Mediagazer: The Highest-Paid Authors — Times may be tough for book sellers … (Dirk Smillie/Forbes)

1:40 PM ET, August 20, 2010

Top News:

Facebook Places: What it means for media brands — Facebook has launched its much-anticipated location-based service, “Facebook Places,” which allows users to “check in” to certain locations such as restaurants, bars, music festivals, etc. Dubbed a “collective memory” …

Terry Heaton / Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog:

Another opportunity lost — Facebook's announcement yesterday of its entry into the “check-in” space is yet another blow to local media. Local businesses — many of whom already are deep into Facebook — are now being encouraged to create their “places” pages, which is what users will see when they check in via Facebook.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Fast Company, eMarketer and Blog Posts, The Praized Blog and Poynter Online, more at Techmeme »

Liz Shannon Miller / NewTeeVee:

Auto-Tune the News Hits the Billboard Top 100 — Online video stars The Gregory Brothers continue making strides towards world domination. Their latest hit Auto-Tune the News single, Bed Intruder, debuted at number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100 today. — Billboard uses a number …

Discussion: Softpedia News, Techdirt, Trends in the Living Networks, All Things Digital, Gawker, The Lede and Billboard.com The Feed

Jeff Bercovici / DailyFinance:

The Dumbest How-to Content From Demand Media — Do you know how to brush your teeth? How to buy beer? How to poison a gopher? How to belch? If so, you could be a contributor to Demand Media, one of a growing number of “content farms” that use large networks of freelancers to produce cheap reference content.

Discussion: The Wire, Romenesko and City Room

Virginia Heffernan / New York Times:

What ‘Fact-Checking’ Means Online — The day I became a fact-checker at The New Yorker, I received one set of red pencils and one set of No. 2 pencils. [FC: There used to be a training period before the pencils.] [[VH: O.K. for “the day I became a fact-checker” to designate end of training period?]]

Nick Axelrod / WWD:

No News at the New York Times Magazine... Fashion at Google: Out or In?... NO NEWS AT THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The proposals are in to executive editor Bill Keller (he received upward of 20 applications, according to sources), but that's as far as The New York Times has gotten in the process …

Discussion: Romenesko

Meghan Keane / the Econsultancy blog:

Social media lessons from the “Ground Zero Mosque” — A small plot of land near the World Trade Center in New York City has been thrown into the spotlight recently. A Muslim organization called The Cordoba Initiative set out to build a mosque and community center in the space …

Discussion: New York Times, Most Recent Home Page Posts …, The Daily Caller, Salon, The Politico and Think Progress

Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:
AP advises staff on location of Islamic center and mosque

Discussion: NY Daily News, Romenesko, Metropolis, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Think Progress, Hot Air, Scocca, City Room, Michelle Malkin, Rhetorica, Atlas Shrugs and Media Matters for America

Dirk Smillie / Forbes:

The Highest-Paid Authors — Times may be tough for book sellers, but for Stephen King, James Patterson and Stephenie Meyer, the money keeps rolling in. — Publishers are feeling the heat, with hardcover sales weak and the rise of e-books promising to upend their business models.

Discussion: ArtsBeat, New York Magazine, The Second Pass, New York Observer and ResourceShelf

Mike Fleming / Deadline.com:

Google Founders Sergey Brin And Larry Page Get Feature Film Treatment — EXCLUSIVE: The founders of Facebook aren't the only game-changing geeks poised to have their story told on a movie screen. Michael London's Groundswell Productions has teamed with producer John Morris to acquire movie rights …

Jon Friedman / MarketWatch:

Brian Williams: Serious anchor and a jokester — Commentary: You'll find him on ‘30 Rock’ or ‘SNL,’ but not Facebook … NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams made his reputation as a self-assured anchor man who could discuss Iraq and Afghanistan in decisive tones.

Discussion: Romenesko

Chris Tolles / TechCrunch:

When Attorneys General Attack — Earlier this year Topix CEO Chris Tolles got the call no one wants to get - that they were under investigation by a government entity. Two attorneys general, one of which was deep into his senate run, were leveling accusations of abuse at Topix.

Andrew Adam Newman / New York Times:

Now Playing: A Short Film Starring Branded Content — IN “Charley,” a nine-minute film by Dee Austin Robertson, a young couple visiting New York for a romantic weekend, Courtney and Ryan (played by Alexia Rasmussen and Brian McElhaney), are first seen through a glass door with an Ace Hotel sign painted on it.

