Mediagazer: ABC Marketing Co-Head Mike Benson Steps Down (Hunter Walker/The Wrap)

6:55 PM ET, September 10, 2010

Top News:

Jenna Wortham / Bits:

Betaworks and The Times Plan a Social News Service — Something is stirring deep within the technology incubator Betaworks: A personalized news service called News.me that is being developed in collaboration with The New York Times. — On Thursday, a cryptic placeholder for the service went live.

Discussion: Shaping the Future …, Romenesko, Mashable!, VatorNews, Trends in the Living Networks, FM Blog, Journalism.co.uk, Domain Name Wire, paidContent, The Next Web, New York Magazine and Lost Remote

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

The New York Times Gets a Bite of Bit.ly — Here's a quick follow up to News.Me, the sort-of mysterious social news project that the New York Times (NYT) is developing alongside Betaworks. An interesting deal point, really: As part of the partnership between the two companies …

Discussion: DealBook

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Coverage of Koran Case Stirs Questions on Media Role — A renegade pastor and his tiny flock set fire to a Koran on a street corner, and made sure to capture it on film. And they were ignored. — That stunt took place in 2008, involving members of the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka …

Discussion: Salon, PostPartisan, Politics Daily, Telegraph, The Daily Dish, Romenesko, The Huffington Post, Chickaboomer, Most Recent Home Page Posts …, New York Magazine, David Higgerson, Editors Weblog, Guardian, Free Press, Orlando Sentinel, Gothamist, Political Punch and CNN

Sarah Lacy / TechCrunch:
Don't Blame Media, Blame the Media-Audience Infinite Loop

Discussion: On Media's Blog, Mediaite, Romenesko, Lost Remote, International Media, Strupp and Yahoo! News

Newsweek:

Exclusive: WikiLeaks Collaborating With Media Outlets on Release of Iraq Documents — A London-based journalism nonprofit is working with the WikiLeaks Web site and TV and print media in several countries on programs and stories based on what is described as massive cache …

Discussion: The First Post, media 360, New York Magazine and Boing Boing

Kim Zetter / Threat Level:
Massive Cache of Iraq War Docs to Be Published by WikiLeaks

Discussion: Salon and Wonkette

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter Online:

Public Media API Could Be ‘Engine of Innovation’ for Journalism — Journalists from American Public Media, Public Radio Exchange, Public Radio International, PBS and NPR have spent months scoping out how they would create an online pipeline to share and distribute public media content on any platform.

Discussion: rbr.com, Broadcasting & Cable, Public Radio Exchange, paidContent, NPR and Nieman Journalism Lab

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
USA Today Latest Media Co. to Realize Open is Better

Discussion: ProgrammableWeb

Libby Reinish / Save the News Blog:

No More Bleeding Ledes, Please — Sensationalism is rampant in our consolidated news system, where scandal, celebrity gossip and violence (or the threat of looming violence) lead the headlines. Ever wonder why this is all we see and read and hear? — It isn't simply that scandal …

Discussion: Common Sense Journalism and Silicon Alley Insider

Stephen Heyman / New York Times:

Technology Gives Everyone a Great Seat at Shows — THE hub of New York Fashion Week may have moved from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center, but a swirl of exclusivity still surrounds the event, with its security guards and glamazon gatekeepers. How can an unaccredited clotheshorse crash the party?

Discussion: NewTeeVee, Jezebel and Guardian

The Wall Blog:
Twitter in content push as it partners with Amex for New York Fashion Week

Discussion: Switched and The Next Web

Jack Shafer / Slate:

The Fallen Status of Books — Hard times for hardcovers. — No greater pride befalls a scholar, a thinker, a journalist, a business executive, or other writer than to have a party thrown in honor of the publication of his book. A book party is like a wedding, a birthday party, a baptism …

Discussion: Change of Subject, GalleyCat, New York Observer, Media Buyer Planner and Romenesko

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times: In Adding Book Section, the Journal Bucks Trend

Leon Neyfakh / New York Observer:

Dale Peck, Choire Sicha and Friends Start a Book Publishing Collective; First Title Out Next Month … “I think that we recognize that we're way past the moment of panic,” said the novelist DW Gibson yesterday. “And it now sort of feels like a land of opportunity.”

Discussion: tag me with a spoon

Jon Friedman / MarketWatch:

Can anything save ABC News from extinction? — Commentary: The division has sorely lacked a cable presence — NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Forget, for a moment, that ABC News is in disarray. — Forget, too, that the network news business is regarded as a dinosaur.

Discussion: TVNewser and Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog

Peter Lauria / The Daily Beast:

Michael Eisner on Media's Future — With rumors circulating about a likely move to run the Tribune Company, the formidable mogul talks with Peter Lauria about his new book on the greatest business partnerships—but artfully dodges any guesses on his future.

Discussion: The Wrap and Romenesko

David Kaplan / paidContent:

U.S. News Partners With Loud3r On Content Aggregation Channels — U.S. News Media Group, the parent of monthly mag U.S. News and World Report, is working with content aggregator Loud3r on a series of real-time news feeds. The first part of the effort is Congress Tracker, which is naturally timed for the upcoming midterm elections.

Discussion: Shaping the Future …, WebNewser and Loud3r

Hunter Walker / The Wrap:

ABC Marketing Co-Head Mike Benson Steps Down — ABC Entertainment just got its big first casualty under new president Paul Lee: Mike Benson, one of the two execs who run the marketing division, is stepping down. — “Paul is going in a new direction, and Mike has decided to step down,” an ABC spokesperson told The Wrap.

Discussion: MediaPost, Broadcasting & Cable, New York Magazine, Company Town and Variety

Laura Miller / Salon:

The trouble with Google Books — How rampant errors threaten the scholarly mission of the vast digital library — Depending on who you ask, Google Books — the pioneering tech company's ambitious plan to “digitally scan every book in the world” and make them searchable over the Web and in libraries …

Kevin Allocca / TVNewser:

Florida Runs Your News — Growing up in South Florida, I should have known I would someday end up somehow involved in TV news. For better or worse, the state of Florida — and in particular the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale market — has had maybe the biggest impact on the television news industry outside New York and LA.

Russell Adams / Wall Street Journal:

Tracking Songs All Over — Billboard Introduces Service to Help Aspiring Artists Monitor Their Exposure — For decades, appearing in the pages of Billboard magazine was a powerful symbol of achievement for musical artists. Now the publication famous for its music-sales charts is grappling …

Discussion: hypebot

Rachel Sklar / Mediaite:

If It's San Bruno That's Burning And Not The Koran, Will The Cable Nets Notice? — The breaking news email alert came in from CNN: “State of emergency declared in San Bruno, California, after massive gas explosion and fire.” Thing is, it came in at 2:54 a.m.

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

American Public Media, MPR founder Kling to step down as CEO in 2011 — Romenesko Misc. MPR — Bill Kling, who founded Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) in 1966, is stepping down as CEO of MPR and parent American Public Media Group in 2011. A release says Kling “has helped build APMG …

Discussion: Minnesota Public Radio, PJNet, Newsonomics and BrauBlog

Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:

Pentagon Loosens Restrictions for Press in Guantánamo — The Pentagon has agreed to revise some of the rules that have restricted what journalists are free to report on from Guantánamo Bay, resolving a conflict that peaked in May when four reporters were expelled from the naval base there.

Discussion: Romenesko