Mediagazer: Initiative Will Seek New National Model For Investigative Journalism (Knight Foundation)

8:25 PM ET, March 22, 2010

Top News:

Rafat Ali / paidContent:

Local Blog Network Gothamist Being Bought by Cablevision's Rainbow Media — Gothamist, the local city blog network that is best known for its New York City edition, is being acquired by Cablevision-owned Rainbow Media, paidContent has learned. The price is between $5 million to $6 million …

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Lost Remote, WebNewser, Media Decoder, State of the Fourth Estate, Gawker, We Love DC, Runnin' Scared, New York Observer, FishBowlNY, New York Magazine and DealBook

Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:

Effort at Wall Street Journal to Attract More New Yorkers — Maybe newspapers really are dying, as some media analysts have been predicting for decades, but apparently that does not apply to newspaper wars. A doozy is shaping up at the moment between The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

Discussion: Editors Weblog, The Wire, Media Decoder, Fitz & Jen, Romenesko, Michael Calderone's Blog, Gothamist, City Room, Crain's New York Business, New York Observer, New York Times, New York Magazine and Gawker

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

Murdoch's Unhealthy Obsession — Taking on The New York Times isn't risk-free for the Journal — Richard Pérez-Peña has several interesting bits in his piece on the soon-to-commence Battle for New York between his own New York Times and Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal.

Media Buyer Planner:
WSJ's Attempt to ‘Kill’ New York Times Debuts April 12

Discussion: Media News International, The Wire, New York Observer and Fitz & Jen

Richard Perez-Pena / Media Decoder:

The Times Introduces a Daily Video Report — The New York Times on Monday began producing a daily video on its Web site, summarizing the big news stories of the day. — The program, called TimesCast, lasting a few minutes, will appear on the nytimes.com home page at 1 p.m. each day …

Discussion: The Wrap, Gawker, Silicon Alley Insider, BusinessJournalism.org …, Editor and Publisher and Agence France Presse

Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider:

TechCrunch Poaches Forbes Anchor To Launch Video Product — TechCrunch has hired former Forbes video anchor Evelyn Rusli to launch a Web video product, we've learned. — Beyond whatever video she makes for the site, we imagine she'll also represent TechCrunch on TV as well.

Discussion: TechCrunch

The Official Google Blog:

A new approach to China: an update — On January 12, we announced on this blog that Google and more than twenty other U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from China, and that during our investigation into these attacks we had uncovered evidence …

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Chinese Media On The Google Situation: Nothing To See Here, Move Along

Discussion: Guardian and All Things Digital

Media Decoder:

Perseus Signs an EBooks Deal for the iPad — Apple's iBookstore on the forthcoming iPad is set to get larger. The company has just signed a deal with the largest distributor of independent publishers to sell electronic versions of it books on the new device.

Discussion: Publishers Weekly, Silicon Alley Insider, The Stranger … and Electronista

New York Times:

The iPad App Derby Gets Under Way — It can be difficult to write software for a gadget without being able to touch it. But that has not stopped developers from rushing to create applications for the Apple iPad. — For small start-ups and big Internet and media companies alike, the iPad …

Discussion: Ars Technica, GMSV, New Yorker, paidContent, Silicon Alley Insider, Engadget, TeleRead, Online, Gizmodo, MediaMemo, TechFlash, VentureBeat and TUAW

Nielsen Wire:

Americans Using TV and Internet Together 35% More Than A Year Ago — Americans increased their overall media usage and media multitasking according to The Nielsen Company's latest Three Screen Report, which tracks consumption across TV, Internet and mobile phones.

Discussion: Reuters, Gawker, Podcasting News, Company Town, NewTeeVee, The Business Insider, The Live Feed | THR and Mashable!

Dave Itzkoff / ArtsBeat:

Fake Area Newspaper Gets Real Television Show — The Onion, the satirical news organization that broke the fake story that the smoke monster from “Lost” would receive its own spin-off series and cheekily reported that television critics who praised “The Wire” had never seen the show, is itself headed to the small screen.

