Jump to content

Jim Romenesko: Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Added "the best-known newspaper blog" from E&P, 2002
 
(48 intermediate revisions by 29 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American journalist in Evanston, Illinois}}
'''Jim Romenesko''' (born September 16, 1953)<ref>{{Cite news | last = Tarullo | first = Hope | title = Jim Romenesko | work = Current Biography Yearbook| accessdate = 2008-11-17| date = 2004| url = }}</ref> is an American journalist based in [[Evanston, Illinois|Evanston]], IL,<ref name="raines">{{Cite news | last = Raines | first = Howell| title = Romenesko and the Dawning of Gossip Journalism| work = Wired | accessdate = 2008-11-17| date = 2008-06-23| url = http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2008/06/portfolio_0623}}</ref> who runs the [[blog]] Romenesko on the website of the non-profit journalism school the [[Poynter Institute]]. The blog provides daily news, commentary, and insider information about journalism and media and is popular among professionals in the industry. Romenesko also runs the blog ''Starbucks Gossip'', which covers the company [[Starbucks]] Coffee. It is one of the more influential websites regarding Starbucks, and has a large following of company employees and customers.
'''Jim Romenesko''' (born September 16, 1953)<ref>{{Cite news | last = Tarullo | first = Hope | title = Jim Romenesko | work = Current Biography Yearbook| year = 2004 }}</ref> is a retired American journalist in [[Evanston, Illinois]].<ref name="raines">{{Cite news|last=Raines |first=Howell |title=Romenesko and the Dawning of Gossip Journalism |work=Wired |date=June 23, 2008 |url=https://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2008/06/portfolio_0623 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625134114/http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2008/06/portfolio_0623 |archive-date=June 25, 2008 }}</ref> His eponymous blog provided daily news, commentary, and insider information about journalism and media. Romenesko also ran the blog ''Starbucks Gossip'', which covered the [[Starbucks]] company.<ref name="starbucks-posting-ends">{{Cite web|last=Romenesko |first=Jim |title=Thus, the postings here will end after nearly a decade |work=Starbucks Gossip |date=October 11, 2013 |url=https://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/_/2013/10/follow-starbucks-gossip-at-sbuxgossip.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319030629/https://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/_/2013/10/follow-starbucks-gossip-at-sbuxgossip.html |archive-date=March 19, 2022 }}</ref> He previously ran the [[blog]] Romenesko on the website of the [[non-profit journalism]] school the [[Poynter Institute]].


==Career==
==Career==
Romenesko graduated from [[Marquette University]] and went to work for the ''[[Milwaukee Journal]]'', serving as a police reporter for the newspaper. Initially repulsed by the sometimes grisly nature of his work, he would go on to publish the coroner's reports of unusual deaths in a book called ''[[Death Log]]'' (1981). From 1982 to 1995 he worked as an editor for ''[[Milwaukee Magazine]],'' where he wrote features and a popular, award-winning column that covered the local media called "Pressroom Confidential".<ref>{{Cite news| last = Poniewozik| first = James| title = Please Mr. Link Man| work = Salon| accessdate = 2008-11-17| date = 1999-06-10| url = http://www.salon.com/media/col/poni/1999/06/10/weblogs/print.html}}</ref> During this time he also taught journalism courses at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He went on to work as an Internet reporter for the ''[[St. Paul Pioneer Press]]'' from 1996 to 1999.
Romenesko graduated from [[Marquette University]] and went to work for the ''[[The Milwaukee Journal|Milwaukee Journal]]'', serving as a police reporter for the newspaper. Initially repulsed by the sometimes grisly nature of his work, he went on to publish the coroner's reports of unusual deaths in a book called ''[[Death Log]]'' (1981). From 1982 to 1995 he worked as an editor for ''[[Milwaukee Magazine]]'', where he wrote features and an award-winning column that covered the local media called "Pressroom Confidential".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Poniewozik |first=James |title=Please Mr. Link Man |work=Salon |access-date=November 17, 2008 |date=June 10, 1999 |url=http://www.salon.com/media/col/poni/1999/06/10/weblogs/print.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080707030459/http://www.salon.com/media/col/poni/1999/06/10/weblogs/print.html |archive-date=July 7, 2008 }}</ref> During this time he also taught journalism at the [[University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee]]. He worked as an Internet reporter for the ''[[St. Paul Pioneer Press]]'' from 1996 to 1999.


