Mediagazer: Covering the Street Protests in Tehran: How Reuters Curates UGC via Twitter (Andy Plesser/Beet.TV)

1:40 PM ET, March 10, 2010

Top News:

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 Wire, The Huffington Post, Gawker, You Don't Say and Mediaite

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko: Tribune CEO lists 119 words he doesn't want heard on WGN radio

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: Nieman Journalism Lab, Tom Foremski: IMHO, Silicon Valley Watcher and WHAT'S NEXT

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

Discussion: Federal Trade Commission, Editors Weblog and The Atlantic Online

Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Google's Chief Economist: “Newspapers Have Never Made Much Money From News”

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Between the Lines, TeleRead, Romenesko, Newspaper Death Watch, paidContent, Kirk LaPointe's … and Google Public Policy Blog

Bob Egelko / San Francisco Chronicle:

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

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

Discussion: East Bay Express, SFist and bizjournals

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: Center for Sustainable …

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: paidContent and industry.bnet.com

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

EMI Music Swaps Chief For Chairman Allen As Trouble Looms — In 2008, Terra Firma hired the guy who ran the company which makes Cillit Bang and Air Wick to turn EMI Music around. But now the record label finds itself seeking a reported £100 million to avoid breaching banking covenants.

Discussion: The Wrap, Media Decoder and Variety

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

Michael Cieply / Media Decoder:

Variety Is Sued Over a Bad Review — Publishing a bad film review is one thing. Charging the filmmakers to promote the movie and then panning it may be quite another. — In a step that is unusual even for litigation-fraught Hollywood, the makers of “Iron Cross,” a small independent film …

Discussion: The Hot Blog

Josh Dickey / The Wrap:
Variety Sued Over ‘Iron Cross’; Campaign ‘Ruined by Bad Review’

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

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: Guardian, Variety and The Wire

Vivian Salama / Bloomberg:
Abu Dhabi Hosts Media Chiefs Amid Press Law Debate

Discussion: Times of London, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and Guardian

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, Romenesko, WebNewser, Michael Calderone's Blog, NewsBusters.org and Chickaboomer

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

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, Romenesko, GalleyCat, Talking Biz News and Michael Calderone's Blog

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

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 …

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: The Wire

Editor and Publisher:

Freedom Approved to Sell ‘East Valley Tribune,’ Other Properties to 1013 Communications LLC — NEW YORK As part of the approval of Freedom Communications' bankruptcy plan, a federal judge on Tuesday green-lighted the sale of the East Valley Tribune in Mesa Ariz., and Freedom Communications …