Discussion: AdPulp

The 48th New York Film Festival:

Film Comment September/October 2010: Revenge of the Nerd — The misanthropic soul at the heart of The Social Network, David Fincher's 21st-century moral tale — It was E.M. Forster, of course, who scripted that immortal, oft-abbreviated imperative: “Only connect, and the beast and the monk …

Discussion: MTV Movies Blog, The Middletown Press and Awards Daily's Oscar Countdown, more at Techmeme »

Brian Caulfield / Forbes:

Can Animals Save Mainstream Media? — Forget crime and celebrities. These websites know what really sells: critters. — SAN FRANCISCO — Can Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs save mainstream media? Probably not. — When it comes to making his own products a success, however …

Discussion: mediabistro.com

Wall Street Journal:

Violence in Mexico Takes Rising Toll on Press — MEXICO CITY—When unknown assailants recently lobbed grenades at the offices of Mexico's powerful broadcaster Televisa in Monterrey and Matamoros, the blasts were seen as a message to the country's media: Beware covering the drug war.

Foster Kamer / Runnin' Scared:

ChatRoulette Made Relevant Possibly for the Last Time by Genius, Hysterical Marketing Campaign (Video) — Yes, if you can see that headline, you read it correctly: “Genius,” and “Hysterical.” Two things people haven't thought about ChatRoulette being since, well, everyone got over the initial excitement of ChatRoulette.

Claire Atkinson / New York Post:

Disney, TWC talks escalate — Negotiations between Walt Disney Co. and Time Warner Cable over continued carriage of ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels are intensifying as both companies gird for battle. — ESPN President George Bodenheimer and Sean Bratches, the sports network's head …

Discussion: Company Town

Scott Rosenberg / Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard:

Dr. Laura, Associated Content and the Googledammerung — I was on vacation for much of the last couple of weeks, so I missed a lot — including the self-immolation of Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Apparently Schlessinger was the last public figure in the U.S. who does not understand the simple rules …

Discussion: TPMDC

Claire Atkinson / New York Post:

Hulu brouhaha — A top Hollywood producer lashed out against Hulu amid reports that the popular online hub for watching TV shows is preparing a $2 billion public offering, saying content providers will come away empty-handed. — Steven Levitan, who created ABC's hit comedy “Modern Family …

Diana Marszalek / TVNewsCheck:

CNN's Switch To Oasis Troubles Stations — Not long ago, KPHO Phoenix producers used to air up to eight CNN Newsource stories a day in its newscasts. — “Now, they use virtually none,” says Ed Williams, director of engineering at the CBS affiliate. One, maybe two, CNN stories make it on air a week, he says.

Discussion: TVNewser

Chris Faraone / thephoenix.com:

Is micro-news the future? — AOL thinks so, and the Globe and GateHouse are fighting back — AOL is like the Energizer Bunny. It just keeps going and going through a staggering number of transformations and reinventions, and now it's betting $50 million that it can beat America's newspapers …

Discussion: Romenesko and PJNet

Amy Chozick / Wall Street Journal:

Revenge of the TV Writers — Annoy a television writer at your peril: You could wind up committing unspeakable crimes or dying a horrible death—in prime time. Settling scores with difficult stars, clueless executives and childhood enemies. — After several seasons of disappointing reviews …

Wall Street Journal:

Get Ready for Ads in Books — For those who think this too radical a notion, consider the overwhelming product placement in movies, music videos and video games. — With e-reader prices dropping like a stone and major tech players jumping into the book retail business, what room is left for publishers' profits?

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, broadstuff, GalleyCat, ResourceShelf and The Atlantic Wire, more at Techmeme »

Steve Johnson / Chicago Tribune:

For Ben Huh and his Cheezburger Network, Internet success rolls in on little cat feet — Ben Huh came to Chicago in the mid-1990s to find success as a journalist. A decade later, he left it to try to make his mark as an Internet entrepreneur. He has done that, big time.

Discussion: Romenesko and AdPulp

Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:

Pentagon says ‘no favoritism’ toward NBC in coverage of Iraq withdrawal — Richard Engel, NBC's chief foreign correspondent, informed viewers Wednesday night that “we are with the last American combat troops in Iraq.” — It made for compelling television, with Engel being the only …

Discussion: TVNewser, Romenesko, Inside Cable News, Chickaboomer and Online NewsHour