Mediagazer: New York Times' Public Editor Looking Into Blumenthal Coverage (Joe Strupp/Strupp)

2:25 PM ET, May 21, 2010

Top News:

FTC Closes its Investigation of Google AdMob Deal — After Thorough Review, Agency Finds Transaction Not Likely to Harm Competition — The Federal Trade Commission has closed its investigation of Google's proposed acquisition of mobile advertising network company AdMob after thoroughly reviewing …

Discussion: The Official Google Blog, New York Times, paidContent, Relevant Results, Silicon Alley Insider, Fortune, DailyFinance, GigaOM, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, BoomTown, TechCrunch, Tech Daily Dose, Mashable!, Globe and Mail, ReadWriteWeb and Search Engine Land

Thomas Catan / Wall Street Journal:

Bloggers Aim Posts at Regulators — WASHINGTON—U.S. trustbusters have set their sights on Silicon Valley, with a growing number of investigations targeting possible anticompetitive behavior by technology companies. Now they are having to deal with an unexpected consequence …

Discussion: mediabistro.com

Omar / The Life and Times of AdMob:

Working with Google to move mobile advertising forward — We are extremely pleased with the FTC's decision today to clear Google's acquisition of AdMob. Over the past six months we've received a great deal of support from across the mobile industry - and we deeply appreciate it.

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Exclusive: PaidContent Founder Ali to Depart Pioneering Digital News Site — PaidContent's Rafat Ali, who turned a one-man Web site into a must-read hub for digital media news, is leaving the company he founded eight years ago. — Sources said Ali has told co-workers he will leave the company …

Discussion: Romenesko, Gawker, paidContent, Guardian and Silicon Alley Insider

Rafat Ali / paidContent:

On To Life 2.0 — In the end, all things do come to an end. The good and bad part is, it is never a definite marker, but all part of a process. And so it has been for me. After pouring exactly eight years of my life and a lifetime into this, I am leaving ContentNext and paidContent in early July.

Rafat Ali / paidContent:

Newsweek Sale Book: First Bids Due By June 2; Complete Financials — When the Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) announced that Newsweek was for sale, the top-line numbers we pulled out of SEC documents weren't new but they were stark. The first-quarter earnings released a couple of days later highlighted the rationale.

Discussion: New York Observer and eMedia Vitals

New York Observer:

Meet Vinnie Rotondaro, The J-School Grad Who Scored a Prokhorov Exclusive — Russian billionaire and new Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov was in extremely high demand among reporters on his tour through New York this week. At a press conference on Wednesday, which lasted almost an hour …

Discussion: The Brooklyn Ink, Runnin' Scared and Curbed NY

Joe Pompeo / Silicon Alley Insider:

Meet Andrew Golis, The 26-Year-Old Behind Yahoo's Newsiest 57 Million Page Views (YHOO) — Ever since Yahoo! News started putting together an all-star team of journalists earlier this year, we've been curious about its plans. — For the first time, Yahoo! News actually has full-time beat writers …

Discussion: Romenesko

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

E-Books Rewrite Bookselling — NEW YORK—In the massive new Barnes & Noble superstore on Manhattan's Upper East Side, generous display space is devoted to baby blankets, Art Deco flight clocks, stationery and adult games like Risk and Stratego. — The eclectic merchandise …

Megan Garber / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The programmer majored in English: A fascinating study of the NYT's Interactive News unit — At the University of Texas's International Symposium on Online Journalism conference last month, a series of academics presented papers on the future of news. There's great stuff, including …

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

As CNN Considers Prime-Time Changes, Spitzer's Name Is Mentioned — As CNN scrambles to replace Campbell Brown on its wounded prime-time lineup, the most intriguing name purportedly on the channel's list is that of Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced former governor of New York.

Discussion: TVWeek.com, DealBook, Politics Daily, Company Town, Romenesko, Movieline, Chickaboomer, TVNewser and Inside Cable News

Jason Horowitz / Washington Post:
Will Eliot Spitzer land at CNN or host for another news outlet?

Discussion: Politics Daily, MediaPost, Most Recent Home Page Posts …, TVNewser, Romenesko, mediabistro.com, AllAccess.com, Inside Cable News and New York Observer

Joe Strupp / Strupp:

New York Times' Public Editor Looking Into Blumenthal Coverage — As the criticism grows over The New York Times coverage of U.S. Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, specifically claims that the Times did not offer a full version of a video in which Blumenthal falsely claimed …

Discussion: On Media's Blog, Runnin' Scared, Media Matters for America, Most Recent Home Page Posts … and The Daily Caller

the nytpicker:
Ignore The Rumblings. …

Discussion: New York Times, New York Observer and TPMMuckraker

Robert Andrews / paidContent:UK:

James Murdoch: Surprised By Schmidt, Search Sites Should Give Us Answers — His father took a seat - next to News International CEO Rebekah Brooks and her new iPad - to hear News Corp (NYSE: NWS) EMEA CEO James Murdoch broaden the pay-for-news debate in to a grand call to salvage the sustainability …

Discussion: Guardian, paidContent, Press Gazette and Editors Weblog

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Google Buys Simplify Media To Power Music Syncing For New iTunes Competitor — Google just announced that it bought Simplify Media, a startup that offers software that lets you share your iTunes music across platforms, including the web. — The software lets you share your photos …

Discussion: PC World, blogs.ft.com, Fortune, Lifehacker, paidContent, MediaPost and ReadWriteWeb

Oliver Luft / Press Gazette:

T/M digital head: Chasing audience is editorial prostitution — Trinity Mirror digital content director, Matt Kelly, said yesterday newspapers wouldn't be able to successfully charge online for general news and instead needed to look at more creative solutions to recoup lost revenues.

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Sarah Hartley / Guardian:

Simon Waldman: ‘A time of change and opportunity for journalists’ — The JEEcamp unconference event in Birmingham hears some lessons journalists can learn from big business — Journalists taking an entrepreneurial approach are living through a time of great change but also new opportunities …

Discussion: Online Journalism Blog

Ruth Gledhill / Times Online:

‘Articles of Faith’ translates to heart of great paywall debate — Watch The Times' digital director Gurtej Sandhu debate paywalls at the Frontline Club last night. — So will you pay or won't you? I hope enough of you do. There has been much speculation about how the new paywall will work.

Discussion: One Man and His Blog