Discussion: The Wire, Romenesko, New York Magazine and FishBowlNY

Knight Foundation:

Initiative Will Seek New National Model For Investigative Journalism — $400,000 grant from Knight Foundation will fund project at New England Center for Investigative Reporting — BOSTON — Boston University's New England Center for Investigative Reporting (NECIR) is launching a new initiative …

Discussion: KnightBlog

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Media Notes: Journalism's slide into health-debate weariness — It was the story that refused to die. — Sunday's last-gasp passage of President Obama's health care bill will finally liberate the journalists who have been chained to this complicated, arcane, often tedious story for 14 long months.

Discussion: The Wrap, Gawker, Reuters, FishBowlNY and New York Times

Cecilia Kang / Post Tech:

My chat with Google News founder, Krishna Bharat, with video — Krishna Bharat, the creator of Google News, has never been a journalist. Though he's often asked what is more important for the search giant's news site: editorial judgment or Google's famous attention to its algorithms.

Discussion: The Business Insider

Brian Steinberg / AdAge:

Online TV-Watching Becomes Interactive Experience — NBC to Unveil Video Viewer Placed Amid Brand-Sponsored Web Content — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Is a computer terminal like a movie screen? Well, for the past few years, TV networks and other purveyors of TV programs online have tried …

Discussion: WebNewser

Patricia Sheridan / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Bill Hemmer — Co-host of “America's Newsroom” on Fox News Channel, Bill Hemmer started his broadcast career as a sportscaster before being plucked from local markets to work as an anchor on various CNN programs, including “American Morning.”

Discussion: Romenesko and Inside Cable News

Steve Rosenbaum / The Wire:

Bob Garfield: Mad Prophet of Madison Avenue — Bob Garfield has spent most of his professional career in and among the makers of what is now mostly called “Old Media.” TV shows, magazines, television commercials, and advertising. — So when The Mad Prophet of Madison Avenue wandered …

Discussion: ChasNote and AdPulp

Stephen Castle / New York Times:

As the E.U. Does More, Fewer Tell About It — BRUSSELS — Winner of a prestigious award in her home country and fluent in three languages, Ina Strazdina is the most influential Latvian journalist in Brussels, the home of the European Union. — But even she admits that the competition is not too tough.

Jane Martinson / Guardian:

Elisabeth Murdoch on Shine, family succession and ambition — Interview: Elisabeth Murdoch reveals her plans for her independent producer, Shine — Elisabeth Murdoch sits down, eyes the voice recorder, and says “I have to be careful”. The head of Shine, the UK's largest independent producer …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

C.W. Anderson / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Don't forget: A few news orgs would still like to make aggregation opt-in — Remember all the way back to March 2009? Somali pirates roamed the ocean. The just-inaugurated President Barack Obama nominated Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Tiger Woods was happily married.

Frances Martel / Mediaite:

Hugo Chavez, Tired Of Oppressing Bloggers, Becomes One — Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is ready to find out what all the hype surrounding this “internet” thing is all about. Chavez announced on his weekend variety show Aló Presidente yesterday that he is about to expand his media empire …

Discussion: Dow Jones Newswires, Guanabee, Gawker, Associated Press and Reuters

Richard Prince's Journal-isms:

Viewers Peek at Politico's Diversity — or Not — Editor says camera shots, reputation mislead — Editor Says Camera Shots, Reputation Mislead — CNN took viewers Sunday to an editorial meeting at Politico, the buzz-creating Web-and-print operation that launched in Washington three years ago.

Discussion: Romenesko, CNN, Editors Weblog and Mediaite

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

Managing the magazine component of newspapers — This is the second part of a series about the evolution of print media. Part I here. — A few years ago, the founder of the French daily Liberation was asked what he would do if he had unlimited resources to run his paper: “I would do a magazine everyday”, he said.

Discussion: Editors Weblog

The Live Feed | THR:

Conan-Fox talks resume amid ‘Idol’ offer — After a two-week stall, Fox and Conan O'Brien have resumed talks about a potential late-night talk show fronted by the former “Tonight Show” host. — But a wrinkle in the courtship has emerged that involves the biggest show on television …