Mediagazer: CNN's ratings woes not limited to Campbell Brown and Larry King (Joe Flint/Company Town)

1:10 AM ET, July 29, 2010

Top News:

Clint Hendler / CJR:

The Story Behind the Publication of WikiLeaks's Afghanistan Logs — From Brussels, to a bunker, to blockbusters — You wouldn't be reading the coverage of the so-called Afghanistan logs—in The New York Times, Der Spiegel, and The Guardian—if Nick Davies, a senior contributor to the British paper …

Discussion: Slate, The Biz Blog, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Edge of Chaos and J-Source

Samuel P. Jacobs / The Daily Beast:

Julian Assange vs. The New York Times — Julian Assange is calling The New York Times, “pusillanimous” and “unprofessional.” In these parts, those are fighting words! — While Assange has often positioned himself against the press, accusing it of flinching in the face of power …

Discussion: Democracy Now, Romenesko, The Daily Beast, Guardian, Fast Company, ANIMAL, Jon Slattery and The Huffington Post, more at Techmeme »

Callie Schweitzer / Neon Tommy:
Has WikiLeaks Eliminated The “Middleman” In Journalism?

Discussion: CJR, Slate, FishbowlNY and Writing / Editing

Ashby Jones / Law Blog:
First Amendment Guru Floyd Abrams on the WikiLeaks Situation

Discussion: Romenesko and Runnin' Scared

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Time Inc.'s iPad Problem Is Trouble for Every Magazine Publisher — Time Inc. likes to show off its iPad apps as a symbol of the company's future. But inside the publisher, the digital editions have become a source of hair-pulling frustration. — That's because the magazine giant …

Roger Simon / The Politico:

Journolist veers out of bounds — This may be the most embarrassing thing I have ever written — and looking back on my writing, there is a lot of competition for that dubious distinction — but when I became a reporter, it was almost a holy calling. — We really believed we were doing good.

Discussion: Gawker and FAIR Blog

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
The full Chuck on Journolist, Breitbart and journalism

Discussion: The Plum Line and The Huffington Post

Zach Goldfarb / Market Cop:

Does new financial law block FOIA requests at SEC? — For an agency focused on transparency, the SEC has nothing to brag about when it comes to Freedom of Information Act requests. A recent audit by the agency's inspector general found that, in responding to FOIA requests …

Dunstan Prial / FOXBusiness.com:
SEC Says New Financial Regulation Law Exempts it From Public Disclosure

Discussion: Romenesko and DealBook

Ryan Tate / Gawker:

Mark Zuckerberg's Age of Privacy Is Over — Mark Zuckerberg turned strangers' intimate moments into riches. We turned the tables on the Facebook CEO, lurking outside his house, following him out with his girlfriend and pals, and to Chinese language lessons. America's youngest billionaire got the paparazzi treatment.

Discussion: All Things Digital, CJR, The Not-So Private Parts, WebProNews, NBC Bay Area, Boing Boing, The Awl, Forbes and New York Magazine, more at Techmeme »

Geoffrey A. Fowler / Wall Street Journal:

Kindle to Go ‘Mass Market’ — Amazon Digs in Heels by Introducing New, Cheaper Version of E-Book Reader — Amazon.com Inc. plans to release a cheaper Kindle e-reader next month, said Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, laying out a strategy to go “mass market” with an inexpensive gadget designed …

Discussion: CrunchGear, Engadget, Gadget Lab, pasmith's blog, TechCrunch, TechFlash and TeleRead, more at Techmeme »

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:

The Google Sewage Factory, In Action: The Chocomize Story — Google's CEO Eric Schmidt has quite famously been on record many times talking about how the web is full of garbage. It's a cesspool out there, he's said. Today, a short fast look at how his own company pollutes the web.

Discussion: MediaPost and Eater National

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:

Rupert Murdoch to White House: No free news — It looks like Rupert Murdoch has finally figured out a way to make the White House pay — literally. — The Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has jacked up the rate it charges the administration's news clipping service by a jaw-dropping $600,000 per year …

Discussion: Gawker

Walter Shapiro / Politics Daily:

After Breitbart and Shirley Sherrod, We Need a Slow-News Movement — It was the biggest American news exclusive of World War I. In a breathless cable that immediately went out over the wire on Nov. 7, 1918, thrilling a war-weary world, United Press correspondent Roy Howard reported from Paris …

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, TV Barn, http://www.Stinkyjournalism …, Romenesko, CJR, News Prints, Daily Kos and The TV Guy

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

As Mobile Advertising Heats Up, Millennial Media Prepares For An IPO In 2011 — Mobile advertising is currently a billion dollar market and we've witnessed tech giants like Google and Apple move into the space with the acquisitions of mobile ad networks AdMob and Quattro Wireless, respectively.

