Mediagazer: Israeli bill would ban freesheets (Leah McBride Mensching/Shaping …)

5:35 PM ET, May 31, 2010

Top News:

Paywall will prove a disaster for The Times — My resignation from The Times set out in the post below has understandably caused further debate in the blogsphere as to the rights and wrongs of their decision to erect a paywall around its content and charge admission to its members-only club.

Discussion: The Barrister Blog

Eric Pfanner / New York Times:

London Newspapers Challenge Web's Gratis Orthodoxy — PARIS — A strange thing happened when I checked out the new Web sites from The Times and Sunday Times of London: I read some of the stories. Not just the headlines, but entire articles — even a review of “Sex and the City 2,” a film I hope I never have to watch.

Peter Preston / Guardian:
Rupert Murdoch's paywall at the Times may not be a disaster

Discussion: Novel Copy

David Carr / New York Times:

The Media Equation: Bids for Newsweek Due This Week — This Wednesday at close of business, the first nonbinding letters of interest are due for Newsweek. — If I were at the Washington Post Company, which is selling the weekly after owning it for almost 50 years, I wouldn't be waiting at the mailbox.

Discussion: New York Observer

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

When politicians get caught, it's the media who catch the blame — In her moment of utter humiliation, exposed on videotape by a journalistic impersonator, Sarah Ferguson didn't blame the press. — That's a rarity these days. — The Duchess of York could have railed against the lying media …

Matthew Brown / Associated Press:

Media claim access to spill site has been limited — NEW ORLEANS — Media organizations say they are being allowed only limited access to areas impacted by the Gulf oil spill through restrictions on plane and boat traffic that are making it difficult to document the worst spill in U.S. history.

unc.news21.com: BP oil spill contract and letter cloud media access

Kevin J. O'Brien / New York Times:

Mobile TV's Last Frontier: U.S. and Europe — BERLIN — When South Korea plays Greece on June 12 in its World Cup soccer opener in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, life will not necessarily grind to a halt back in Seoul. — Many fans will instead follow a live broadcast of the match on their mobile phones.

Discussion: VentureBeat

Leah McBride Mensching / Shaping the Future …:

Israeli bill would ban freesheets — Israel's ministerial legislative committee is scheduled to vote on a bill this week that, if passed, would only allow newspapers to be published for free for one year, Newspaper Innovation reported. “...it is clear that the bill is aimed at Israel Today …

Stephanie Clifford / New York Times:

Town & Country Magazine Tries to Broaden Readership — Promoting $29,000 diamond and rubellite cuffs and $30,000 Louis XVI guéridons (a very expensive sort of side table), Town & Country magazine may seem to have gavotted through the recession. — But as society chroniclers know, appearances can be deceiving.

James Robinson / Guardian:

Dylan Jones: 'News is oxygen and it's a very crowded atmosphere' — The editor of GQ on his political connections, the importance of apps and why he loves the Hay festival — GQ editor Dylan Jones. Photograph by Linda Nylind — There is a framed copy of a Daily Mail front page …

Steve Outing:

Reader comments: It's time to make 'em civil — Have you been watching the Honolulu Civil Beat news experiment? That's the Hawaii news website edited by John Temple (former editor of the defunct Rocky Mountain News) and financed by Pierre Omidyar (founder of eBay).

Teddy Wayne / New York Times:

Online Buzz Doesn't Equate to Ratings — As might be expected for a series working toward its recent much-promoted finale, “Lost” generated the most engagement through social media of any show from February through April, according to Networked Insights, a social media analytics company.

Ivor Shapiro / J-Source:

Stackhouse: Globe and Mail will relaunch as daily magazine — Daily “news” papers are doomed by broken economic and reporting models, John Stackhouse told a forum at the Canadian Association of Journalists conference May 29. But the EIC of The Globe and Mail said he draws hope …

Discussion: Canadian Magazines

Charles Bierbauer / WIS-TV:

USC journalism dean talks ethics, credibility of blogs … COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - The claims this week from political blogger Will Folks that he had an “inappropriate physical relationship” with Rep. Nikki Haley raised the question of ethics and credibility for blogs.