Top News:
David Carr / Media Decoder:
Google's Newspass: Is the King of Free About to Help News Providers Get Paid? — On Thursday, word seemed to quietly leak out, in Italian no less, that Google would soon unveil a one-click payment system for content called “Newspass.” — According to the newspaper La Repubblica, Google …
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Media Decoder:
Arthur Brisbane Is Times's New Public Editor — The New York Times announced today that Arthur Brisbane, a longtime journalist, will become its new public editor. Here's an edited draft of the memo sent out by the company:
David Teather / Guardian:
Losses on social networks hit £1bn — Facebook is still a winner but Bebo, MySpace and Friends Reunited show the high price of investing in fickle trends — The media industry has now lost $1.5bn (£1bn) on investments in the social networking craze after AOL sold Bebo last week …
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Increasingly, nonprofits fill a need for investigative reporting — In a seventh-floor conference room festooned with framed articles and journalism awards, Managing Editor Gordon Witkin leads the morning discussion of stories his staff is pursuing. — Their latest scoop …
Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:
Le Monde on The Brink — Within two weeks, the French newspaper Le Monde will run out of cash. By this Monday at noon, candidates to the takeover of the most prestigious French daily will have disclosed their offers. By June 28, the staff will vote and make the final decision for the fate of the 66 years-old paper.
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Alex Weprin / TVNewser:
It's Official: CNN Drops AP Subscription — As TVNewser first reported earlier this month, CNN is dropping its subscription to the Associated Press, effective immediately. — CNN's own newsgathering operation will be the primary source of content on CNN, CNN.com and CNN Radio.
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David Carr / New York Times:
Larry King's Endgame at CNN — At the beginning of June, CNN's Larry King celebrated 25 years in the same slot on the same network — a remarkable achievement in a come-and-go business — and was joined over a week by Bill Gates, LeBron James and the leader of the free world to mark the occasion.
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Mediaite, Romenesko, Company Town, The Wire, Beehive City, Inside Cable News, Chickaboomer, The Huffington Post and New York Magazine
Steve Myers / Mobile Media:
New York Times Designer Argues for Launching iPad App with Limited Features — Apple promotes the iPad as practically unlimited in its potential to reshape how we consume media. No wonder many responded tepidly to some media apps, with complaints about how little they do or how much they resemble their print ancestors.
Michael Wolff / Newser:
Tony Judt: Did He Make It Up? — Tony Judt has become perhaps Israel's leading Jewish critic. He is, to me, among its most eloquent and logical. I'd argue he's one of the few original left-wing writers—the last of the intellectual rather than the programmatic left.
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Runnin' Scared
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Joe Ciarallo / PRNewser:
Fake Press Releases Continue to Cause Problems for News Wires — Just last week, General Mills was affected by a fake press release issued on PRNewswire that said, “Obama Orders Full Investigation of General Mills Supply Chain Following Food Recalls.” — This past Friday …
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WebNewser
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Dylan Stableford / TheWrap.com:
Portal Predicament: No One Hangs Around Anymore — Before the Internet could finish off newspapers, the pillars of the digital age are already suffering their own slide. Portals Yahoo!, MSN and AOL — for years the largest source of traffic on the web — are seeing recent dropoffs in visitors …
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
On Web Video, Captions Are Coming Slowly — The actress Marlee Matlin shimmied her way onto “Dancing With the Stars” two years ago, memorably using sign language to tell viewers to “read my hips.” But when Ms. Matlin, who is deaf, went to ABC.com to watch a replay of the show …
Martin Fackler / New York Times:
Ink Gushes in Japan's Media Landscape — TOKYO — For years, the online newspaper JanJan News mounted a scrappy challenge to Japan's blandly conformist press, offering articles written by readers who took on taboo subjects like whaling and the media's collusion with the government.
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Guardian
David Kaplan / paidContent:
Interview: Gannett Holds Off On Charging for USAT iPad App—For Now — During Gannett's last earnings call, CEO Craig Dubow said the company would introduce a subscription model for its USA Today iPad app just after July 4. Of course, Dubow made that statement about two weeks after the iPad's release …
Jim Barnett / Nieman Journalism Lab:
What makes a nonprofit news org “legit”? Here's one six-fold path — Back in February, I posted an essay in this space posing the question: What makes a nonprofit news organization legitimate? It's a question that nonprofits and their critics have been wrestling with for some time now.
Steve Smith / minonline.com:
Bloomberg.com Re-Launches, Waves Free Content Banner — The financial news service and owner of Bloomberg Businessweek re-launched its main business news and information site this morning and claimed to be making a stand for free, ad-supported content models.
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Local Broadcasters Are Fearful of an NBC-Comcast Deal — Comcast, the nation's biggest cable provider, has long played hardball with competitors and content providers. Now that it is seeking control of NBC Universal in a $30 billion transaction, those competitors are piping up …
Joe Pompeo / The Wire:
David Simon: 'The Huffington Post Doesn't Mean Sh#t To The Average American' — There's been a lot of talk lately—this website included—about The Huffington Post's rising web traffic and revenue prospects. — HuffPo is now getting around 13 million uniques a month (as of March).
John Koblin / New York Observer:
Sources: Conde Nast to Revive Gourmet Brand — Earlier this year, we told you how Conde Nast was considering licensing some of its brands. This is an idea that had been on the table for years, but Si Newhouse always frowned upon it (why cheapen your brand and take focus off the printed magazine?).
AdAge:
‘Power Eye’ Lets Consumers Know Why That Web Ad Was Sent to Them — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Starting this week, AT&T, American Express, Microsoft and dozens of other major marketers will pull the veil off their web ads and show consumers what's inside. It's the first trial of what some hope …
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Margaret Sullivan / Buffalo News:
Seeking a return to civility in online comments — Some editors were sitting in a news meeting one morning not long ago, bemoaning the often outrageous, intolerant and hateful online “comments” attached to stories on The News Web site, when News Business Editor Grove Potter uttered a simple but eloquent truth:
Alex Weprin / WebNewser:
Aol Wants a Peek at Confidential Comcast-NBCU Filings — Today, June 21 is the last day for companies and individuals to file comments with the FCC on the proposed Comcast-NBC Universal merger. — In between dozens of letters of support and opposition filed to the commission today were a pair …
Dan Levy / Sparksheet:
Beyond the Media: Q&A with Bob Garfield — You've led parallel careers as an advertising columnist and media critic - and we now find ourselves in a world where the two are converging. Why are you giving up the AdReview right when things are getting interesting? — Well, for several reasons.