Mediagazer: On cable TV and talk radio, a push toward polarization (Michael Smerconish/Washington Post)

Google News experiments with human control, promotes a new serendipity with Editors' Picks — Late this afternoon, Google News rolled out a new experiment: Editors' Picks. Starting today, a small percentage of Google News users will find a new box of content with that label …

Discussion: GigaOM, Mashable!, Romenesko, eMedia Vitals, Silicon Alley Insider, NetNewsCheck Latest, Search Engine Land and The Next Web

Matt McGee / Search Engine Land:

Google Testing New Google News Home Page (With Sharing Options) — This never happens to me. Until now. While writing my earlier piece, Google News Tests Editors' Picks, I went to Google News on the off-chance that I'd be able to see the “limited test” of editors' picks. Nope. As expected.

Discussion: The Next Web and Silicon Alley Insider

Brian Steinberg / AdAge:

Broadcast Upfront Finishes Between $8.1B and $8.7B — TV Ekes Out Gain Over Last Year As NBC Universal Wraps Talks Including Cable — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Advertisers have committed between $8.1 billion and $8.7 billion to the five broadcast networks' coming program schedules …

Discussion: Media Money …

Discussion: AdAge

Joe Pompeo / The Wire:

Newsmax Boss Chris Ruddy Says He'd Make Newsweek Profitable In 18 Months, Bring Back Michael Isikoff — Of all the official Newsweek suitors that have been confirmed since the first bids for the money-bleeding magazine were filed on June 2, the one that's raised the most eyebrows is Newsmax Media …

Discussion: Romenesko

Goatse SecurityGoatse Security:

On disclosure ethics — There's some buzz about that the FBI is getting involved with this iPad email leak. Sean Sullivan at F-Secure said “the disclosure was completely irresponsible.” AT&T says we never contacted them. I want to make some things clear.

Discussion: CNET News, Wall Street Journal, Silicon Alley Insider and MacRumors

Discussion: NY Daily News

Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:

E-Reader Maker IRex Files For Bankruptcy — Is the e-reader market about to get less crowded? E-Reader maker IRex Technologies has filed for bankruptcy, citing disappointing sales of its consumer device in the U.S. CEO Hans Brons tells a Dutch financial publication that sales of the company's iRex DR800SG …

Discussion: Publishers Weekly, MediaMemo and Editors Weblog

Yinka Adegoke / Reuters:

Disney, News Corp target post-World Cup soccer wins — * ESPN to increase coverage of soccer next season — * Fox Soccer's premium channel offers more live matches — Soccer, the No. 1 sport in most of the world, is finally getting a big roll on U.S. television.

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Times, Company Town and Hollywood Reporter

Discussion: Company Town, Variety, Gizmodo and Voices on All Things Digital

Steven Pinker / New York Times:

Mind Over Mass Media — NEW forms of media have always caused moral panics: the printing press, newspapers, paperbacks and television were all once denounced as threats to their consumers' brainpower and moral fiber. — So too with electronic technologies. PowerPoint, we're told, is reducing discourse to bullet points.

Michael Smerconish / Washington Post:

On cable TV and talk radio, a push toward polarization — Any conversation about political polarization would be incomplete without a look at the media's role in shaping opinions. From my view on the front lines, I have seen a rapid escalation of extreme dialogue — sadly, something sure to guarantee high ratings.

Discussion: Mediaite, Romenesko, Media Matters for America and Inside Cable News

Eliot Van Buskirk / Epicenter:

Feds Laid Foundation for Apple/Google Mobile Ad Feud — Google's AdMob served far more ads to Apple iOS devices than to Google Android devices in April, the last month for which it released numbers (chart courtesy of AdMob). — Apple has invited the ad networks of the world to serve ads within apps …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Oddly Together, Computerworld and Daring Fireball

Jaeyeon Woo / Digits:

A Record Deal via YouTube and iPhones — Kim Yeo-hee, the 22-year-old South Korean known on YouTube as “applegirl002,” is making the leap from viral video sensation to recording star. — Ms. Kim three months ago joined legions of wannabe singers by putting up a homemade video on YouTube.

Discussion: VideoNuze

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Marketing Venture From Bateman and Arnett Takes Off With Orbit — The comedians Will Arnett and Jason Bateman are introducing their first videos created in concert with brands, five months after announcing DumbDumb, something they call a “sponsor-driven advertising and production company.”

Discussion: paidContent, Silicon Alley Insider, AdAge, The Wrap, ClickZ and make the logo bigger

Foster Kamer / Runnin' Scared:

Media Moves: Felix Gillette Leaves the New York Observer for Bloomberg BusinessWeek — Via his Twitter, one-third of New York Observer's Media Mob, the very talented Felix Gillette, will be leaving the Observer for the incredibly shiny Bloomberg BusinessWeek, where he will get to work in a “literally awesome” office.

Chris Woodyard / USA Today:

Chevrolet exec who wrote memo smiling about ‘Chevy’ debate — Few things thrill marketing executives more than having their brand be the day's hot topic of conversation that day, and not in a bad way. — There also are few things that would make one less thrilled than having a memo …

Michele McLellan / rjionline.org:

Part 2 - Community drives mission — Online community news publishers say enabling comments on stories and blogs is the best way to engage community around their content. — “Those conversations drive what is important to us,” said Polly Kreisman, an Emmy-winning broadcast journalist …

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Newsonomics of tablet ad readiness — [Each week, our friend Ken Doctor — author of Newsonomics and longtime watcher of the business side of digital news — writes about the economics of the news business for the Lab.] — Are you ready to receive? That's the question news company …

Discussion: Newsonomics and eMedia Vitals

Kevinweil / Twitter Blog:

More Than Dabbling — Every day millions of people use Twitter to create, share and discover information, and as we grow, analytics becomes an increasingly crucial part of improving our service. — Up until about a year ago, we used an online database called Dabble DB to track and share information about our projects internally.

Discussion: Mashable!, The Social, ReadWriteWeb, The Next Web, MediaPost, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Computerworld, paidContent, Silicon Alley Insider, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and GigaOM

Foster Kamer / Runnin' Scared:

The New York Post's Exile Insanity (Updated) — Reports today surfaced from Gawker that the New York Post is having some staffing issues. And by “staffing issues” we mean “are losing high-profile reporters due to the crumbling civility of the volatile Post management and competing offers.”

Discussion: New York Magazine

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Romenesko, New York Observer and New York Magazine