Gothamist is interested in adding more long-form non-fiction features to our websites. Last month, we premiered the results of our first call for features, "Confessions of a 'Rape Cop' Juror", on our New York site. We are happy with the results: Sales have been good, the feature and writer were covered on numerous blogs and newspapers (even on TV), and we learned a lot about how to publish e-books. more ›

Gothamist is interested in adding more long-form non-fiction features to our websites. Last month, we premiered the results of our first call for features, "Confessions of a 'Rape Cop' Juror", on our New York site. We are happy with the results: Sales have been good, the feature and writer were covered on numerous blogs and newspapers (even on TV), and we learned a lot about how to publish e-books. more ›

Now for some insider-baseball humor. David Chon, founder of Spot.Us, devised this spot.on (haHA) graphic showing how journalists view each other. Having penned many an article in our boxer briefs, as well as experimenting chemically with other men, we must say that this is shockingly accurate. (A few testy and sensitive commenters of his, however, disagree. Oy.) more ›

The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced today. And guess what? No one from the Bay Area won. Even though local pubs (new and old) entered a bunch of samples -- it's super pricy per entry, around $10,000, which makes the coveted award all the more egregious -- San Francisco and the Bay Area came up empty. Alas. Anyway, the award for Public Service went to the Los Angeles Times for its stories about the city of Bell and the outrageous salaries of its elected officials. The award for Best Online News once again went to ProPublica for their national coverage of Wall Street. Congrats, guys! That's money well spent. Visit Pulitzer.org for a complete list of winners. more ›

24-hour restaurants really do bring out the worst in people, don't they? Take, for example, a FOX40 news crew who were attacked outside a Sacramento iHOP on the 2900 block of Advantage Lane, near I-5 and Del Paso Road. After trying to question a group of people who had gathered outside the restaurant to mourn the shooting death of a 27-year-old man, which occurred in the same parking lot on earlier that morning, the crowd went on a rampage. more ›

Hot on the heels of Benjamin Wachs and Joe Eskenazi's excellent article on silly ordinances at City Hall, SF Weekly roundaboutly reports that Supevisor Ross Mirkarimi plans on introducing a resolution supporting KUSF, everyone's suddenly favorite radio station that abruptly changed formats earlier this month, as first reported by SFist. Will it makes a difference? Absolutely not. It will get killed before it goes anywhere. (Which is too bad, or so we hear. The over-inked station was quite popular with certain people.) Will it make a handful of people and reporters feel good about themselves? Of course. And isn't that, in the end, what's most important? [SFW] more ›

While we commend "token conservative" Chronicle columnist Debra Saunders for calling out Sarah Palin's blood libel-spewing tribute to herself, we have to wonder why Saunders used three - three! - columns to pat herself on the back for choosing not to print the name of Arizona shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner. more ›

Today, former KPIX "Eyewitness News" anchor Dave McElhatton died "of a stroke-related illness in Rancho Mirage." He was 81. [AP] more ›

Is hell frozen over? If we here at SFist are wondering if one of San Francisco's major dailies is going to end up sued for calling suspects "goons" and "thugs" -- and describing reported crimes as fact, not allegation -- then it must be opposite day. Recently, Mike Aldax at SF Examiner has been delivering aggressive (albeit well-written and amusing) crime reports. Behold: more ›

In honoring of filing his final story today, we present to you retiring KPIX reporter Hank Plante. (Read Plante's exit interview, if you will, over at SF Bay Guardian.) more ›

The Bay Area News Project, that much ballyhooed journalism project of awe and mystery, is noted for two things thus far: convincing themselves and other journalists that it could be the second coming of Christ brandishing a laptop (which, if it works, could be the case) and throwing a noted meet-the-new-editor party with no content. (If you recall, this was a feat similarly accomplished on an equally impressive scale by Real Housewives of Atlanta's Sheree Whitfield, who threw herself a massive launch party for her "She by Sherree" clothing line, minus any designs.) more ›

