BuzzFeed reposts deleted Dove article

BuzzFeed reposted a story about Dove soap after questions arose over why it had been deleted.

"I blew it," Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith wrote in a memo that he tweeted Friday. "Twice in the last couple of months, I've asked editors -- over their better judgment and without any respect to our standards or process -- to delete recently published posts from the site."

Smith added that he "reacted impulsively when I saw the posts and I was wrong to do that" and that both posts would be reinstated with a brief note.

One of the deleted then reinstated stories was posted in February and concerned the game of Monopoly. The other was posted to the site's "Life" page on Wednesday and was critical of a Dove advertising campaign.

"This post was inappropriately deleted amid an ongoing conversation about how and when to publish personal opinion pieces on BuzzFeed," an update read on the reinstated story. "The deletion was in violation of our editorial standards and the post has been reinstated."

Gawker noticed the deletion on Thursday and raised the question whether the article was taken down due to the BuzzFeed's relationship to Unilever, Dove's owner, and a BuzzFeed advertiser.

Hasbro, the makers of Monopoly, is also an advertiser.

Smith denied that advertiser pressure was behind the Dove story deletion.

"You also have a right to ask about whether we did this because of advertiser pressure, as Gawker suggested," Smith wrote to the BuzzFeed staff on Friday. "The answer is no."

Soon after Gawker's story on Thursday, Smith posted a memo on Twitter written by BuzzFeed Life editorial director Peggy Wang and BuzzFeed Food editor Emily Fleischaker.

The memo said that the piece was pulled due to the article's voice and not its content.

"When we approach charged topics like body image and feminism, we need to show not tell," the memo read. "Using our own voices (and hence, BuzzFeed's voice) to advance a personal opinion often isn't in line with BuzzFeed Life's tone and editorial mission."

Or as Smith said in the tweet attached to the Thursday memo: "We are trying not to do hot takes."

On Friday, Smith made it clear that advertiser pressure is something he tries to shield his staff from.

"I field complaints all the time from companies and individuals, including advertisers, and I see it as my job to shield you from that pressure," he wrote.

Related: BuzzFeed wants to expand its content empire.

CNNMoney (New York) April 10, 2015: 6:14 PM ET

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The Obamas paid $93,362 in federal income taxes

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama reported about the same amount of income in 2014 as they did in 2013.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama reported $495,964 in gross income last year, according to their 2014 tax returns released by the White House on Friday afternoon.

The president's salary accounted for nearly $395,000 of that, while their net business income came to $88,181 from Random House and literary management company Dystel & Goderich. They also earned about $16,000 in taxable interest.

After accounting for $17,400 in tax-deferred retirement savings and a $1,181 deduction for the self-employment payroll taxes they paid, their adjusted gross income came to $477,383, just a little less than they earned the year before.

Related: Top 400 taxpayers' average income jumps to $336 million

So how much of all that went to Uncle Sam? The Obamas' federal income tax bite came to $93,362, or 19.6% of their AGI.

A piece of that tax burden -- $2,035 -- was attributable to the Medicare surtax on high earners that was created to help fund Obamacare.

The Obamas donated $70,712, or about 15% of their AGI, to more than 30 charities.

They also paid $22,640 in income taxes to their home state of Illinois.

CNNMoney (New York) April 10, 2015: 6:33 PM ET

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HBO still hasn't heard from Scientology lawyers for 'Going Clear'

"Facts are stubborn things," HBO CEO Richard Plepler said in an interview with CNNMoney this week.

"Everybody's entitled to their own opinion, but they're not entitled to their own facts," he added. "I think the documentary bears up very well to any kind of scrutiny."

Sheila Nevins, the president of HBO's documentary division, had a similar comment -- "facts are facts" -- when asked about the film at a party on Wednesday held by The Hollywood Reporter.

The March 29 premiere of "Going Clear" scored the highest overnight viewership for an HBO documentary in nine years. Nevins and Plepler pointed out that the documentary is still reaching new viewers every day thanks to repeats and HBO's various on-demand services.

