Mediagazer: How US newspapers are coping with abusive commenters (Roy Greenslade/Guardian)

11:30 AM ET, October 22, 2010

Top News:

In wake of NPR controversy, Fox News gives Juan Williams an expanded role — The cable news network signs the analyst to a new three-year contract for nearly $2 million. Meanwhile, conservative figures blast the public radio network for its response to Williams' comments about Muslims.

Alicia Shepard / NPR:

NPR's Firing of Juan Williams Was Poorly Handled — Juan Williams once again got himself into trouble with NPR for comments he made at his other job, at Fox News. And NPR's reaction has unleashed an unprecedented firestorm of criticism directed not at Williams - but at NPR.

Discussion: The Nation, Los Angeles Times, Runnin' Scared, NPR Topics, Romenesko, Hot Air, Scripting News, Swampland, Guardian, The Huffington Post, Rhetorica, Big Journalism, GroundReport.com, Hit & Run, Speakeasy, The Hill and Hubbub

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Williams Episode Shows 2 Versions of Journalism — NPR's decision Wednesday to fire Juan Williams and Fox News Channel's decision to give him a new contract on Thursday put into sharp relief the two versions of journalism that compete every day for Americans' attention.

Discussion: NPR, The Buttry Diary, The Huffington Post, Philly.com, Poynter Online, Fox News, Washington Post, Most Recent Home Page Posts …, Tuned In, Gawker, Daily Kos and Inside Cable News

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Rupert Murdoch Admits He Can't Compete With Google — News Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch has likely never acknowledged (at least not publicly) that he has failed at something, particularly when it involves a market worth billions of dollars, but he appears to have conceded defeat in his attempt to build a competitor to Google News.

Discussion: mediabistro.com, more at Techmeme »

Media Week:

Rupert Murdoch's full speech at the Centre of Policy Studies — Rupert Murdoch, the founder, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, heaped praise on Margaret Thatcher for ‘expanding the boundaries of freedom’ tonight, before turning to bloggers and why they will never replace journalists.

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Guardian, Crikey and paidContent

Media Week:
Murdoch aims sideswipe at ‘traditional elites’ curbs on News Corp

Discussion: Press Gazette and Arif Durrani

Reuters: News Corp ices Alesia digital newsstand plan-source

Wall Street Journal:

Networks in Rift With Google TV — ABC, CBS and NBC are blocking TV programming on their websites from being viewable on Google Inc.'s new Web-TV service, exposing the rift that remains between the technology giant and some of the media companies it wants to supply content for its new products.

Discussion: New York Observer, Search Engine Land, Both Sides of the Table, Bits, TechCrunch, PC World, Reuters, Fast Company, The New Yorker Blog, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Lost Remote, NewTeeVee and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Tom Krazit / CNET News:
Some networks blocking shows on Google TV

Discussion: New York Post, Search Engine Land and Creative Loafing Atlanta

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Life With Google TV: My First Day Review & Impressions

Discussion: TechCrunch, Google Webmaster Central Blog and Lost Remote, more at Techmeme »

Robert Quigley / Old Media, New Tricks:

Newspapers on Twitter, ranked by followers — Inspired by this interesting but flawed effort to measure U.S. newspaper Twitter followers, I scoured the Twittersphere to come up with an exhaustive list of Twitter followers for as many U.S. newspapers as I could. I ended up with 200, but I think I'm the only one exhausted.

Dylan Stableford / The Wrap:
Tweet This: The Top 25 Magazines on Twitter

Discussion: SocialTimes.com, Thompson on Hollywood and Romenesko

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

How US newspapers are coping with abusive commenters — What's to be done when readers' online comments tip over from the critical into the abusive? That problem has been faced by several newspapers in the US. — In the latest example, the Portland Press Herald shut down its comments service …

Damon Kiesow / Poynter Online:
Comments return to the Portland Press Herald

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab and Shaping the Future …

Scripting News:

New blogging techniques — What I call paragraph-level permalinks have made an appearance in Jay Rosen's blog, thanks to the innovative design work of Lauren Rabaino. — Nieman Lab calls out the feature. — And this got a geek going, Daniel Bachhuber, whose new (today) …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab and Lauren Michell Rabaino

Ryan Tate / Gawker:

R.I.P. Chatroulette: A Sad Tale of Missed Opportunity — Remember Chatroulette? It's hard to believe that barely eight months ago the anonymous video chat site had everyone captivated. Venture capitalists clamored to invest, journalists tripped over one another to profile—and now Chatroulette is dying, unused and unloved.

Discussion: Social Culture …

Mike Shields / Mediaweek:

TV Guide Site Partners With ABC for ‘Check-In’ Feature — TVGuide.com has partnered with ABC to help kick start its new TV Check-In feature—the site's answer to the slew of startup social apps, which encourage users to tell their friends what they watch or are planning to watch on TV.

Michael Learmonth / AdAge:

Vevo Turns Up Heat on MTV in Online Video Dispute — Upstart Is Top in Video Views and It's Targeting TV — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Music videos barely appear on TV any more, but the battle to control them online — and sell them to marketers in turn — is becoming a full-fledged spectacle …

Wall Street Journal:

Tribune Creditor Proposal Expected Friday — Tribune Co. on Friday is expected to file a bankruptcy-exit plan that has support from its leading creditors. The filing comes as creditors are sounding out candidates to run the company post-bankruptcy, including former News Corp. executive Peter Chernin.

Discussion: Romenesko

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Books and Video Win on the iPad, and Users Are Buying — Although the iPad is still relatively new, early indications are that a majority of users are willing to pay for content on the tablet — whether it's apps or games — and that books and video are the two most popular forms of media …

Discussion: The Next Web and MediaPost

Nielsen Wire:
Connected Devices: Does the iPad Change Everything?

Discussion: CrunchGear, ReadWriteWeb, MinOnline, MediaPost, Fortune, Gadget Lab, TUAW, MarketingCharts and Poynter Online

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:

Magazines, Advertising, and the Malleability of Ethics — Since the recession hit and print started dying in earnest, magazines have been...let's say, loosening their standards on the editorial-advertising divide. Now, in a bid to maintain relevance, the American Society of Magazine Editors has updated its ethical guidelines.

Discussion: MinOnline, MPA and Canadian Magazines