Mediagazer: Too many journalists ? — An unpleasant question … (Frédéric Filloux/Monday Note)

7:45 AM ET, July 12, 2010

Top News:

Mike / reddit:

reddit needs help — We've been kinda bummed at reddit these days. It seems like every week something comes up that slows performance to a crawl or even leads to a total site outage. And we almost never get a chance to release new features anymore. — Our four engineers — KeyserSosa …

Discussion: the Econsultancy blog, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, PC Magazine, AppScout, eMedia Vitals, Erictric and TechCrunch

Adrian Chen / Gawker:

Conde Nast's Largest Web Property Literally Begging Users for Money — Conde Nast's print properties aren't the only ones slowly dying, apparently. Now, popular user-driven news site Reddit, which Conde Nast bought in 2006, is asking users to donate money so the website can hire more staff.

Claire Cain Miller / New York Times:

Techmeme Offers Tech News at Internet Speed — SAN FRANCISCO — News lovers in Washington can't live without Mike Allen at Politico. Hollywood squabbles over the relative merits of Sharon Waxman's TheWrap versus Nikki Finke's Deadline. The newspaper industry reads the news collected by Jim Romenesko.

Discussion: Beet.TV, blackrimglasses and Alexia Tsotsis

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Jim Gray's LeBron James interview draws criticism for its soft questioning — Jim Gray, the veteran sportscaster who has a reputation as a tough interviewer, has drawn less than rave reviews for his gentle questioning of LeBron James about the basketball star's decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Discussion: New York Times, CNBC, Chickaboomer, Show Tracker, The Huffington Post and The Wire

Rich Thomaselli / AdAge:

How LeBron's Entourage Got His ‘Decision’ on ESPN — NBA Free Agent Hooked Up With Uber-Agent  Ari Emanuel for Show Touted as Ad ‘Paradigm’ — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — By now you've heard the offense against basketball star LeBron James' one-hour TV special to announce his team choice …

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

Too many journalists ? — An unpleasant question: Do we have an excess of daily press journalists? And, if so, how does the surfeit vary from country to country? — Two years ago, Earl Wilkinson, the managing director of the International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA) …

Discussion: Guardian

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Fox News's Bill Hemmer melds middle-of-the-road persona with conservative guest list — Bill Hemmer, a middle-of-the-road guy from the middle of the country, sees himself as the straightest of straight arrows when it comes to news. — “The opinion-makers on our channel have enormous talent …

Discussion: Inside Cable News

Eric Pfanner / New York Times:

News Agencies Stare Each Other Down in Shrinking German Market — PARIS — More than 20 years after the fall of the Wall, Berlin is taking a small step toward establishing itself as the media hub of Germany, as the country's biggest news agency and a newly reinvigorated rival consolidate their operations in the city this summer.

David Mitchell / Guardian:

Rupert Murdoch may be evil, but that doesn't mean his paywall is — The media mogul has been dismissed for introducing his Times paywall, but what if it actually works? — Rupert Murdoch is a pretty uncontroversial figure among people I know. Everyone agrees that he's a monstrous arsehole who wants to ruin everything for everyone.

Jon Friedman / MarketWatch:

Rachel Maddow is MSNBC's voice of reason — Rachel Maddow had barely arrived at our breakfast meeting when she turned the tables on me and asked a question. Apparently, something had puzzled her ever since I requested an interview a few weeks earlier. “Why would you want to talk to me? …

Discussion: TVNewser and Chickaboomer

Jennifer Mascia / New York Times:

A Web Site That's Not Afraid to Pick a Fight — When Jon Stewart announced on the June 29 episode of “The Daily Show” that “Jezebel thinks I'm a sexist,” some viewers may have been wondering: who exactly is Jezebel? — At least a million and a half people can answer that question …

Discussion: Politics Daily and Mediaite

Joanne Ostrow / Denver Post:

Local news finds itself more wanted than ever — but in new ways — A funny thing happened on the way to writing the obituary for the battered institution that is local TV news. — While the number of people sitting in front of the tube at 10 p.m. has declined consistently the past decade …