From 1989 to 1999, Romenesko ran a newsletter named ''Obscure Publications'' which covered [[fanzine]]s. In 1998 he began the website ''Obscure Store and Reading Room'', which linked to odd news stories, and which earned him the reputation of a "witty [[Matt Drudge]]."<ref>{{Cite web | last = Robischon | first = Noah | title = The Obscure Store and Reading Room | work = Brill's Content | accessdate = 2010-11-01 | date = 1999-02 | url = http://www.brillscontent.com/welike/stuff_0299.html |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/19990417052435/http://www.brillscontent.com/welike/stuff_0299.html |archivedate = 1999-04-17}}</ref> In May 1999 he began another website, this one covering the media and called Mediagossip.com.<ref>{{Cite journal| last = Benning| first = Jim| title = Romenesko Revealed| journal = Online Journalism Review| accessdate = 2008-11-17| date = 2000-02-07| url = http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1017965959.php}}</ref> It proved a success<ref>{{Cite news| last = Wang | first = Andy | title = Cutting Through the On-Line Clutter | work = [[New York Times]] | accessdate = 2008-11-17 | date = 1999-08-02 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E6D81031F931A3575BC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print}}</ref> and later that year was acquired by the [[Poynter Institute]]. The site, renamed to Romenesko's MediaNews, was migrated to Poynter's domain and became hugely popular among journalists,<ref>{{Cite news| last = Mitchell| first = Greg| title = Don't mess with Jim| work = Editor & Publisher| accessdate = | page = 19| date = 2002-11-25| url = }}</ref> helping Poynter get more than 14,000 page views a day in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Robertson| first = Lori| title = The Romenesko Factor| work = American Journalism Review| pages = 28| date = 2000-09| url = http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=588}}</ref> Romenesko's site, reputed as "the best-known newspaper blog,"<ref>{{Cite news| page = 6| last = Robins| first = Wayne| title = Blogrolling on a river| work = Editor & Publisher| date = 2002-04-15}}</ref> came to "surpass the journalism reviews as the place where professionals get their 'news about news'"<ref>{{Cite news| last = Raines | first = Howell| title = The Romenesko Empire| work = Portfolio.com| accessdate = 2008-11-17| date = 2008-06-16| url = http://www.portfolio.com/views/columns/media/2008/06/16/Jim-Romeneskos-Impact-on-Journalism}}</ref> and established itself as "an ad hoc, post-publication, peer review mechanism for the journalistic profession."<ref>{{Cite news| last = Shafer| first = Jack| title = The Romenesko Effect: How a one-man Web site is improving journalism| work = Slate| accessdate = 2010-10-27| date = 2005-04-18| url = http://www.slate.com/id/2116903/pagenum/all/}}</ref> Romenesko has also been cited as a predecessor to [[Gawker]] for having "opened the first and biggest hole in the sacred wall between news and gossip in reporting about the media."<ref name="raines" />
From 1989 to 1999, Romenesko ran a newsletter named ''Obscure Publications'' which covered [[fanzine]]s. In 1998 he began the website ''Obscure Store and Reading Room'', which linked to odd news stories, and which earned him the reputation of a "witty [[Matt Drudge]]."<ref>{{Cite web | last = Robischon | first = Noah | title = The Obscure Store and Reading Room | work = Brill's Content | access-date = November 1, 2010 | date = February 1999 | url = http://www.brillscontent.com/welike/stuff_0299.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/19990417052435/http://www.brillscontent.com/welike/stuff_0299.html |archive-date = April 17, 1999}}</ref> ''Obscure Store'' was terminated in September 2011.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dear readers: After 13 years, I'm closing The Obscure Store|first=Jim |last=Romenesko|url=http://obscurestore.typepad.com/obscure_store_and_reading/2011/09/dear-readers-after-13-years-im-closing-the-obscure-store.html |date=September 4, 2011|work=Obscure Store}}</ref> In May 1999 he began another website, this one covering the media and called Mediagossip.com.<ref>{{Cite journal| last = Benning| first = Jim| title = Romenesko Revealed| journal = Online Journalism Review| access-date = November 17, 2008| date =February 7, 2000| url = http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1017965959.php}}</ref> It proved a success<ref>{{Cite news| last = Wang | first = Andy | title = Cutting Through the On-Line Clutter | work = [[The New York Times]] | access-date =November 17, 2008 | date =February 8, 1999 |url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E6D81031F931A3575BC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print }}</ref> and later that year was acquired by the [[Poynter Institute]]. The site, renamed to Romenesko's MediaNews, was migrated to Poynter's domain, where it was targeted at journalists,<ref>{{Cite news| last = Mitchell| first = Greg| title = Don't mess with Jim| work = Editor & Publisher| page = 19| date =November 25, 2002 }}</ref> helping Poynter get more than 14,000 page views a day in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news| last =Robertson| first = Lori| title = The Romenesko Factor| work = American Journalism Review| pages = 28| date = September 2000| url = http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=588}}</ref> Romenesko's site was reputedly "the best-known newspaper blog" of the time.<ref>{{Cite news| page = 6| last = Robins| first = Wayne| title = Blogrolling on a river| work = Editor & Publisher| date =April 15, 2002}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite news| last = Raines | first = Howell| title = The Romenesko Empire| work = Portfolio.com| access-date = November 17, 2008| date =June 16, 2008| url = http://www.portfolio.com/views/columns/media/2008/06/16/Jim-Romeneskos-Impact-on-Journalism}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| last = Shafer| first = Jack| title = The Romenesko Effect: How a one-man Web site is improving journalism| work = Slate| access-date =October 27, 2010| date =April 18, 2005| url = http://www.slate.com/id/2116903/pagenum/all/}}</ref> Romenesko has also been mentioned as a predecessor to ''[[Gawker]]'' for having "opened the first and biggest hole in the sacred wall between news and gossip in reporting about the media."<ref name="raines" />

