Chuck Philips, the LA Times reporter who wrote a huge front page story in March tying Puff Daddy to the shooting of Tupac Shakur-only to find out that this main source was a serial con man and the story was wrong-has been laid off from the paper, along with 150 colleagues. On one hand, Philips once won a Pulitzer; on the other hand, he tended to write things that turned out not to be true. Perhaps journalism's just not his field. Pinkberry franchisee maybe? He'll find something. [MTV News]

New Yorker editor David Remnick went on the Charlie Rose last night to talk about the whole to-do over the Barack Obama caricature cover. OH GOD JUST LET IT END, right? Remnick kind of feels the same way. But he did take a fun swipe at useless Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz, and also talked about how his magazine is totally in the bag for Obama and will probably endorse him, so maybe everyone should stop hating him, a position that seems likely to cause some sort of problem for the magazine down the line. He also repeatedly lavished praise on Daily Show host (and New Yorker defender) Jon Stewart, who he called "our greatest press critic." Find out what special favor Remnick did for Stewart by clicking on the thumbnail at left for the clip, and also have fun trying to figure out if Remnick truly believes that "this [cover] image may be too complicated to work out for some people" (his words) or that such a notion is elitist, as he also seems to argue.

The government of France has officially forfeited all the liberal cred it's earned over the past 500 years: yesterday, French prosecutors raided the office of an auto magazine, confiscated its computers and files, and arrested a reporter for the crime of publishing a scoop. A scoop about autos, the subject of the magazine! Because in France, freedom of the press must take a back seat to the concerns of the almighty Renault corporation.

Ex-editor: "I thought it was a perfectly justifiable decision... I personally like it when magazines take on the issues of the day." [Post]

The co-editors of Ivygate published an LA Times op-ed yesterday arguing that kids today are embarrassing and otherwise undermining themselves by oversharing online, but also arguing that social judgements about these gaffes are softening. Perhaps they spoke too soon: One of the editors, Jacob Savage found his appearance on the show America's Election Headquarters had been cancelled after allowing Fox News Channel producer Virginia Grace to "friend" him, thus unlocking a profile that listed him as "very liberal."

Mostly angry, and run next to the self-parody pictured at left. "No story has apparently come close to sparking such a response." [WWD]

How does Fox News' vicious PR department respond to charges it smeared a Times reporter as a drug addict, blamed a pregnant Wall Street Journal reporter's hormones for unfavorable coverage, and that chief Irena Briganti blackballed, bullied and threatened virtually all the reporters she came into contact with? By distributing to TV critics a button with pictures of kittens and hearts, reading "Hugs & Kittens from Fox News Media Relations." Ha ha, get it? It's funny because reporters who can't take Fox's hardball PR tactics are babies who expect to be coddled. Instead, they will be devoured by Fox News chief Roger Ailes, with kittens and human hearts as the appetizer. [TVNewser] (Image via TVNewser)

The Associated Press' Washington bueau chief, Ron Fournier, has been pissing various people off with his "accountability journalism" since he was installed in May. His bitter former boss at AP trashed his credentials to Politico, and influential website Talking Points Memo wondered if he wasn't responsible for the AP's "atrocious campaign coverage this year." Fournier has said his new approach, which involves taking more pointed stands within news articles, is driven by an in-depth examination of the facts, while critics say it is simply biased, advocacy journalism dressed up in new clothes. Fournier has had the backing of top AP brass in New York, but that may soon change, given the following recap of a 2004 email from Fournier to then-White House senior advisor Karl Rove, published this evening on TPM:

How many named sources do you think the Wall Street Journal used in its story on the SEC's crackdown on stock market rumormongering? One: the SEC. And how many anonymous sources? Twelve or more, it looks like, including "a senior official" at the SEC, "people close to the firm" Lehman Brothers, a "person familiar with the matter" and several sets of "people familiar with the matter." Of course, it's impossible to know how many of these citations are the same person appearing multiple times, so the actual number of anonymous sources could be lower. And, to be sure (*cough*), the SEC is ostensibly cracking down only on people who knowingly spreading false rumors for financial gain, which the Journal isn't doing. Further, most reporters consider their anonymously-sourced journalism a step or two above rumors. But if the SEC is going to investigate how some companies profit from derogatory rumors, shouldn't it also look into profit from positive gossip? Stuff like this, from the Journal:

The New York Times standards editor Craig Whitney recently saw something strange and terrible while out "on the road," as they say: "bumper stickers." These are like tiny billboards, affixed to automobiles, that feature sayings, jokes, or even brief political arguments. They're on display for everyone to see! And, according to a memo he sent out, they're inappropriate for Times staffers.

