Media Navel-Gaze: April 4, 2011
Busy financial news week amid ongoing reports from Libya and Japan, with economic news starting to illustrate a slightly rosier picture as the US unemployment rate slipped to 8.8 percent in March, from 8.9 percent, and non-farm payroll increased by 216,000, giving some support to President Obama as he fights to keep the government from shutting down this week from budget shortfalls.
Elsewhere:
- Nasdaq OMX and ICE announced plans to acquire NYSE for $11.3 billion, topping the Deutsche Borse earlier bid;
- Berkshire Hathaway and assumed Warren Buffett successor, David Sokol, resigned after revealing that he acquired stock in Lubrizol Corp. before Berkshire agreed, on the recommendation of Sokol, to buy the chemicals company (talk soon followed on ethics, intent, corporate governance, etc., although Buffett and Sokol said the stock purchases were not "in any way unlawful - much more sure to come);
- Facebook was reportedly in talks to hire former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs to help with its own communications; and
- The Dow ended higher last week, ending at 12,407.
New Web 'Oh-No-I-Didn't' Site
A new e-soap box called ICorrect will allow those who feel they were inaccurately portrayed or wronged to post their "say"Â for just $1,000 a year. Not exactly virtual WhiteOut, the site allows folks to correct what they believe are misperceptions or misrepresentations or must plan lies, according to a report last week in The New York Times. The site, which was launched about a month ago by Sir David Tang of Shanghai Tang fame, had 225,000 visits its first weekend. No word yet how names are cleared but hard to believe that the age-old journalism rule -- not to repeat the error in a correction -- will be followed. Seems more likely to fan untruths but perhaps eventually a PR tool nonetheless in combating inaccurate, pesky claims.
All the News that's Fit to Post
No surprise but worth noting that percentage of folks who get their news online has now surpassed newspapers (but trails TV) for the first time, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism's annual State of the Media Report, as told online by Jim Romenesko. Also of note but also not surprising, newsroom staffs are 30 percent smaller than 2000. 