Around 8 p.m. last night some 100 demonstrators marched from Bryant Park to the Sheraton Hotel in midtown, where President Obama was giving a speech at a $1,000-a-head fundraiser. The march, which contributed to an already congested traffic situation because of the presidential visit (and the Rockefeller Center tree lighting!), was peaceful, but after the protesters arrived near the hotel, they were suddenly penned in by police, told they were in a "frozen zone" and not permitted to leave until after the president departed. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Journalists are supernatural space beings from the planet Objectivity who can eradicate their personal opinions to report facts without any bias whatsoever. But this Occupy Wall Street drama has exposed some fake journalists for what they really are: pitiful humans vulgarly and inextricably enmeshed in the society they are reporting on. A New York Times freelancer who was arrested while covering an Occupy Wall Street march was taken off the story after a right-wing website posted a confusing video of her talking politics. And two public radio staffers have been canned for participating in protest marches; Gawker has their story today. 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 ›

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 ›

Important journalist James O'Keefe visited Zuccotti Park Monday to blow the lid off the corrupt Occupy Wall Street protesters, and boy did he ever. O'Keefe's organization, called Project Veritas, (Latin for "Credit Card Debt") specializes in exposing the truth through lies: specifically, lying to everyone being filmed and lying to its viewers, who have no idea how the tape is edited. more ›

New evidence provided by the Hotel Worker's Union, Local 6 appears to show that the New York Post was given documentation that disproved the paper's statements that Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser was placed there by the union as a prostitute "earner," and may bolster her libel suit against the paper. more ›

Osama bin Laden's death made the front page of American newspapers, but many East Coast publications had to redo their front pages and sections after President Obama made his late-night address. The NY Times' Brian Stelter Tweeted, "NYT front page is being ripped up and reproduced right now. Six-column, two-row headline," and then the Daily News' Meena Hartenstein Tweeted to him, "We just blew out the first 10 pages." The News went with "ROT IN HELL" while the NY Times' headine ended up being, "BIN LADEN KILLED BY U.S. FORCES IN PAKISTAN, OBAMA SAYS, DECLARING JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE." The NY Post said, "GOT HIM," Newsday settled with "DEAD" and the Star-Ledger referenced Obama's address, "Justice has been done." more ›

Tim Hetherington, a photojournalist whose 2010 documentary about the war in Afghanistan, Restrepo, was nominated for an Oscar, was killed in Libya today. Hetherington was in Misrata when he and other photographs were "caught by mortar fire on Tripoli Street, the main thoroughfare leading into the center of Misrata, the only major rebel-held town in western Libya and besieged by Muammar Gaddafi's forces for more than seven weeks," according to Reuters. Three others photographs were also injured, two severely. more ›

Lady Gaga hasn't been this close to a newspaper since she wore one; the Fame Monster is taking a stab at being the subway's own Anna Wintour next month, with a high-ranking editorial position at Metro. The superstar-turned-editrix will be producing a Gaga-edited edition which will be out on May 17th. According to The Observer, Gaga will be working out of Metro HQ in London where she'll be editing, writing a feature, commenting on stories in the issue, and contributing to sidebars. We can only hope that she'll also reprimand a staffer for her boring taste in footwear! more ›

A Carnegie Mellon research team specializing in human-computer interaction is conducting an experiment to see if they can create "an automated system for producing quality journalism using an army of untrained workers." Using the Amazon.com "Mechanical Turk" crowd-sourcing marketplace, the experiment, dubbed "My Boss Is A Robot," will attempt to produce a 500-word article on a newly-released scientific paper. An automated software system will use the unskilled workers on Mechanical Turk, assigning them tasks like reading the abstract and identifying the most interesting aspects. Hm, this all sounds very familiar...: more ›

A Daily News education reporter was fired today after it was revealed that he fabricated a freelance story he wrote for the Village Voice. Rob Sgobbo, a 2010 graduate of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, was caught in the Jayson Blair-like scandal, and has since had his stories removed from places such as the News, Voice and Huffington Post. more ›

