For journalists working on Sundays, it’s just too easy to run a tape over Insiders or Meet the Press or whatever other political iprogram is filling the airwaves, writes Mr Denmore, a journalist for 26 years.
Lazy journalism
The seven most overused cliches in journalism
A former journalist has performed a study into the most over-used cliches in the media, compiling a “greatest hits” list, including classics like “at the end of the day”, “unsung heroes” and “outpouring of support”.
The media flogs Williams’ bloody corpse
Drug trafficker and hitman Carl Williams met his bloody demise in prison yesterday. It’s the story that has it all: murder, celebrity crims, betrayal, police corruption… but just how far will the nation’s papers go in celebrating the life and death of a murderer?
Attn journos: how to use social media and not lose your credibility
Yes, there are millions of stories of lazy journalists pilfering material off Facebook and crowdsourcing ideas on Twitter. But social media is a vital for journos today and Mashable offers a guide of the best ways to use it.
Can you spell “s-t-u-n-t”? Scrabble rule-change just a media beat-up
Relax, word nerds: Scrabble is not changing its rules. So why is every media outlet from A href=”http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125614564”>NPR to the Beeb reporting otherwise? Competitive Scrabble expert Stefan Fatsis explains how Mattell played the media like a cheap Boggle set.
What do the SA/Tas results mean for Brumby and Rudd? Zilch.
Australia’s anointed political commentariat have been desperate to drain as much analytical mileage from the state election results as possible.
The 15 US papers that didn’t lead with health reform
It was arguably the biggest story in the world yesterday: Obama’s historic health care reforms. But Media Alley has dug up 15 newspapers that didn’t run with it on their covers. So what was more important? “Boy Scouts learn skills at Merit Badge College”
Charting the fake-news cycle
A fascinating look at how one little non-verified rumour about New York Governor David Paterson spread from a tabloid tip in the New York Post to Twitter, then the blogosphere, and finally into the mainstream media
Roy Greenslade tears shreds off London’s new newspaper — via liveblog
Roy Greenslade mercilessly (and hilariously) rips into new London freesheet The London Weekly, mocking the excessive typos, amateurish writing and tabloid content.
Who got punk’d by the iPad prank?
A few hours before Apple’s big iPad announcement, blogger Jason Calacanis made up a bunch of fairly dubious-sounding rumours about the device. And the MSM — including Reuters, WSJ and CNN — fell for it, hook, line and sinker.
Fairfax pushes a familiar screed
There are any number of subjects that newspaper editors know will stir up plenty of righteous indignation amongst their readers, and Fairfax’s National Times seems to have picked a winner with the topic of bossy mums with huge prams, says Dave Gaukroger.
Washington Post: Why we’re making more typos
Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander explains why the paper’s grammar and syntax has been getting a little sloppy of late: fewer staff and the “real-time news” demands of the internet.
Who ya gonna call? Ghost boasters apparently
Did A Current Affair last night risk its credibility as a “scam-busting” program by not challenging a company’s claims of “scientific” ghost hunting method?
Wankley Awards: All the lazy best of the summer news
A salute to the best-of-the-worst articles being passed off as “newsworthy” by the Aussie media during this annual summer suckhole of no news, as submitted by Crikey readers.
32 stories the Tele believes are more important than Haiti’s earthquake
mUmBRELLA lists the 32 — 32! — stories the Daily Telegraph ran ahead of news of the massive earthquake in Haiti that has killed thousands, including: the price of avocados, airport parking, and a nice garden.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The lack of good journalism
Crikey readers weigh in on lazy summer journalism, hate groups of Facebook — how can they be stopped? — and the PR abuse of science.
News goes on holiday
It’s summer in Australia, and that means shark attacks, bushfires and new years resolutions spreads. Help Crikey name and shame some of the worst fluff the Aussie media is using to pad out column inches and air time.
Rock critics don’t actually like rock music anymore
If you needed proof that rock critics are now entirely redundant, look no further than the AP’s Best Rock Albums of 2009 list, which is curiously absent of music that actually, y’know, rocks.
SCANDAL! Triple J is mean to Seven’s Ian Ross!
Departing Channel Seven newsreader Ian Ross has been “humiliated” after Triple J radio host Lindsay McDougall posted pictures on Twitter “defacing” his newspaper farewell ad, says The Hun — which has dutifully reposted the images as an online gallery.
Local newsreaders attempt to explain “emo”. Fail.
When news programs attempt to keep up with “da yoof”, hilarity often ensues. Case in point, this round-up of local US news programs warning on the dangers of teen “emo” culture: “the more depressed you look, the more points you earn.”
Fagan’s Courier Mail perfects the art of rumour-based reporting
Brisbane’s Courier Mail has perfected the art of rumour-based reporting, a formula that consists of stringing together anonymous claims by sources whose own motives are never explored and whose identity is never revealed, writes Terry Towelling.
Headlines first, research second: how the news really gets written
How do newspapers write those “latest trend” features they’re so fond of? Gawker provides an insight straight from the NYT: devise the “trend” yourself, then find some subjects who fit the mold.
Fort Hood: citizen journalists can’t handle the truth
The tweets, blogs and blurry mobile phone photos flooding the internet during the Fort Hood shooting did nothing but spread misinformation and breach the privacy of those killed or wounded in the incident, says Paul Carr.
We are all polling experts now
The most plausible conclusion from recent polling is that last week’s Newspoll is an outlier, says Tobias Ziegler — but that hasn’t gotten in the way of a media narrative that says Rudd took a hit in the polls, most likely over asylum seekers.
Larvartus Prodeo / Monday, 15 February 2010
From Shanahan to Grattan, Australia’s pundits have turned into “commentariat-bots”, says Mark Bahnisch, constructing a political narrative based on their own random musings instead of hard data.