Cyber Slip-Ups

Wall St. Journal to Make Web Site Free, Murdoch says

Update: After reports Tuesday that Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of the News Corporation, says he expects to make access to The Wall Street Journal’s Web site free, a top Dow Jones executive told Editor and Publisher the comments were premature.

Continue reading "Wall St. Journal to Make Web Site Free, Murdoch says" ...

Nov 14, 2007 | E-MAIL THIS | PERMALINK | DISCUSS

AC/DC study fools newspaper, Freakonomics author

Another cautionary tale about not believing everything you read on the Internet: The Sydney Morning Herald, in a double-bylined story, reported a joke study that had been posted online -- as did amed Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt in The New York Times.

The study claimed to examine how the songs of two different AC/DC frontmen influence decision-making.

Details here.

Sep 28, 2007 | E-MAIL THIS | PERMALINK | DISCUSS

'Most E-Mailed' List Tearing New York Times' Newsroom Apart

The New York Times most-emailed list "is destroying morale and escalating tensions among the once-dignified and professional Times staff," the Onion reports.

Sure, it's The Onion making people laugh, but it has a scaring ring of truth to it -- reporters and editors are paying close attention to what's making the list (which is not a bad thing).

"Your reputation is everything here at the Times, and if you want get known, you've got to deliver what readers want: differences between men and women, and photos of cats," national political reporter Adam Nagourney "said". "I suppose I could be most e-mailed, too, if I sat in front of my computer all day making up cutesy names for government officials, like some redheaded Wednesday and Saturday columnists I know."

Sep 22, 2007 | E-MAIL THIS | PERMALINK | DISCUSS

TMZ.com apologizes for posting bogus Judge Ito video

TMZ.com posted a video of "Judge Lance Ito" declaring OJ Simpson "guilty as sin" of the crimes he's accused of in Las Vegas -- but it turned out the video wasn't Ito, The LA Times reports. The site has apologized for what it calls "a stupid mistake."

(via Romenesko)

Sep 19, 2007 | E-MAIL THIS | PERMALINK | DISCUSS

Killed LA Times column ends up online

After Los Angeles Times editors killed a column, it ended up on a local website, L.A. Observed.

The story was visited more than 18,000 times, and “many thousands” more subscribers had it sent to them electronically, Roderick said.

“A killed story used to be pretty much dead unless it got leaked to another newspaper,” Roderick said. “It’s very hard to keep secrets in a newsroom anymore.”

“They’re in the business of killing stories these days, not publishing them,” Steven den Beste, one of the Net's first bloggers, wrote on Instapundit.com. “But they no longer have the ability to close the gate because thousands of bloggers have dug tunnels under the fence.”

Jul 31, 2007 | E-MAIL THIS | PERMALINK | DISCUSS

Web site error rocks global oil markets

An error on the web site of TV station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, caused a spike in world oil prices today.

CBS affiliate KOTV reported that a lightning strike had caused a fire at an Oklahoma refinery -- sparking a flurry of excitement among energy traders and boosting U.S. crude prices 40 cents, according to Reuters. The refining company announced the story was "completely wrong" and the station withdrew the story.

"All it takes is a screw-up on a Web site to move the market. It just goes to show how tense this market is," said a Houston-based oil trader.

May 30, 2007 | E-MAIL THIS | PERMALINK | DISCUSS