Mediagazer: PUBLISH OR PERISH — Can the iPad topple the Kindle, and save the book business? (Ken Auletta/New Yorker)

10:30 PM ET, April 19, 2010

Top News:

Choire / The Awl:

How Much Gizmodo Paid for the Next iPhone: $5K Plus Bonus — Engadget said that the “finder” (who some are referring to as a “stealer") was charging to see the “lost” new iPhone—pictures of which were published on Gizmodo this morning. Tech blogger John Gruber said the phone was a …

Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:

How Apple Lost the Next iPhone — The Gourmet Haus Staudt. A nice place to enjoy good German ales. And if you are an Apple Software Engineer named Gray Powell and you get one too many beers, it's also a nice place to lose the next-generation iPhone. — The 27-year-old Powell …

Discussion: The Awl, L.A. Times Tech Blog, The Next Web, TUAW, Gawker, Edible Apple, Gadget Lab, Silicon Alley Insider, MacRumors and The Snitch

Jeff Bercovici / DailyFinance:
How Checkbook Journalism Gave Gizmodo Its iPhone Scoop

Discussion: CNET News, The Moderate Voice, Faster Forward, The Next Web and Fast Company

Ken Auletta / New Yorker:

PUBLISH OR PERISH — Can the iPad topple the Kindle, and save the book business? — On the morning of January 27th—an aeon ago, in tech time—Steve Jobs was to appear at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, in downtown San Francisco, to unveil Apple's new device, the iPad.

Discussion: Boing Boing, TeleRead and kottke.org

Steven Levy / Wired:

Steven Levy on Typos in the Kindle Age — Before a recent trip, I downloaded the latest Stephen Hunter novel to my Kindle. Hunter writes about shooters, so it's not surprising that the name of the book is I, Sniper. — Not that you'd know it from the title screen. The only words on that e-ink page were “I, Snipper.”

Discussion: TeleRead

Nat Ives / AdAge:

WSJ Plans to Pull No Punches in Turf War With New York Times — But Readership Numbers, Ad Dollars Suggest Fight for Crown Will Be Uphill Battle — Sources and notes: Circulation figures are according to Audit Bureau of Circulations audit reports covering 12 months ended Sept. 27, 2009.

Discussion: Media on HuffingtonPost.com, Romenesko, Nieman Journalism Lab, New York Magazine and Gawker

Wall Street Journal:

Is Internet Civility an Oxymoron? — Unmoderated, anonymous comments on Web sites create more noise than wisdom. — For those of us tempted to hope that new technology might improve human nature, the Web has proved a disappointment. The latest online reality: comment sections so uncivilized …

Discussion: Romenesko

John Temple / TEMPLE TALK:
Wall Street Journal column incorrect about Peer News in column …

Discussion: Fitz & Jen

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

Finalists in media reporting competition announced — Finalists announced in fourth annual Mirror Awards competition — Twenty-six finalists in seven categories have been named in the fourth annual Mirror Awards competition for excellence in media industry reporting.

Discussion: mirrorawards.syr.edu, CJR and The News About The News

Jay Yarow / The Wire:

Bloomberg Redesigns Website As It Tries To Kill The Journal — Say good-bye to the black and amber look of Bloomberg.com. — The financial news and data company completely redesigned the site, scrapping its black background for a traditional black text on a white screen look.

Discussion: paidContent, TechCrunch, WebNewser and MinOnline

David Kaplan / paidContent:
Bloomberg's Krim: Our Paywall Won't Be Like Everyone Else's

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Stephanie Clifford / New York Times:

People StyleWatch Gains as It Blurs Ad Lines — It may be a dreary time in the magazine business, but you wouldn't know it inside the offices of People StyleWatch, a bright spot in the industry. Here, on the 29th floor of the Time & Life building, it is girlie heaven …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Romenesko, Jezebel and Gawker

David Kaplan / paidContent:

AOL's Self-Serve ‘Ad Desk’ To Be Focal Point For Display Efforts — Two months after dropping hints about a new ad platform, AOL (NYSE: AOL) is now opening up beta testing for Advertising.com's “Ad Desk,” a self-serve display sales option aimed at agencies and marketers.

