* Survey finds major online news sites are the most trusted information sources; Twitter’s the least. (technoratimedia.com)
* Politico lays off staff, but editor-in-chief John Harris says “we’re continuing to grow.” (huffingtonpost.com) | (washingtonpost.com)
* The top 100 searched news terms on Nexis.com in 2012. (newspaperalum.com)

Ada Louise Huxtable, 1921-2013

* Pulitzer-winning NYT and WSJ architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable is dead at 93. (nytimes.com)
* BuzzFeed is passing on CES because it’s “no longer the most important place to go to see what’s going to be happening in technology.” (buzzfeed.com)
* The Onion: Copy editors killed amid ongoing violence between two rival gangs divided by loyalties to The Associated Press Stylebook and The Chicago Manual Of Style. (theonion.com)
* White House photographers describe documenting the president (audio). (npr.org)
* Medill Innocence Project changes its name to Medill Justice Project. (northwestern.edu)
* Borough’s unsuccessful public records fight against Gannett New Jersey could cost taxpayers $750,000. (mycentraljersey.com)
* Towson University students help with design of newspaper sold by homeless people. (baltimoresun.com)

Polish journalist and Romenesko reader Marek Miller writes:

The main public TV station in Poland (TVP 1) ran a story about the movie “Zero Dark Thirty” in the main edition of their news. While talking about how bin Laden got killed, they showed a famous picture of Obama and his administration while being informed about that fact. Notice something weird about the photo? (I am attaching it to this mail).

Yep, they backed their story with a photo they found on the web [with Hillary Clinton holding popcorn and President Obama with a PlayStation controller]. Here’s a proof it actually happened on TV (go to 1:33, as it’s in Polish). Main edition of this news is watched by almost 4 million viewers.

(I got a material niedostepny message when I tried to watch TVP 1. Miller says that means “material unavailable” and “could be because of geographical restrictions.” FYI: “Archiwum” = archive.)

RT @romenesko: TVP1 ze swą idiotyczną wpadką trafiło na czołowy blog medialny w USA. Brawo. Moje 17 zł do piachu bit.ly/13bYkoB

— Bartosz Węglarczyk (@b_weglarczyk) January 7, 2013

TRANSLATED BY MAREK MILLER: “tvp1 with its idiotic setback made it to the top US media blog. Congrats. My 17 PLN went down the drain” (Miller writes: “pln is the Polish currency whereas 17 is the monthly tax that has to be paid in Poland for watching public tv.”)

The Pittsburgh Police Department on Sunday put out a press release that included two Post-Gazette reporters’ email to the department with several questions for a story they were working on.

Diane Richard

Diane Richard, the department’s public information officer, tipped other news organizations off to the P-G’s investigation when she sent the release to about 200 journalists.

Post-Gazette executive editor David Shribman tells Romenesko readers:

“This is probably unprecedented and certainly unprofessional. It is a horrifying, disrespectful departure from every interchange I have had, or been witness to, with public-relations professionals in four decades in journalism.”

The Board of Ethics and Professional Standards at the Public Relations Society of America is looking into the matter, PRSA’s Arthur Yann tells me.

Here’s the release:

CITY OF PITTSBURGH BUREAU OF POLICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: January 5, 2013
PIO Diane Richard 412-323-7814 Office 412-323-7820 Fax
diane.richard@pittsburghpa.gov

Inquiries regarding the Homicide/Suicide on New Years Day

PITTSBURGH: Per Chief Harper, I am providing the attached inquiry sent to the Chief’s Office from Jonathan Silver/Liz Navratil of the Post-Gazette regarding the Homicide/Suicide incident that took place on New Year’s Day. The Chief has stated the following: “the Bureau of Police is conducting a homicide and internal investigation into this incident to determine if all Bureau Polices and Procedures were followed. We are in the early stages of an ongoing investigation, and as such, the Bureau will not answer or provide a statement on the questions below or any media inquiries into this incident.”

