Mediagazer: Blurring the Line Between Apps and Books (Noam Cohen/New York Times)

4:15 PM ET, October 25, 2010

Top News:

Why NPR Matters (Long) — I have known and very occasionally worked with Juan Williams, and I don't want to say much about him. I think Andrew Sullivan is very astute in pointing out the difference between the complex way Williams wrote about racial stereotypes and racial differences early in his career …

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Dish and The Huffington Post

Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:

Major Garrett Talks Juan Williams On Morning Joe: FNC Embraces “Polarization” — MSNBC's Morning Joe welcomed National Journal Executive Editor Ron Brownstein and NJ correspondent Major Garrett this morning, the day the magazine and web site relaunched. — Of course, Garrett on Morning Joe …

Discussion: TVNewser, National Media, Media Matters for America, NPR Topics and FishbowlDC

Jay Rosen / Pressthink:
NPR News Analyst: How Juan Williams Got Fired

Discussion: The Politico, The Wrap, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, main page collection, Romenesko, Change of Subject, Poynter Online and The Huffington Post

Farai Chideya / The Huffington Post:
What Everyone Is Missing About NPR's WilliamsGate

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Free Press and WBUR and NPR

David Carr / New York Times:

Against Odds, Web Site Finds Niche — Something odd showed up last week in the mailbox of Choire Sicha, a veteran blogger who lost his job and started a Web site with a few pals two years ago: a paycheck. — In September 2008, Mr. Sicha, Alex Balk and David Cho all found themselves laid off from Radar …

Discussion: American Prospect, New York Observer, Brooks in Beta, Common Sense Journalism, Crushable, AdPulp, The Hairpin, The Rumpus.net and NYConvergence.com

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Debut for a Nimbler, Newsier National Journal — WASHINGTON — “The conversation” is a term of art in the media often associated with longing. Media companies want to join it, shape it, lead it. — This has not always been a strong suit for National Journal.

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, coverawards.com, White House Correspondents …, Romenesko, Housing Complex and NationalJournal.com

Financial Times:
National Journal defies print logic

Thanks:dgelles

Steve Fishman / New York Magazine:

Newsboy — Looking for one last turn in the spotlight, 92 year old Sidney Harman paid his dollar for Newsweek. And Tina Brown was all set to dance. So why did it fall apart? — Tina Brown has always had a thing for older men—years ago, she'd married one.

Discussion: Guardian, New York Observer, Gawker and Romenesko

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Pitching Movies or Filming Shows, Hollywood Is Hooked on iPads — Last month at a meeting in Hollywood, it was time to plot out the sequel to “Star Trek,” last year's blockbuster reboot of the sci-fi franchise. — The attendees all brought smartphones — gadgets far more powerful …

Discussion: TUAW

John Koblin / WWD:

Style.com Moves to Fairchild Group — NEW YORK —The Condé Nast Web site Style.com is becoming part of Fairchild Fashion Group, effective immediately. The editorial team at Style.com, including editor Dirk Standen, will now report to Fairchild editorial director Peter Kaplan.

Discussion: New York Observer, paidContent, MinOnline and MediaPost

Xeni Jardin / Boing Boing:

Local newspaper boasts ultimate passive-aggressive paywall policy — The North County Gazette, a regional paper covering upstate New York, offers its articles online with a sort of an honor system instead of a standard paywall. OK, but instead of a straight-up honor system or “tip jar” …

Discussion: Urlesque

Noam Cohen / New York Times:

Blurring the Line Between Apps and Books — STEPHEN ELLIOTT, a 38-year-old from San Francisco, just introduced his first piece of software for sale: an app for the iPad and iPhone called “The Adderall Diaries.” — He's not exactly a programmer — better to call him a writer.

Discussion: GalleyCat and New York Observer

Kevin Shalvey / Flood Magazine:

The New Yorker has a Paywall Problem, Part 2 — Comments left throughout The New Yorker's JavaScript code include an email address of a faculty member at Lehman College. — Eleven years ago, when Jon Lech Johansen was a 15-year-old kid in Norway, he sat at his computer and banged out code …

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

PBS Making Digital Push With New Website, iPad Application … PBS is beta-launching Monday a new website at PBS.org, which will offer local content from member stations alongside national content and offer auto-localization features. — The public broadcaster also is launching PBS for iPad …

Discussion: mocoNews, AppScout, ThinkMobile, ReadWriteWeb and digiphile, more at Techmeme »

Jon Orlin / TechCrunch:

Internet TV and The Death of Cable TV, really — Yes, you heard this before. The Death of Cable TV. Yet, it hasn't happened. But now, so many disruptions are happening in the video space, cable tv is really stepping towards the cliff. Don't expect the cable industry to just give up.

Discussion: Online Video News

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

MTV Is Looking Beyond ‘Jersey Shore’ to Build a Wider Audience — The second-season finale of “Jersey Shore” last week was one of the highest-rated hours all year on MTV. There was, perhaps, no better time to promote another boozy, in-your-face unscripted show.

Jose Martinez / NY Daily News:

Mommy blogger Lyss Stern agreed to write puff piece to pay off $45K dental bill then reneged: suit — Author Lyss Stern shows off her winning smile at the “If You Give A Mom A Martini...” book launch last year. A Manhattan dental practice claims she didn't pay for it.

Discussion: Gawker, Romenesko and Gothamist

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

WSJ Doesn't Buy Into Amazon's ‘Buy Once, Read Everywhere’ Plans — Earlier this month, I told an Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) VP the aspect that bothered me most as a Kindle user was the inability to access my subscriptions across the e-reader platform. Amazon execs are among the best I've ever seen …

Discussion: Poynter Online