We're looking for more enthusiastic interns to work out of our Brooklyn office (or sometimes from the comfort of your own home/dorm room, depending on the task at hand) through the fall. Responsibilities vary widely, hours are flexible, but we do want someone who can be available 2 days out of the week. Bloggers, journalism students, English majors, autodidacts, quick wits, and anyone with a passion for NYC and the skills to write about it are encouraged to drop us a line. No pay, but some perks and college credit available. For more details inquire within, and please email your resume, availability during the week and any other relevant information to info@gothamist.com, subject "internship." (No attachments, please.) more ›

[UPDATE BELOW]: Media magnate Rupert Murdoch has never liked the New York Times. In fact, ever since the Times editorialized against his bid to purchase the Wall Street Journal, Murdoch has had "an Ahab-like obsession" with destroying the Gray Lady, according to New York Magazine. And next month he hopes to plunge the final, fatal harpoon into her heart. more ›

A day after the New York Times Co. shocked skeptics by revealing it actually turned a profit last year, it appears there might be more layoffs at Gray Lady. The Wrap reports that despite the paper's seemingly improving economic state, when asked whether there will be staff cuts in 2010 chief financial officer James Follo responded: "I think we would expect that to be the case, yes." It's not clear whether or not the cuts will be in the newsroom, which last year lost popular writers including Jennifer 8. Lee to buyouts, and others including trend piece extraordinaire Allen Salkin to layoffs. The paper is expected to introduce a controversial paywall on its website in 2010.
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Attention journalism fans: The New York Times Co. actually made money last year. And that's even before everyone started refreshing nytimes.com every five minutes in hopes the "bombshell" Paterson story would drop. The Times reports that a slight fourth quarter uptick allowed the company to turn a "modest profit" of $19.9 million in 2009, after losing $57.8 million in 2008. more ›

NY1 has fired embattled newsman Dominic Carter following his conviction for attempted assault against his wife — and his job anchoring "Inside City Hall" is already up for grabs for those with "strong news judgment" and "strong knowledge of NYC, politics, events and history." more ›

In a time when most newspapers see their futures on the internet, the Daily News has put $150 million where it might make the least sense: brand new printing presses. The paper "heralded a new era for New York's favorite newspaper" with a gala yesterday to celebrate its new printing presses, which are faster than the older presses and capable of printing color on every page — potentially allowing paper to secure more lucrative color ads and push back its deadlines to gain an an edge on the Post. more ›

Talk about an awkward business relationship. Former police reporter and Newsday columnist Leonard Levitt continues to visit Police Headquarters every week to gain sources and get tips — even though he was once banned from the building and had to rely on civil rights lawyers to regain his press pass. Levitt, who currently runs the website NYPD Confidential, isn't well liked by the brass at One Police Plaza. “His self-absorbed bitterness and inaccuracy remind me of the old biddy, an aging malicious gossip I knew growing up in the Bronx,'" Paul Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman, told the Times in an e-mail. more ›

You've got to hand it to the Post for being the first local paper to do its due diligence and cover both sides of last week's Fort Hood massacre. In the kind of story that simultaneously riles up its readers and shows a fundamental misunderstanding of some journalistic basics — akin to quoting the Grinch for fairness in an article about Christmas tree sales — the tabloid today gives ink to a lone Queens man who thinks that Major Nidal Hasan did the right thing when he opened fire inside the Texas base last week, killing 13 and wounding 38. "An officer and a gentleman was injured while partaking in a pre-emptive attack," Yousef al-Khattab wrote on his website, "Revolution Muslim." "Rest assured the slain terrorists at Ft. Hood are in the eternal hellfire." more ›

