Herald Sun tweets comment twits. When you make a habit of asking questions such as “Should the burqa be banned in Australia?”, you’re bound to get some, err, interesting responses. With such responses in mind, the Twitter initiative @heraldsunreader promises “pearls of wisdom taken from the comments and letters of Herald Sun readers”. The Herald Sun‘s recent coverage of Senator Cory Bernardi’s call for the burqa to be banned in Australia provided some Tweet-worthy comment:

“Call me racist, I don’t care. I just think it looks wrong to wear that stuff in Australia.”

One reader offered a novel solution to the increased number of asylum seekers reaching our shore:

“We need to send our navy boats and fire a few shots at them. That should deter further boats destroying our country and culture!!”

— Crikey intern Matt De Neef

Taking the “new” out of news. Earlier this week Channel Nine News in Queensland reported a “suburban Brisbane hotel” was playing home to more than 50 asylum seekers. The story continued on Nine News the following night, watermarked with the words “first on Nine”.

The only problem was that the story wasn’t “news”, nor was it “first on Nine”. The issue first came to light on March 28 as a front-page story in Brisbane’s Courier Mail with the somewhat sensationalist headline “They’re Here” (as Crikey chastised at the time). That same night, Channel Seven News in Queensland ran almost exactly the same story as the one aired by Nine this week, albeit more than a month earlier. — a Brisbane media watcher

Softball photo provokes irritation

“A spokeswoman for the Wall Street Journal said today its cover art was not intended as innuendo about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s sexual orientation after the paper’s front-page use of an image of Kagan playing softball provoked a mixture of irritation and amusement from gay and lesbian advocates.” — Politico

Interested parties line up for Newsweek

“It has been only a week since Washington Post Co’s chairman Donald Graham announced that Newsweek was on the block, but already a few big media players are taking an early look at the newsweekly.” — New York Observer

Iranian journalist gets 13 years and 74 lashes, in absentia

“Maziar Bahari, the journalist arrested in Iran last year and released on bail after 118 days in prison, has been sentenced in his absence to 13 years and six months in jail plus 74 lashes.” — The Guardian

Magazine subscriptions for sale in Facebook feed

“Synapse, a Time Inc division that sells subscriptions for many publishers, is collaborating with Alvenda, a company that builds e-commerce applications, to introduce a system letting Facebook users buy print magazine subscriptions without leaving the site or even the Facebook news feed.” — Advertising Age

Facebook to feature in new iPhone OS

“Apple is building Facebook features into the latest version of its iPhone software, we’re told by a plugged-in source in the mobile industry. These features could be announced during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on June 7, when Apple is expected to unveil a new iPhone.” — Business Insider

Apple to stream music online

“Apple is to launch an online music service that, for the first time, will allow customers to listen to tracks streamed over the internet. The move could pose a significant threat to existing music operations such as Spotify and We7.” — The Australian