About the news:
The annual The State of the News Media, 2005 from Columbia's Project for Excellence in Journalism is out. From the introduction:

As people "Google" for information, graze across an infinite array of outlets, read blogs or write them, they are becoming their own editors, researchers, and even correspondents. What was called journalism is only one part of the mix, and its role as intermediary and verifier, like the roles of other civic institutions, is weakening.

OMB Watch has released a report, Dismantling the Public's Right to Know, which claims that the Toxic Release Inventory, a list of environmental problems beloved by CAR reporters, is slowly being reduced under the Bush administration. (PDF -- via Docuticker.)

And finally, a column about one of the details of the newspaper business that constantly befuddles news librarians as they try to archive the 'most authoritative' edition of each day's newspaper: Chicago Tribune columnist Don Wycliff: When are `Final' editions final? (registration required.)

And, really finally, note I've posted a couple things today that are relevant to how the news is handled today, on my Miami Herald blog.