In what might inspire the first Arnold Diaz meta-segment, a consumer watchdog columnist was fired from a Hartford newspaper he had worked at for forty years after writing a piece that exposed allegations against retail giant Sleepy's for selling second-hand mattresses as new—including one with bedbugs. Despite the case being currently under investigation by the Connecticut attorney general, the Hartford Courant refused to publish George Gombossy's exposé on one of their largest advertisers. Gombossy quotes a report from a NJ environmental group that was brought in to exterminate bedbugs out of a box spring he had recently purchased at Sleepy's and appeared to have been previously used. The report found that the “box spring … was the culprit. There were bedbugs inside and the box spring did not look like it was new.” Gombossy has published the column on a new watchdog blog he started, where he prefaces it by saying, "This was the first time in my 40 years at The Courant that an investigation by the attorney general was withheld from the public." His site invites advertisers with the caveat "you will be treated the same as non-advertisers." more ›

We're looking for one more enthusiastic intern to work out of our Brooklyn office (or from the comfort of your own home/dorm room, depending on the task at hand) on Tuesdays and Fridays for the rest of the summer, and, who knows, maybe beyond. Responsibilities vary widely, hours are very flexible. Bloggers, journalism students, English majors, autodidacts, quick wits, and anyone with a passion for NYC and the skills to write about it are encouraged to drop us a line. No pay, but occasional perks and college credit available. For more details inquire within, and please email your resume and any other relevant information to info (AT) gothamist (DOT) com, subject "internship." (No attachments, please.) more ›

With the arrival of the first official weekend of summer, skies glowing in mesmerizing patterns and everyone looking for a breather from a full month of June gloom, New Yorkers already out in the streets have continued to form their own impromptu tributes to the late Michael Jackson. In Washington Square Park, a spontaneous dance party broke out yesterday at dusk with fans doing the signature moves of Moonwalker and Thriller alike, led by the few who showed up in fedoras, gloves on one hand and one MJ lover who went the full nine and had the classic red leather jacket. more ›

NBC News just announced that retired Nightly News anchor and eminence grise Tom Brokaw will moderate "Meet the Press" through the 2008 election. NBC News president Steve Capus said, "A lot has been said in recent days about what 'Meet the Press' means to NBC News and to the nation. To have someone of Tom's stature step up and dedicate himself to ensuring its ongoing success is not only a testament to his loyalty to Tim, but his enduring commitment to NBC News and our viewers." more ›

The weekend was filled with tributes to the late NBC News journalist, Tim Russert. New York State lawmakers, including Senators Schumer and Clinton, announced yesterday that they are going to introduce a resolution to rename part of U.S. Route 20 after Russert. The section they want to rename runs in front of the Buffalo Bills' stadium--Russert grew up in Buffalo and was an unabashed fan of the Bills, as well as the Sabres. more ›

The sudden death of Tim Russert, NBC News Washington bureau chief and Meet the Press moderator, shook the media and political communities as well as the many faithful viewers of Meet the Press yesterday. Last night's NBC Nightly News was completely about Russert's career and legacy, as a journalist, friend and family man. MSNBC spent the evening remembering Russert; Fox News and CNN also spent considerable time remembering him. Tomorrow's edition of Meet the Press will be a special one dedicated to Russert's "extraordinary life," anchored by Tom Brokaw and with many guests, including James Carville, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Gwen Ifill, Maria Shriver, and Mary Matalin. more ›

Resumes are being accepted to fill a sudden vacuum in the self-proclaimed “drug ring” that is Gawker. On Friday afternoon, at the end of a long Gawker post about palling around with the n + 1 crowd – who happen to be publishing a long think-piece on Gawker in their new issue – editor and cewebrity Emily Gould abruptly announced that managing editor Choire Sicha was to resign. And she would be joining him.... more ›

Fox News Porn Robert Greenwald, the man behind the 2004 documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism which concluded that Fox News Channel is biased to the right based on memos and footage from the network, is at it again. This time around he is using clips from the channel culled from six months of broadcasts featuring women in bikinis and pixilated nudity in a YouTube video and website that mimics a porn site called... more ›

Giving Proper Credit to CBS 2 and Scott Weinberger more ›