Mediagazer: Obama is playing Palin's game: Dems and GOP both depend on irresponsible media (Stanley Crouch/NY Daily News)

Jenna Wortham / New York Times:

Facebook and Twitter's New Rival — By now, plenty of traditional media companies have hopped on the social media bandwagon, pumping out news updates on Facebook and Twitter. — But do those companies have the time and resources to work yet another Web outlet into their daily routine?

Discussion: Charitini, DealBook and Still Not Going To Do …, more at Techmeme »

Nat Ives / AdAge:

New York Times Offers IPhone, IPad App Platform to Other Publishers — Dallas Morning News, U.K.'s Telegraph Sign Up to License Times Code — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — The New York Times is offering a platform that other publishers can use to produce their own apps for devices starting with the iPad and iPhone.

Discussion: TechCrunch

Nick Wingfield / Wall Street Journal:

Microsoft Quashed Effort to Boost Online Privacy — The online habits of most people who use the world's dominant Web browser are an open book to advertisers. That wasn't the plan at first. — In early 2008, Microsoft Corp.'s product planners for the Internet Explorer 8. browser intended …

Discussion: Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard, paidContent, Fast Company, Gizmodo, MSDN Blogs, Stephen Baker, The BLT, ReadWriteWeb, Digits and THINQ.co.uk, more at Techmeme »

Lucia Moses / Mediaweek:

Wired to Produce Short Films For iPad — Wired, the magazine about the intersection of tech and culture, launched its iPad edition in June with a buffet of multimedia, including videos, audio and interactive graphics. — With its August issue, it's going one step further …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

The Facebook Gravitational Effect — Over the next twelve months, the media industry is likely to be split between those who master the Facebook system and those who don't. A decade or so ago, for a print publication, going on the internet was seen as the best way to rejuvenate its audience …

Discussion: MediaFile, Technology360 and suzanne yada

David Carr / New York Times:

The Media Equation: Buzz Bissinger's Full Conversion to Digital — Two years ago, Buzz Bissinger took a stand against digital culture. — A specialist in long-form magazine journalism and the author of “Friday Night Lights,” considered by some to be the best sports book ever written …

Discussion: Romenesko and New York Observer

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Inside the New York Times' Paywall Brain — The New York Times (NYT) has announced that it will be putting up an online paywall by the end of the year. And that the paywall will allow users to visit for free a certain number of times per month. And that the paywall will be expensive to build.

Discussion: Romenesko, The Wire and Churbuck.com

Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:

Free Content Isn't a Right, Nor Is His Job, CEO Says — As NBC Universal prepares for a planned takeover by cable giant Comcast Corp., its chief executive, Jeff Zucker , may be auditioning for a big job: his own. — After years of slashing costs at NBC and saying broadcast television is broken, Mr. Zucker sees a brighter outlook.

Claire Cain Miller / New York Times:

New Site Aims to Connect Reporters and Publicists — There are few professional relationships that seesaw between love and hate more than those of public relations people and journalists. While they provide valuable help to each other at times, they rarely need the same things at the same time.

Discussion: Romenesko and Talking Biz News

Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:

Fox News gets front row White House seat — The White House Correspondents Association has decided to move Fox News up to the front row in the briefing room, according to sources familiar with the process. — Since veteran journalist Helen Thomas retired, three news organizations—Fox News …

Discussion: TVNewser, TVWeek.com, BusinessJournalism.org …, Mediaite, Romenesko, Multichannel, New York Magazine and Balloon Juice

Brian Steinberg / AdAge:

Why ‘Mad Men’ Has So Little to Do With Advertising — Ratings, Ad Revenue Small, So Focus Is on Overseas Sales, Digital and — Maybe — a Song-and-Dance Revue — ‘Mad Men’ characters Roger Sterling and Don Draper. — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — On cable's “Mad Men,” characters such as Don Draper …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, New York Observer, Broadcasting & Cable, Speakeasy and Multichannel

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

In journalism's crossfire culture, everyone gets wounded — The nastiness index keeps on rising, and all of us are getting sullied in the process. — Media outlets, which once merely chronicled this era of hyper-partisanship, now seem to be both the purveyors and often the targets of ugly attacks.

Discussion: On Media's Blog

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Crystal Ball for Couric Is Clouded by CNN's Moves — For years, whenever television fortune-tellers forecast Larry King's eventual replacement, Katie Couric's name was the first to be mentioned: one of the best interviewing jobs on television, and one of the best-known interviewers on television.

Discussion: TVNewser, The Wire and Company Town

Peter Funt / Wall Street Journal:

Customers Will Pay for Online Content — Until Home Box Office emerged in the mid-'70s, the notion that people would pay to watch a television show was unheard of. — Major media companies have finally learned something about whether consumers will pay for content on the Internet …

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Editor's Impact Begins With a Capital O — Susan Casey's publishing résumé reflects what one would expect from someone who has chased great white sharks in California, stalked elk in Colorado and tramped the oil-slicked marshlands of Louisiana. Editor of Sports Illustrated Women?

John Eggerton / Multichannel:

Comcast-NBCU: View From the Top — Washington — Two key executives from Comcast and NBC Universal, speaking on the condition of anonymity, last week offered some background on where vetting of their joint-venture deal by the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department stands.