[The reporters' email that was included in the release:]

Diane:
Liz Navratil and I are preparing a story for publication about how two Zone 5 officers — Louis Schweitzer and Lance Hoyson — were dispatched 12/31 to Ka’Sandra Wade’s house at 528 Lowell St. nearly 24 hours before her body was discovered. The officers were dispatched after a female called 911 from the residence, there was a commotion, and then the line disconnected. When the officers arrived at the house a male spoke briefly with them through the window, said there was no problem and denied them entry. The officers cleared the call and left. The next night, during the SWAT standoff, Anthony Brown threw out a note retrieved by police which contained a reference to officers having had an opportunity to save Wade. Here are questions we would appreciate answers to today.

Thank you,
Jon & Liz

- What information did Schweitzer and Hoyson have about the situation when they were dispatched at
2243 hours?
- Who was dispatched and who was backup?/CONTINUES Read More

UPDATE: Robert Johnson reports Tuesday morning that he got an email from Dow Jones Accounts Payable late Monday with “the details of the payment being deposited in your account on 01/08/2013.”

——–

On November 26, The Daily published freelancer Robert Johnson’s story, “Iran’s Speed Demons.”

One week later, Rupert Murdoch & Co. announced they were pulling the plug on the iPad publication.

Johnson wonders if they also decided then to stop paying their freelancers. He’s tried hard to get the money he’s owed, but News Corp. is ignoring him.

On December 24, Johnson told me that the Daily’s parent had blown off “four promised payments” for the story. He wrote then: “I’ve been in consistent contact with the offices there and now someone I know who left tells me, there’s little chance I’ll get the $640 ($1 per word) I’m owed.”

Before the company went silent, Johnson received these emails from The Daily’s Chamandeep Kaur (she worked in the finance department):

December 7

Just spoke with A/P, looks like this voucher should have been paid three days ago but just got held up in the system. They will initiate payment in the next payment cycle, which should be Monday. I apologize for the delay!

December 11

Kaur

Robert, it appears your payment is on hold by News Corp. I was not given specific details but your invoice has been fully processed, they are just performing some routine checks before they release payment. I will follow up again with them tomorrow to see if they can take the hold off of it. Apologize for the delay.

December 14

Robert, our team will still be working past close to tie up loose ends. [The Daily folded on Dec. 15.] Anyway, just spoke with legal. They were able to clear you to get paid finally. Your payment will run in our next payment cycle next Monday or Tuesday.

But Johnson — Business Insider’s military and defense editor — never received the money. He then sent this email:

From: Robert Johnson
Date: Mon, Dec 24, 2012 at 9:12 AM
Subject: Re: No payment again Monday or Tuesday
To: Kaur, Chamandeep
Cc: Parasimo, Laura

Respectfully, I believe my patience on this is beyond question. I have asked for the number of the person who does have the ability to release payment and I ask for that number again

Johnson

The story ran a month ago following reporting done in September. Payment has eclipsed The Daily, and now leads into the holidays.

Working with contributors and freelancers myself for an audience of 26 million readers, I understand delays can happen, but this is beyond acceptable.

Please respond with the name and office of the person responsible for payment.

Robert

They never responded.

Johnson tells me this morning that he’s still waiting to get paid for the November piece. Kaur and Parasimo have yet to respond to emails I sent this morning. (I also left a voicemail for Kaur.)

Are you a freelancer who’s still waiting for a check from The Daily? Please email me with details.

* Legacy media had a lucrative 2012, notes David Carr. (“The sky over traditional media is blue and it’s raining green.”) (nytimes.com)
* Jay Rosen: News consumers are starting to exercise a kind of veto over the default construction of newsroom objectivity. (pressthink.org)
* Watch the “60 Minutes” report on the Times-Picayune. (cbsnews.com) | T-P editor’s note to readers. (nola.com)
* Journal News reporters are warned in notes about being shot while walking to their cars. (nymag.com)
* Social media is “a great equalizer” when it comes to hiring at NPR. (washingtonpost.com)
* Reddit needs to be careful not to ruin the community that made it successful. (paidcontent.org)
* Fox Business Network’s Peter Barnes “is not just any working journalist; he is a resilient risk-taker.” (washingtonpost.com)
* “PR doesn’t have to lament the rise of pageview journalism.” (prdaily.com)
* Atlantic Media’s Quartz business site hits 1.4 million uniques in December. (capitalnewyork.com)
* Washington Post Co.’s Everett Daily Herald lays off six staffers, including four in the newsroom. (heraldnet.com)
* Liberal and conservative magazines unite to share office space. (nytimes.com)