Across The Media Universe: Nick Naylor Commemorative Edition

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Across The Media Universe

(AP)

Kicked out of the Yahya Brotherhood: Lamin Dibba, a Gambian reporter for the pro-government "Daily Observer," was fired. So what, you say? Wait 'til you hear why: He was let go for reports questioning the notion that President Yahya Jammeh can cure AIDS. According to IFEX, "[t]he management interpreted [Dibba and another journalist's] motives as an attempt to question President Jammeh's ability to cure the disease." Hey, maybe repressive regimes don't need insult laws after all!

What Happens In Iowa Stays In Iowa: New York Times reporter Patrick Healy is trying to get the Hillary Clinton campaign to open to the press her meetings with small groups of Iowans. He writes in a pool report: "I argued [to the campaign] that these events were newsworthy events and that we were entitled to have a single pool reporter there, at the least, and also noted that our media organizations were expending significant resources to have reporters here - and that the press corps should not be restricted to only covering the same 6 rallies." No response thus far from Team Hillary.

Don't Sleep With Your Sources. Or At Least Don't Get Caught: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Telemundo newswoman Mirthala Salinas have apparently been getting intimate – though, presumably, not while she's interviewing him! Telemundo, which moved Salinas from political correspondent to backup anchor and general correspondent 11 months ago, is standing by their woman. "We think she is a great reporter and professional," Telemundo spokesman Alfredo Richard told the Daily News. Still, seems like a dangerous move on Salinas' part -- we all remember what happened to Katie Holmes...UPDATE: Salinas "is being placed on unpaid leave."