Reporters going into a news conference at Facebook’s offices in Seattle were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to reports coming from news outlets in Seattle.

The Seattle Times blogged earlier today that reporters going to the news conference received an email from Dan Sytman, a spokesman for the Washington Attorney General’s office. Attached was the non-disclosure agreement from Facebook. Read more

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Filmmakers and freelancers with a great story on Black America can discover a byline waiting for them at The Grio.

According to managing editor Joy-Ann Reid, every section of the site is hungry for underreported stories. From great stories with strong characters to photo-driven stories from a unique Black perspective, or even a profile with a big celeb can land you in the site. And Reid suggests adding multimedia to the mix, as the site relies heavily on original video content.

To find out which sections the editors are especially looking to beef up content, read How to Pitch: The Grio. [sub req'd]

Yesterday, D.C.-based journalist Shani Hilton wondered in the Washington City Paper: “Where are the women and non-white media critics?” Her quick brainstorm of those who’ve achieved prominence included The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz, NYU’s Jay Rosen, Reuter’s Jack Shafer, and The New York Times’ David Carr. They all seem to confirm that media criticism is a white-male dominated world.

In it, she quotes Andrew Beaujon, “the new Romensko,” whose theory is that media criticism “is fundamentally an alt-weekly pursuit, and alt-weeklies’ DNA is heavily white and male.” His working theory about the white and male alt-weekly is that “working at such places gives white males such as myself a chance to feel like an underdog for once in our lives.”

Certainly, alt-weeklies are predominately white and male, as is journalism itself—but that fails to take into consideration other venues of media criticism. One may think of The Atlantic’s Megan Garber or FAIR’s Janine Jackson. A commenter pointed out the work of Michele McLellan and Amy Gahran at the Knight Digital Media Center. Nonetheless, is the shortage of women and minorities in media criticism really a cause for wonder? Read more

Do good. Have fun. And make the world a better place for all.

This is the credo of the Stone & Holt Weeks Foundation, which is named after two young young men who were victims of a tragic car accident in the summer of 2009. It was established by Linton Weeks, national correspondent for Digital News at NPR and a former reporter for The Washington Post, and Jan Taylor Weeks, an artist, teacher, and volunteer. The Foundation has held a number of events since it was founded in 2009, and they recently announced their call for applications for the Stone & Holt Weeks Fellowship, a six-month opportunity for an up-and-coming journalist to learn the skills of the trade before jump-starting a successful career in journalism.

The Stone & Holt Weeks Foundation awards one fellow a year, and gives them exposure to journalism in a broad, connected sense with two of the nation’s most prestigious news organizations. The awarded fellow will receive one-on-one mentoring from professional journalists at The Washington Post and NPR, as well as several training sessions in key areas of journalism like radio and digital production. This also includes coverage on the air, online, and in the field.

The fellowship consists of two parts: 12 weeks at The Washington Post and 12 weeks at NPR. The fellow will also receive a weekly stipend of $800 for the duration of the fellowship, but they will be responsible for any living expenses. Employment with either The Washington Post or NPR is not guaranteed after the fellowship. The Stone & Holt Weeks Foundation has confirmed two fellows in previous years: Nathan Rott in 2010 and Teresa Tomassoni in 2011.

To apply for the Stone & Holt Weeks Fellowship, visit http://www.npr.org/about/careers/fellowships/weeks.html and download and complete the application form. Applicants do not need to have journalism degrees or experience as a journalist, but you must have a bachelor’s degree (or have received one by July 15, 2012). You must also include two recommendations, two or more writing samples, a resume, and a copy of your academic transcripts.

All documents, including the application form, must be postmarked by midnight on April, 30, 2012.

On average, journalists using Facebook’s subscribe feature have seen a 320 percent increase in subscribers since November, according to a Facebook analysis of 25 journalists. This sample included local,  national and international journalists who report on various platforms.

The growth is coming from social and interest-based discovery, wrote Vadim Lavrusik, Facebook’s journalist program manager and Betsy Cameron, a data analyst.

“People discover journalists to subscribe to on Facebook through their friends in News Feed; Facebook search; our “people to subscribe to” recommendations engine (which shows you who your friends are subscribing to and recommends journalists based on your interests); and other organic discovery mechanisms, such as simply seeing who your friends have subscribed to,” they wrote. Read more