Good morning. Here are 10 media stories.
- Craig Marks is no longer EIC of Spin: Marks tells Poynter via email he’s out. He was the publication’s fourth editor in two years. Stephen Blackwell, SpinMedia’s fourth CEO in the same amount of time, told me Monday that he had “high hopes” for the publication, and that it would add more editing talent soon. (Poynter) | A quick phone call with Marks: “It was a mutual and amicable decision that I would leave,” he said. “With the new CEO and the new regime it felt like the right time to part ways. I would like to pursue other interests including trying to finally get a bead on my next book.” Marks, who was executive editor at the magazine in the ’90s (I worked with him then for a spell then, in my first media job), took the job in June and says the split was not performance-related. I asked him whether he felt like his brief stay there — a summer job? — had been a waste of time. “No, not at all,” he said. “It was really great, even if it was brief, to be back at Spin and to help restore and revive a publication that meant a lot and means a lot to people, and I sincerely hope I helped lay the groundwork for Spin to be good and relevant and meaningful.”
- Somaly Mam says she didn’t lie: “This past May, Mam’s life imploded after a Newsweek report left the impression that she had fabricated her life story and had encouraged a girl in her care to lie that she had been trafficked,” Abigail Pesta writes. “While in Cambodia, I investigated the claims against Mam and spoke to people cited in the Newsweek piece, three of whom said their views were misrepresented. One of the three, identified in Newsweek as a woman, is, in fact, a man.” (Marie Claire)
- Mark Ruffalo visited The Boston Globe: The actor was researching his role as reporter Michael Rezendes in “Spotlight,” a film about the Globe’s reporting on the Catholic Church’s sex-abuse scandal. (The Boston Globe)
- “On this beat if you fuck up with the national office, you’re fucked”: Dave McKenna writes about the uneven power relationships between the league and its media “partners” that makes independent NFL coverage very difficult. (Deadspin) | Related: Advertisers, including Anheuser-Busch and McDonald’s, have said they’re not satisfied with the NFL’s response to child abuse and domestic violence charges against players. (ESPN)
- Influential LGBT people in media: NPR reporter Ari Shapiro (currently enduring the sound of bagpipes as he covers the Scots referendum), Janet Mock, Re/code’s Ina Fried and Capital’s Tom McGeveran make the top 50. (Advocate)
- New offices for Gawker publications: “For want of others seeking the role, we are the guardians of independent media,” Gawker Media honcho Nick Denton (No. 7 on the Advocate list) says in a memo to staffers, telling them they’ll soon be blogging from 114 Fifth Ave. (Re/code) | “The new office is just a few blocks from Gawker competitors Buzzfeed and Business Insider, and is in the same building as social news site Mashable and Pierre Omidyar’s First Look Media, which is where former Gawker editor John Cook currently works.” (Capital)
- Is it plagiarism? Ben Mullin made a handy flowchart for editors and media watchers. (Poynter)
- Journalist murdered in Afghanistan: Palwasha Tokhi Miranzai “was repeatedly stabbed by unidentified men inside her house in Mazar-e-Sharif city.” (Khaama Press)
- Front page of the day, selected by Kristen Hare: A scary waterspout on the front of the Pensacola News Journal. (Courtesy Newseum)
- Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin: Guy Vidra will become the new CEO of The New Republic. He is the general manager of Yahoo News. Owner Chris Hughes will remain as publisher but will no longer be editor-in-chief. (The New Republic) | Dana Liebelson will be a political reporter at HuffPost Politics. She’s a reporter for Mother Jones. (Email) | Ashley Codianni is now a senior producer and digital correspondent for CNN Politics Digital. She’s Mashable’s director of news video. (Fishbowl DC) | Cara Parks has been named executive editor at Modern Farmer. She was previously a freelancer and deputy managing editor at Foreign Policy. (Observer.com) | Suejin Yang has been named vice president and general manager of digital entertainment at People and Entertainment Weekly. Previously, she was vice president of Bravo Digital Media. (Fishbowl NY) | Job of the day: ProPublica is looking for a research editor. Get your résumés in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org
Suggestions? Criticisms? Would like me to send you this roundup each morning? Please email me: abeaujon@poynter.org.
