An eye on all aspects of media, with an emphasis on how well citizens are served by news outlets everywhere.http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorThu, 20 Nov 2008 3:26:58 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/42855/cbs-sought-to-mollify-right-in-rather-investigation.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFormer anchor Dan Rather appears to be making headway in his $70 million lawsuit against CBS for his firing, the New York Times reports. With the power of subpoena, Rather has unearthed documents showing that the network used Republican operatives to vet members of the supposedly independent panel set up to investigate the 2004 60 Minutes segment about President Bush’s National Guard service that got Rather axed.http://www.newser.com/story/42855/cbs-sought-to-mollify-right-in-rather-investigation.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 17 Nov 2008 0:36:11 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/42892/nyt-slaps-reporter-for-facebook-source.html?refid=rss_all_defaultBacklash against the New York Times reporter who contacted minors on Facebook to locate sources has led Times public editor Clark Hoyt to declare, “I would not have sent the messages.” Jodi Kantor, author of last month’s unflattering front-page profile of Cindy McCain, reached out to classmates of McCain's daughter to find parents who knew McCain. Her efforts were labeled by some as “disgusting.”http://www.newser.com/story/42892/nyt-slaps-reporter-for-facebook-source.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 17 Nov 2008 8:58:48 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/42791/polling-guru-nabs-700k-book-deal.html?refid=rss_all_defaultPolling expert Nate Silver, the statistical mastermind behind FiveThirtyEight.com, has a new number to crunch: $700,000. That’s roughly how much Silver will net in his new two-book deal with Penguin, the New York Observer reports. Silver will pen one tome on the art of prediction, and a second Freakonomics- esque look at the inner workings of an election.http://www.newser.com/story/42791/polling-guru-nabs-700k-book-deal.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSat, 15 Nov 2008 11:02:23 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/42061/kristol-used-his-column-to-help-mccains-rebels.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAs Bill Kristol used his New York Times column to relentlessly praise Sarah Palin and simultaneously blast the McCain camp's handling of her, he was far from an objective observer, writes Scott Horton in the Daily Beast. Kristol regularly received inside information from the McCain team's pro-Palin contingent, then used it in a series of increasingly critical columns. "Simply put, the pundit meddled in the campaign he was commenting on," says Horton.http://www.newser.com/story/42061/kristol-used-his-column-to-help-mccains-rebels.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 07 Nov 2008 14:21:44 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/41852/extra-extra-obama-win-sells-out-newspapers.html?refid=rss_all_defaultBarack Obama’s victory was excellent news for the newspaper business. Papers sold out so fast the Chicago Tribune , Washington Post and Cincinnati Enquirer fired up presses for a second run, with the Post rattling off 150,000 extra copies. Lines formed outside the New York Times building and Tribune Tower; the Atlanta Journal-Constitution went so far as to move single-copy sales outside to keep up.http://www.newser.com/story/41852/extra-extra-obama-win-sells-out-newspapers.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 05 Nov 2008 13:19:33 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/41674/talking-heads-vow-restraint-sort-of.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTelevision news executives have vowed they won't jump the gun and project a president-elect until one man has 270 electoral votes. And they won't count electoral votes until polls are closed, reports the Los Angeles Times . But if key states in the East and Midwest back Obama, viewers will likely be told he appears headed for victory even before polls close in the West.http://www.newser.com/story/41674/talking-heads-vow-restraint-sort-of.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 04 Nov 2008 8:08:56 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/41564/nyt-s-ethicist-rips-off-colleagues-column.html?refid=rss_all_defaultIs it right for an ethics columnist to steal a reader’s question from a colleague? It apparently is for the New York Times ’ Randy Cohen, writes Alex Carnevale in Gawker. Today’s Ethicist column includes a question printed in another column last month. “The paper now has more advice columnists than questions for them to answer,” Carnevale writes.http://www.newser.com/story/41564/nyt-s-ethicist-rips-off-colleagues-column.html?refid=rss_all_defaultSun, 02 Nov 2008 14:01:50 CSThttp://www.newser.com/story/41423/downturn-hammers-magazine-industry-too.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe economic downturn is taking its toll on magazines, forcing layoffs and budget cuts as publications face fewer advertising dollars, Women’s Wear Daily reports; the trouble is compounded as production costs soar while readers turn to the Internet. Magazine ad revenue fell 5% in the first three quarters of 2008, to $18.4 billion, with an 8.8% drop in the third quarter.http://www.newser.com/story/41423/downturn-hammers-magazine-industry-too.html?refid=rss_all_defaultFri, 31 Oct 2008 9:42:50 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/41301/drudge-loses-juice-as-media-swing-left.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe Ashley Todd hoax was as good a symbol as any of the decline of the Drudge Report, writes John Gapper in the Financial Times . Liberal blogs, cable TV, and, indeed, newspapers themselves have invaded and occupied Matt Drudge’s sensationalist niche. Tough competition and falling circulation are “pushing newspapers back to a scrappier, more plain-spoken and partisan ‘yellow press’ past.”http://www.newser.com/story/41301/drudge-loses-juice-as-media-swing-left.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThu, 30 Oct 2008 7:43:00 CDT