Mediagazer: NewsLabs folds just months after launch, regrets big promises to journalists (Jim Romenesko/Romenesko)

7:35 PM ET, June 29, 2010

Top News:

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Hulu Unveils Subscription Service For $9.99 a Month — Updated: 2:50 p.m.: Confirming what the entertainment world has been expecting for months, the online television Web site Hulu unveiled a subscription service on Tuesday, promising access to more episodes of TV shows to customers who pay $9.99 a month.

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Interview: Hulu's Kilar: Hulu Plus Preview Progamming Is ‘Just Step One’ — The launch of Hulu Plus takes the online video joint venture started by News Corp (NSDQ: NWS) and NBCU more than three years ago into a new realm of complexity and potential. CEO Jason Kilar spoke with paidContent …

Discussion: Ars Technica, PC World and The Huffington Post

Doug Aamoth / Techland:
Hulu Plus: Every Episode from Every Season for $10 Per Month

Discussion: NewTeeVee and paidContent

Andrew Breitbart / Big Journalism:

Reward: $100,000 for Full ‘JournoList’ Archive; Source Fully Protected — I've had $100,000 burning in my pocket for the last three months and I'd really like to spend it on a worthy cause. So how about this: in the interests of journalistic transparency, and to offer the American public …

Discussion: Felix Salmon, Vanity Fair, Media Matters for America, Ben Smith's Blog, Media Decoder, Mediaite, The Awl, Newsbroke, New York Observer, New York Magazine, Moe_Lane's blog, FishbowlDC and The Politico

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

NewsLabs folds just months after launch, regrets big promises to journalists — E-mails regarding the demise of NewsLabs — From: [Chief technology officer] Nathan Chong — As I'm sure you've noticed not much has been happening with the site recently. I'm very sorry to report that this is because NewsLabs is ending.

Discussion: The Awl, eMedia Vitals, The Metamorphosis and NetNewsCheck Latest

Nick Bilton / Bits:

Digital Magazines Don't Encourage Socializing — You've got to hand it to the magazine publishers. They continue to throw spaghetti against the iPad and other e-readers trying to see what will stick and what falls to the floor. — Most publishers are aggressively experimenting …

Discussion: BRANDING UNBOUND

John Koblin / New York Observer:

Conde Nast Dos or Don'ts: Special Editions and Movie Trivia Apps! — Two announcements out of 4 Times Square today, both of which the company hopes help move it ever so slowly into the future, even if these are concessions that would have been unimaginable to Si Newhouse and many editors within the company just two years ago.

Discussion: Crain's New York Business, Romenesko, Gawker and MinOnline

splicetoday.com:

New Media, Old Media, David Weigel's Firing, and Why Everyone is S**tting on Drudge — It's all pretty FUBAR. — Last week, the blogosphere lit up over the firing of blogger-reporter David Weigel at the Washington Post. Covering the conservative movement, Weigel was and is respected by partisans of all stripes.

Discussion: Scocca and The Washington Independent

Greg Marx / CJR:
Look at Us! — Lessons from the response to the David Weigel flap

Discussion: The Politico, Media Matters for America, Quote and Comment, Yahoo! News, The Daily Dish and Media Decoder

Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:
From Washington Post To NBCU: Dave Weigel Joins MSNBC As Paid Contributor

Discussion: Wonkette, The Huffington Post, The Wire and Chickaboomer

JP Mangalindan / Fortune:

Jeff Bezos's mission: Compelling small publishers to think big — In the face of Kindle price cuts and wild iPad sales, Jeff Bezos is taking Amazon into new markets and onto every device he can. Will it be enough? — Jeff Bezos has been dismissed before.

Discussion: TechCrunch, MediaPost, GalleyCat, iPad Weekly, Kindle Review, Electronista and New York Observer, more at Techmeme »

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Former Forbes.com Publisher Jim Spanfeller Has VC Money; New Sites on the Way — Former Forbes.com publisher Jim Spanfeller has a new gig: A venture-backed Web publishing start-up. — Spanfeller Media Group, which plans to launch a series of new sites, is close to finishing a funding round that I'm told will total around $2 million.

Discussion: paidContent, Romenesko, Folio, mediabistro.com and Media Buyer Planner

Zach Gottlieb / Epicenter:

In Online Media, Consumer Is King — Call it the billion dollar question of today's digital revolution: When it comes to online media, who's in charge? — Looking back on the first phase of the digital revolution, when big media companies chose to give away their content for free online, their system of power started breaking down.

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Sharron Angle, Camera-Shy Candidate, Shifts Coverage — RENO — There is a game in Nevada called “Where's Sharron Angle?” that the press is tired of playing. — Ms. Angle, a Nevada Senate candidate and Tea Party darling, has steadfastly refused to talk to reporters here …

Discussion: LocalNewser, The Caucus, The New Yorker Blog, Washington Monthly, The Daily Dish and The Corner on National …

CNN:

Statement from Larry King — Before I start the show tonight, I want to share some personal news with you. 25 years ago, I sat across this table from New York Governor Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast of Larry King Live. Now, decades later, I talked to the guys here at CNN and I told …

Discussion: Show Tracker

Katy Bachman / Adweek:

Branded Entertainment Set to Surge — Increased spending in the sector is expected to continue unabated — Branded entertainment marketing dipped for the first time in 2009, but it's forecast to roar back this year, according to PQ Media's new report on the industry released today.

Discussion: Media Decoder, MediaPost and Media Buyer Planner

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

Asbury Park Press blog launches coffeehouse newsroom — Freehold InJersey & Asbury Park Press Launch Coffeeshop Newsroom — FREEHOLD, NJ — Freehold InJersey, a community news blog run by the Asbury Park Press and Gannett, has launched a coffeeshop newsroom in conjunction with Zebu Forno Cafe in Freehold, New Jersey.

Discussion: Bylines and Deadlines, Freehold, the mojowire and Gannett Blog

Bob Warner / Philly.com:

Daily News, Inquirer sale plan OK'd by bankruptcy judge — A federal bankruptcy judge yesterday approved a plan to bring the Daily News and Inquirer out of Chapter 11 with a sale to a coalition of investment firms, willing to put up $105 million in cash for the newspapers and their Web site, Philly.com.

Discussion: Romenesko

Bloomberg:

Apple's Jobs Due to Attend Sun Valley Media Executive Retreat — Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is due to attend the annual Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, giving him a chance to court executives he needs to add content to his company's products.

Discussion: Company Town and Silicon Alley Insider

Michael Miner / Chicago Reader:

Alison Draper on Alison True — Alison Draper, publisher of the Reader, has talked a little with me about the decision she and Creative Loafing CEO Marty Petty came to to fire this paper's editor, Alison True. “It was made with tremendous thought, and regardless of my personal feelings …