Mediagazer: Gilt City Exits Beta With Limits Around Local Expansion (David Kaplan/paidContent)

6:00 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.

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

The Mercury News's Thinly Sourced Apple Scooplet — I've criticized press coverage of Apple quite a bit. — But I have to acknowledge something: The company's NSA-like secrecy makes it a bear to cover, and readers really want to read about Apple (me, too!).

Discussion: TUAW

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: The Awl, B&C, AdPulp and Romenesko

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.

Discussion: New York Observer, The Wrap, On Media's Blog and Romenesko

Anthony Ha / VentureBeat:

DEMO: The secret of Groupon's success is ... good writing? — Among startups, there's a tendency to emphasize product technology, rather than fuzzier skills and qualities that don't “scale”. But chief executive Andrew Mason said today that the success of his popular social buying site Groupon …

Discussion: Tech Trader Daily, more at Techmeme »

David Kaplan / paidContent:

Gilt City Exits Beta With Limits Around Local Expansion — Online luxury discount shopper Gilt Groupe has fully launched its local project Gilt City in six markets yesterday. Don't expect a big expansion beyond that anytime soon. While the social shopping space has gotten very crowded since Gilt …

Discussion: TechCrunch

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, Epicenter, paidContent, MediaMemo, DailyFinance, GigaOM, TechCrunch, mobile-ent.biz and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

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.

Discussion: Mediaite

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, New York Observer and New York Post

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

You're a Media Company Now, Twitter — Good Luck — Twitter rolled out a fairly radical overhaul of its website last night, including support for embedding of photo galleries, videos and other media content, and what appears to be plenty of room for advertising.

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

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
The New Twitter.com Is a “Consumption Environment.” …

Joe Pompeo / The Wire:

CNBC Gets Bloggy With NetNet: An Interview With John Carney — It's been four months since CNBC hired John Carney as a senior editor for its website. — Since then, Carney has been writing up a storm for CNBC.com and appearing regularly on air. But what the network really hired …

Discussion: CNBC and Talking Biz News

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: E-Media Tidbits and Editors Weblog

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

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: MediaPost, Romenesko, Silicon Alley Insider and Eater National

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

Kassia Krozser / Booksquare:

Rethinking the Publishing Company — I think we all know what the publisher of today looks like. The hierarchy and positions have become comfortable, established. Sort of like really nice flannel pajamas. That's not to say nothing ever evolves; I mean, who wears the same pair of pajamas forever?

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.

Discussion: Talking Biz News

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

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

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.

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

Chris Ariens / WebNewser:

‘60 Minutes’ Goes Overtime on the Web — “60 Minutes,” the venerable CBS News magazine, is finally getting its own dedicated website which will provide bonus coverage and take viewers behind the scenes of how each week's stories are produced. — 60MinutesOvertime.com will go live Sept. 26 …

Discussion: rbr.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

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