John Travolta isn't interested in watching HBO's Scientology documentary 'Going Clear.'

"Going Clear" was back in the news this week when John Travolta, a member of the church, said he was uninterested in seeing it.

The documentary, by well-known filmmaker Alex Gibney, is based on the book of the same name by Lawrence Wright.

In an interview before the premiere, Gibney said he was well aware of the possibility that Scientology might try to strike back with lawsuits.

But, he said, "we were very rigorous in terms of how we checked our story, how we had it scrutinized extensively by lawyers -- not only my own lawyers but by HBO's lawyers," Gibney said.

Nevins once commented that there were "probably 160 lawyers" involved, but she meant that hyperbolically.

HBO's other recent documentary success was "The Jinx," a six-part series about the troubled multi-millionaire Robert Durst, a suspect in several murders.

There have been questions about the extent of filmmaker Andrew Jarecki's communication with law enforcement, particularly due to the recording of Durst apparently saying to himself he "killed them all."

"I can tell you unequivocally we did not withhold any evidence," Plepler said, calling Jarecki "very scrupulous."

"I think what's important to remember is that a 30-year -- 30-year -- murder mystery was essentially opened up" by Jarecki and his colleagues, Plepler added.

HBO and the parent of this web site, CNN, are both owned by Time Warner.

CNNMoney (New York) April 10, 2015: 6:34 PM ET

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Cosmopolitan magazine secures first Chelsea Manning interview

Chelsea Manning seen in a photo she sent to a military supervisor in 2010.

The article marks the first time Manning has spoken "as an army private who leaked classified documents, went to military prison, and sued for the right to transition into living as a woman in jail," according to the story, which is in the magazine's May issue and online.

Manning was convicted of violations of the Espionage Act in 2013 for turning over a trove of classified data to the website WikiLeaks. Since the conviction as Private Bradley Manning, the soldier has transitioned, in prison and aided by federal funding, into a transgender woman.

"I'm fascinated by the character of Chelsea Manning; I'm fascinated by the fact that Julian Assange was played by Benedict Cumberbatch, the hottest thing in town, in a big Hollywood movie and yet Chelsea Manning disappeared from view," Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Joanna Coles said in an interview with CNN.

She pointedly added that without Manning, there would be no WikiLeaks as it's known to the public today.

Manning has penned opinion pieces for The New York Times and The Guardian from prison. With Cosmopolitan, she shared a more personal side, detailing her experience as a transitioning woman in prison.

Writer Abigail Pesta, an investigative journalist and contributor to the magazine, communicated with Manning through letters since the military does not allow prisoners to speak to the press by phone.

Coles estimated that the piece was in the works for about a year. Pesta brought the idea to Coles.

We "were very interested in the transition to Chelsea and the idea of transitioning to being a women in a men's prison. I couldn't get my head around it," she said.

Coles called it an idea that was "hiding in plain sight," but no doubt a huge get for the women's magazine.

"As an editor I like to have something unexpected and a surprise in each issue. I imagine our readers will be as fascinated as I am by this story," she said.

Though Manning declined to comment on the WikiLeaks reveal, she talked about life behind bars: studying in the prison library, working out in the gym, and visits from friends and family.

Thus far, she said, there has been no harassment from other inmates regarding her transition.

"The guys here are adults ... There are some very smart and sophisticated people in prisons all across America — I don't think television and the media give them credit," she says to Pesta.

Manning said she receives fan-mail from around the world, including from celebrities and even Edward Snowden.

The Cosmopolitan article is reflective of the way gender identity is increasingly receiving mainstream media attention.

Coles pointed out that Netflix's "Orange Is The New Black" is a "huge show" among Cosmo readers.

More broadly speaking, "transgender people are having a moment in our culture right now," she said, illustrated by the success of Amazon's TV series "Transparent" and Bruce Jenner's rumored -- but not confirmed -- gender transition.

