Mediagazer: Digital Imitation Is A Form Of Flattery For Old-Guard Publishers (Robert Andrews/paidContent:UK)

9:35 AM ET, August 9, 2010

Top News:

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Renewed Interest in Financing Original Web Shows — LOS ANGELES — When Illeana Douglas, long active in independent film, wanted to make a show about a Hollywood actress who becomes a cog in a blue-collar wheel, she turned to the Web and to an unusual ally, Ikea.

Discussion: Mashable!, more at Techmeme »

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

TBD.com making its move into the crowded market of local news — TBD.com — odd name, but let's move on — is a new all-local news Web site that seems to be the answer to a question that no one has really been asking: Do media-saturated Washington and its environs need yet another source …

Discussion: tbd.com and The Solomon Scandals

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Allbritton On TBD.com: 'You've Got To Have Some Staying Power' — When Robert Allbritton put the money and power of Allbritton Communications behind a new DC political news site in 2007, no one knew what to expect. Sure, he had talent in Washington Post vets John Harris and Jim VandeHei …

Discussion: Zombie Journalism and The Solomon Scandals

Steve Myers / Poynter Online:
Four Key Questions that TBD Could Answer about Online News

Discussion: Romenesko, paidContent, E-Media Tidbits, eMedia Vitals and Mashable!

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

The Economist Markets to the Sophisticated — Its fire-engine-red logo peeks out of fashionable handbags and from the back pockets of designer jeans. Bankers read it in first-class seats. Hipsters read it on the subway on their way to work. — It's The Economist.

Discussion: Romenesko

Mike Shields / Mediaweek:

Fox News' Digital Divide — Dominant cable news net's site lags rival CNN.com. Why? — In the cable TV news world, Fox News Channel is a force to be reckoned with. So why does the network continually get its digital clock cleaned—by CNN, of all rivals?

Discussion: Inside Cable News

Robert Andrews / paidContent:UK:

Digital Imitation Is A Form Of Flattery For Old-Guard Publishers — It was pop-culture philosopher Marshall McLuhan who wrote: “All media come in pairs, with one acting as the ‘content’ of the other.” — That assertion is true once again, now that a range of developers is pushing …

Jim Harper / Wall Street Journal:

It's Modern Trade: Web Users Get as Much as They Give — If you surf the web, congratulations! You are part of the information economy. Data gleaned from your communications and transactions grease the gears of modern commerce. Not everyone is celebrating, of course.

Glenn Fleishman / Network World:

Interview: Author Susan Orlean on her life with the iPad — Orlean has been tearing up the techie side of things — Susan Orlean has become a geek, something that simultaneously amuses and mildly horrifies her. Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992 …

Martin Belam / currybetdotnet:

5 ways that The Guardian puts external links onto web pages — Last week, Patrick Smith sparked off a lot debate with a blog post entitled “Link to the past: why do some news sites STILL not link out in 2010?”. In it, he mentioned The Guardian website as being one of the best examples of linking out.

Chris Wheal:

Death reporting — Thank you to everyone who has chipped in about the death knock debate, privately by email and publicly through comments on my blog and others. I think there is scope for at least a leaflet to help families in similar situations and possibly a different way of behaving by the press.

Discussion: Guardian, Editor's Blog, Press Gazette and Jon Slattery

Joseph Plambeck / Media Decoder:

A Magazine Tests Neuromarketing — Magazines have long used focus groups to tailor their package. New Scientist took another route for its latest issue, testing whether neuromarketing, which examines the brain's response to products and brands, could help make the magazine more appealing.

Discussion: MediaMemo