Mediagazer: Taking a (little) brick out of the paywall (George Brock)

1:25 PM ET, July 19, 2010

Top News:

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

In a World of Online News, Burnout Starts Younger — ARLINGTON, Va. — In most newsrooms, the joke would have been obvious. — It was April Fools' Day last year, and Politico's top two editors sent an e-mail message to their staff advising of a new 5 a.m. start time for all reporters.

Discussion: Romenesko, New York Observer, News Prints, Company Town, Free Press, Stowe Boyd, On Media's Blog, Media Law Prof Blog, Silicon Alley Insider, New York Magazine and Journalism.co.uk, more at Techmeme »

David Carr / New York Times:

Post-Mortem: No Hair Shirt for Steve Jobs — By now, most people know what happens when your fingers come in contact with the lower left-hand corner of the iPhone 4 — are you there? — but it took the touch of an old-line, nontech tester of technology to get Apple to admit as much.

Discussion: New York Observer, NPR Topics, Monday Note, Gizmodo and WHAT'S NEXT, more at Techmeme »

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Up-and-coming conservative candidates shy away from media analysis — Some of the most conservative and combative Republicans running for Congress are convinced that the media have it in for them. — But these candidates seem to regard it as an affront when reporters challenge …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and On Media's Blog

George Brock:

Taking a (little) brick out of the paywall — The past few days brought not one but two collisions with the paywall at The Times (for the first of these see post below). On Saturday, the paper printed a short review they'd commissioned of Clay Shirky's new book Cognitive Surplus in the Weekend Review section.

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Guardian, Media Week, Fast Company, Unthinkable, currybetdotnet, Beehive City, Guy Fawkes' blog, Editors Weblog, EditorandPublisher.com, Press Gazette, FleetStreetBlues and Jon Slattery, more at Techmeme »

Dan Sabbagh / Beehive City:
Times paywall: the numbers are out (should we charge for this?)

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, paidContent:UK, The Next Web, ITProPortal.com, Fast Company, Business Technology Leadership and Guardian

Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:

Glamour's Weight-Gain Secret — If September 2007 was the high point of the hefty fashion magazine, with more than 700 pages of ads in Vogue and about 400 each in Elle and InStyle, then 2009 was more apropos to the ethos of the fashion world: svelte and petite.

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Styleite and Media Buyer Planner

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Netflix Goes Abroad! But Not Too Far: Streaming Service Coming To Canada. — Netflix is finally taking its Web streaming service outside the U.S. But it's not taking it very far: The subscription offering will be available in Canada this fall, the company announced today.

Discussion: PR Newswire, Online Video News, NewTeeVee, ZDNet, Electronista, Boy Genius Report, GeekTonic, Hacking NetFlix, Tech Trader Daily and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

James Hibberd / Hollywood Reporter:

E! co-founder launches celebrity website — Online network the Look also includes fashion programming — The co-founder of E! is launching a celebrity-focused online network complete with several programs in the hope of establishing a new brand in the entertainment programming space.

Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:

Social Media Draws a Crowd — Start-Ups and Established Agencies Look to Carve a Niche in Online Action — As more and more advertising dollars flow into social media, some Madison Avenue firms are seeking to grab a piece of the action. But it will be a tough fight as the space is overrun …

Discussion: paidContent and eMedia Vitals

Eliza Shapiro / Capital New York:

‘Times’ comes to town, sweating in its gown — In a few weeks The New York Times will launch its long-awaited latest experiment in collaborative online journalism, The Local: East Village. — The L:EV, as it is referred to by its editors (they pronounce it “Lev"), announced itself back in February …

Discussion: Romenesko

David Barboza / New York Times:

Booming Demand for TV on the Internet in China — SHANGHAI — Internet TV has arrived in China. — Every month, about 300 million people in China are using a computer to watch Chinese TV dramas, Japanese and Korean sitcoms, and even American films and television series like “Twilight” and “Gossip Girl.”

Discussion: NewTeeVee

Guardian:

Media plug in as papers struggle — Political change boosts social media but adds to uncertainty for others, says our panel of experts — Steve Jobs, number one in the MediaGuardian 100 2010 — It has been a year of change in the traditional media industry - new editors at the Sun …

Discussion: Editors Weblog

NPR:

Numbers Stations: Mystery Over The Airwaves … In the shadowy corners of the shortwave radio spectrum, you can often find mysterious mechanical voices counting off endless strings of numbers — in English, Czech, Russian and German ... even Morse code. But who's listening?