I feel the same way about the New York Times writing about video games as I do NPR talking about hip-hop: it’s always awkward.

— dansinker (@dansinker) May 15, 2012

* Los Angeles Times is folding its monthly magazine. (Fishbowl LA)
* Conservative cartoonist on his Obama/Deep Throat drawing: “It’s crude. And if I offended anyone, sweet.” (Cagle Post)
* Departing Denver Post writer: “It would be a weakness to have a large metro daily without a columnist.” (Westword)
* Journalist who “walked funny” writes about bullying and why he didn’t help two girls who were “unmercifully teased.” (Cronkite.asu.edu)
* Asked if Businessweek is profitable, editor says “we’re moving in the direction we want to be moving in.” (Capital New York)
* Huffington Post’s Elise Foley breaks her arm while trying to walk *and* text. (No word about gum-chewing.) (Fishbowl DC)

And that’s what they did. This Sun-Times box in front of a Starbucks on a busy Dempster St. stretch in Evanston hasn’t seen a new batch of papers since last August.

“We never go to into a cover thinking, ‘Oh let’s just shock people.’ We really don’t,” says Time magazine design director D.W. Pine.

“We really want to make sure we’re being fair to the subject and illustrating the subject …In the end, we’re here to sell magazines, and we hope it sells magazines.”

* Newsweeklies turning up volume on covers (WWD.com)

* What makes a great tweet? (Harvard Business Review)

Susanne Reber

Susanne Reber, who built and led NPR’s first investigations unit, has joined the Center for Investigative Reporting to lead its national and international investigative and enterprise reporting projects. She’ll also be in charge of CIR’s team of health and environment reporters. “Susanne is a powerhouse in the investigative reporting community,”
says CIR editorial director Mark Katches.

The press release is after the jump. Read More

Excerpt of 2012 University of Montana journalism graduate Nick Gast’s speech to classmates:

I think it’s easy to get stressed out about our futures, especially when every guest speaker we’ve had for the past four years talks about a new and exciting way our industry is dying. I’ve spent my fair share of sleepless night lying awake in bed wondering why I chose this degree and the answer I come to is as simple as it is true: because I love what I do.

Sure, in five years the New York Times will probably be a Tumblr … and yes, we’re probably going to use our degrees to write stories like, “25 Cutest Bear Farts,” or we’ll try to make tiny crime machines smile at the Sears portrait studio.

Let’s be honest: It’s going to be brutal out there. But there isn’t a single person in attendance today who doesn’t have a passion for what he or she does.

Letter to Romenesko

From JAYME FRASER, 2012 University of Montana journalism graduate: It’s that time of year when young journalists wrap up their college degrees and pray for a job. I know many parents and friends wonder why we stuck with a degree that most sane people know doesn’t guarantee a stable income, if one at all. At my graduation ceremony Saturday, two of my fellow University of Montana graduates put it all in perspective in their commencement speeches. Here’s the link to photo and video journalist Nick Gast’s funny “open letter” to graduates as filmed by parents. Below is the text of the speech from Victoria Edwards, a go-getter news reporter and editor.

By VICTORIA EDWARDS

There are some parents who don’t want to be here right now. I mean, they want to be at your graduation, just not THIS graduation.

Victoria Edwards

They probably wish they were over at the Pharmacy department, like my parents do. Others might prefer biology, business, sociology…anything but journalism.

But I’m here to tell you your child made the right choice in becoming a journalist. Although in a year when a newspaper reporter was ranked as the fifth worst job — right ahead of an oil rig worker, enlisted soldier, and dairy farmer — it can be hard to understand why./CONTINUES Read More

Washington Post’s Greg Jaffe says of Politico:

I think we put out a product that’s significantly better than Politico, which I find very chatty and very reactive and doesn’t provide much context.

Greg Jaffe

It’s a publication for this tiny percentage of insiders and doesn’t have bureaus or newsrooms.

God, I hope there’s an audience for The Washington Post or our democracy is screwed. And if all we have is Politico, I think we’re really screwed because it’s just this inside echo chamber that drives me freaking nuts. Sorry to get angry.

Politico’s Austin Wright says of the Washington Post:

I might be their youngest subscriber.

Austin Wright

I love The Washington Post, and I’ve been very sad to watch as it has been shrinking. But I do think that Politico does offer something that people want. We offer insider journalism for people that know politics. I think that’s extremely valuable, as we’ve seen. And even as Politico has had success, I don’t cheer on the demise of our competitors.

* Politico vs. Washington Post (Enlightened Redneck)