Mediagazer: Meet the Heroes of Early Scientology Reporting—Plus, a Visit to the Celebrity Centre (Maria Bustillos/The Awl)

7:15 PM ET, February 16, 2011

Top News:

A simple way for publishers to manage access to digital content — (Cross-posted on the Google News Blog) — At Humboldt University in Berlin today, Eric Schmidt announced Google One Pass, a service that lets publishers set their own prices and terms for their digital content.

Newsosaur / Reflections of a Newsosaur:

iTunes subscriptions won't stop free news — While the new iTunes subscription service for publishers may inspire more efforts than ever to charge for content, it won't put a dent in the overwhelming consumption of free news on the Internet. — The Apple subscription service unveiled yesterday intends …

Discussion: Poynter and The Atlantic Wire

Nathan Koppel / Wall Street Journal:

Apple's Subscription Rules Raise Possible Antitrust Issues — Apple Inc.'s new subscription service could draw antitrust scrutiny, according to law professors. — Apple will allow magazines, newspapers and other publishers to sell subscriptions of varying lengths to users of Apple's popular iPad, iTouch and iPhone products.

Edmund Lee / AdAge:
Google Outbids Apple — Offers Publishers 90% Cut on Tablet Subs

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, TechCrunch, Trends in the Living Networks, The Big Picture, memeburn, The Next Web, FishbowlNY and MacStories, more at Techmeme »

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Powered By Google Checkout, One Pass Is A Payment System For Content Publishers

Discussion: MediaPost, Future of Journalism, NetNewsCheck Latest, Editors Weblog, Engadget, Soup and VentureBeat

Nat Ives / AdAge: Why Elle, Nylon and Pop Sci Said Yes to Apple's iPad Subscription Terms

Antony Bruno / Billboard.Biz:
Apple's New Subscription Rules Could Kill Streaming Music Services

Discussion: MinOnline, paidContent, ReadWriteWeb, Future of Journalism, Editors Weblog, NAA Community, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, eMedia Vitals and hypebot

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Media General to use Google One Pass in Virginia, Journalism Online metered model in N.C.

Discussion: WebNewser

John Gapper / John Gapper's blog:
Apple's battle for control with Amazon

Discussion: thebookseller.com/news …, the Econsultancy blog, MediaNama, Rex Hammock's RexBlog.com, Between the Lines Blog, mocoNews and AdAge

Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable:

Google Penalizes Forbes For Selling Links, Again — Forbes.com, the extremely popular magazine web site, has been notified by Google that they have been penalized for selling links on their web site. — Denis Pinsky, the Digital Marketing Manager at Forbes.com, posted a Google Webmaster Help thread with the notification warning.

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

Forbes Accused Of Link Spam, Plays Dumb, But Forgets To Delete All The Links — Ah, Forbes. They, along with eWeek, CIO Magazine and a whole lot of other sites, have long been in the business of selling links on their site. The links aren't placed very prominently, but the buyers don't care …

Discussion: Search Engine Land

Jessica E. Vascellaro / Digits:

AOL and HuffPo Tap Booz, Talk Integration — As AOL and the Huffington Post plan their marriage, they've tapped Booz & Co. for help, according to people familiar with the matter. — The consultants are sitting in on an array of planning meetings over how to unite the editorial, product and sales staffs of the two organizations.

Dan Duray / New York Observer: From Mudslinger to Maverick! The Transformation of Kenneth Lerer

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Inside Twitter's Sales Machine: A Secret Guide for Advertisers (Video) — Twitter hopes to generate something like $100 million from advertising this year, but first it has to teach people how to buy its ads. Here's how it's doing that: A hand-holding how-to video, which walks through everything …

Discussion: paidContent, Digital Trends, SAI, @robinjp and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »

DealBook:

Borders Files for Bankruptcy — Borders Group, the beleaguered bookseller, filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday after failing to secure agreements with publishers and other vendors about reorganizing its debt. — The bookseller listed $1.29 billion in debt and $1.27 billion in assets …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, ReadWriteWeb, Deal Journal, Moral Hazard, Jacket Copy, CrunchGear, Digital Trends, AOL News, Gawker, The Latest Word, City Room and Gothamist, more at Techmeme »

Scott Libin / Poynter:

WJLA General Manager Bill Lord on future of TBD.com: ‘We need to be more cost conscious, and we need more page views’ — In retrospect, maybe choosing the name TBD was prophetic. — Six months after its birth, the fate of the Washington, D.C., metro news site now appears to be determined …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Laura Rich / AdAge:

From Hulu to Google TV, Battle Is on in Distribution Turf War — As Online Video Content, Traditional TV Programming Converge on Multiple Platforms, Who Will Win Attention of Viewers, Advertisers? — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — When it comes to monetizing online video content through advertising, Hulu has been a clear leader.