As for Cosmo getting the Manning scoop, well, it might be an example of how Coles has given the Hearst brand a 21st century face-lift. She took the helm in 2012.

Earlier this year a New York magazine profile connected Coles to a new ("4th -- or Is It 5th?") wave of feminism.

Coles shrugged off this definition in an interview, though, and insists she's pragmatic.

"I come from this point of view of being an editor," she said. "I never have an agenda; my only agenda is finding interesting stories, and people have interpreted that as being political."

Last June, Cosmopolitan snagged an exclusive interview with ousted New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson. The magazine has beefed up original reporting with hires like Jill Filipovic, an attorney and senior political writer for the magazine.

"Women's magazines get patronized," Coles said. "And that's unfair."

But as news organizations continue to chase Cosmo's reports like the Manning profile, or Elle's recent profile of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, that will likely change.

Chelsea J. Carter, Ashley Fantz, Jethro Mullen, and Larry Shaughnessy contributed to this report.

CNNMoney (New York) April 9, 2015: 4:23 PM ET

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Google doesn't care where you went to college

Not really, according to Laszlo Bock, Google's Head of People Operations.

When the company was small, Google cared a lot about getting kids from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. But Bock said it was the "wrong" hiring strategy. Experience has taught him there are exceptional kids at many other places, from state schools in California to New York.

"What we find is the best people from places like that are just as good if not better as anybody you can get from any Ivy League school," said Bock, who just authored a book titled "Work Rules!" and stopped by CNNMoney to share his smarts.

Every year, 2 million people apply to get a job at Google (GOOG). Bock himself has seen some 25,000 résumés.

So what else does Google not care about:

Grades: Google's data shows that grades predict performance for the first two years of a career, but do not matter after that.

Brainteasers: Gone are interview questions such as: Why are manhole covers round? or How many golf balls can fit in a school bus? "Our research tells us those questions are a waste of time," Bock said. "They're a really coachable skill. The more you practice, you get better at it."

A shoe: "Somebody sent me a shoe once with a résumé tucked inside because they wanted to get their foot in the door." That one didn't work.

Or a robot: Especially when it arrived broken, with exposed wires and a "press here" button. Call in the bomb squad.

Here's what Google does care about:

Problem solvers: Your cognitive ability, or how well you solve problems.

Leaders: The idea is not whether you were president of the student body or vice president of the bank, rather: "When you see a problem do you step in, help solve it," and then critically, "Are you willing to step out and let somebody else take over, and make room for somebody else? Are you willing to give up power?"

Googleyness: That's what Google calls its cultural fit. It's not "Are you like us?" Bock said. "We actually look for people who are different, because diversity gives us great ideas."

What's most important is that people are intellectually humble, willing to admit when they're wrong, and care about the environment around them ..."because we want people who think like owners not employees," Bock said.

The least important thing? Knowing how to do the job.

"We figure if you get the first three right you'll figure it out most of the time."

Inside Google's office in the Netherlands.

CNNMoney (New York) April 9, 2015: 8:30 PM ET

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The unlikely company behind the Nikkei's dramatic rise

The benchmark index is up 14% this year, building on an incredible 125% boom since mid-2012.

It's easy to find reasons for the index's performance: The central bank is pumping money into the economy at a torrid pace, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to reform the way Japan Inc. does business.

But a closer look at the Nikkei reveals that one company in particular has played a starring role in its dramatic rise.

That company is Fast Retailing, best known as the corporate parent of clothing brands Uniqlo and Theory. The retailer is by far the largest Nikkei component, accounting for 9.7% of the index average.

The Nikkei, like the Dow Jones Industrial Average, is price-weighted, meaning that a company's share price determines its proportion of the overall index. The higher the share price, the more influence a stock has over the Nikkei. Most other indices are based on market capitalization, or the total value of a company's outstanding shares.