On August 24, 2011, Romenesko announced his "semi-retirement" from the Poynter Institute, in preparation to launch JimRomenesko.com, a blog about media and other items of interest to Romenesko. Romenesko planned to continue with Poynter in a part-time capacity, while expanding the role of other staff members of the Poynter Institute to post items related to media.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/152838/latest-news/romenesko/143759/romenesko-announces-semi-retirement| title=Romenesko announces his semi-retirement |first=Julie| last=Moos |date=August 24, 2011|work=Poynter}}</ref> He ended updates to JimRomenesko.com in 2016.<ref name="Post noting end of site activity">{{Cite web |last=Romenesko |first=Jim |title=Romenesko is Retired but Still Occasionally Tweets |work=JimRomenesko.com |date=July 17, 2017 |url=http://jimromenesko.com/2017/07/07/romenesko-is-on-vacation-but-still-tweeting/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180609143211/http://jimromenesko.com/2017/07/07/romenesko-is-on-vacation-but-still-tweeting/ |archive-date=June 9, 2018 |access-date=May 14, 2024 }}</ref>

In 2015, Romenesko announced his retirement from his blog. He said he would no longer accept offers for sponsored post or job advertisements. His website is no longer online.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mullin |first1=Benjamin |title=Jim Romenesko is retiring, but he'll still be posting |url=https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2015/jim-romenesko-is-retiring-but-hell-still-be-posting/ |website=Poynter |access-date=21 October 2023 |date=10 June 2015}}</ref>

==Controversy==
In November 2011, an assistant editor for the ''[[Columbia Journalism Review]]'' noted that posts summarizing articles on the Romenesko page at the Poynter Institute's web site repeated, verbatim, text in the articles without the use of quotation marks or indentation. In the process of reporting, the online chief of the Poynter Institute, Julie Moos, was contacted and noted that this behavior had occurred since 2005. Although Romenesko had always attributed the source of the information, Moos claimed that the inconsistency of placing quotation marks or blockquoting text could cause the impression that text not in quotation marks was those of Romenesko, and not lifted directly from the text. Moos placed Romensko's blog on hold while the issue was being investigated, and following investigation ordered that all of Romenesko's posts be approved by an editor prior to post and to follow the Poynter Institute's attribution guidelines of placing quotation marks with any text used in the original article. Moos refused to accept his resignation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Questions over Romenesko’s attributions spur changes in writing, editing|work=Poynter|first=Julie|last=Moos |date=November 10, 2011|url=http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/152802/questions-over-romeneskos-attributions-spur-changes-in-writing-editing/}}</ref>

