Mediagazer: Exclusive: Sources Detail Google's Proposal For A Music Service (Ed Christman/Billboard.Biz)

4:10 PM ET, September 15, 2010

Top News:

John Boudreau / Mercury News:

Apple to announce subscription plan for newspapers — Apple is expected to announce soon a new subscription plan for newspapers, which hope tablets like the iPad will eventually provide a new source of profit as media companies struggle with declining print circulation and advertising revenue.

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

The news is, that pitch was paid for — (WJBK Fox 2 Morning News / September 14, 2010) — When spokespersons for hire promote products on local TV news shows. — With summer ending, local television news stations recently rolled out their back-to-school features.

Discussion: B&C

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

The New Twitter.com Is a “Consumption Environment.” Translation: Twitter Is a (Reluctant) Media Company. — Twitter's new Web site has lots of cool features and gizmos. But they're all supposed to do one thing in particular: They're meant to encourage you to spend more time on Twitter.com, where the company can show you some ads.

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
You're a Media Company Now, Twitter — Good Luck

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, TeleRead and WebNewser, more at Techmeme »

Ed Christman / Billboard.Biz:

Exclusive: Sources Detail Google's Proposal For A Music Service — Google is circulating a proposal among major record labels for a long-anticipated music service that would include an a la carte digital download store and a subscription-based cloud-based locker, according to industry sources.

Discussion: Ars Technica, MediaMemo, Epicenter, TechCrunch, mobile-ent.biz and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:

Newsweek departures continue: Hosenball heads to Reuters — Investigative reporter Mark Hosenball becomes the latest high-profile Newsweek staffer to leave since the magazine was sold last month. He's joining Reuters as a money and politics reporter after 17 years with the weekly magazine.

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Condé Nast chief: up to 40% of magazine sales could be on iPad — Nicholas Coleridge reveals publisher will launch paid-for applications for December issues of UK Wired and Vogue — Nicholas Coleridge, the managing director of Condé Nast UK, has predicted that in the future …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Media Buyer Planner and New York Observer

Dorian Benkoil / Poynter Online:

paidContent's Rafat Ali Describes Grim View of Online News' Prospects — In 2002, after unsuccessfully trying to get a reporting job, Rafat Ali launched paidContent.org, a blog about the business of media. The site gained a following, then sponsorships, and became a leading voice in the industry.

Discussion: Poynter Online

Rem Rieder / American Journalism Review:

Celebrating Innovation — Exciting new approaches to journalism. — Rem Rieder (rrieder@ajr.umd.edu) is AJR's editor and senior vice president. — It's easy to get discouraged about the state of journalism, with rampant cutbacks at traditional news organizations, the elusiveness …

Discussion: Romenesko

Jon Friedman / MarketWatch:

Media Buzz: Naming the tastemakers of 2010 — Commentary: A dozen New York-based journalists set the tone — This is the first in a series of columns focusing on journalists who have a buzz. — NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — It's getting increasingly difficult to recognize exactly who should be regarded as a journalist in 2010.

Mark D. Fefer / Seattle Weekly:

On the Advice of the FBI, Cartoonist Molly Norris Disappears From View — Her work won't be in Seattle Weekly anymore, or anywhere else. — You may have noticed that Molly Norris' comic is not in the paper this week. That's because there is no more Molly. … The gifted artist is alive and well, thankfully.

Austin Carr / Fast Company:

Ad Giant Thinks You'll Pay for Media Again With the Content Project — How much content are you willing to pay for online? That's what providers from publishers to media outlets want to know as they gear up to launch subscription services. Hulu and the New York Times are just two of the many experimenting with paywalls.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and AdPulp

Media Week:

X Magazine a ‘genuine alternative’ for upmarket women — Natasha Sundharawipata, publishing director of X Magazine at Fremantle Media Enterprises, tells Media Week why the new weekly X Factor spin-off will compete in the most lucrative part of the magazine market

Discussion: Press Gazette

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Power to the (Blogging) People — This moment was inevitable. Ever since China began to shuck off communism and turn itself into a global economic power, its leaders have followed the strategy of a “peaceful rise” — be modest, act prudently, don't frighten the neighbors and certainly don't galvanize any coalition against us.