You know it's a slow news day when the Daily News decides to run a nine-page photo gallery of a naked rugby match on a beach in New Zealand. In the "News" section, no less. Or maybe an intern just got confused. "Oh you said you wanted a NEWS gallery? Uh, actually, nevermind, that's not gone live yet." NSFW, obviously. [Daily News]

Thank you, everyone who is awake right now, for emailing us about the nytimes.com headline pictured at left. I hope you don't feel bad when I tell you that it's not a "major fuck up," as one tipster put it. The headline is, in fact, "[headline about unlikely broadway musical]", which is kind of meta, un-Times-ian joke title for a story about a real play called "[title of show]." Even one Gawker editor, who IMed me, hysterical, was briefly fooled. Please, Times, it unnerves and confuses everyone when you put on these airs. It's like an old person trying to talk like a teenager. [additional point about Times trading onetime air of unimpeachability for presumption of error!] [Times]

Fox News chairman Roger Ailes bought his very first newspaper! It's a tiny paper, upstate, and was a gift to his his third wife, or at least that's the cover story. The wife, Elizabeth Ailes, is a former NBC News executive and big supporter of George W. Bush who told the Times (the Times? go figure) the "quaint paper" will "probably stay the same." In other words, the staff is already learning how to work Keith Olbermann insults into virtually any story, and reporters for competing community papers should start burning their garbage. [Times]

This is the New Yorker's new cover, depicting Barack Obama and his wife Michelle in the Oval Office. It accompanies a big article about how Obama maybe was not always about CHANGE but in fact may have been a skilled Chicago politician at some point. The cover promises to become an election flashpoint, and the presumptive Democratic nominee's campaign has already called it "tasteless and offensive." The caricature, according to the Huffington Post, "combines every smeary right-wing stereotype imaginable" about Obama. Ha ha, as if. Sure, the stereotypes about Obama being a flag-burning terrorist muslim and Michelle being an ashamed-of-America black power revolutionary are all there, but shouldn't Obama somehow also be an aloof Harvard elitist who hates "bitter" working-class whites? Instead, he's in rags and robes, with no jewelry or caviar or sociology texts and so forth. Anyway, the cartoonist said he's trying to mock the stereotypes, not perpetuate them:

"Over the years, Mr. Melton, whose wife lives in Texas, has taken in dozens of teenagers and young men in his gated home in Jackson and they sometimes rode on his nighttime crime-fighting forays." [NYT]

Times editors can't stop lavishing praise on books linked to their corporate overlords — and one corporate overlord can't seem to keep her family members from enjoying the fruits of this self-dealing. Times board member Lynn Dolnick yet again has an immediate family member whose book is featured in her newspaper, and yet again there is no disclosure of the connection to the board or to publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., who is Dolnick's cousin. And this time, the newspaper really went to town. A book by Dolnick's husband Edward about Dutch art forger Han van Meegeren got an early review ("engaging"), an "editor's choice" recommendation, a special plug on page A4, and a friendly write up on the Paper Cuts blog ("delightful book"). And the Times is not likely to be making any apologies for the situation, judging from its handling of Lynn Dolnick's last nepotism controversy.

Us Weekly's lead story right now is a rather substance-free bit on Dallas Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo shopping for a birthday present for his girlfriend, pop tart Jessica Simpson. But Us is doing its best to drum up something better; a reporter sent a vaguely ominous letter to Romo's dad encouraging him to talk, because "Jessica Simpson's side is controlling the media right now." Which is actually very good reporting! Any journalist worth his paltry salary knows how to use veiled threats, scary insinuations, and bluffs (lies) to get reluctant sources to speak up. We've compiled a handy translation guide; how to decode the most common threatening reporter doublespeak, after the jump:

There's a bitchfight going on between reporters in Minnesota that is far too obscure to go through blow-by-blow, but here's a representative assessment: "And saying the 'Daily Glean' is the among the 'most-read things on Minnpost' is like bragging about finishing first in the Special Olympics." [City Pages]

What month is it... July? It's been weeks since someone wrote a story about how Matt Drudge is the King of All Information! Thanks, Washington Post political blogger Chris Cillizza, for stepping up to the plate. The populace must be periodically reminded that all the news they receive comes from a reclusive weather-obsessed weirdo in Florida, lest they get uppity. So this week The Original Blogger is responsible for that Jesse Jackson "cut Obama's nuts off" story that the kids are so into. Because yesterday evening he, uh... hyped the fact that it would be appearing on Fox later that night, after Sean Hannity announced it on the radio hours earlier and as Jackson himself released his apology to the wires. Follow? Matt Drudge is responsible for this story that was already everywhere by the time he picked it up. Of course, we're just being cynical—he's still ridiculously over-influential! But WHY?

We said the sassy, well-researched profiles on newly-launched Cityfile were going to be controversial, and it sure didn't take long to be proven correct — three days, to be precise. The "who's who" site for Gothamites has already landed on Page Six, where David Patrick Columbia of NewYorkSocialDiary.com is upset to be listed as "gay," and a bit more than upset that two breakups were detailed (inaccurately, he says) in his profile. Site founder Remy Stern refused to buckle under the criticism, and even maintained the site's bitchy tone in his retort, thus passing an early test of his fortitude as a publisher with flying colors — assuming he has his facts nailed down, as he maintains. After the jump, a taste of Columbia's profile, Columbia's critique and Stern's reply.