Discussion: Millennial Media

Kevin Allocca / TVNewser:

Alan Murray on the Future of WSJ and Television — Wall Street Journal deputy managing editor and executive editor, online Alan Murray tells TVNewser the WSJ's online video effort is already heading in the direction of a “Wall Street Journal Network,” but is not sure if we'll see a future combination …

Discussion: mediabistro.com and WebNewser

Edmund Lee / AdAge:

Capital New York Plies Tough Market With Earnest Journalism — Can a Smart New Start-up Survive in Era of Page-View Media? — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Capital New York, the sincere original-news site introduced in June by former New York Observer editors Tom McGeveran and Josh Benson …

Discussion: Gawker and Romenesko

Henry Blodget / Silicon Alley Insider:

Business Insider, Turbocharged! — We're excited to announce that we've just raised another round of financing, courtesy of New York-based RRE Ventures and our existing investors. — This capital will help us continue to expand the site and bring you many of the things you have been asking for …

Discussion: VentureBeat, paidContent, FishbowlNY, New York Observer, silicontap.com and New York Magazine

David Kaplan / paidContent:

Comcast's Burke: ‘With NBC, Our Ad Business Will Be Worth $10 Billion’ — Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) execs said the company posted double-digit growth in auto, health care and retail advertising in Q2. As the fall elections approach, political is also expected to be a big revenue driver for its ad business this year.

David Kaplan / paidContent:
Comcast Profits Pulled Down On NBC Costs

Discussion: MediaMemo, MediaPost, rbr.com, Variety and The Wrap

Heather Brooke:

A few words on the Times paywall — Inevitably since I've written for the Times a few readers have questioned why, as the paper's online content is no longer free. Andrew Denny, for example, wrote: ‘Is there not an irony in the fact that your Times articles are now online behind a paywall and not openly accessible?’

Discussion: paidContent:UK and Guardian

Tim Carmody / Snarkmarket:

An oral history of the future of the book — Bob Stein, founder of the Institute for the Future of the Book, talks about working for Alan Kay, starting the Criterion Collection and Voyager on laserdisc, Hypercard e-books, and interactive CD-ROMs — essentially, the whole prehistory of where we are now with just about all digital media:

Crain's New York Business:

Tax breaks for Thomson Reuters assailed — Daniel Massey - A contract dispute between Thomson Reuters and the Newspaper Guild of New York could threaten the media giant's attempt to shift $20.7 million in unused city and state sales tax subsidies from the construction of 3 Times Square to seven other Manhattan properties.

Todd Spangler / Multichannel News:

‘Social TV’ Startup Philo Announces Funding, Apps — Investors Include North Bridge Venture Partners, DFJ Gotham Ventures, ENIAC Ventures — Philo, a startup that has developed a social-media platform to let TV fans chat about their favorite shows, has raised an undisclosed amount of financing from institutional and angel investors.

Discussion: NewTeeVee and TVWeek.com

Joe Flint / Company Town:

CNN's ratings woes not limited to Campbell Brown and Larry King — While CNN is spending much of its time focusing on jump starting its 8 and 9 p.m. hours, it might want to start paying a little more attention to the 7 and 10 p.m. hours as well. That's what a quick look at the July ratings reveals.

Discussion: MediaPost, The Wrap and TVWeek.com

Mathew Honan / Wired:

Print: One Man's Journey Into Stunt Books — Confound you, A. J. Jacobs! I used to enjoy your radical self-experimentation — like when you read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica and wrote about it in your best-selling book The Know-It-All. But since then, you've also published The Guinea Pig Diaries …

James Hibberd / The Hollywood Reporter:

Steve McPherson resigned amid alleged sexual harassment probe — Exclu: Steve McPherson resigned from ABC as the company conducted an internal sexual harassment investigation of the executive, according to a source. — ABC pointedly did not deny allegations of inappropriate conduct were involved.