Discussion: newsfeed.time.com

Steve Smith / minonline.com:

Magazine Video Growth Slows in Q2 — After eight consecutive quarters of growth in online video streams, magazine Web sites saw the first signs of contraction in the second quarter of the year, according to the latest trending statistics from Brightcove and TubeMogul.

Discussion: Canadian Magazines, MediaPost, Media Buyer Planner, MarketingVOX and Business Wire

Megan R. Wilson / OpenSecrets.org:

Journalists, Media Professionals Donating Frequently to Federal Political Candidates this Election Cycle — Last year, Christopher Hayes gave $250 to the congressional campaign of a good friend, Alabama Democrat Josh Segall. — That's hardly noteworthy, but for one factor: Hayes is the Washington …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, CJR, Hollywood Reporter, Romenesko, Views of the News and On Media's Blog

Nikki Finke / Deadline.com:

ADVISORY: Deadline's New Managing Editor Is Former Variety Exec Editor Michael Speier — Deadline.com has hired Michael Speier, formerly Daily Variety's Executive Editor for news from 2006-2009. Effective October 1st, he becomes the Deadline.com Managing Editor and will be based in parent company MMC's Los Angeles headquarters.

Discussion: LA Observed

Stuart Elliott / New York Times:

Newspaper Group Offers a Guarantee to Marketers — NEWSPAPERS are joining media like television and magazines in guaranteeing some results for advertisers. — The Newspaper National Network, which is owned by 25 major newspaper publishers and the Newspaper Association of America …

Discussion: New York Observer, mediabistro.com and Romenesko

Martin Belam / currybetdotnet:

Nieman Journalism Lab shows the way to do apologies and corrections online — A good compare and contrast with media accountability over mistakes. — Yesterday, the Nieman Journalism Lab broke an embargo over a Pew Research Centre study. When they realised, they removed the story …

Discussion: Editors Weblog, Romenesko and Embargo Watch

Robert Andrews / paidContent:UK:

Times Launching Web Notifications Dashboard, TV Ad For Paid Pitch — I often find it confusing when people charge The Times with having introduced reader fees without having launched a service that really takes advantage of the internet (have you seen those infographics or daily emails?).

Discussion: The Times

Michelle Kung / Speakeasy:

‘Catfish’ Movie Star Nev Schulman on the Perils, Benefits of Social Media … The social networking documentary “Catfish,” directed by debut feature filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, may not hit theaters until this Friday, but its subject and star, Nev Schulman, is already being recognized.

David Kaplan / paidContent:

Spanfeller Media Group Gets Ready To Unveil The Daily Meal — Spanfeller Media Group is finally pulling up the curtain on the name of its first content site, a food vertical called The Daily Meal. The site will launch on Oct. 15 and will be run by one-time Saveur editor and Gourmet columnist Colman Andrews.

Discussion: Romenesko, Silicon Alley Insider and Eater National

Jim Barnett / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Government-free* nonprofit journalism, asterisk included — Here's a test for nonprofit journalism and its stakeholders. — The following sentence comes from the “Contribute” page of a nonprofit journalism organization. What's wrong with it? … The answer is...nothing is wrong. — Ha!

Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:

Al Sharpton to launch Sunday-morning show — He'll also start a media company and magazine — The Rev. Al Sharpton has created his own media company and will launch a Sunday-morning syndicated TV show, he told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday. — The controversial civil rights advocate …

Discussion: New York Observer, Chickaboomer and Gawker

Zeke Turner / New York Observer:

Lucky Lady — When Brandon Holley took over Jane at the end of 2005 from the eponymous Jane Pratt, the magazine's staff gave her a neon sign. It read “She's so Jane,” and the magazine launched an ad campaign around that tag line to convince readers and advertisers that Ms. Holley would be make a great replacement.