Shift v sack – Shanahan’s semantics. Fans of Shanahanigans will be aware Dennis can spin any poll result the Coalition’s way, but did you know he’s an expert semanticist?  When Peter Garrett lost part of his portfolio to Greg Combet, Shanahan declared it a “sacking” and a disaster for Rudd.  “In an attempt to clean up the mess the Prime Minister has made things worse,” declared Dennis, referring obscurely to Garrett’s “tar-baby problems.”

So, when a shadow minister not merely loses part of his portfolio but the whole lot, and gets demoted from a senior economics position to looking after roads, dams and rivers, presumably it would be even worse than a “sacking” and evidence of disastrous political judgement?  No way!  According to Dennis, Barnaby Joyce’s “shifting” – which apparently was caused not by Joyce’s bizarre take on foreign debt but by an unrelenting campaign from Labor – had a “hollow man” ring to it for Labor because Joyce “will be freed to pursue the ETS in regional Australia and lift the Coalition’s stocks in Queensland” and “Abbott will also be seen as having acted as a leader should and to be in control of his team.”  Not a tar-baby in sight. — Bernard Keane

Feline fraud. An important correction from our favourite periodical, the Cat Protection Society of NSW’s Cat Affairs:

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The newspaper that defamed an entire country

“The New York Times has apologised and agreed to pay Singapore’s prime minister and his two predecessors some 160,000 Singapore dollars for a story that listed the city-state’s leaders as an Asian political dynasty.” — The Examiner

Publishers prepare for iPad onslaught

“The Washington Post cut its CEO’s pay by 49 percent last year as the newspaper publisher trimmed its staff and reined in other costs amid a severe advertising slump.” — Huffington Post

Publishers prepare for iPad onslaught

“A laundry list of open questions about Apple’s iPad isn’t keeping magazine publishers and advertisers from lining up for the launch of the tablet computer next week.” — Wall Street Journal

The Indy and the spy who bought me

“The Independent newspapers ushered in a new chapter in their history today when they were sold to Russian billionaire and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev.” — The Guardian

Gays on the big screen — as long as they turn straight

“Filmmakers can depict homos-xuals for the first time in strictly censored Malaysia — so long as they repent or even go straight in the end…” — Agence France-Presse

Charting newspaper stories online

“The Chicago Sun-Times, Seattle Times and other papers are creating interactive time lines to add context to stories, show the breadth of their reporting, and help people better understand the news they’re consuming…” — Poynter Online

Danger, Will Robinson: news automation takes another leap

“Researchers at the Intelligent Systems Informatics Lab at Tokyo University have developed a journalist robot that can autonomously explore its environment and report what it finds.” — Singularity Hub