Apparently, it's by putting the wrong information into a story about the prime minister and communion wafers.

And as a result, Shawna Richer is no longer the editor of the St. John Telegraph-Journal and Jamie Irving (yes, of those Irvings) is no longer the publisher.

Venture capitalist and blogger Fred Wilson is a big fan of online comments on news sites, and offers this advice:

I agree that simply adding a comment thread at the end of a news story is a recipe for trouble. But it is only a recipe for trouble if that is as far as you go. An unattended comment thread will be full of garbage and many are.

But if the author of the news story, or opinion piece, or blog post, tends to the comments, replies to the good ones, signals the bad ones, chastises the loudmouth bullies, and generally runs the comment threads like a serious discussion group, a serious discussion will result.

It's an issue for the news industry because tending to comment threads is not part of a journalist's traditional job. But I would argue that it is now and they ought to get busy doing it. For one, the journalists that do it and do it well will be better read. And they'll be better informed. They'll get tips in the comment threads. They'll get constructive criticism that will help them do their job better. And they'll get leads on new stories before others will.

Unfortunately, no one really follows his advice -- at least so far as I can see.

And so we get this.

The Torontoist noticed the bizarrely vitriolic tone of the online commenters at major Toronto news websites during the five-week-old civic strike and collected a possibly representative sample (although one might hope they were wildly sensationalizing).

Buy newspapers in small, monopoly markets. Run them cheap. Make high margins.

More than one Black has taken that path to success. The latest? David Black. But he's also training his guns on metro papers now.

Actually, nothing new here. Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz takes pretty much the same tack I do.

From former Alaska Gov. Sarah "You won't have me to kick around anymore" Palin's swan song on July 26:

Starts at 3:15 min. in this MSNBC clip:

... First, some straight talk for some, just some in the media, because another right protected for all of us is freedom of the press.

And you have such important jobs. Reporting facts. And informing the electorate. And exerting power to in-flu-ence.

You represent what could and should be a respected, honest profession that could and should be a cornerstone of our democracy. Democracy depends on you. Our troops are willing to die for you.

So how about in honour of the American soldier, ya quit makin' things up?

And don't underestimate the wisdom of the people and one other thing, our new governor (Sean Parnell) has a very nice family so leave his kids alone.

Good to see she doesn't harbour any bitterness after her time in the national spotlight. It's always nice to hear from someone who practices what they preach.

Media economist Robert Picard notes that some major U.S. newspaper companies are back in the black and seeing their share prices rise again. He's not that surprised.

Frank Rich says the greatest quality the late news anchor Walter Cronkite possessed was the willingness to confront those betraying his nation's trust -- up to and including Cronkite's bosses.

Rich sees little of that quality in today's broadcast journalists.

In 1949, Dorothy Howarth became the first woman to win a National Newspaper Award, earning the honour for a feature story about Newfoundland joining Confederation.

It would be another 17 years before another woman would win an NNA.

Howarth died on July 14 at age 97.

I can't believe people who have more than a high-school education are citing some crappy Time.com online poll as evidence that Daily Show host Jon Stewart is now the most trusted newscaster in America.

The most prominent member of this Hall of Shame? Don Tapscott.

Alas, Guardian columnist Roy Greenslade really doesn't seem to have many easy answers.

From his July 22 Slate column:

He sailed. He was avuncular. He had a beer gut. He inspired John Waters to grow a moustache (I think!). And he was way too into the space program for a grown man.

But Shafer also offers up some interesting arguments on why Cronkite's "trust" factor may have been accidentally high -- and why trust in journalists shouldn't be fetishized to the point where healthy skepticism is abandoned.