“We immediately jumped on that and said we have to dig deeper"

In an NY Times Business story, Brian Stelter explores TMZ's business model and upcoming expansion into sports.

This year, TMZ continued to provide fodder for news media ethics classes (and police investigations) by, for instance, publishing a photo of the singer Rihanna after an assault and reprinting details of the actress Brittany Murphy’s autopsy report.

Sometimes the objections to TMZ’s tactics come from within Time Warner. In an interview on Golf.com, James P. Herre, the managing editor of the Sports Illustrated Golf Group, called TMZ’s sourcing on recent pieces about Mr. Woods “beyond flimsy.”

But Mr. Levin defended the reporting, saying TMZ “has the same rigid standards as any operation in America.” Its track record of accuracy may speak for itself. He recalled that the initial claims surrounding Mr. Woods’s car accident on Nov. 27 “made no sense.”

“We immediately jumped on that and said we have to dig deeper,” he said.

Will The Tablet Be 2010's Must-Have Christmas Gift?

It appears the long rumored Apple tablet may be announced in late January and based on the alliance of major magazine publishers along with Apple's push to sign up television networks, this will be a content driven device (as will the many other tablets under development).

A recent Sports Illustrated demo suggests great potential for magazine reading on a tablet. And for golf, just imagine a magazine instruction spread including embedded video.

I'm curious how many of you see this as the way you may read books, magazines or even blogs in the future (connectivity questions abound, but we have to assume there will be built in wireless)?

So while I understand we have no idea how much connectivity will cost or even what the devices will run,I'd love to know how many of you have been tracking the tablet rumors and are you intrigued by them as a way to read your stuff in the future.

First, how much might you be willing to pay for such a device?

And probably most important to some of the media folks reading this post, what are you willing to pay for a magazine subscription and what's an enticing price for individual issues?

"10 Tips Obama Can Take From Tiger"

From Golf Digest:

In the upcoming January issue of Golf Digest, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde is going straight to the top in the name of improving golf’s image in Washington D.C.  That’s why President Obama, along with Tiger Woods, is on the cover:

The message to Congress and the Obama administration?  The golf industry accounts for 2 million jobs with a total economic impact of $195 billion annually.

In addition to the cover, the feature article focuses on 10 things Obama could learn from Tiger—and vice versa.  Providing the tips is a group of influential writers and players, including Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Brokaw, Mark Whitaker, Don Van Natta Jr. and Steve Rushin.  The piece is attached below:

Additional highlights include:

·       Golf Digest Survey – “What’s a Reasonable Amount of Golf for President Obama?”:  45.9% of readers said “As much as he can without affecting his work,” compared to only 7.8% who said “Never”

·       Fun Fact:  Using Golf Digest’s Presidential Rankings, we compared the Dow Jones Industrial Average on both the inauguration and final day in office of our best golfing Presidents.  Nine out of the top 10 saw increases in the Dow during their terms.

Tiger Accident Reporting: Who Goofed, I've Got To Know!

Okay here's what we know: 

Tiger has a minor accident at 2:25 a.m. EST and is transported to the hospital soon thereafter.

AP sends out a breaking news alert via text noting serious injuries and charges pending around 2:30 p.m. EST, a full 12 hours after the accident.

Here's the headline on their first story and text:

Tiger Woods injured in car accident outside his Fla. home; highway patrol says charges pending

And the story itself:

Turns out, the report is seriously flawed and Tiger has a cut or cuts, no bruises and was released shortly after treatment.

GolfDigest.com noted the time elapse between accident and news:

The accident happened at 2:25 a.m., though the FHP did not release the accident report until nearly 12 hours later.

Unfortunately, the first and more serious report goes out on wires, text messages and is even scene in Times Square, reports a reader.

Now, when I get such an alert from AP I expect it to be a fairly conservative approach to the reporting, particularly that many hours after the accident. They clearly based their story on the accident report and with little on-site reporting and no comment from authorities or Tiger's company.

It would be easy to blame AP for jumping the gun, but here we are at 5:15 EST and only now do we have a posting on his website that was also seen on CNN:

From Health Central Hospital and Tiger's Woods' office:

Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night.

He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition.

We appreciate very much everyone's thoughts and well wishes.

So was this "scare" and minor story gone awry a product of...

A) jump-the-gun reporting by AP?

B) a slow and unorganized response from Team Tiger?

C) the holiday with top reporters and Team Tiger members simply vacationing and unable to respond more quickly and efficiently?

Either way, a strange series of events. 

Bubble Bursts At Disney, PGATour.com Not There To Cover It?

There was much kvetching about the lack of Orlando Sentinel coverage for the Children's Miracle Network event at Disney World, but the real story was in PGATour.com's odd choice not to send someone to the final tour event of the year. Instead they posted AP game stories and a live blog, yet that wasn't enough when there are so many intriguing storylines like finalization of the top 125 and determination of tour cards for the following year.  Inevitably great storylines develop and the web becomes a prime source for family, friends, acquaintances and former pro-am partners to see how their horses are doing.

It's also disconcerting to see such coverage when the event is played in the same state as tour headquarters and where the sponsor is propping up a long time event popular with players.

Thankfully, we got compelling accounts of the final day's play and money list scenarios from Steve Elling (here), Bob Harig (here) and Sean Martin (here).

I know, those three probably did the job better than PGATour.com would when their writers file in fear of little men with a red pen scribbling away edgier details. But with media consolidation the tour's own site often becomes a primary source of news. How can they be trusted when they aren't even giving an important event serious coverage? (Not to mention the decision not to post a story about Doug Barron's lawsuit).

Most of all, what does the lack of coverage say about the home office's view of the Fall Finish and the event at Disney?

T&L Golf Back In Digital Form

Thanks to several readers who forwarded this...