Mediagazer: Media heavies getting into restaurant business (New York Post)

Media heavies getting into restaurant business — NBC's Dan Abrams, founder of Mediaite.com, and Dave Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men's Health, are getting into the restaurant business. The two bachelors, who share a Hamptons mansion each summer, are investing in the West Ninth Street location that used to be Village.

Discussion: mediabistro.com, New York Magazine and Chickaboomer

David Kaplan / paidContent:

FT Deal With Foursquare Lets Users ‘Unlock’ Paywall — The Financial Times' metered online paywall system is considered one of the more successful models, but a new partnership with location-based social net Foursquare is aimed at younger readers who are most resistant to paywalls.

Discussion: TeleRead

Adrian Chen / Gawker:

The ‘Full Version’ of The Wikileaks Video Is Missing 30 Minutes of Footage — Wikileaks' most compelling aspect is its ability to dig up the raw data behind the scandals it exposes. You can't argue with documents produced by the culprits themselves! That's why 30 minutes of missing footage in their helicopter video matters.

Discussion: CJR and The Jawa Report

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

Gannett, Zell use little-known program to keep flights secret — USA Today published a version of this article in collaboration with ProPublica, but doesn't mention in its main piece that parent Gannett has blocked its corporate jet. A spokeswoman says the company shields its flights mostly …

Discussion: Politics Daily, USA Today and Gannett Blog

Alex Pham / Los Angeles Times:

NBC.com enlists the Filter to figure out what visitors to its site want to watch — The recommendation service, partly funded by rocker Peter Gabriel, tries to figure out the tastes of each person based on digital clues. — Call it tele-psychic. — NBC.com is deploying a technology …

Claire Cain Miller / Bits:

Twitter Acquires Atebits, Maker of Tweetie — Twitter, which has flourished thanks to tools built by outside developers, is taking more of those tools under its own wing. In a move that is sure to rattle its developers, Twitter has agreed to acquire Atebits, the start-up that makes …

Discussion: GigaOM, paidContent, Mashable!, Twitter Blog, VentureBeat, Geekosystem, Scripting News and Gizmodo

Rich Gordon / E-Media Tidbits:

Reviving Obituaries, Death Notices Before it's Too Late — The Newspaper Association of America's annual conference (MediaXchange) starts Sunday, and some newspaper executives attending the event will be talking about death — that is, obituaries and death notices.

Discussion: Journalistopia

Holly Yeager / CJR:

“And now, more than 4,000 posts later...” — More tales from the journalism hamster wheel — A funny thing is happening right now on Michael Calderone's Politico blog: nothing. — That's because Calderone, prolific chronicler of the “political media,” signed off this week …

Discussion: Mediaite and The Wire

Discussion: Mother Jones, The New Republic and Politics Daily

NY Daily News:

Suspect's mother faults Fox News for son's threats against Pelosi — SAN FRANCISCO - Gregory Giusti, charged with making threatening calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, cried Thursday during his first court appearance. — The suspect's mom, Eleanor Giusti, said her son may have gotten worked …

Discussion: New York Magazine and Chickaboomer

Editor and Publisher:

‘Philadelphia Inquirer’ Web Site Launches ‘Fantasy’ Sports Betting that Pays Real Money — CHICAGO The Philadelphia Inquirer's Web site, Philly.com, has become the first newspaper to offer online sports betting in the United States. — In a partnership with FanDuel, a British online betting company …

Bill Mitchell / Poynter Online NewsPay:

Gene Roberts: Newsrooms Must Tell Their Own Cutback Stories for Democracy's Sake — Gene Roberts said Thursday that American news organizations have an obligation tell a story they've been sitting on for too long: the consequences to democracy of the budget-driven cutbacks in their news coverage.

Discussion: Romenesko

Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:

Paywall Brigade: The Newspapers That Now Charge For Online Access — In the mid-90s, at least 45 U.S. newspapers charged for online access, though almost all of them later hopped over the fence to the free side. Now, the paywall brigade is rising again—albeit slowly.

Discussion: Romenesko

Financial Times:

Google accused of YouTube ‘free ride’ — By Andrew Parker in London and Richard Waters in San Francisco — Some of Europe's leading telecoms groups are squaring up for a fight with Google over what they claim is the free ride enjoyed by the technology company's YouTube video-sharing service.

Discussion: Mashable!