Following Moos's comments, some writers and fans complained that the Poynter Institute was "micromanaging" Romenesko and expressed disdain for Moos's actions, noting Romenesko's role in media aggregation and coverage of journalism.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fans Fume as Romenesko Resigns from Poynter|work=The Atlantic Wire|first=Adam Clark |last=Estes|url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2011/11/fans-fume-romenesko-resigns-poynter/44863/ |date=November 11, 2011}}</ref> Others criticized Moos for preempting the ''CJR'' story, while violating the spirit of Poynter's own standards.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jim Romenesko's resignation, and a scooped reporter|first=Erik |last=Wemple|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/jim-romeneskos-resignation-and-a-scooped-reporter/2011/11/10/gIQADyA59M_blog.html |date=November 10, 2011|work=Washington Post}}</ref> Other reporters called the criticism over the proper use of [[quotation marks]] "school-marmish" and "petty".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/journalism-ethics-taken-too-seriously-romenesko-scolded-on-his-own-blog/ | work=The New York Times | first=Jeremy W. | last=Peters | title=Romenesko Leaves Poynter After Conflict Over Quotes | date=November 10, 2011}}</ref> Romenesko continued to offer his resignation, which Moos later accepted.<ref>{{cite news|title=Romenesko resigns after 12 years at Poynter|work=Poynter|first=Julie|last=Moos |date=November 10, 2011|url=http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/152838/romenesko-resigns-after-12-years-at-poynter/}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
Line 10: Line 20:


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://poynter.org/column.asp?id=45 Romenesko blog]
* [https://www.poynter.org/tag/mediawire/ Romenesko's former blog at Poynter, now called MediaWire]
* [http://obscurestore.com/ Obscure Store and Reading Room]
* [http://obscurestore.typepad.com/ Obscure Store and Reading Room]
* [http://www.starbucksgossip.com/ Starbucks Gossip]
* [https://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/ Starbucks Gossip]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Romenesko, Jim}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romenesko, Jim}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:St. Paul Pioneer Press people]]

{{US-journalist-1950s-stub}}

Latest revision as of 00:38, 1 August 2024

Jim Romenesko (born September 16, 1953)[1] is a retired American journalist in Evanston, Illinois.[2] His eponymous blog provided daily news, commentary, and insider information about journalism and media. Romenesko also ran the blog Starbucks Gossip, which covered the Starbucks company.[3] He previously ran the blog Romenesko on the website of the non-profit journalism school the Poynter Institute.

Career

[edit]

Romenesko graduated from Marquette University and went to work for the Milwaukee Journal, serving as a police reporter for the newspaper. Initially repulsed by the sometimes grisly nature of his work, he went on to publish the coroner's reports of unusual deaths in a book called Death Log (1981). From 1982 to 1995 he worked as an editor for Milwaukee Magazine, where he wrote features and an award-winning column that covered the local media called "Pressroom Confidential".[4] During this time he also taught journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He worked as an Internet reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press from 1996 to 1999.

From 1989 to 1999, Romenesko ran a newsletter named Obscure Publications which covered fanzines. In 1998 he began the website Obscure Store and Reading Room, which linked to odd news stories, and which earned him the reputation of a "witty Matt Drudge."[5] Obscure Store was terminated in September 2011.[6] In May 1999 he began another website, this one covering the media and called Mediagossip.com.[7] It proved a success[8] and later that year was acquired by the Poynter Institute. The site, renamed to Romenesko's MediaNews, was migrated to Poynter's domain, where it was targeted at journalists,[9] helping Poynter get more than 14,000 page views a day in 2000.[10] Romenesko's site was reputedly "the best-known newspaper blog" of the time.[11] [12][13] Romenesko has also been mentioned as a predecessor to Gawker for having "opened the first and biggest hole in the sacred wall between news and gossip in reporting about the media."[2]

On August 24, 2011, Romenesko announced his "semi-retirement" from the Poynter Institute, in preparation to launch JimRomenesko.com, a blog about media and other items of interest to Romenesko. Romenesko planned to continue with Poynter in a part-time capacity, while expanding the role of other staff members of the Poynter Institute to post items related to media.[14] He ended updates to JimRomenesko.com in 2016.[15]

