Media Outlets

Driving to Brentwood a week ago, I resolved not to lose focus. I would press Arianna Huffington about her website: Is the Huffington Post's brand of mostly unpaid journalism depressing writers' wages? Why the endless photo galleries of Hollywood sexpots? Most importantly, oh much-heralded It girl of the new journalism, isn't it about time your website started turning a profit? Arriving in front of Huffington's expansive, gated home, I recalled the story of one man determined to challenge Huffington on a journalism panel about her triumphalist view of citizen journalism.

The Washington Redskins' loss to the Detroit Lions, ending the Lions' 19-game losing streak, opened the floodgates of media criticism in and around D.C. The Washington Post's Mike Wise, in a column headlined "A Debacle From Top To Bottom," called the Redskins' performance a "dumpster fire -- this abomination of a loss." Post blogger Dan Steinberg called the defeat the worst sports moment of the year in D.C., which is saying something in the home of the Nationals. Steinberg wrote: "Redskins lose to the NFL's worst team, ending the Lions' 19-game losing streak.

The Miami Dolphins' Chad Pennington may not be available to give his winless team a much-needed lift. The quarterback dislocated his right shoulder and may seek a second opinion to determine how long he will be sidelined, a person familiar with his status said Monday. The person insisted on anonymity because the Dolphins have said little about the injury. Teammates braced for a new quarterback, with backup Chad Henne expected to make his first NFL start in Sunday's home game against the Buffalo Bills.

Reporting from Mexico City and Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- The de facto Honduran government has silenced two dissident broadcasters, part of a crackdown on civil liberties aimed at undermining support for ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Soldiers and police before dawn today raided Radio Globo, a national broadcaster sympathetic to Zelaya. Late Sunday, Channel 36 television was yanked from the air. The two stations frequently carry interviews with Zelaya and his supporters -- voices given short shrift in most other Honduran media.

Some of you have suggested that we ink-stained newspaper wretches seem like a bunch of charity cases. Now comes proof positive that you were (at least partly) right. Every few days in recent weeks, there's been a new report about the advance of nonprofit journalism in California. Philanthropists big and small have stepped up to fill the financial void left as advertising -- and staffing -- at traditional news outlets has withered away. Sponsors announced the biggest and most ambitious of the new nonprofit reporting endeavors last week as San Francisco venture capitalist, philanthropist and bluegrass aficionado Warren Hellman pledged $5 million to create a new journalism operation in the Bay Area.

Re "Can you count the Capitol protesters?" Sept. 15 Your article's readiness to give validity to suspect sources for the high estimates is troubling. Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union and Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks, the sponsoring groups, have an incentive to inflate the numbers. The consensus among local officials and media outlets is that the crowd was well under 100,000. Do estimates vary wildly? Sure. But someone who doesn't read the entire article will have the impression that the various estimates are all equally legitimate.

The Scottish justice minister is considering the release from prison of a man serving a life sentence for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, which killed 270 people, because the man is terminally ill, according to media reports Thursday. Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill may allow Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, to be released on compassionate grounds as early as next week, the reports by the British Broadcasting Corp.

With more than $300 million in production and marketing spending on the line for the opening of "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" on Friday, Paramount Pictures has a message for critics: Go see the movie with everyone else. A spokesperson for the studio confirmed that there would be no screenings for reviewers at print and broadcast media outlets, meaning if they want to see the film, they will have to go Friday along with regular moviegoers.

An intervention couldn't save Michael Jackson, but maybe it's not too late for Larry King. The King of Talk can't stop blathering about the King of Pop. It's been building for three weeks now, getting more and more absurd. Night after night, the CNN host tosses out sentence-fragment questions ("Brain not returned to the family . . . right, Carlos?") that seem like they should have been written for Jimmy Kimmel.

I'm huddled here under my desk, face covered in a paper mask, bottle of hand sanitizer by my side, a sharp stick at the ready in case anyone from Mexico ventures within breathing distance. Reports about the swine flu outbreak make it pretty obvious that something really, really, really bad is happening. Unless it's not.