Old dwarfs real news for News. The News.com.au network is going crazy for a story published yesterday titled “Gordon Ramsay’s dwarf porn double Percy Foster dies in badger den“:

So much so, it is topping the most-read-list on many of News.com.au‘s websites (even beating Mark Harvey’s sacking as Freo coach on Perth Now):

But the story is over three weeks old. Crikey first reported this in our August 23 edition of Media Briefs:

We guess some news, especially news containing a dwarf doppelganger of a celebrity chef, porn and a badger, will always be newsworthy, despite how out-of-date it is. — Leigh Josey

CMail asking the real questions. Queensland deputy premier Paul Lucas shocked the political establishment by announcing his retirement yesterday. The Courier Mail today has the most incisive political analysis …

Front page of the day. Today’s New York Post:

Meanwhile, in Alice Springs… Major news today as reported on the front page of the Centralian Advocate … the laying of the world’s third biggest egg!

Wilkins on why he reported the death of Goldblum

“The man who now co-hosts Weekend Today Cameron Williams was the person who handed Richard Wilkins the erroneous information that actor Jeff Goldblum was dead, the entertainment presenter has revealed.” — mUmBRELLA

Deadline hell — TV guide editors slam networks

“How are the constant changes to TV schedules impacting on television print guides? According to editors, reviewers and critics they are making life a nightmare. The changes are so frequent that editors are dumping feature articles, asking staff to write last minute reviews, copping angry calls from the public.” — TV Tonight

Media expert tracks the expiration date of papers

“Since 2007, veteran technology journalist Paul Gillin has been tracking the demise of newspapers and highlighting the ones that thrive on a website called Newspaper Death Watch.” — International Journalists’ Network

Travel writer held in solitary

“A Serbian journalist Vienna, Viktor Lazic, has been under detention for 12 days in South Ossetia after allegedly wandering across its disputed border with Georgia.” — The Guardian

Rules of the game change as sports journos compete with teams

“Teams, leagues, associations, athletes and agents are all increasingly bypassing journalists and using digital tools to communicate directly with fans. Right now, this stuff is mostly marketing. But as sports organisations become more sure-footed digitally, they will become journalists’ competitors. And that will lead them to reassess bargains struck with newspapers generations ago.” — Poynter