Media News Highlight shares articles and stories from the worlds of media and journalism that may be of interest to professionals who work in said industries and newsrooms across the country. We hope these links will help you stay aware of what’s happening in these fields and also provide some advice to help you.

Please feel free to share your own relevant links in the comments section after the entry.

Reasons Why You Work in a Newsroom (via ProfNet Connect by Evelyn Tipacti)

If you're a journalist, why do you love being in the newsroom? I share my ideas in this post inspired by another journalist's experience.

Knight Foundation: Time To Reform Journalism Education (via mediabistro/10,000 Words by Lauren Rabaino)

"In an open letter to America’s university presidents, The Knight Foundation and representatives from other journalism grant providers said that many journalism schools are not up to date and called on universities to recreate themselves in order to succeed."

Balta, Medina win top contested NAHJ races; election summary (via Media Moves by Veronica Villafañe)

"Hugo Balta is the new President of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. He defeated Russell Contreras 154 to 95. Out of 614 eligible voters, only 252 voted in the 2012 elections.  The results were announced during Friday’s NAHJ Gala during the UNITY Journalists convention in Las Vegas."

Networks Struggle to Appeal to Hispanics (via The New York Times by Tanzina Vega and Bill Carter)

"Sofia Vergara is probably the most recognizable Hispanic actress working in English-language television. She is one of the stars of 'Modern Family,' among the highest-rated scripted shows on network television, and she has parlayed her celebrity into commercials for brands like Pepsi and Cover Girl. Despite her popularity, 'Modern Family' is not a hit with Hispanic viewers. Out of its overall viewership of 12.9 million, 'Modern Family' drew an average of only about 798,000 Hispanic viewers in the season."

Study: Happiest countries have press freedom (via Poynter by Andrew Beaujon)

"Freedom of the press is a reliable indicator of a country's happiness, journalism doctoral student Edson Tandoc Jr. concludes in a new study. Tandoc and Michigan State University’s Bruno Takahashi compared 2010 Gallup data on countries’ happiness levels with Freedom House’s press freedom index and countries’ environmental and developmental rankings."

America’s editors: story still rules but social, audience and revenue loom (via The Newshook by Susan Johnston)

"Don’t believe the cri de coeur you’re hearing from American newsrooms that posting to Facebook has replaced creating the story that’s being posted in the first place. Assigning and crafting articles still takes up the bulk of editors’ time in the news media, according to a poll conducted last week by Editor & Publisher and Ebyline."

Magazine sales suffer sharp fall in US (via The Financial Times by Emily Steel)

"The news-stand is fast on its way to following the path of the telephone box, according to the latest figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations in the US."

Another factchecking fiasco (via Columbia Journalism Review by Brendan Nyhan)

"A week ago, The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein and Ryan Grim published an article repeating Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s claim that GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney hadn’t paid taxes for ten years. Though Reid provided no evidence other than hearsay about what he was told by an unnamed Bain investor (which HuffPost clarified in the ninth paragraph of the story), the story set in motion a controversy that exemplifies how partisans and ideologues exploit the structural weaknesses of journalism and factchecking."

A Facebook court battle: Is ‘liking’ something protected free speech? (via The Washington Post by Justin Jouvenal)

"Daniel Ray Carter Jr. logged on to Facebook and did what millions do each day: He “liked” a page by clicking the site’s thumbs up icon. The problem was that the page was for a candidate who was challenging his boss, the sheriff of Hampton, Va. That simple mouse click, Carter says, caused the sheriff to fire him from his job as a deputy and put him at the center of an emerging First Amendment debate over the ubiquitous digital seal of approval: Is liking something on Facebook protected free speech?"

70 journalists killed in first half of 2012 (via PressGazette by Andrew Pugh)

"At least 70 journalists and support staff were killed in the first half of 2012, according to research carried out by Cardiff School of Journalism, in what has been dubbed 'one of the bloodiest periods of recent times.' Fifteen were confirmed dead in Syria alone between January and June – including Sunday Times foreign correspondent Marie Colvin – according to the biannual 'Killing The Messenger' survey of news media casualties, carried out on behalf of the International News Safety Institute."

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