Karl Bremer, The New Republic settle lawsuit over Vennes photo

Categories: Media beefs

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Karl Bremer couldn't disclose the details of the settlement.
​Last November, we reported that Stillwater blogger Karl Bremer had filed a civil suit against The New Republic, accusing the magazine of reprinting one of his photos without permission. Bremer tells us he has come to an agreement with the Washington, D.C.-based publication, and the two parties settled out of court last Thursday, the day a hearing was scheduled in Washington County conciliation court.

Because he signed a non-disclosure agreement, he wouldn't explain the terms of the settlement.

"All I can say is that it was resolved to the mutual satisfaction of both parties," says Bremer.

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Star Tribune criticized for co-opting YouTube video of Mall Brawl

Categories: Media, Media beefs
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Did the Star Tribune miscredit the Mall Brawl video?
The Star Tribune is being criticized on a popular media blog for improperly crediting a YouTube video as well as importing it into their custom media player in order to serve advertisements on it.

Jim Romenesko reports he received the tip from "a Twin Cities journalist who asked not to be named," and has reached out to the Star Tribune's Stan Schmidt for comment.

"The Minneapolis Star Tribune did something that is one of my biggest pet peeves in the journalism world," the anonymous tipster writes. "The Star-Tribune posted it to their site, but instead of embedding the video via YouTube, they imported it into their own player."
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Exhausted Target worker's Black Friday crash defies Star Tribune's bizarre "be happy you have a job" editorial

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Target workers had a Black Friday alright
An exhausted Target worker in Palm Beach, Florida, crashed her car into a canal at 7:46 a.m. after working the midnight shift on Black Friday.

The accident is notable because it shows the potential danger for workers forced to work the midnight shift after Target decided to open its doors earlier than ever on Black Friday. The new hours triggered a backlash from employees, who delivered a petition with 181,000 signatures to CEO Gregg Steinhafel asking the retailer to "Save Thanksgiving."

The petition was met with a bizarre editorial from the Star Tribune that told workers they should shut up and just be happy to have a job in a bad economy.
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WCCO acknowledges Duck Dog story on website

Categories: Media beefs
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James Schugel's story has been sorta unscrubbed.
Before this afternoon, if one were to rely purely on the content of WCCO's website, the now-notorious "duck dog" story never happened.

That all came to an end this afternoon.

Although it contains no new information, an editor's note has finally been posted to the website that acknowledges, that, like, yeah this one time? We TOTALLY did a story about a meat market that sold dog meat, but, um, actually the butcher was saying duck. Whoops!

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Karl Bremer sues New Republic over Vennes photo

Categories: Media beefs
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Courtesy Karl Bremer.
Karl Bremer wants The New Republic to shell out $5,000.
Stillwater blogger and notorious Michele Bachmann foe Karl Bremer has a new enemy: The New Republic.

Bremer recently filed a lawsuit against the Washington, D.C.-based magazine for using a photo he took of Frank Vennes Jr., the embattled Tom Petters fundraiser accused of helping bilk investors out of billions in Minnesota's most famous Ponzi scheme.

This isn't the first time Bremer's gone toe-to-toe with a national magazine. Just last summer, Bremer was one of the Minnesota journalists whose work was heavily borrowed in Matt Taibbi's Bachmann profile for Rolling Stone.

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WCCO Duck Dog footage surfaces on YouTube [VIDEO]

Categories: Media beefs
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James Schugel as he appears in the Duck Dog video.
Despite WCCO-TV's attempts to scrub all evidence of the Duck/Dog debacle from the internet, a video of the original report has surfaced on YouTube.

The video was posted yesterday evening by TVSpyShopTalk, which is part of MediaBistro. Previously, we posted the transcript of the errant report, but the actual video remained something of a Golden Fleece for local media reporters -- the material was even deleted from WCCO's internal servers.

But now it's available for all to see, including the embarrassing moment where James Schugel pesters a guy who can't speak English over the phone.

"Dogs for people to eat?" Schugels implores.
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WCCO airs video of woman's suicide on I-94

Categories: Media beefs
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WCCO aired this video of a woman's suicide.
Viewers were outraged this evening when embattled local TV station WCCO aired footage of the suicide of a woman who lay down in the middle of I-94 to die.

The footage from cameras meant to monitor traffic conditions apparently aired on the noon newscast, but it didn't light up social media until just moments ago. The video is still available on the WCCO site as of now, but it might be disappeared like Duck/Dog before long.

"We won't show you the collision, but we do want to share the video leading up to it," anchor Angela Davis chirps in the lead-in.
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WCCO Duck Dog: Station finally breaks silence on botched report

Categories: Media beefs
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James Schugel may be in the dog house, but WCCO is leaping to his defense.
After issuing dozens of "no comments" to City Pages, WCCO-TV has finally broken its silence on the controversial Duck/Dog story -- which aired October 31 -- with a memo from management.

David Brauer at MinnPost has the memo from News Director Mike Caputa, who admits the station got it wrong when it thought a man at a Chinatown meat market said he sold "dog" when really he said "duck."

The memo also maintains that I-Team reporter James Schugel, who botched the story, will not be fired.
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WCCO Duck Dog Story: Newsroom source predicts "heads will roll" and reveals how mistakes were made [UPDATE]

Categories: Media beefs
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James Schugel isn't the only one at WCCO who screwed the pooch on the duck/dog story.
New details have emerged regarding the WCCO-TV story broadcast October 31 that falsely claimed local dogs were being sold as meat for human consumption in New York City's Chinatown, and it doesn't look good for I-Team reporter James Schugel and his bosses.

The entire chain of command was involved in the decision to run what has become known as the "duck/dog" story, all the way up to CBS corporate in New York, according to a WCCO newsroom source who spoke to City Pages on the condition of anonymity for fear of being fired.

"
It was approved by multiple middle manager producers, and the CBS lawyer," says the source. "Our news director hasn't said a word, hasn't approached anyone in the newsroom about it. He may make heads roll before his head rolls."

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WCCO "dog meat" story gets the NMA TV treatment [VIDEO]

Categories: Media, Media beefs
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Schugel in real life and in CG (wearing a dunce cap).
WCCO reporter James Schugel is having one hell of a week.

First, he breaks a story about a butcher shop in Chinatown selling dog meat that turns out to be super false. Then, the mistake goes viral. Next the Asian American Journalists Association demands an apology and the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalism calls it an embarrassment to journalists.

Now it's reached the apex of internet mortification: Schugel's story has been lampooned by NMA TV, the Taiwan-based media company that famously animated Tiger Wood's date with a golf club in CG.

Oh, and NMA TV's version of events is hilarious.

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