Mommy and daddy, we wish you'd stop fighting. Is it because we're bad? Do you hate us? We promise to be good if you stop hating each other. Because when we read this: more ›

Say what? Yes, you heard right. Rich Lieberman reports that KPIX political editor Hank Plante will retire at the end of March. Alas. more ›

Look out, Chronicle sports writers -- your bosses seem to think a bunch of fans can do just as good a job of covering sports as you can, for a fraction of the price. San Francisco Business Times reports that Hearst, owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, just cut a with "citizen sportswriters" business Bleacher Report (“the world’s largest publisher of exclusively fan-generated sports reporting”) to farm out some of the items in its sports section. more ›

Here's some days-old news for you to chew on, folks. In a move that has some editors at The Chronicle defecating in their hermetically-sealed bubble, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times plan on printing special San Francisco editions. (Brittle wit and over-labored angles, anyone?) In a strategy to win over fresh readers and advertisers, both publications are looking "to capitalize on the contraction of regional papers." And where better to start than in San Francisco, home to alleged progressiveness and people who don't own televisions. “'It's a highly educated, internationally minded audience, and our research out there shows there’s a market need for a quality news product,'” said Paul Bascobert, chief marketing officer of Dow Jones Consumer Media Group, the unit of the News Corporation that includes The Wall Street Journal, who plan on released SF editions in November or December of this year. Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst at the Poynter Institute, said, “I think the San Francisco area is the most obvious market to try this in, because it’s big, it’s sophisticated and it’s getting progressively more poorly served by its papers.” Oh snap. NYT, however, would not comment on plans for a scheduled SF release. more ›

While j-schoolers at Cal are busy bemoaning the state of the Journalism and perfecting that well-worn journalist look (hint: spiral notepad, unkempt hair, elbow patches, lots of chin scratching), a hacker breached UC Berkeley's School of Journalism server in July. According to the Daily Cal, "500 applicants to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism were notified [Tuesday] that their Social Security numbers and other private data may have been compromised in a recent campus security breach." This most recent hacking affects "people who applied to the school between September 2007 and May 2009." While, most likely, no one is at real risk of any serious identity damage -- real journalism students have neither a hefty bank nor decent credit -- students were notified weeks after the actual attack. According to Shelton Waggener, the school's "associate vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer," a delay in notification is typical in these situations. "It just takes time to do the investigation," he said. "Once we were certain of as much info as we could be, we began the notification process and developing the notification strategy." more ›

In an effort to get North Korea to release Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, former President Bill Clinton arrived in Pyongyang today to meet with Kim Jong Il. This "surprise" visit. Accordind to , "North and South Korean news outlets reported Clinton arrived in the capital of Pyongyang by charter jet after receiving word through back channels that Laura Ling and Euna Lee might be released to the former President after nearly five months in captivity. No word yet if Clinton managed the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee. After crossing the border into North Korea, Ling and Lee have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye Gwan, "was among the official greeters on the tarmac," which could perhaps signal "that the Communist nation was also seeking a breakthrough on the standoff with the U.S. over nuclear disarmament." Update: Clinton will meet this morning with Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Fingers crossed. (An ABC source claims that they could come home tonight.) more ›

Concerned that today's sentencing will land, if all goes horribly wrong, Current TV journos Laura Ling and Euna Lee 12 years of hard labor inside a North Korean jail, we asked formerly-jailed journalist Josh Wolf for his thoughts on the brouhaha. more ›

Scene from yesterday's rally at Civic Center to free Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Both are on trial in North Korea for something ridiculous, facing 10 years of hard labor. more ›

