2005-2014

23 November 2005

Back to wearing pajamas again

Less than a week after a hyped launch, an online venture designed to bring together top online writers, journalists and commentators under a single umbrella, has decided to change its name to avoid a trademark battle with an existing public radio show. Open Source Media, until last week known as Pajamas Media, will now be called Pajamas Media once again. OSM Media LLC returned to its old name...

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23 November 2005

Journalists have another option -- report the misinformation effort

You make some important and often overlooked points in your column on confidential sources. I've been in an extended argument with FAIR -- whose work I generally applaud -- on similar issues. FAIR has issued a statement approving of confidentiality protection for whistleblower informants but not for informants spreading government propaganda. In reply, I've used arguments much like yours. We...

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23 November 2005

International Press Freedom Awards given away by CPJ

Three journalists and a media lawyer – from Brazil, China, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe – who have endured beatings, threats, intimidation, and jail because of their work have been presented the 2005 International Press Freedom Awards by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The awards were presented at CPJ's 15th annual awards dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on...

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23 November 2005

US online advertising reaches record $3.1bn

Internet advertising revenues aggegated a record $3.1 billion for the third quarter of 2005, making this the highest quarter reported and the first time that quarterly revenues surpassed $3 billion. The 2005 third-quarter revenues represent a 33.9 per cent increase over 2004 third-quarter total of $2.3 billion and a 4.7per cent increase over the 2005 second-quarter total of $2.9 billion. Based on...

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23 November 2005

Yahoo: From Dot-Com Survivor to Web 2.0 Powerhouse

Through a series of clever acquisitions and in-house creations, Yahoo Inc. has transformed itself from a dot-com survivor into a Web 2.0 powerhouse driven by blogs, podcasts and other forms of user-generated social media. The 10-year-old company is staying true to its search engine roots, but with the aggressive embrace of new technologies–from RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to contextual tagging...

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22 November 2005

Bush had wanted to bomb Aljazeera HQ in Qatar

US President George Bush planned to bomb Arab broadcaster Aljazeera, British daily the Daily Mirror has reported, citing a 10 Downing Street memo marked "Top Secret". The five-page transcript of a conversation between Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair revealed that the latter talked Bush out of launching a military strike on the station, unnamed sources told the daily. ZEALOUS ONLY OF...

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22 November 2005

Al-jazeera's inside story

AL-JAZEERA began broadcasting in 1996 but only achieved worldwide recognition after the September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington in 2001. Western governments were horrified when the 24-hour satellite news channel screened messages from al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. The station was also criticised for broadcasting the sickening beheadings of Western hostages by Iraqi insurgents. But...

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22 November 2005

Wilson, at NU, asks newspaper to probe reporter's role in leak

Joseph C. Wilson IV, husband of Valerie Plame Wilson, called on The Washington Post last night to investigate the conduct of Bob Woodward, the investigative reporter, in the leaking of Plame Wilson's name to the news media. Woodward admitted last week that a Bush administration official had disclosed Plame Wilson's identity to him more than two years ago. He did not alert his editors or officials...

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22 November 2005

Woodward Talks of Admission, Apology

Bob Woodward said yesterday that he notified his editor at The Washington Post of his involvement in the CIA leak case because he realized he "was going to be dragged into this." In an interview with CNN's Larry King, Woodward, a Post assistant managing editor and best-selling author, detailed the events that led him to apologize to Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. for not notifying him earlier...

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22 November 2005

Woodward's Version

Bob Woodward, in a phone conversation of nearly an hour and a half on Sunday, said: "People think I'm hiding something. But what am I hiding? . . . Anyone who looks through that book [his Plan of Attack, published in April 2004], it expands their knowledge. It's the best account of how we went to war with Iraq." He cited a number of examples of tensions and clashes over war policy that were first...

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