Mediagazer: Paywalls encroach on Alphaville (Felix Salmon)

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Appeals Court Strikes Down Indecency Rule — A United States appeals court tossed out the indecency policy of the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, calling it a violation of the First Amendment. — An appeals panel said the F.C.C. policy was “unconstitutionally vague …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, rbr.com, BuzzMachine, New York Times, The Wire, Crain's New York Business, Technology Liberation Front, New York Magazine, Techdirt, Media Access Project, Company Town, Washington Monthly and Slashdot

Curtis Brainard / CJR:

A Second Chance — How mobile devices can absolve journalism of its original sin: giving away online content — 1 Talk to people who are into mobile reading devices like the Kindle and the iPad, and a scene from the movie Minority Report tends to come up. Tom Cruise, who is on the run from the law, is on a train.

Discussion: Romenesko and Kirk LaPointe's …

Media Decoder:

Piers Morgan a Step Closer to ‘Larry King’ Chair — Piers Morgan, the mean judge on NBC's “America's Got Talent,” is poised to take over Larry King's coveted time slot on CNN, thanks to an imminent deal between the two media giants that own the channels. — NBC, which attracts 20 million viewers to …

Discussion: The Wrap, The Huffington Post and Inside Cable News

Nathan Heller / Slate:

The genius of the Wise and Cranky Kaplan Twitter feeds. Plus: Their authors, revealed. — Beyond the known forces conspiring to make a pigeon of an honest editor these days—the bottom line, the top brass, slide shows of dogs, Rupert Murdoch—there is, lately, the added fear …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

Mother Jones reports 125% increase in unique visitors in 2Q — Mother Jones traffic and digital revenue soar to record levels in 2Q 2010 — Mother Joneswhich just won its second National Magazine Award for General Excellence in three yearsreported today that its investigative reporting …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Cory Doctorow / Guardian:

Reports of blogging's death have been greatly exaggerated — Blooging is not on the way out - it's just that other social media have taken over many of its functions — A report last month in the Economist tells us that “blogging is dying” as more and more bloggers abandon the form for its cousins …

John Timmer / Ars Technica:

Citizen journalism not making up for loss of local newspapers — In the US, traditional newspapers have undergone a period of contraction, with many papers shutting down entirely. This has been especially hard on local news, because even those newspapers that survive are likely to be consolidated …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

reddit:

This was a triumph. — We're making a note, here: On three separate fronts, reddit gold has emerged as what can only be termed a huge success: We're getting a much-needed cash infusion. We've shown that, despite popular belief, people on the Internet are willing to be supportive if you treat them with honesty and respect.

Discussion: Mashable!, New York Observer, Erictric, Changing Way, TechCrunch, Pulse2 and Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim

New York Post:

Another CNN King doomed? — The next head to roll at CNN will be John King's, insiders say. “Since King replaced Lou Dobbs, he's lost more than half his audience,” one source told us. “If it were a fight, it would be stopped on a TKO because of the bleeding.”

Discussion: Gawker, Mediaite, Inside Cable News, TVNewser, The Wrap, Vanity Fair, TVWeek.com and New York Magazine

Jeff Bercovici / DailyFinance:

Sports Illustrated Seeks Synergy with Turner Sports Deal — Synergy is no longer a dirty word at Time Warner (TWX). Sports Illustrated and Turner Sports, two divisions of the media conglomerate that tread similar ground but until now have operated independently, are consolidating their efforts in a new digital media venture.

Nikki Finke / Deadline.com:

My First & Last Statement On HBO's ‘Tilda’ — Considering how many inaccurate media claims have been made regarding myself and the potential series Tilda for HBO, I wish to set the record straight. I had no prior knowledge that this show was being created or put into development.

Discussion: The Wrap, Runnin' Scared and New York Magazine

Felix Salmon:

Paywalls encroach on Alphaville — FT Alphaville is spinning off! The fabulous Paul Murphy and Stacy-Marie Ishmael, who have been with Alphaville from the beginning, are now setting up something at even more of an arm's length from the FT itself: “a new digital media service”, whatever that might be, called FT Tilt.

Discussion: FT Alphaville and paidContent

David Cohen / WebNewser:

Zinio to Debut All-Digital Online Newsstand for College Market — Digital publisher Zinio is hitting the books, teaming up with National Association of College Stores subsidiary NACS Media Solutions (NMS) to develop an all-digital online newsstand for the college market, set to debut in August …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Jeff Bercovici / DailyFinance:

How Did Consumer Reports Miss the iPhone 4 Antenna Flaw for So Long? — It's been nearly three weeks since the iPhone 4 went on sale. But it wasn't until yesterday that Consumer Reports, the ultimate authority in which big-ticket items to buy and which to bypass, warned its readers …

Discussion: blogs.ft.com, Consumer Reports …, CNET News, ZDNet, Epicenter, Mobile Marketing Watch, Viewpoints, The Huffington Post, The Wire and TUAW, more at Techmeme »

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

InMobi Gets $8 Million From Kleiner Perkins And Sherpalo Ventures — InMobi, the largest mobile ad network that hasn't been acquired, has raised another $8 million in funding. The round was led by existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures and brings their total raised capital to $15.6 million.

Discussion: MediaPost, paidContent:UK and MediaMemo, more at Techmeme »

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

How the Plain Dealer came up with its LeBron cover — “I came up with it about 4 p.m. the day of [LeBron James' announcement],” says Emmet Smith, deputy design drector for news. “So, all of about eight hours ahead of time.” Graphics director Michael Tribble had pushed Smith to do something different …

Joanne Kaufman / Wall Street Journal:

Authors: Where Do I Sign? — When “Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough” was published earlier this year, its Los Angeles-based author, Lori Gottlieb, nabbed the brass ring: an appearance on “The Today Show.” Far more problematic was securing a slot for a book signing …

Discussion: New York Observer

Kaja Whitehouse / New York Post:

Playboy put in play — Hugh Hefner, the 84-year old founder of legendary girlie mag Playboy, sparked a battle over his graying empire yesterday when he offered to take his adult entertainment company private in a deal that values the franchise at just $185 million.

Discussion: Company Town, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg

Ken Doctor / Newsonomics:

Weigel and Nasr “Sins” Put the Church of High Integrity on Trial — I've always been a faithful disciple, worshipping at the altar of Church and State. (And of the Reverend Al Green, but that's another story.) I've resisted commercial pressures and been party to painful terminations …

Discussion: Fitz & Jen and The Huffington Post

Lauren Kirchner / CJR:

On Hyperlocals, Hyper-hiring, and Hype — MainStreetConnect has big plans for the future — Carll Tucker, founder of hyperlocal news organization MainStreetConnect, was profiled on Wednesday on Journalism.co.uk, and his claims about the company's goals raised some eyebrows at CJR.

Michelle Kung / Speakeasy:

Want a Shout-Out From the Old Spice Guy? … In a marketing campaign that practically screams, “make me go viral,” actor Isaiah Mustafa — better known as the Old Spice Guy — is tweeting out links to YouTube videos where he's thanking fans, journalists and celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Alyssa Milano.

Discussion: Adverblog, Snarkmarket and PopWatch