The emphasis on share price is what makes Fast Retailing so important. Shares have increased by a whopping 225% since mid-2012, giving the company roughly twice the influence of robotics firm Fanuc, the index's second-largest component.

Traditional Japanese heavyweights have also been left in the dust. Toyota, with a market cap more than five times larger than Fast Retailing, is trading near 8,320 yen ($69), giving it a 1.7% weight on the Nikkei. Fast Retailing's share price is 49,700 yen ($412).

This divergence results in all sorts of oddities. On Thursday, for example, Fast Retailing raised its annual profit forecast by more than 10%. Sure enough, the Nikkei reacted Friday by breaking through 20,000 points.

But equally good news at Toyota or Softbank -- larger companies by market cap, with higher revenues -- would have generated a smaller point increase for the index.

So next time the Nikkei climbs or dives, consider the source.

Related: Japanese stocks are on fire. But why?

Pity Japan's salaryman: Inside a brutal 80-hour workweek

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) April 10, 2015: 3:11 AM ET

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Hong Kong stocks soar as investors flood market

The Hang Seng Index hit its highest point in seven years on Wednesday, the first day of trading after an extended holiday. Hong Kong stocks continue to soar on Thursday, pushing the market up 7.6% this week, and nearly 15% this year.

Analysts say investors are turning to Hong Kong after a dramatic 22% surge this year by the Shanghai Composite has made that market too expensive.

"Our understanding is that the rising valuation gap now makes Hong Kong-listed Chinese shares compelling bargains to [mainland] investors," wrote Nomura equity strategist Wendy Liu in a research note.

Many of China's biggest companies are dual-listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and savvy investors have long turned a profit by playing off the different share prices in the two markets.

Related: The world's hottest stock market is in China

Trading activity is also flooding Hong Kong through the "stock connect" pilot program, which linked trading in the Hong Kong and Shanghai markets starting late last year.

The much-anticipated program drew lackluster interest from investors at first. But now, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has started letting mutual funds invest through the "stock connect," boosting trading volume.

The program has a daily quota for trading activity in both directions -- from mainland China to Hong Kong, and the reverse. Trading traffic from Shanghai to Hong Kong maxed out its daily limit for the very first time on Wednesday, and activity was high again on Thursday.

China's Shanghai Composite dropped 1.2% on Thursday, while the Shenzhen Composite fell 2%. Despite these losses, these two markets have still posted staggering gains year to date, with Shenzhen spiking over 47%, making it the world's top-performing index.

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) April 9, 2015: 1:44 AM ET

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Forget GDP. These nations are doing better than the U.S.

The U.S. ranks 16th in the Social Progress Index, which is based on dozens of criteria measuring well-being, opportunities and basic human needs.

The ranking, released on Wednesday, puts Norway on top, followed by Sweden and Switzerland. It was designed to complement traditional economic indicators -- such as GDP.

"GDP tells us quite a lot about a country's progress, but it's definitely not the whole story. Together with the social progress index, it can give us all-around picture of a country's inclusive growth," said Steve Almond, one of the authors.

Related: How much do you need to be happy?

The U.S., the world's biggest economy, scores poorly across many criteria and ranks behind countries with lower GDP per capita -- including Canada and the U.K.

It is leading the way in only a handful of measures, including people's satisfaction with affordable housing, freedom of speech, and access to advanced education.

But the U.S. is failing in all health and wellness indicators, which include life expectancy, obesity, suicide rates, and personal safety.

The index considers 52 indicators that have impact on the quality of people's lives and their position in society.

Among them are access to water and shelter, well-being indicators like obesity and literacy rates, as well as criteria measuring opportunities, tolerance, and the degree of personal freedoms.

The authors say countries with higher scores are building more prosperous societies and are likely to be better off in the long term.

And while important, the overall economic wealth is not crucial for countries' social progress.

Almond cites Costa Rica as an example. Ranked 28th, it achieves a higher level of social progress than both South Korea and Italy, which have more than twice Costa Rica's GDP per head.

Related: Should happiness, more than GDP, define a nation's success?