Discussion: AdAge

Jeff Bercovici / DailyFinance:

Did ‘Wall Street Journal’ Editor Fudge His Role in Sulzberger Photo Prank? — Rupert Murdoch's minions may have thought they were engaging in a bit of harmless fun when they used the face of Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The New York Times, in a photo illustration for a story …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Alexandra Fenwick / CJR:

Robot Journalism and the Future of Digital Media — More on Columbia's new dual degree in journalism and computer science — Starting in 2011, Columbia University will be offering a new combined degree between the journalism school and engineering school, which will aim to blaze a trail …

Discussion: Lost Remote

Richard Wray / Guardian:

Media consumption on the increase — Survey finds increase in number of hours public spends watching TV, playing video games and using the internet — People are watching more television, reading more news, playing more video games, spending more time updating their social networking profiles …

Discussion: Editors Weblog

New York Times:

The F.C.C. and the Internet — With the Internet fast becoming the most important communications channel, it is untenable for the United States not to have a regulator to ensure nondiscriminatory access, guarantee interconnectivity among rival networks and protect consumers from potential abuse.

Discussion: Technology Liberation Front and Post Tech

Gillian Reagan / The Wire:

CBS CEO Les Moonves Gets $43.2 Million For 2009 (CBS) — CBS Corp.'s CEO Les Moonves got a fat compensation package of $43.2 million for 2009, according to the company's SEC filing. On top of his $3.5 million salary, he pulled in a $15 million bonus, stock worth $7.6 million and stock options currently worth about $14.3 million.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and MediaWire Daily

Steve Myers / Poynter Online:

4 Questions for Nicholas Kristof about Technology and the Developing World — New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has feet in both the First and Third worlds. He's observed and written about poverty, crises and humans rights abuses around the world.

David Cay Johnston / TheWrap.com:

Daryl Gates: The Story the L.A. Times Didn't Tell — When Daryl Gates, who died on Friday, ran the LAPD from 1978 to 1992 he also ran a worldwide political spying operation. And he lavished time on it, sometimes several hours each day, including all the dossiers and reports he got …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Romenesko

New York Post:

NBC Universal execs Jeff Zucker and Ron Meyer feuding — It's a fight to the finish between NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker and Universal Studios President Ron Meyer as cable giant Comcast moves to buy NBC Universal from General Electric. — An e-mail sent recently to several reporters …

Discussion: MediaWire Daily and Chickaboomer

Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:

Microsoft Online Ad Exec Howe To Quit — Scott Howe, who oversees Microsoft's advertiser and publisher solutions group, is resigning—the latest former aQuantive executive to leave Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT). Microsoft says Howe is departing “to spend some quality time with his family …

Discussion: TechFlash

Bill Carter / New York Times:

For TBS and O'Brien, a Match Driven by Demographics — How did a channel like TBS — a cable channel without the prestige or marketing power of a broadcast outlet — manage to land Conan O'Brien's show? — Money and promises? No doubt. In the deal he made to move his late-night show to TBS …

Discussion: Company Town, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wire, MediaWire Daily and Signal vs. Noise

Lauren Goode / Digits:

Boxee, Roku Announcing Deals for Streaming Live Sports on TV — Watching live sports on television via the Web may have just gotten easier. … Starting Monday, Web-to-TV software company Boxee will distribute the National Hockey League's Game Center Live online video content.

Discussion: Boxee Blog

The Independent:

Stephen Glover: The future of the free press will rest on Murdoch making us pay — In a way, one can't blame Gordon Brown for saying that paywalls won't work. — In fact, to be precise, he seemed to be saying that they shouldn't work. In an interview last week with the Radio Times …

Discussion: Editors Weblog, FleetStreetBlues, George Dearing and Guardian

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Mail Online: 'Why We're Staying Free' — DMGT execs have been wooing shareholders at an investors day on Monday. We're not there, but DMGT has published all its slides online - they show a publisher determined to eschew Times Online's paid route by aggressively courting advertisers and eyeballs to remain largely free.