Mediagazer: The Drama with Encyclopedia Dramatica (Adrian Chen/Gawker)

4:20 AM ET, January 24, 2011

Top News:

New York Times Readies Pay Wall — Paper Will Charge for Bundled Digital Service, Allow Some Free Access — The New York Times is preparing to introduce multiple subscription packages for access to the paper's website and other digital content, kicking off the biggest test to date …

Discussion: @zseward and @lavrusik

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
NY Times will build its digital empire on (metered) quality journalism

Discussion: @felixsalmon and The Atlantic Online

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Despite Distinctions, Los Angeles Times Loses Standing at Home — LOS ANGELES — Big city newspapers all across the country have suffered one indignity after another in the last few years. But few of them have been as hard hit — or gotten as much grief for it — as The Los Angeles Times.

Discussion: LA Observed

Guardian:

The story behind the Palestine papers — How 1,600 confidential Palestinian records of negotiations with Israel from 1999 to 2010 came to be leaked to al-Jazeera — The revelations from the heart of the Israel-Palestine peace process are the product of the biggest documentary leak …

Discussion: Aljazeera, Politics Daily, Guardian and Clusterstock

Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:

CQ Press to Introduce Specialized Data Service — The race to build the biggest, most comprehensive and specialized cache of at-your-fingertips information and analysis on the business of Washington has added one more combatant. — CQ Press is creating a service called First Street …

Susan Crawford blog:

FCC conditions on Comcast/NBCU — Here's a quick briefing on the FCC's order [warning: large PDF] approving the Comcast/NBCU merger. — Now that Comcast is deeply invested in content as well as distribution, there's a substantial risk that it will wield its power to favor its own programming.

Adrian Chen / Gawker:

The Drama with Encyclopedia Dramatica — Encyclopedia Dramatica, one of the last bastions of Internet nastiness, appeared to have closed its doors for good today. But is it really dead? It's founder and owner says no. Rejoice, trolls! — For seven years, Encyclopedia Dramatica …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared

Tim Stelloh / New York Times:

Not Quite a Reporter, but Raking Muck and Reaping Wrath — Daniel Cavanagh was nervous. — He paced the living room of his duplex apartment collecting his things: a large digital camera, an iPhone, a black leather jacket. — “I'm about to get crushed,” he said, running his hands through his hair.

Marc Berman / Adweek:

Interview: CNN's Anderson Cooper Gets Talking — AdweekMedia TV critic interviews popular host — The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) conference begins this week in Miami, and the standout new entry, in terms of clearances, is Anderson Cooper.

Roger Ebert / Wall Street Journal:

Film Criticism Is Dying? Not Online — Thanks to the Internet, there is more and better writing about movies than ever before, says Roger Ebert — Buster Keaton, left, in ‘Speak Easily,’ 1932. Today's critics hail from Seoul, Cairo, Mumbai and Manila.

Discussion: CyberJournalist.net

Craig Silverman / Regret the Error:

Does 80 percent of AOL's revenue come from subscribers? New Yorker discrepancy leads to confusion — Ken Auletta's latest article in the New Yorker — a long feature about the new AOL — set off a lot of online chatter. One statistic in particular was highlighted by the Consumerist and Business Insider.

Discussion: TechCrunch and Gannett Blog

Paul Armstrong / paidContent:

@Themediaisdying: The Brutal Truth From Two Years In The Twitterverse — The facts for the publishing industry are clear - the vast majority of media outlets are declining in one or more ways. — Two years ago, I registered @themediaisdying - a Twitter account through which I tweet links illustrating …

Nicholas Carlson / SAI:

AOL Is In Talks To Acquire Outside.In, Save It From Near Certain Death — AOL is talking to local news aggregator Outside.in about a possible acquisition, we've heard from multiple sources. — One source close to the deal told us that it would be “premature” to report that AOL has acquired Outside.in …

Amanda Andrews / Telegraph:

Virgin Media's Neil Berkett: It's all about ‘connectivity’ and broadband speed — Neil Berkett has an announcement to make: Virgin Media's battle with Sky for the pay-TV market is over. — “This is not a zero-sum game any more,” says the New Zealand-born media executive.

Arthur S. Brisbane / New York Times:

A Necessary Clash of News and Advertising — Views from readers, responses from the staff and thoughts from Arthur S. Brisbane, the public editor. — I am writing to draw your attention to a recent two-page spread ("A Year Later, Haunted but Hopeful, Haiti Struggles Back," Jan. 4).