Mediagazer: Mayhill Fowler goes from new media star to old news (James Rainey/Los Angeles Times)

Randeep Ramesh / Guardian:

Google news tax could boost local papers, report says — Commission of inquiry calls for levies to promote new media, warning that too few interests control too many outlets — Google and other websites that carry news they do not produce should be taxed and the money generated used to prop …

New York Times:

Vast F.C.C. Plan Would Bring Net to More in U.S. — The Federal Communications Commission is proposing an ambitious 10-year plan that will reimagine the nation's media and technology priorities by establishing high-speed Internet as the country's dominant communication network.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Silicon Alley Insider and Gizmodo

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

Mayhill Fowler goes from new media star to old news — As a citizen journalist, her report rocked President Barack Obama's presidential campaign. She has an e-book on her experience. — What does it mean to be the most famous citizen journalist in the world? Mayhill Fowler has discovered it can be a rough ride.

Discussion: Romenesko

Nielsen Wire:

February Online Video Usage Up More Than 10% Over Last Year — The number of unique viewers of online video increased 10.5% year-over-year, according to The Nielsen Company, from 127.6 million unique viewers in February 2009 to 141 million in February 2010.

Discussion: Podcasting News, fierceonlinevideo.com …, Online Video News and Beet.TV

Gillian Reagan / The Wire:

Daily Beast's Tina Brown On Creating A ‘Subculture Of Impoverished Writers’ (IACI) — “We do pay for content on the Daily Beast but,” Daily Beast's Tina Brown told Charlie Rose last night, “you're not gonna get rich on what we pay.” — Brown was on Rose's PBS show to push the Beast's Women in the World Summit, which starts today.

Discussion: Charlie Rose

Natasha Vargas-Cooper / The Awl:

The Night Lady Gaga Blew Up the Internet with ‘Telephone’ — Natasha: Can I ask you something? — Choire: Yes! — Natasha: Do you ‘get it’? — Natasha: Like Gaga overall. — Choire: I *largely* get it. I mean, obviously I groove on the, I guess, excitement level?

Discussion: Company Town, Welt Branding, The Atlantic Online, FishBowlLA, ScribeMedia.org, /Film and E! Online

Simon Singh / Guardian:

This is goodbye — Being sued for libel is not only ruinously expensive, writes Simon Singh, it takes over your whole life. Which is why this will be his last column — Almost a year after writing my first column for this site, I would like to welcome you to my final article.

Discussion: Geekosystem

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

@ SXSWi: Ronen And Cuban Go Live With Pay TV-Internet Debate — Mark Cuban and Avner Ronen met in person for the first time just before their Pay TV vs. Internet debate here at South by Southwest Interactive—about 20 minutes before their session was interrupted by a fire alarm.

Discussion: The Social

Claudia Eller / Company Town:

Disney to close Bob Zemeckis' digital film studio, laying off hundreds — In a cost-savings move, Walt Disney Studios is shutting down director and producer Robert Zemeckis' ImageMovers Digital studio in Marin County, which employs 450 people. Those employees will be phased out over the course …

Discussion: Deadline.com, Variety, The Wrap, /Film, Media Decoder, The Wire, The Hot Blog and New York Magazine

David Kaplan / paidContent:

SEC Watch: Top NYTCo Execs' Wages Soar — While the NYTCo (NYSE: NYT) struggled under the weight of economic pressures and debt last year, top execs personally did pretty well, even as the company reduced its newsroom by 100 staffers. As the company's recent Q4 results showed …

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, FishBowlNY and The Huffington Post

Discussion: Fitz & Jen, Gawker and Romenesko

Hollywoodreporter / The Live Feed | THR:

‘Marriage Ref’ falls to third place (video) — NBC's midseason shows continue to slip from their Olympic-fueled debuts. On Thursday, the second week of “The Marriage Ref” (6 million viewers, 2.7 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) declined 21% in the ratings, falling from first to third place in the competitive hour.

Discussion: The Wrap, Variety, Broadcasting & Cable and Movieline

Peter Bart / Variety:

Rupert Murdoch: the king of media paradoxes — Succession comes second to success at News Corp. — Rupert Murdoch turned 79 on March 11, and even as he made the rounds of a few elite Oscar parties and flashed an occasional (very rare) smile, his friends acknowledged that, while he looks his age, he doesn't act it.

Discussion: Romenesko

Gabriel Madway / MediaFile:

IPad pre-orders begin, and so does the speculation — Apple began accepting pre-orders for the iPad tablet this morning, around three weeks ahead of the April 3 launch date in the U.S. Only the WiFi version of the tablet will be available on that date, with the 3G version shipping later in April.

Discussion: paidContent, Brainstorm Tech and MinOnline

Discussion: Reportr.net, Shaping the Future …, paidContent and Sands Media Services