CNNMoney (London) April 8, 2015: 9:58 PM ET

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Jon Stewart on Rolling Stone: 'I'll fire them'

"If nobody else has the guts to do it, I'll fire them," Stewart said on "The Daily Show" Wednesday night. "I'm making a citizen's firing. Pack up your desks!"

Stewart's "citizen's firing" comes just days after Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner concluded that a damning report by Columbia Journalism School on the magazine's flawed "A Rape on Campus" story was punishment enough for the staffers.

Related: Major 'failures' found in Rolling Stone's 'A Rape on Campus'

Stewart, who often functions as a media watchdog, was not buying that argument.

"The report is actually not punishment ... at all," Stewart said. "It is a list of things -- in many circumstances -- people would be punished for. You're missing the ever crucial sentencing phase."

Stewart compared the situation to a judge who issues a guilty verdict, and then says, "so let's go get some Italian ices."

The departing "Daily Show" host went on to say that the flawed story wasn't just a "gaffe" but rather "monumental f*** up territory," because it could set back the cause of sexual assault victims.

Related: No one fired at Rolling Stone. Really?

"You can't just deal with it by issuing a correction like the time you spelled [pop star] Ke$ha's name with an '&' instead of '$,' " Stewart said. "Someone's got to go."

Stewart isn't alone in his opinion. Many in the media world were shocked to learn that the author of the botched story, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, would continue to write for Rolling Stone.

Yet, for Stewart, Rolling Stone being unreliable wasn't a complete shock.

"The magazine that gave five stars to the most recent U2 album may not be the most reliable source of information," he joked.

Related: Three fatal failures in Rolling tone's UVA rape story

CNNMoney (New York) April 9, 2015: 12:40 AM ET

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Psychiatrist wants patients to see his name in the New York Times

Is this narcissistic?

"Please print this letter so that when my patients Google me they will see that their psychiatrist and psychoanalyst has been published in The New York Times," wrote Levin, who lives in the Philadelphia area and has had a practice for about 30 years.

The letter, which was published in the Times on Tuesday, made an immediate splash on Twitter, where it was applauded by journalists like New York Daily News columnist Harry Siegel.

"Well played, Bruce J. Levin," Siegel tweeted.

Levin was inspired to write in after reading a story published in the Times on Sunday. The story, titled "Do You Google Your Shrink?," explored how the psychiatric community has adjusted to exposure of personal information in the online age. Levin was not the only psychotherapist who responded to the story.

One reader from Queens argued that "patients always knew a great deal about the person they were talking to" -- even before the advent of the Internet. Another reader from Indiana said that she would turn away any patient who arrived at her office with a trove of information retrieved from the Internet.

Levin opted for levity.

"I just read the article, and it struck me, 'What would Stephen Colbert or Larry David say about something like this?'" he told CNNMoney.

Levin grew up in New York, and he said he's been reading the paper of record since he was a kid.

"I've had some letters in the Times," he said, a modest reference to his more than half-a-dozen missives that the Times has published.

His first published letter came in response to a column by Maureen Dowd. In the letter, Levin applauded Dowd's "depiction of the sweeping cultural and social drug revolution that has shamelessly affected our country." He said Dowd emailed him to express her gratitude.

"A couple people were very hostile to her point of view, and she felt like I understood what she was talking about," Levin recalled.

Levin has relished the response this week to his cheeky letter. He received a phone call from an old high school friend who he hadn't spoken to in years. His son, a college student, told him about the reaction on social media.

"This is the first time I've ever looked at anything on Twitter," Levin said.

He also received an email from a fellow psychiatrist who got a kick out of the letter.

And how did the colleague retrieve Levin's contact information? By Googling him, of course.

Related: Google under fire for Youtube Kids app

Related: 'Ask Seaworld' Twitter campaign backfires

Related: IBM's Watson has published a cookbook

CNNMoney (New York) April 7, 2015: 6:30 PM ET

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