Mediagazer: China orders reporters trained in Marxist theory (Associated Press)

Om Malik / GigaOM:

Big Media or Big SEO Spammers? — Faced with declining revenues and increasingly dismal prospects, some mainstream media outlets are adopting questionable tactics, specifically dead-end web pages stuffed with outbound links and pay-per-click ads. A liberally funded LA startup is only too quick to help them.

Discussion: the Econsultancy blog

Charles Arthur / Guardian:

Facebook threatens to sue Daily Mail — Social networking site fears reputation permanently damaged by false claim that it let older men pressure teenage girls for sex — Facebook has threatened to sue the Daily Mail for damages after the paper wrongly claimed in a piece published …

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Daily Mail, Press Gazette, Bloggasm, The Spy Report, Journalism.co.uk, dot.Rory, The Independent and Mashable!

Josef Adalian / The Wrap:

Exclusive: Coco A-Go-Go! The Conan Tour Starts April 12 — Conan O'Brien will begin his Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour April 12 in Eugene, Oregon, working his way across the United States and Canada over the course of two months. — O'Brien will hit at least 20 states …

Discussion: Media Decoder, The Wire, Speakeasy, Mediaite, Moraes on TV, Tuned In, Movieline, Company Town, ArtsBeat, Chickaboomer, TV Tattle and Show Tracker

Felix Salmon:

Why did Nick Denton truncate Gawker's RSS feeds? — Yesterday, Gawker Media truncated its RSS feeds, and former Gawker editorial honcho Lockhart Steele immediately tweeted that “the only thing that excited me about Gawker's RSS truncation was picturing @felixsalmon's head explode when he heard the news”.

Discussion: The Awl, Lifehacker and State of the Fourth Estate

Ian Chillag / NPR Blogs:

In Which I Try To Use All Of WGN's Newly Banned Words In One Sentence — Tribune Company CEO Randy Michaels has banned 119 “newsspeak” words and phrases from ever crossing the lips of anchors and reporters at WGN-AM. There's a list here, but if you'd like them in a sentence, how about this:

Discussion: National Review, Romenesko, Guardian, Mediaite, Silicon Alley Insider, Tower Ticker, The Awl, blogs.vocalo.org, The Wire and LA Observed

Mercedes Bunz / Guardian:

Reuters sets up social media guidelines — Reuters has published some social media guidelines in its handbook of journalism. Dean Wright, Reuters' global editor for ethics, innovation and news standards, announced the new guidelines yesterday. — While the guidelines encourage Reuters journalists …

Discussion: Thoughts of Nigel, Reuters, For the Record and Talking Biz News

Jon Fortt / Brainstorm Tech:

Top 5 moments from Eric Schmidt's talk in Abu Dhabi — Google CEO Eric Schmidt answered questions from attendees at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit. Photo: Jon Fortt — ABU DHABI - Google CEO Eric Schmidt's speech and Q&A here was probably the most popular event at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit …

Discussion: ITP.net

Associated Press:

China orders reporters trained in Marxist theory — BEIJING — China will toughen requirements for reporters by launching a new certification system that requires training in Marxist and communist theories of news, a media official said, citing problems with the current crop of mainland journalists.

Joe Strupp / Media Matters for America:

Former Los Angeles Times Scribes Launching Non-Profit Investigative Team — The latest non-profit news outlet aimed at investigative reporting may well be FairWarning.org. — The brainchild of former Los Angeles Times reporters Myron Levin and Joanna Lin, the outfit plans …

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Dylan Stableford / The Wrap:

Exclusive: CNN Developing New Morning-Show Pilot — CNN - which has been shuffling its weekend and evening lineups of late - is developing a new morning show pilot, with a format closer to MSNBC's “Morning Joe” and “Fox & Friends” than anything it has done, TheWrap has learned.

Discussion: The Wire, TVWeek.com, Chickaboomer and Inside Cable News

Karen Carmichael / American Journalism Review:

Investigations with Impact — The Huffington Post Investigative Fund aims to meld classic reporting with the power of the Web. — Karen Carmichael is an AJR editorial assistant. — Two months after its launch, the Huffington Post Investigative Fund published the story of Benjamin French …

Discussion: Romenesko and The Huffington Post

Noah Shachtman / Wired:

How Andrew Breitbart Hacks the Media — Andrew Breitbart has been waiting 45 minutes for a filet mignon. He drums his fingers on the table in this plush Italian restaurant off Times Square, a place where the media types he regularly trashes used to flaunt their expense accounts — back when they still had them.

Media Buyer Planner:

‘BusinessWeek’ Axes 25 Staffers — About 25 editorial staffers of Bloomberg BusinessWeek are being axed today. — The move follows a 22.4% drop in ad pages this year through its March 1 issue, according to the Mediaweek Monitor. — As the publication becomes more integrated with its new owner …

Discussion: Mediaweek, Silicon Alley Insider and FishBowlNY

Nick Bilton / Bits:

TV May Be the New Google Reader Play's Best Venue — Google announced an experimental Web browsing feature on Wednesday that it will offer as an alternative view to explore content on the Google Reader Web site. The company is touting its simlplicity, but the advantage may be in the highly visual way it displays information.

Discussion: PC World, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Official Google Reader Blog, The Official Google Blog and Guardian

Reuters:

Disney keeps ABC options open, including spin-off — (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Iger said on Wednesday the top U.S. media company is keeping its options open for dealing with TV network ABC and its struggling news division, including a spin-off.

Discussion: The Wire and Company Town

Douglas Quenqua / New York Times:

The Mouse That Roared: Turning to the Internet to Catch a Favorite TV Show — THERE are certain timeless truths about people who don't own a television, chief among them that they love to tell you they don't own a television. — These days, they are still out there, but they have rivals …

Discussion: Free Press

Newsosaur / Reflections of a Newsosaur:

Andreessen's not-so-hot idea for publishers — Marc Andreessen had a really good idea when he invented the first popular browser for the web, but his latest notion - that newspapers should walk away from a business grossing more than $30 billion a year - is just plain nutty.

Laura McGann / Nieman Journalism Lab:

What makes a nonprofit news org legit? Three other questions to separate journalism from advocacy — Last week, Jim Barnett raised a question about nonprofit journalism: What makes it legit? How do we know if a nonprofit news outlet shares the ideals and culture of traditional journalism …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

BBC:

Pink Floyd win EMI court ruling — Pink Floyd tracks may be removed from digital music services like iTunes after a High Court ruling went against record label EMI. — The band's latest record deal, signed before services like iTunes appeared, said their songs must not be sold individually without their permission.

Discussion: MediaMemo, Rolling Stone and Gizmodo

Joe Strupp / Media Matters for America:

Newsday, Union Trade Proposals, But Agreement ‘Still Far Off’ — Michael Amon, one of the leaders of the Graphic Communications Council of The Teamsters, which represents seven units at Newsday — including editorial — released an update Tuesday that declared both sides in the contract negotiations …

Discussion: FishBowlNY

Georgina Prodhan / Reuters:

AOL sees $20 bln opportunity in quality gap on Web — * CEO sees $20 bln opportunity in quality Web content — * Turnaround currently focused on simplifying technology — Newly independent Internet company AOL (AOL.N) is selectively hiring journalists and engineers after cutting a third …

Discussion: Bloomberg and Brainstorm Tech

Katy Bachman / Adweek:

Digital Ad Revenue to Rocket for Local Media — Digital revenue from mobile and Web platforms will grow at a 17.8 percent compound annual rate — The growth of digital advertising revenue for local TV and radio will outpace overall ad spending for those media between 2009 and 2014, according to a BIA/Kelsey study released yesterday.