Nothing brings home the clash of cultures between “new” and “old” media like the debates over social-media policies at mainstream publications like the New York Times and the Washington Post. Earlier this year, the Times was in the spotlight for its attempt to develop a policy on Twitter in the wake of some indiscreet twittering [...]

Attention Boston-area readers: I’m speaking at three upcoming journalism events you might find interesting.
— First, on July 20, I’ll be moderating a Mediabistro panel on the evolution of journalism. The panelists include Bob Buderi of Xconomy, Laura Fitton of Pistachio Consulting, and Bob Kempf of Boston.com. The cost is normally $30, but you can get [...]

In June 2007, John McClain, who covers the NFL’s Houston Texans for the Houston Chronicle, was getting tired of a league rule that limited the Chronicle to posting no more than 45 seconds of team video on its web site every day. So he and his colleague Anna-Megan Raley decided it was time for a [...]

A long-established principle of libel law — truth is an absolute defense — has been called into question by a decision handed down last week by a federal appeals court in Boston.  The court ruled in the case of Noonan v. Staples that truth published with “actual malice” gleaned from the context of the statement [...]

As the dust settles on yesterday’s settlement in GateHouse Media v. The New York Times Co., I’ve spoken with a few more experts and key players in the case. (Here’s everything we’ve written so far, but if you’re new to the case, start with this post.) What follows are some unresolved questions and everyone’s best [...]

On Friday, I sat in on the panel of commentators on Beat the Press, the weekly media-criticism show on Boston’s public television station WGBH. One of the topics: comments on news sites, and how news organizations should deal with troublesome commenters. Here’s eight minutes of our discussion, featuring Dan Kennedy, Joe Sciacca, and my colleague [...]