Media stories of note for Friday, April 5, 2013:

Craig Silverman, writing for Poynter. org, notes the development of an industry handbook to deal with issues of plagiarism and fabrication. It was created by 14 news organizations, 10 associations and 10 institutions. Essentially it uses truth as a guide and calls for the "golden rule" in attribution, among other things.

Tracie Powell, writing for Columbia Journalism Review, argues that the next Federal Communications Commission chair is going to have a significant impact on journalism. Apart from concentration issues, the FCC will be looking at broadband, broadcast diversity, and transparency in political advertising.

Jeff Israely, who has been chronicling his adventure in starting a media site for the Nieman Journalism Lab, argues that it's a myth people are not paying for news. He wants to delete the term "subsidy" to describe the support for news. Rather, he notes, there is reason to be optimistic that people are paying, and will pay,  for news.


 
 
A long-awaited report released Thursday on the future of media suggests a shift away from citizens to institutions and a serious decline in local reporting in the United States.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) report, written by former Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report journalist Steven Waldman, identifies a serious reduction in local reporting as the number of online news sources increases. It finds this situation dire and worries about the consequences of a weakened watchdog function.

Waldman's report, Information Needs of Communities, does not denigrate the arrival of digital; indeed, it celebrates its opportunities for the flow and exchange of information as never before. But it notes that gaps are emerging as organizations reduce their local expenditures and digital enterprises do not backfill what is lost.

Many recommendations are made to stimulate the environment for enterprising local reporting, including tax measures, regulatory changes and journalism school curriculum improvements.
 

DA25E68FDEC14EAFA7B2A27D26C48058