Mediagazer: Watermelons, Washington, and What We Call News Today (Dan Rather/Media on HuffingtonPost.com)

3:35 PM ET, March 10, 2010

Top News:

Guardian awarded half of SF Weekly's ad revenue — (03-09) 18:13 PST SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Bay Guardian is entitled to half the advertising revenue of the rival SF Weekly to help collect $21 million in damages after a jury verdict of illegal price-cutting, a Superior Court commissioner ruled Tuesday.

Discussion: Editor and Publisher, Fitz & Jen and Romenesko

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:
“SF Weekly is not going out of business,” says owner

Discussion: The Latest Word and Editor and Publisher

Helena Humphrey / Editors Weblog:
San Francisco Guardian collects $21 million in damages from rival newspaper

Discussion: East Bay Express, SFist and bizjournals

Robert Feder / blogs.vocalo.org:

Memo puts WGN news staffers at a loss for words — Sure, you'd think the chief executive officer of a company struggling to emerge from bankruptcy and desperate to salvage an $8 billion buyout-gone-bad would have better things to do than pester his underlings with crazy proclamations.

Discussion: The Awl, The Wire, The Huffington Post, You Don't Say, Gawker, LA Observed and Mediaite

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

Tribune CEO lists 119 words he doesn't want heard on WGN radio — Robert Feder finds it disturbing that “the CEO of a major institution would engage in such petty and insulting micromanaging of subordinates.” Tribune chief executive officer Randy Michaels doesn't want staffers at WGN radio using words like …

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

EMI Gets a New Boss. When Does It Get a New Owner? — Terra Firma, the private equity fund that owns EMI Music Group, has brought in a new CEO for the music label. Elio Leoni-Sceti is out; Charles Allen, the former CEO of British broadcaster ITV replaces him.

Discussion: industry.bnet.com

Robert Andrews / paidContent:
EMI Music Swaps Chief For Chairman Allen As Trouble Looms

Discussion: The Wrap, Media Decoder and Variety

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:
Viral Video Hitmaker OK Go Does Just That; Parts Ways With EMI

Discussion: the Econsultancy blog

MediaGuardian / paidContent:

News Corp's Miller: Paywalls And Free Model Can Co-Exist — By Jane Martinson: Jonathan Miller, head of digital media at News Corporation (NYSE: NWS), said today that “dual revenue streams” are likely to co-exist as media organisations try ways of making money online.

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's …, The Wire, Variety and Guardian

Reuters:
News Corp says paywall plan for UK papers on track

Discussion: Guardian

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

Bay Area News Project has high hopes, few employees — A wealthy philanthropist has kicked in $5 million in seed money. A top management consultant has come up with a business plan. A renowned university will lend not only its students but research help.

Discussion: Silicon Valley Watcher and Center for Sustainable …

Financial Times:

Bill threatens UK's reputation — From Mr Tom Alexander and others. — Sir, We regret that the House of Lords adopted amendment 120A to the digital economy bill ("Bill will censor internet, providers claim", March 6). This amendment not only significantly changes the injunctions procedure …

Discussion: Guardian, The Next Web, paidContent and Journalism.co.uk

Telegraph: Website blocking plans attacked by Google, Facebook and Stephen Fry

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Hal Varian Is Right: Newspapers Need to Engage — As part of the Federal Trade Commission's ongoing hearings into the future of journalism, Google's chief economist, Hal Varian, gave a presentation on newspapers and their financial problems that is well worth taking some time to read (or view).

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Media Musings, TechCrunch and Nieman Journalism Lab

Mercedes Bunz / Guardian:
Engage your users to survive, Google tells newspapers

Discussion: Between the Lines, Federal Trade Commission, Editors Weblog and Romenesko

Dan Rather / Media on HuffingtonPost.com:

Watermelons, Washington, and What We Call News Today — I must confess that until recently I had no idea what Twitter was. Even now, I'm not completely sure how it's best used. When I want to post something, the younger, more tech-savvy people in my office help me out.

Discussion: Mediaite, Gawker, Romenesko, Michael Calderone's Blog, WebNewser, New York Magazine, NewsBusters.org, TVNewser and Chickaboomer

Josh Dickey / The Wrap:

Variety Sued Over ‘Iron Cross’; Campaign ‘Ruined by Bad Review’ — The producers of “Iron Cross” sued Variety on Tuesday, claiming the trade lured the indie film into a $400,000 promotion campaign with promises of Oscar attention that would lead to a major distribution deal — then trashing it all with a scathing review.

Discussion: New York Times, Romenesko, Gawker, The Wire, Cinematical, Mediaite and LA Observed

Michael Cieply / Media Decoder:
Variety Is Sued Over a Bad Review

Discussion: The Hot Blog

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

Covering the Street Protests in Tehran: How Reuters Curates UGC via Twitter — LONDON — In Iran, with significant limits on what it can cover from its bureau in Tehran, Reuters is following a cadre of citizen journalists on Twitter who provide camera-phone videos of street protests …

Discussion: WebNewser

Michael Schneider / Variety:

Clock winds down for ‘24’ — Fox appears close to ending series run — “24's” time is almost up. — 20th Century Fox TV and Fox appear ready to end the long-running hit after this season, the show's eighth. — Studio and network execs declined comment — but it's believed …

Discussion: Tuned In, The Wrap, TVbytheNumbers, New York Magazine and Perez Hilton

Bill Mickey / Folio:

New York, New Yorker and Nat Geo Lead in Print Ellie Noms — Out of 300 magazines that submitted 1,758 entries, 51 will be honored. — MPA announced today the finalists for its 45th annual National Magazine Awards, or Ellies, as they're commonly called. The New Yorker, New York and National Geographic lead in nominations.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Mediaite, MinOnline, mediaelites, The Wire, Romenesko, FishBowlNY, GalleyCat, Talking Biz News and Magazine Publishers of America

Felix Gillette / New York Observer:

Mutu-Elle Friends: Hachette Introduces Internal Social Network — On Thursday, Feb. 25, Hachette Filipacchi Media chief Alain Lemarchand sent an email to his several hundred staffers, informing them of an imminent new companywide social media network designed to better facilitate communication among cubicles.

Discussion: FishBowlNY and The Wire

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Girl With a One Track Mind smarts over ‘hooker’ headline — “Girl with a One Track Mind” blogger and author Zoe Margolis has said she is taking legal action against the Independent on Sunday after she was referred to as a “hooker” in a headline. — Margolis wrote an article for the Independent …