Maureen Dowd is kind of an idiot. And we mean that in the nicest way possible, because she seems so smart. But then she goes off and writes this. In her most recent op-ed piece for the New York Times, she attempts to show the world of online writing what's what. How so? Well, she attacks Twitter and other types of newfangled online internet world wide web sites, claims that journalists are "hot" in Hollywood right now ("Russell Crowe, playing a messy and morally ambiguous Washington investigative journalist, teaches the self-regarding blogger, Rachel McAdams, a thing or three, including why a pen is necessary" is just one example of print publishing's tenacity), and compares cumbersome newspapers to the ageless Norma Desmond. more ›

Let's face it: The Daily Show blows now, and not in a good way. Comedy Central's fake news has turned into The Capitol Steps for Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. It's the kind of programming progressives and over-educated ilk claim to find hilarious. That is to say, it's the kind of programming they all agreed en masse to find hilarious. And if you watch the show every night, you know that that's not a reactionary statement. more ›

Two Current TV journalists, reporter Laura Ling photographer Euna Kim, were detained by soldiers while on assignment near the North Korea's border with China. The journalists were taken into custody by border guards near the Tumen River. While there's no word yet as to the exact reason for Ling and Kim's detainment, State Department spokeswoman Julie Reside tells ABC News that "We are working with the Chinese government in the area to get information on the whereabouts and welfare of the Americans in question. We have also been in touch with North Korean authorities to express our deep concern about this situation. We have also been in touch with our protecting power, the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang." (Here's a recent report by Ling about the fate of deported gang members in Mexico.) more ›

It was announced today that Hearst Corporation's other troubled publication, Seattle P-I, will roll out its final print publication tomorrow. Publisher Roger Oglesby just made the announcement on behalf of Hearst. The online version, seattlepi.com, will remain up and running. more ›

Inexplicably managing not to spray the room with gunfire or hurl himself out of the nearest open window, TMZ's Harvey Levin spoke to students enrolled at the "elite" Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley. TMZ, for the few of you not in the know, is a fantastic celebrity news site where you can find images of a beaten Rhianna or a postmortem Anna Nicole Smith; and Levin, a former lawyer and television producer, runs the joint. A few revelations Levin unveiled at Wednesday's talk? He doesn't hire writers, prefers to employs reporters who look like this; was asked by a J-schooler if he would be doing "more serious stories" at TMZ (answer: no); and declared "local news is dying, newspapers are dying." more ›

One of two things happened over at BAR.com: 1) Somebody hacked the interwebs, and posted this casual faux-resignation letter Sunday morning, or 2) news editor Cynthia Laird is peeved. Since Laird is a respected journalist in these parts, very much civic minded about her community, and too overqualified to spritz homosexuals with bronzer, we're going to assume the former. more ›

Yesterday was Hug a Journalist Day. Yes, we know, we are a bit late getting back to you all on this. Forgive us. Anyway, we have decided to nix the poll because, as most of your comments made clear, you already picked a favorite. Tim Kingston, freelance East Bay Express and SF Bay Guardian scribe, is the winner. So, yeah, there you have it. Congratulations, Tim. SFist would also like to give A.C. Thompson an honorary tip of the hat for being a rad reporter and all-around swell guy. more ›

Ever hug a bottle of cheap vodka caked with cocaine residue? That's what hugging a journalist is like. And this Sunday, Feb. 15, is Hug a Journalist Day -- at least according to this newly created holiday on Facebook. more ›

Scott Beale over at Laughing Squid came across this gem. It's a 1981 KRON report on the Internet and newspapers. more ›

After hurling his black dress shoes at President George Bush last week, Muntader al-Zaidi, a journalist for an independent Iraqi television station, is being hailed as somewhat of a hero. (Word is that he was given an award for courage in Libya.) Also, according to Tim Redmond over at SFBG, just after tossing his heels, Muntader al-Zaidi had the proverbial crap kicked out of him. more ›

Fearing for his job in these tough economic times, Chronicle scribe C.W. Nevius tells CBS 5' Joe Vasquez that bloggers, it seems, are stupidheads. Ahem: more ›