Just Asking… Which Financial Daily Is Jumping Into the Gossip Biz? | John Koblin, The New York Observer, 30/3/10
Last week, we reported that The Wall Street Journal’s New York section was starting—of all odd things—sports beats, with reporters traveling to home and away games of New York teams.
Non-profits can’t possibly save the news | Alan Mutter, Reflections of a Newsosaur, 30/3/10
An amazing number of smart and sophisticated people continue to harbor the fantasy that philanthropic contributions can take over funding journalism from the media companies that traditionally have supported the press.
Pentagon Papers: The Glory Days of Journalism | Peter Osnos, The Atlantic, 23/3/10
On June 13, 1971, The New York Times published the first explosive stories based on Pentagon studies of the decision-making that led the United States to war in Vietnam. After the Times was enjoined from publishing further, The Washington Post obtained much of the same material and produced its own stories. The Nixon administration, claiming a massive breach of national security, fought for restraint all the way to the Supreme Court, which on June 30, in the last opinion by Justice Hugo Black, decided 6-3 in favor of the newspapers. The outcome was a glorious victory for a robust press and launched an era of aggressive reporting about Washington. What a time it was.
While the excitement of what became known as the Pentagon Papers case was unfolding, I was on the other side of the world as a correspondent for The Washington Post based in Saigon. The high drama on the home front did not, as I recall, resonate on the fighting itself. Like so much about the conflict, the political and social turmoil in the United States operated on rhythms that meant little to the Vietnamese combatants and not a lot more to the GIs risking their lives on the battlefield. By 1971, the war in Vietnam had become so discredited in the minds of Americans that the country’s leaders were determined to get out, recognizing that in all likelihood a “decent interval” was the best that could be achieved before the Communists prevailed.
Is news over? – George Brock tackles journalism’s biggest question | Alexander Walters, Journalism.co.uk, 18/3/10
Journalism has become “a word wandering around in search of a definition” according to George Brock, the head of journalism at City University London.
Reflexiones oscenses | Paco Sancho, El rincón de Pacotto, 13/3/10
No lo iba a hacer, pero más de uno (dos) me ha presionado para hacerlo, así que recopilo aquí el balance provisional y personal del XI Congreso de Periodismo Digital y que anoche volqué en Twitter, recién llegado de Huesca, donde lo hemos pasado en grande, aprendiendo mucho y durmiendo poco, riendo como críos y hasta jugando (y ganando 
al futbolín en equipo con mi compadre @rsalaverria. Allí estuvimos los dos con 18 estudiantes de fcom (estudiantas, 16; estudiantes, 2) que han brillado con luz propia, y que conste que no lo digo para hacerles la pelota y me empollen más, sino porque es verdad: hicieron preguntas certeras a los ponentes, defendieron apasionadamente su futura profesión y, sobre todo, ejercieron el análisis y la crítica con acierto y argumentos a la hora de juzgar a los mejores y los menos mejores sobre el escenario del magnífico Palacio de Congresos de Huesca.
If A Wind Blows, Ride It | Rupert Murdoch @ Abu Dhabi Media Summit
At the opening speech of the first Abu Dhabi Media Summit, Rupert Murdoch is exhorting Arab nations to open up and let creative talents flow. Of course, he has his own agenda in mind: open it up to our content as well. This is the show-me-the-money quote: “When we look to the future, News Corporation is betting on the creative potential of the more than 335 million people who make up the Arab world.”
Internet le gana a los diarios | Roberto Guareschi, postPeriodismo, 7/3/10
Internet pasó a los diarios y a la radio. En Estados Unidos internet ya es la segunda plataforma elegida para obtener noticias: sólo le gana la televisión. Los datos corresponden a Estados Unidos y son el resultado de una vasta encuesta hecha por el Pew Research Center. ¿Previsibles? Sí, pero confirman cuán fuertes e irreversibles son los cambios en el territorio del periodismo y sugieren cómo puede ser el futuro allá y acá.
Andreessen’s Advice To Old Media: “Burn The Boats” | Erick Schonfeld, TechCrunch, 6/3/10
Legend has it that when Cortes landed in Mexico in the 1500s, he ordered his men to burn the ships that had brought them there to remove the possibility of doing anything other than going forward into the unknown. Marc Andreessen has the same advice for old media companies: “Burn the boats.”