In 2015, Romenesko announced his retirement from his blog. He said he would no longer accept offers for sponsored post or job advertisements. His website is no longer online.[16]

Controversy

[edit]

In November 2011, an assistant editor for the Columbia Journalism Review noted that posts summarizing articles on the Romenesko page at the Poynter Institute's web site repeated, verbatim, text in the articles without the use of quotation marks or indentation. In the process of reporting, the online chief of the Poynter Institute, Julie Moos, was contacted and noted that this behavior had occurred since 2005. Although Romenesko had always attributed the source of the information, Moos claimed that the inconsistency of placing quotation marks or blockquoting text could cause the impression that text not in quotation marks was those of Romenesko, and not lifted directly from the text. Moos placed Romensko's blog on hold while the issue was being investigated, and following investigation ordered that all of Romenesko's posts be approved by an editor prior to post and to follow the Poynter Institute's attribution guidelines of placing quotation marks with any text used in the original article. Moos refused to accept his resignation.[17]

Following Moos's comments, some writers and fans complained that the Poynter Institute was "micromanaging" Romenesko and expressed disdain for Moos's actions, noting Romenesko's role in media aggregation and coverage of journalism.[18] Others criticized Moos for preempting the CJR story, while violating the spirit of Poynter's own standards.[19] Other reporters called the criticism over the proper use of quotation marks "school-marmish" and "petty".[20] Romenesko continued to offer his resignation, which Moos later accepted.[21]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Tarullo, Hope (2004). "Jim Romenesko". Current Biography Yearbook.
  2. ^ a b Raines, Howell (June 23, 2008). "Romenesko and the Dawning of Gossip Journalism". Wired. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008.
  3. ^ Romenesko, Jim (October 11, 2013). "Thus, the postings here will end after nearly a decade". Starbucks Gossip. Archived from the original on March 19, 2022.
  4. ^ Poniewozik, James (June 10, 1999). "Please Mr. Link Man". Salon. Archived from the original on July 7, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
  5. ^ Robischon, Noah (February 1999). "The Obscure Store and Reading Room". Brill's Content. Archived from the original on April 17, 1999. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  6. ^ Romenesko, Jim (September 4, 2011). "Dear readers: After 13 years, I'm closing The Obscure Store". Obscure Store.
  7. ^ Benning, Jim (February 7, 2000). "Romenesko Revealed". Online Journalism Review. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
  8. ^ Wang, Andy (February 8, 1999). "Cutting Through the On-Line Clutter". The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
  9. ^ Mitchell, Greg (November 25, 2002). "Don't mess with Jim". Editor & Publisher. p. 19.
  10. ^ Robertson, Lori (September 2000). "The Romenesko Factor". American Journalism Review. p. 28.
  11. ^ Robins, Wayne (April 15, 2002). "Blogrolling on a river". Editor & Publisher. p. 6.
  12. ^ Raines, Howell (June 16, 2008). "The Romenesko Empire". Portfolio.com. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
  13. ^ Shafer, Jack (April 18, 2005). "The Romenesko Effect: How a one-man Web site is improving journalism". Slate. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
  14. ^ Moos, Julie (August 24, 2011). "Romenesko announces his semi-retirement". Poynter.
  15. ^ Romenesko, Jim (July 17, 2017). "Romenesko is Retired but Still Occasionally Tweets". JimRomenesko.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  16. ^ Mullin, Benjamin (10 June 2015). "Jim Romenesko is retiring, but he'll still be posting". Poynter. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  17. ^ Moos, Julie (November 10, 2011). "Questions over Romenesko's attributions spur changes in writing, editing". Poynter.
  18. ^ Estes, Adam Clark (November 11, 2011). "Fans Fume as Romenesko Resigns from Poynter". The Atlantic Wire.
  19. ^ Wemple, Erik (November 10, 2011). "Jim Romenesko's resignation, and a scooped reporter". Washington Post.
  20. ^ Peters, Jeremy W. (November 10, 2011). "Romenesko Leaves Poynter After Conflict Over Quotes". The New York Times.
  21. ^ Moos, Julie (November 10, 2011). "Romenesko resigns after 12 years at Poynter". Poynter.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jim_Romenesko&oldid=1237889880"