For Wednesday, May 28, 2014, here are some media stories of note:
The New York Times Book Review chose journalist Michael Kinsley to assess the Glenn Greenwald book, No Place to Hide. Kinsley criticizes media for revealing state secrets and suggests journalists should defer to the government when evaluating disclosure. That is anything but Greenwald's stance, so the book review was predictably negative and drew many Times online readers (the print review is still a couple of weeks from publication) to complain. Margaret Sullivan, the Times public editor, concludes that the review failed to address some tenets about American governance that intersect with fundamentals about journalistic independence and mission, and she in turn is into an extended correspondence with the Times' Review editor who oversaw the piece.
***
The Amazon-Hachette contract dispute continues to bubble with no end in sight, says the Wall Street Journal. But an independent publisher has stepped up to defend Amazon as an efficient, economically beneficial distributor that has levelled the playing field for smaller imprints. Amazon has been preventing pre-orders for Hachette titles.
***
The British press regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organization, Ipso, has appointed its first board of 12 members from varying business and government backgrounds. Ipso enjoys only partial industry support as a response to the Leveson inquiry on press scandals. Meanwhile, the government has seemingly put forward Lord Coe, the former track star who ran the London Olympics, as a possible BBC Trust chair.
The New York Times Book Review chose journalist Michael Kinsley to assess the Glenn Greenwald book, No Place to Hide. Kinsley criticizes media for revealing state secrets and suggests journalists should defer to the government when evaluating disclosure. That is anything but Greenwald's stance, so the book review was predictably negative and drew many Times online readers (the print review is still a couple of weeks from publication) to complain. Margaret Sullivan, the Times public editor, concludes that the review failed to address some tenets about American governance that intersect with fundamentals about journalistic independence and mission, and she in turn is into an extended correspondence with the Times' Review editor who oversaw the piece.
***
The Amazon-Hachette contract dispute continues to bubble with no end in sight, says the Wall Street Journal. But an independent publisher has stepped up to defend Amazon as an efficient, economically beneficial distributor that has levelled the playing field for smaller imprints. Amazon has been preventing pre-orders for Hachette titles.
***
The British press regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organization, Ipso, has appointed its first board of 12 members from varying business and government backgrounds. Ipso enjoys only partial industry support as a response to the Leveson inquiry on press scandals. Meanwhile, the government has seemingly put forward Lord Coe, the former track star who ran the London Olympics, as a possible BBC Trust chair.
