Good morning. Thanks for hanging in there with me this week. We’re taking a newsletter break for the holidays but will return on Monday, Jan. 5, brimming with news and probably an extra five pounds from all that day drinking. In the meantime, Poynter has a lot of great stories lined up for your holiday reading pleasure. For now, here are 10 media stories.
- What to buy your journalist friends, because they’re probably not getting a bonus this year
How about an “Is it plagiarism?” pillow? Or a cassette recorder for when digital devices fail us? (Poynter) | A bandolier for your iPhone? A picture-taking aerial robot that’s not really a drone? (Mashable) | Buzz Bissinger’s Gucci schwag? (New York) | Grammar dessert plates? A Superman lunchbox? (AJR) | A studded USB necklace? (TechCrunch)
- Now Cuba needs to take care of its journalists
Cuba is 10 countries away from the bottom of Reporters Without Borders’ 2014 Press Freedom Index, and on Thursday, RWB called for the release of jailed Cuban journalists and bloggers. (Reporters Without Borders) | RELATED: Raju Narisetti has an idea. “Create a Journalist Rescue Fund.” (NiemanLab)
- Will 2015 be the year we all start making podcasts again?
Looks like yes. Serial was a smashing success, but it broke out of the podcast bubble for some specific reasons. (Mashable) | There’s also a reason the Mail Chimp ad worked so well. (AdAge) | “More important, the economics of podcasting have begun to make sense.” (CJR) | Stop being frustrated by the things you still don’t know. “This is how investigative journalism works.” (Slate)
- At Vice, writers make way less than pretty much everyone
Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan got some numbers on what Vice employees are making, so if you were considering switching to business development, consider this a sign. There’s a $35,000 difference. (Gawker) | RELATED IF YOU STILL WANT TO BE A JOURNALIST: Tips for applying for journalism jobs. (martinbelam.com)
- Nice work, ladies
Bustle, a startup aimed at women, is attracting some big money and readers — now up to 20 million monthly. (Business Insider) | TheSkimm is also killing it. (The New York Times) | Sadly, The Washington Post’s She the People blog will not survive the year. (All Digitocracy)
- Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab has some FOIA tips for you
Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab, a Mexican journalist who shared a Pulitzer with The New York Times’ David Barstow in 2013, has eight tips on getting information regardless of what country you’re in. (IJNet)
- Take this list of questions that tell you something at the end to see if you’re too wordy, but first glide your eyes across this from The Guardian
“When you start calling carrots ‘popular orange vegetables’, something has gone badly wrong. Bring on the subeditors!” (The Guardian) | It’s a sprout, not “nubby little cabbages.” But that is cute. (The Guardian) | Now take this quiz and see if you’re too wordy. (The Guardian)
- We have 12 days left to reflect on 2014
The Washington Post has the 15 worst Internet hoaxes of the year. “6. Justin Bieber did not save a Russian man from a bear.” (The Washington Post) | Slate has an amazing interactive about the things that made us ragey in 2014. (Slate)
- Front page of the day
The Sydney Morning Herald, with a tribute at Martin Place.
(Courtesy the Newseum)
- Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin
Joel Lovell will join “This American Life” and The Atavist. He was editing special projects for The New York Times. (Huffington Post) | Hernán Rozemberg will be editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He is metro editor for the Lafayette Journal and Courier. (Media Moves) | Mike Wilson will be editor of The Dallas Morning News. He’s the managing editor of FiveThirtyEight. (Poynter) | Byron Pitts has been named co-anchor of “Nightline.” Pitts is chief national correspondent at ABC News. (Huffington Post) | Ben Pershing will be editor at National Journal Daily. He’s the Washington editor at National Journal. Tim Alberta is now a senior political correspondent at National Journal. Previously, he was senior editor of National Journal Hotline. Shane Goldmacher is a senior political correspondent for National Journal. Previously, he was a congressional correspondent there. Sacha Scoblic will be copy chief at National Journal. Previously, she was a copy editor at The New Republic. (Email) | Ian Bremmer is now foreign affairs columnist and editor at large at Time. He is president and founder of Eurasia Group. (Email) | Tasneem Raja is now senior digital editor at NPR. She is interactive editor at Mother Jones. (Email) | Job of the day: BuzzFeed is looking for a deputy LGBT editor. Get your résumés in! (BuzzFeed) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org.
Corrections? Tips? Ideas for what to do with two kids who are out of school for two weeks? Please email me: khare@poynter.org. Would you like to get this roundup emailed to you every morning? Sign up here.
