Mediagazer: 5 Mistakes That Make Local Blogs Fail (MediaShift Idea Lab)

4:00 PM ET, September 18, 2010

Top News:

Adrian Chen / Gawker:

Steve Jobs In Email Pissing Match with College Journalism Student — Steve Jobs is known for replying to random emails sent to his personal Apple email address. Well, a college journalism student from Long Island emailed him about a problem she had with Apple's PR department. Jobs' response?

Discussion: TechCrunch, New York Magazine, Hit & Run, Gadget Lab, Runnin' Scared, Charitini and Gizmodo

MediaShift Idea Lab:

5 Mistakes That Make Local Blogs Fail — So you're thinking about starting a local blog. Maybe you're a reporter tired of office politics and lowest-common-denominator assignments. Maybe you're a neighborhood gadfly who wants to create a new place for locals to gather.

Discussion: Lost Remote and Kirk LaPointe's …

Ira Stoll / The Future of Capitalism:

How Murdoch's Wall Street Journal Covers Kushner — News Corp. chief executive Rupert Murdoch and New York Observer owner and real estate investor Jared Kushner are close enough pals that Mr. Kushner and his wife reportedly accompanied the Murdoch family on a recent Middle East trip for the christening of the Murdoch daughters.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Joe Flint / Company Town:

Nielsen's deal with ABC on iPad application: The referee joins the game — Nielsen, the company that the broadcast and cable channels pay to provide ratings for their programs, is getting into a side business to help the networks promote their shows. — In a deal announced Thursday …

C.W. Anderson / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Yeah, but what does it mean for journalism? A visual rhetoric guide — It's become something of a Twitter joke. A new gadget appears, or a dramatic development takes place on the world stage, and the cry goes up: But what does it mean for journalism? I'm guilty of it myself.

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Mitchell on Ahmadinejad Interview: 'One of the most complicated challenges I've faced' — NBC News chief foreign correspondent Andrea Mitchell has experienced a lot in her 16 years on the beat. But she calls this week's interview with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “one of the most complicated challenges I've faced.”

Bloomberg:

Apple Said to Negotiate With Publishers Over Digital Newsstand — Apple Inc. is developing a digital newsstand for publishers that would let them sell magazines and newspapers to consumers for use on Apple devices, said two people familiar with the matter. — The newsstand …

Discussion: MacRumors, Publishing Executive News, everythingiCafe, Engadget, TeleRead and One Man & His Blog, more at Techmeme »

Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:

Ex-child prostitute sues Village Voice over sex ads — A teenage child trafficking victim has filed a lawsuit against Village Voice Media, for knowingly allowing her pimp to post ads for her “services” on the popular backpage.com. The pimp, Latasha Jewell McFarland, has already pleaded guilty …

Discussion: Hit & Run

Claire Atkinson / New York Post:

NBC's fall guys — Tweet — NBC Universal is looking at a new fall lineup — not just on the screen but in the executive suite. — Execs have been nervously awaiting moves by Comcast Corp., the cable giant that is buying a majority stake in NBC Universal, giving it control of the Peacock network …

Discussion: TVNewser and TVWeek.com

io9:

How the Nielsen TV ratings work — and what could replace them — The Fall television season is beginning. Both networks and fans will anxiously scan Nielsen ratings to see which shows will survive. But how do these ratings work? And could we develop a system that measures how we really watch TV?

Discussion: NewTeeVee

Nicholas Carlson / New York Times:

Hacks Into Hackers — Last spring, Nick Bilton, an adjunct professor at New York University (and a New York Times blogger), and his technology class stashed sensors all over their floor at the Tisch School of the Arts: on elevators, in hallways, outside bathrooms, in the lounge and in classrooms.

Michael Roberts / The Latest Word:

I-News: Can Laura Frank's journalism project slow the disappearance of investigative reporting? — With resources and revenues for print and broadcast news operations continuing to shrink, investigative journalism — a vital form, but among the field's most expensive — is becoming more rare with each passing day.