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Exclusive: Facebook Grabs Microsoft Global Ad Head Carolyn Everson — Apparently, it's not only in Google's pond where Facebook fishes for talent-the social networking giant has recruited Microsoft's global advertising head Carolyn Everson as one of its top sales execs.

Discussion: Brandweek, The Huffington Post, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, All Facebook, AdAge, CNET News, paidContent and ClickZ

Harry A. Jessell / NetNewsCheck:

Study Questions Quality Of Local Site Traffic — On average, 55% of the visitors to locally oriented news and information Web sites are neither local nor loyal, but instead are readers from outside of the market and “fly-bys” unlikely to return frequently, according to a new study from Borrell Associates.

Discussion: @ckrewson

Emily Steel / Wall Street Journal:

WPP to Unveil Interactive Ad Network — Advertising giant WPP PLC is preparing to unveil a new interactive ad agency network called Possible Worldwide, part of a broader push to reposition its business to tap global growth in digital ad dollars. — The network will stitch together four digital ad agencies …

Discussion: 5 Blogs Before Lunch and AdPulp

Kat Stoeffel / New York Observer:

The Lion's Catty Boys: The Claws Come Out for Dan and Dave — The cubs are pawing each other over at the Lion. As the West Village spot bids to pick up the mantle of Waverly Inn, several stakeholders are distancing themselves and the restaurant from its two most conspicuous investors, Dan Abrams and Dave Zinczenko.

Discussion: Gawker

Dylan Stableford / The Wrap:

Comcast Profits Up as Company Looks for NBC Primetime Turnaround — With NBC Universal securely in its pocket, Comcast reported a 7 percent increase in fourth quarter revenue and an 11 percent jump in operating income on Wednesday, as cable customers ordered more services and advertising grew.

Discussion: rbr.com, MediaMemo, Online Video News, GigaOM, CNET News, New York Times and Media Buyer Planner

Joe Mullin / paidContent:

Movie Studios, Publishers Seek Limits On Celebrities' ‘Rights Of Publicity’ — What kind of control should celebrities have over creative works that involve their images? In a high-stakes case just argued in a California appeals court, media companies are asking for courts to place clearer limits …

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

On the Media: Is a not-for-profit news website in the cards for L.A.? — Venture capitalist and former Times Mirror executive Tom Unterman is ‘very hopeful’ about launching the venture. First hurdle: $10 million. — I've been wondering for a couple of years whether someone would bring Los Angeles …

Discussion: Poynter, LA Observed and Reuters

Joe Pompeo / Yahoo! News:

Demand Media taps Peter Guber to motivate its freelancers (The Cutline) — Demand Media taps Peter Guber to motivate its freelancers — Demand Media has come under scrutiny not only for the less-than-modest rates it pays the army of freelancers who churn out servicey “how to” …

A.J. Daulerio / Deadspin:

Katie Baker Has Been Poached By Bill Simmons For His Forthcoming Editorial Project — Our great friend and part-time contributor (even though everyone who worked here considered her full-time), has decided to leave the lush life of freelance writing while praying her day job co-workers …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared and The Wire

Dylan Stableford / The Wrap:

Time Revamps Magazine to Expand Entertainment Coverage — Time magazine is expected to announce on Wednesday a revamp within in the pages of its magazine in an effort to, among other things, expand its coverage of arts and entertainment culture, and showcase stuff that works well for Time online and on mobile devices, like the iPad.

Discussion: mediabistro.com

Steve Goldstein / minonline.com:

Access Intelligence Acquires Red 7 Media — min's parent company, Access Intelligence, will close a deal on Friday, Feb. 18, to acquire Norwalk, Conn.-based Red 7 Media, which serves the event industry with its Event Marketer, EXPO, Best Events and Event Design media brands and associated events …

Megan Garber / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Dataviz, democratized: Google opens Public Data Explorer — Two years ago, Google acquired Gapminder, the Swedish graphics-display company whose Trendalyzer software specializes in representing data over time. (You may recall the company from this awesome and much-circulated TED talk from 2006.)