Mediagazer: At Sun Valley, brighter moods may not mean big deals (Paul Thomasch/Reuters)

6:30 PM ET, July 4, 2010

Top News:

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:

Independence day for newspapers — Today Journal Register, a newspaper company, declared its freedom from old publishing methods and old journalistic methods. The company's 18 dailies published today, July 4, using nothing but free, web-based tools. And they involved their communities in their journalism in new ways.

Discussion: Journal Register Company, Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog and Digital First

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Study of Waterboarding Coverage Prompts a Debate in the Press — A study released this week of the four biggest newspapers in the United States said that in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, there was “a dramatic shift in coverage away from nearly a century of practice recognizing waterboarding as torture.”

Discussion: Romenesko

the nytpicker:

As A NYT Reporter, Bill Keller Freely Used The Word “Torture” To Describe Interrogation Techniques In Other Countries. — If the word torture, rooted in the Latin for “twist,” means anything (and it means “the deliberate infliction of excruciating physical or mental pain to punish or coerce"), then waterboarding is a means of torture.

Discussion: Boing Boing

Kal Penn / The Huffington Post:

The “Hilarious” Xenophobia of Time's Joel Stein — I want to applaud Joel Stein for his hilarious account of Edison, New Jersey in his Time magazine article this week, “My Own Private India”; it is as unique and groundbreaking as Thomas Alva himself. — Were it not for the intelligent …

Discussion: Jezebel, Runnin' Scared and New York Magazine

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Why You'll Pay to Watch Ads on the iPhone and iPad — The new iAds that Apple (AAPL) launched yesterday are interesting. But they had better be: You're going to pay to see them. — This isn't news, exactly. But consider it a reminder: AT&T's (T) switch from an unlimited data plan …

Discussion: BUS YOUR OWN TRAY

Bill Mitchell / Poynter Online:

Getting Paid the British Ways: Pay Walls, Syndication, Meters — July is looking like a big month for pay walls, with The Times and Sunday Times erecting on Friday even bigger barriers than Gannett installed Thursday on three of its newspapers sites. — Steve Outing minces no words …

Discussion: SteveOuting.com

Iain / The Beta Blog:
Paywalls, discipline and game theory

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Guardian and Media Week

Paul Thomasch / Reuters:

At Sun Valley, brighter moods may not mean big deals — (Reuters) - As Rupert Murdoch, Bob Iger and other media honchos assemble in Sun Valley next week for some fly-fishing or white water rafting, spirits should be brighter than a year ago: stock prices are up by about a third, after all.

Steve Myers / Poynter Online:

Baristanet Expands Rapidly after New York Times Exits Hyperlocal in New Jersey — With The New York Times' decision this week to close its hyperlocal, community-driven blog in New Jersey after 16 months, the newspaper is ceding the space to a veteran that prides itself on being a homegrown, sassy source of local news and commentary.

Discussion: Metaprinter

Thom Shanker / New York Times:

Gates Tightens Rules for Military and the Press — WASHINGTON — Nine days after a four-star general was relieved of command for comments made to Rolling Stone magazine, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates issued orders on Friday tightening the reins on officials dealing with the news media.

Discussion: Guardian, Politics Daily, Big Journalism and The Huffington Post

Jane M. Von Bergen / Los Angeles Times:

How do people follow the World Cup? ESPN is interested — Researchers are using the tournament as a living laboratory to test how people consume sports. The results can help price advertising, deploy staffing resources and select broadcast times. — Reporting from Philadelphia …

Andrew Alexander / Washington Post:

Post policies fuel reader confusion on when writers can offer opinion — When she offers opinions on cable talk shows, Cathy Areu is sometimes identified as a contributing editor for The Washington Post Magazine. — On one program, she called Sarah Palin a “fearmonger.”

Discussion: Mediaite

Robert Andrews / paidContent:UK:

How Much Money Could The Times' Paywall Bring In? — For all the scepticism about The Timeses' paywalls, one must properly define what “success” would be for the project. Murdoch is not trying to re-invent all of web culture, and the papers know that their audience will be decimated.