Mediagazer: Marketing Fanciful Items in the Lands of Make Believe (Elizabeth Olson/New York Times)

4:20 PM ET, September 7, 2010

Top News:

Michael Wolff / Newser:

What Did Rupert Murdoch (and Son James) Know, and When Did They Know It? — Follow him on Twitter @MichaelWolffNYC — Don Van Natta Jr., the lead reporter on the New York Times' Sunday Magazine story about the phone hacking scandal that's engulfed some of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers in London, is a Times enforcer.

Discussion: CJR, Press Gazette, The First Post, The Wire and Guardian

Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:
NY Times will not assist police investigation of tabloid

Discussion: Guardian and Liberal Conspiracy

Vikram Dodd / Guardian:
Phone-hacking investigation may be reopened

Discussion: The Staggers, BBC and New York Times

Chester Stern / Guardian:
The News of the World's special relationship with the police

Discussion: New York Observer and New York Times

Bill Carter / New York Times:

ABC News Chief Is Said to Be Resigning — David Westin, the longtime president of ABC News, is said to have told several top staff members that he will resign on Tuesday. — The decision, one of the staff members said on Monday night, relates to a long-running conflict between Mr. Westin …

The Daily Beast:

Who Pushed ABC News' Chief? — David Westin may have had friction with Disney/ABC President Anne Sweeney, but things had been tense with Disney CEO Bob Iger for years. Peter Lauria and Lloyd Grove go inside his resignation. — David Westin's departure from the helm of ABC News after 13 years …

Discussion: Gawker, Tuned In, TVNewser, Company Town, The Daily Beast and Associated Press

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:
Westin Out At ABC News Just Months After Massive Job Cuts; The E-Mails

Discussion: Romenesko and DailyFinance

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Links: Not Just the Currency of the Web, but the Soul — Author Nicholas Carr wrote a controversial post recently about the use of hyperlinks in online content, in which he argued that links were a distraction for readers, and were likely to lead to less comprehension rather than more.

Discussion: Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard

Howard Kurtz:

Appeasing the Google Gods — I can no longer file a story in our computer system without filling out a box, a small gray square that may well determine the future of serious journalism. — The box is supposed to contain words and phrases that will help me reel you in.

Discussion: Gawker, International Media, Romenesko, Web Analytics World and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

/ Jay Rosen:

The Journalists Formerly Known as the Media: My Advice to the Next Generation — This is adapted and expanded from the Inaugural Lecture I gave to the incoming class of journalism students at Science Po in Paris, September 2, 2010: their first day. You can find reports on the speech in English here …

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's … and News Launch Diary

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

The Atlantic Will Follow Paid iPad Edition With New ‘Atlantic Premium’ — The Atlantic is the latest to mine for gold in the iPad App Store with single issues for sale at $4.99—but that's just one part of a grander digital scheme. In coming weeks, the magazine publisher plans …

Discussion: Poynter Online, Editors Weblog and WebNewser

Ian Shapira / Washington Post:

Washington Times struggles amid divisions of family, ideology, finances — Last fall in South Korea, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, presided over a mass wedding in the tens of thousands, blessing marriages he had personally arranged — all couples in white gowns, kimonos and black suits.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Romenesko and On Media's Blog

Bloomberg:

Samsung Electronics May Use Google's Android Software in TVs — Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest television manufacturer, may make sets run by Google Inc.'s software to compete with Sony Corp. and Apple Inc. in the market for TVs that access movies, shows and games online.

Discussion: NewTeeVee, Gadget Lab, CrunchGear, Gizmodo and DailyFinance, more at Techmeme »

Elizabeth Olson / New York Times:

Marketing Fanciful Items in the Lands of Make Believe — INTRIGUED by the willingness of millions of consumers to pay real money for things that do not exist, some large companies are testing whether they can raise awareness of their brands — and sell more actual goods — by creating and offering their own pretend merchandise.

Discussion: ReveNews and broadstuff

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:

The new Hollywood Reporter: ‘Team Janice’ and ... Everyone Else — The outward changes at the new Hollywood Reporter have led to an estrangement inside the newsroom - between Janice Min and the staff she has brought in, and the veteran journalists who take orders from the newbies and are otherwise ignored.

Discussion: New York Observer

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

IPad Magazine Subscriptions, With a Catch: Zinio Launches Apps for Sporting News, National Geographic — Another day, another new iPad magazine app. But the latest entry, from Sporting News, is worth mentioning, at least for its subscription model. — That is: Unlike much bigger rival …

Discussion: MediaPost and eMedia Vitals

Eliot Van Buskirk / Epicenter:

Google TV Revealed: One Screen to Rule Them All — Google CEO Eric Schmidt discusses Google TV live and on television at the IFA (Internationalen Funkausstellung) conference in Berlin, Germany. — BERLIN - Google gave a live demonstration of Google TV at Berlin's IFA Tuesday …

Discussion: Between the Lines Blog and PopWatch, more at Techmeme »

Marisa Guthrie / Broadcasting & Cable:

Network News Changes: Just A Matter of Time — Execs may issue denials about possible deals such as ABC/Bloomberg or CBS/CNN, but the partnerships seem to have a whiff of inevitability — There's a lot of juicy gossip swirling in media circles these days regarding who may be getting into bed with whom …

Discussion: TVNewser