News Alert

News organizations are rushing today to keep online readers and viewers up-to-date on details and new developments surrounding Thursday afternoon's shooting at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas in which 13 people were killed.

Beyond the expected deluge of articles and videos, news organizations are deploying a brand-new tool: Twitter Lists, the microblogging site's new feature that was rolled out last week.

Among the news organizations that have quickly compiled Fort Hood-related Twitter Lists are:

New York Times: http://twitter.com/nytimes/fort-hood-shootings

CNN: http://twitter.com/cnnbrk/fort-hood

NBC's The Today Show: http://twitter.com/todayshow/forthood

Los Angeles Times: http://twitter.com/LATimes/fort-hood-shootings

Washington Post: http://twitter.com/washingtonpost/forthood

Dallas Morning News: http://twitter.com/DallasCrime/fort-hood-shootings

The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/05/fort-hood-shooting---live_n_347623.html

The New York Times Twitter List in particular is proving very popular, with 400 followers (and counting). In contrast, the Washington Post's list has only three followers as of this writing.

Also, the Austin-American Statesman created a separate Twitter account (not a list) specifically for the Fort Hood shooting that now has more than 3,400 followers.

Update: The Statesman has created a Twitter List from its new @FtHoodShootings Twitter account: http://twitter.com/FtHoodShootings/fort-hood

We'll add more Lists as we find them. If you're aware of any not mentioned above, please drop us a line in the Anonymous Tips box.

As our sister blog FishbowlNY reported yesterday, the massive layoffs expected at Forbes magazine came today:

Although we're hearing that close to 100 people have lost their jobs company wide, David Carr reported that between 40 and 60 editorial staff members would get the axe. Those sort of cuts are huge in a staff of only 200. Who is left?

Our other sister blog, MediaJobsDaily, has the names of several editorial staffers who were pink-slipped.

Our sister site Fishbowl NY this afternoon reports that Forbes founder Steve Forbes has sent out a memo informing the staff that layoffs "are necessary across the entire organization."

Fishbowl NY editor Amanda Ernst has the story and a copy of the memo. She writes:

We've heard that layoffs haven't started yet, but it looks like the top level managers may already know who they have to cut and the bloodletting might start tomorrow.

Of course, no layoff memo would be complete without happy talk (that no one really believes) about the better days ahead. Here's the Forbes version:

On the editorial side, we will maintain the essential strengths of Forbes while also deepening our relationships with our community. ...

Forbes Media is laying the foundations for a strong, exciting future.

I'm sure that will thrill the people getting pink-slipped.

As expected, the Federal Communications Commission has approved by a 5-0 vote rules that would guarantee "net neutrality" for broadband and mobile Internet connections.

The vote doesn't mean the rules will go into effect automatically. Rather, it kicks off a 60-day period in which the public and lobbyists can weigh in on the proposed regulations.

From Wired's Ryan Singel:

The FCC's five commissioners unanimously agreed to expand and codify rules from 2005 that require cable and DSL providers to allow their customers to use whatever devices or online services they want so long as they don't hurt the network. A similar rule applied to AT&T's phone monopoly in the 1960s led to the fax machine, the football phone and the internet.

The leaders of a number of large Internet companies earlier this week implored the FCC to ensure net neutrality, which is opposed by telecommunications providers.

Proponents of net neutrality argue that new regulations are necessary to prevent broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing the delivery of Web content and applications to users. The carriers and some of their supporters in Congress say new government rules and regulations would discourage infrastructure investment and hamper further Internet development.

Our Mediabistro sister site, FishbowlNY, has a copy of the memo to NYT staffers from Executive Editor Bill Keller announcing further job reductions at the paper.

A couple of excerpts from Keller's message:

Let me cut to the chase: We have been told to reduce the newsroom by 100 positions between now and the end of the year.

We hope to accomplish this by offering voluntary buyouts. ...

As before, if we do not reach 100 positions through buyouts, we will be forced to go to layoffs. I hope that won't happen, but it might.

You can read the full memo at FishbowlNY.

President Obama's personal pitch for his hometown to host the 2016 Olympics was soundly rejected by the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen today when Chicago was eliminated in the first round of voting.

From the New York Times:

Mr. Obama was the first American president to make an in-person appeal for a bid city and first lady Michelle Obama had also come earlier this week to lobby I.O.C. members for votes. Chicago's bid leaders had worked for nearly four years and spent close to $50 million to bring the Olympics to the United States for the first time in 20 years. Chicago had been considered among Olympic insiders as a favorite to win the Games, along with Rio.

Tokyo was eliminated in Round 2, leaving Madrid and Rio de Janeiro as finalists. As you can see from the screenshot below, Matt Drudge barely could contain his disappointment over America's defeat.

The Facebook poll asking readers to vote on whether "Obama should be killed" was posted by a juvenile and represents no threat to the president, the Secret Service said Thursday.

From the Associated Press:

No criminal charges will be filed against the juvenile or the juvenile's parents, Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said. Donovan would not identify the names of the child or parents or say where they are from.

After Secret Service agents met with the child and the child's parents, they determined there was no intent to harm the president.

Meanwhile, CNET.com reported yesterday that Facebook revealed the developer of the Obama poll, who says he was unaware of its offensive content until he saw it posted on Facebook by the author.

Here's WebNewser's post about the blogger who blew the lid off the Obama poll story.

News sites and blogs across the Internet are covering today's eighth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Here are links to some of the sites:

CNN.com Live provides live video coverage here.

Live video from msnbc.com

FoxNews.com (live video stream)

ABCNews.com (live video stream)

The New York Times (continuously updated)

Washington Post

CBS News (article with video)

Christian Science Monitor

On Wednesday, the classified advertising site Craigslist announced that they are closing their "erotic services" section following widespread criticism that the site is an online marketplace for prostitution.

Craigslist will be replacing "erotic services" with an "adult services" section that is supposedly going to be monitored for inappropriate content. Today, WebNewser uncovered convincing evidence that Craigslist's standards for what constitutes acceptable advertising are shockingly low.

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In April, the classified advertising site Craigslist was thrust into the spotlight for its role in the case of accused murderer Phillip Markoff. Markoff, who has been dubbed the "Craigslist Killer" by the media, is currently being charged with killing a masseuse that he arranged to meet through a posting on the "erotic services" section of the site. Now, Craigslist is getting rid of "erotic services," but this move probably won't do much to change the sites status as an online red light district.

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