* Chicago Tribune begins four-part series on Sam Zell’s “broken deal.” (chicagotribune.com)
* Pulitzer-winning editor and civil rights crusader Gene Patterson is dead at 89. (nytimes.com)

Aaron Swartz, 1986-2013

* The web responds to Internet activist Aaron Swartz’s suicide. (gigaom.com)
* Kansas City Star’s longtime Faith columnist unloads on newspapers. (bottomlinecom.com)
* “And the award for the most @nytimes corrections due to texting goes to…” (@jonathanwald)
* Sunday Times ad in the Chicago Tribune tells Oprah what to ask Lance Armstrong. (imgur via @richarddeitsch)
* Why is Egypt’s Morsi the elephant in America’s newsrooms? (forbes.com)
* Newseum: San Francisco Examiner gets our vote for best football front page today. (@newseum)
* In Wisconsin, bad weather and Packers coverage delay delivery of Sunday’s Journal Sentinel. (js_newswatch)

* There were 95 newspapers with weekly science sections in 1989; today there are 19. (ibtimes.com)
* Andrew Revkin and Margaret Sullivan on the news that NYT is shutting down its environment “pod.” (nytimes.com)

— A cover from 1993

* Art Spiegelman: “I’m hoping that kids with guns can become ironic again.” (copydesk.org)
* Newsweek unveils its first animated cover; will it be enough to attract digital subscribers? (adweek.com) | (thewrap.com)
* David Gregory won’t be arrested or charged for waving an ammo clip on TV. (washingtonpost.com)
* Ken Doctor on the digital-only paywall parade. (newsonomics.com)
* Report: Time Inc. to cut up to 700 jobs and nix pay raises. (nypost.com)
* BuzzFeed’s photo spat with Reddit could be just the tip of the iceberg. (paidcontent.org)
* ESPN president acts to end offensive commentary. (kansascity.com)

* Send letters, anonymous news tips, memos, gossip, and typo alerts to jim@jimromenesko.com| Follow Romenesko on Twitter | Romenesko on Facebook | Romenesko on Flipboard and Pinterest

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@romenesko Email interview ban at @princetonian is in 5th month; we are getting *more* access, not less

— Henry Rome (@hrome2) January 11, 2013

Letter to Romenesko

From “A REPORTER IN CHARLOTTE”: I have been noticing an exponential increase in the number of people who will only communicate via email. It’s not “ordinary people,” but lately it seems like anyone, in any large organization, just refuses to talk on the phone. “Submit your questions in writing” or “send me an email” is the most common response. I’ve been doing this for a few years, and I know groups have different policies on this, but in my limited, anecdotal experience, the practice is just exploding. And it’s especially prevalent at businesses, trade groups, and government of all levels. I’ve even been running into spokespeople who refuse to speak on the phone and will only correspond via email. Another once-slightly unusual practice that’s become the norm is people who won’t ever pick up their phone but respond instantaneously to email. Anyway, it’s just been driving me crazy, and I thought you might be interested.

Has this been your experience, too?

* Earlier: Stanford Daily bans email interviews | Daily Princetonian bans email interviews (jimromenesko.com)

* Check out what my Facebook friends and subscribers are saying about this.

Jacobson (left) and Evans

Temple University School of Media and Communication interim dean Thomas Jacobson and Indiana University School of Journalism interim dean Michael Evans are finalists for the dean’s job at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.

Jacobson has been interim dean at Temple for nearly four years, while Evans was named Indiana’s interim dean last summer after Brad Hamm left to become Medill dean. (Evans is currently dealing with this merger plan at IU.)

* Finalists for School of Journalism and Communication announced (uoregon.edu)

New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson to staff:

We are changing some of traditional architecture of the newsroom, including in the leadership and editing ranks. For instance, we have decided not to continue having separate editing and reporting groups on the environment and how we live. …

Even if there was no fiscal pressure to do so, we would be making some structural changes in the newsroom to balance our precious journalistic resources. In order to expand digitally and internationally in the exciting ways we have planned, it is natural to reshape our contours.

* Major shakeout looms for New York Times editors (nymag.com)

“The rules in the gallery will also prohibit bags and briefcases, which will require the installation of lockers at an undisclosed cost. But Republicans left in place their rule from last session allowing concealed guns and other weapons for people with a valid permit.” — from today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Democrats warned that the new Republican rules would infringe on free speech.

“Something you seem to forget, the First Amendment is as important as the Second,” [Minority Leader Peter] Barca said.

* Gallery rules approved over Democrats’ objections (madison.com)

(Photo via Mike McCabe)

Letters to Romenesko

From A COLLEGE STUDENT WHO DOESN’T WANT TO BE NAMED: I saw your post about internship application numbers [and] I’m forwarding an email sent to finalists for the Virginian-Pilot’s internship, which says they got 150 applications for 2 reporting spots. My understanding is they got a comparable number for design internships. Feel free to use this, but I’d rather you not list my name, as they’re still picking candidates.

From: Denise Bridges
Date: Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 6:23 PM
Subject: You are one of 10 finalists
To:

Greetings!

I’ve got good news and not-so-good news. You ready? The good news is you have been selected as a finalist for a reporting internship at The Virginian-Pilot for summer 2013. You are one of 10 finalists. Considering that we started with nearly 150 applications, the fact that you made it to the finalist stage is indeed good.

The not-so-good news is we have just two reporting slots available, and it will take a little while longer to narrow the list from 10 to two. It’s not easy; we’ve got some great choices. Your application is being reviewed again, and we also making reference checks. If we need additional information, we will let you know.

We do not expect to have our reporting interns selected for another week, at least. So I ask for your patience just a little while longer as we take some time to choose the best match of candidates for our newsroom. I know you are considering other opportunities and you may not be able to wait. Please let me know if you decide to withdraw your application. But first, take a moment to bask in the glow of being a finalist!

Sincerely,
Denise Bridges | Director of Newsroom Operations & Staff Development
The Virginian-Pilot

From “BRICKS KARD”: Saw you had some recent posts with stats about the number of applicants to newspaper summer internship programs. A few years ago, a friend and I started a blog for catharsis and to chronicle rejection letters from jobs and summer internships during our senior year of college. The blog is now mostly defunct and not in great shape, but in case you want some numbers from previous years — rejection.blogspot.com.

Boston Globe had 500 applicants in 2009; Wired Magazine had 400 applicants for four spots; and MLB.com had 400 applicants for 30 spots. There are stats for a few other newspapers (WaPo, Institute for Humane Studies Journalism Program, Denver Post, AJC, Tampa Trib) in the blog posts.

This rejection letter from the Virginian-Pilot stood out for its tone.

* NYT received 1,644 applications for 13 summer intern positions (jimromenesko.com)