Nice Story, Bad Story

Nice story on China's local government debt crisis from the NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/business/global/building-binge-by-chinas-cities-threatens-countrys-economic-boom.html?_r=1&hp
Bad story on shale gas from NYT

Recent Media Headlines

News Corp. under intense pressure after disclose of new phone hacking:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/world/europe/07britain.html?hp

Social media in Casey Anthony
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/business/media/06coverage.html?ref=todayspaper

NYT Breaking Strauss Kahn Story

The New York Times broke news that the case against Strauss Kahn is in limbo due to the victim's credibility problem. The curious thing is that the Times did a profile two weeks ago about the alleged victim and the piece didn't show any credibility issues, only a sliver of sympathy.

Why Politicians are so Ignorant?

Just don't understand why so many American politicians are so ignorant. Michele Bachmann, the Republican presidential election contender, said in New Hampshire to an audience: You are the state where the first gun shot of the American revolution was fired.... What? that's close to Sarah Palin, or even worse.

WSJ Still Best in Business Reporting

Despite mass exodus of key staff, the WSJ is still the best in business reporting. The story about Libya's investment in a Goldman fund is one of the examples. There are several reasons for this, one, tradition, the paper is traditionally good at business reporting; two, sources, the paper still has best business sources; three, position, not like the NYT, which reports business news from consumers' point of view, the WSJ focus on investors, thus their stories are more in-depth and closer to professionals. The NYT is too eager to please general readers. The NYT's DealBook is still not resourceful enough to get exclusive scoops.

Thomas Drake Not Guilty On Most Counts

The famous NSA whistle blower Thomas Drake pleaded guilty to just a minor count, a setback for Obama, who is pursuing leak much more vigorously Bush.
NYT Story.
New Yorker Investigation.

Psychic Triggers Frenzy in FBI, Police, and Media

A psychic in Texas reported a mass grave with more than 30 dismembered bodies and thus triggered immediate chain reactions in the police and the FBI. The media quickly took actions, starting from local TV stations. Reuters put out a story citing the local media, without being able to independently confirm the existence of the grave (no time to do so, of course. had to put out something before other media). NYT sent out news alert, citing Reuters. Even newspapers in London and Australia put out headlines. Bloomberg also sent a headline (UP TO 30 BODIES FOUND NEAR HOUSTON, NYT CITES REUTERS). Reuters even updated the stories several times. What a farce, since the report turned out to be false. It's hard to keep a cool head in today's ultra-competitive media environment. Reuters quickly took off the story from its web site, but archives are still available in Reuters India.