image via WikipediaIn an 8-page Advice Memorandum in Lee Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a The Arizona Star (Case No. 28-CA-23267), the National Labor Relations Board ruled against a 10-year veteran police reporter for The Arizona Star whose Tweets resulted in his termination.

As reported by the American Bar Assn. Journal's Law News Now blog and the Delaware Employment Law Blog, the Star reporter was discharged because his superiors deemed his Tweets unprofessional and inappropriate. Influential in the NLRB's adverse ruling was that both a human resources official and the Star's managing editor had warned the reporter about his tweeting in 2010 that included a critique of one of the daily's headlines.

The reporter subsequently changed his Twitter id, removed some supervisors from his "followers" list and restricted access to his Tweets.  Still, he was fired after further complaints about his Tweets, including one from a local tv news station that the reporter ridiculed by noting a misspelling in a Retweet of a message from the station.

In ruling against him, the NLRB said the reporter "was terminated for writing inappropriate and offensive Twitter postings that did not involve protected concerted activity."

Ky. High Court Rules Press Entitled Access to Criminal Contempt Hearings

Image via WikipediaIn its 16-page decision last week in Jason Riley & The Courier-Journal, Inc. v. The Hon. Susan Schultz & Com. of Kentucky (Case No. 2010-SC-0006-MR), the Kentucky Supreme Court held that state court contempt hearings are open to the news media and public.

As reported by the Associated Press, The Louisville Courier-Journal and its public safety beat reporter Jason Riley brought a court action based on Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Susan Schultz's holding of a contempt hearing involving possible juror misconduct in her chambers in May 2010. Judge Schultz met with three jurors in closed session as a prelude to denying a prosecution's motion for a mistrial.

Kentucky's High Court reversed the Commonwealth's Court of Appeals' denial of a writ of mandamus or prohibition requiring media access to a juror contempt hearing. "Because the public's interest in a criminal contempt proceeding is essentially the same as its interest in any criminal trial, criminal contempt proceedings must be open to the public, including the media," the Kentucky Supreme Court opinion stated.

Conceding the matter was moot for the case in question, the High Court wrote: "It is not sufficient to hold the hearing first, and then determine what it is. The media and the public have the right to rely on what the docket says in pursuing their right to access."

N.Y. Newsday Management Bonuses & Raises Draw Union's Ire

Image via WikipediaLess than a year after Local 406, the union that represents editorial staffers at Long Island's Newsday, accepted a three-year wage-freeze and pay cuts of 5 to 10 percent, management at the daily are the beneficiaries of "generous wage increases and bonuses," according to Union President Michael LaSpina.

As reported by Poynter.org's  Romanesko media gossip blog, LaSpina fired off a letter to Newsday mucky-mucks expressing his dissatisfaction concerning the compensation boost for management and non-union employees. "TUOL"'s non-union staff wonders why Newsday management would be rewarded for its bold leadership that included the decision to erect a paywall for its online edition that initially yield a whopping 35 subscribers (see "TUOL" post 1/28/10).

Facebook Sues Adult Networking Co. in Trademark Case

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeIn Facebook, Inc. v. Various, Inc. et al (Case No. 4:2011-cv-01805), filed last month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, social networking giant Facebook sued an adult networking service for trademark infringement, unfair competition and cybersquatting.

Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong will hear the case in which Facebook is alleging that Various, Inc., and subsidiaries, including Traffic Cat, Inc. and GMCI Internet Operations, Inc., are capitalizing on the plaintiff's brand with its Facebookofsex.com Website.  Facebook claims the defendants' Website includes a blue "Like" button and a blue band at the top of each page, which creates confusion among site visitors and tarnishes Facebook's reputation, according to the Complaint.

West Virginia High Court Waylays Judge's Order that Newspaper Reveal Sources

Image via WikipediaThe West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals this week in State of West Virginia ex rel. The Lincoln Journal, Inc. et al. v. Hon. F. Jane Hustead (Case No. 35734) granted a writ of petition preventing enforcement of Cabell County Circuit Judge Jane Hustead's order compelling The Lincoln Journal to reveal confidential sources used in 11 articles that underlie defamation lawsuits brought against the daily by Bobby Adkins and Timothy Butcher in December 2008.

As reported by The State Journal and Associated Press, the High Court determined Judge Hustead exceeded her authority when she ordered The Lincoln Journal to divulge its sources to plaintiffs Butcher and Adkins. The two men sued for defamation, invasion of privacy, false light and emotional distress based on a series of articles published by the defendant in April and May 2008, regarding a county prosecutor's probe into alleged campaign violations during the 2008 primary involving individuals who allegedly funneled or  received thousands of dollars to back candidates purportedly endorsed by Butcher. The articles in question were replete with references to "courthouse sources", "unnamed sources" and other anonymous monikers.

The West Virginia Supreme Court faulted Judge Hustead for not applying the test set forth in the state's seminal reporter's privilege case, Hudok v. Henry, 182 W. Va. 500, 389 S.E.2d 188 (1989), holding that a journalist's sources and notes could not be compelled absent a showing that the information sought is highly material and relevant, critical to maintaining a legal claim and unavailable from other sources.

The High Court said Judge Hustead must apply the Hudok factors and "separately identify each alleged defamatory article with specificity, identify each source therein that the respondents seek, and thereupon conduct a separate Hudok analysis for each."

Further complicating the case is that the West Virginia legislature passed  H.B. 2159, a reporter's privilege law, on March 12, 2011, that takes effect 90 days from its passage (see "TUOL" post 4/7/11). When Judge Hustead conducts the hearing ordered by the Supreme Court could raise the issue of whether the state's new shield law is controlling.