Mediagazer: Arianna Online: AOL could use some of Huffington's cachet (Robin Abcarian/Los Angeles Times)

11:40 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.

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

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, Trends in the Living Networks, memeburn, The Big Picture, GigaOM, The Next Web and TechCrunch

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

Discussion: paidContent and WebNewser

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 …

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

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

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

Nathan Koppel / Wall Street Journal:
Apple's Subscription Rules Raise Possible Antitrust Issues

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

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

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.

more at Techmeme »

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

Joe Pompeo / Yahoo! News:

Newspaper Guild of NY ready to launch $1 million campaign against NY Times — The Newspaper Guild of New York said Wednesday it is prepared to spend $1 million on a campaign to “rally public support for journalists and other unionized staff” facing compensation cuts at The New York Times.

Discussion: Runnin' Scared

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

NYT says it's seeking ‘a modern contract’ with the guild — Romenesko Misc. — Shortly after the Newspaper Guild of New York's contract talks release was posted here, the Times sent statement saying that it's “seeking a modern contract with the Guild that addresses the new realities …

Discussion: Future of Journalism and FishbowlNY

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.

Robin Abcarian / Los Angeles Times:
Arianna Online: AOL could use some of Huffington's cachet

Discussion: Poynter

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, City Room, The Latest Word, Gawker and Gothamist, more at Techmeme »

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.

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: The Wire

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

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 …

Discussion: paidContent

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

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

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

With RSS Face Down In A Ditch, Lifeless, Pulse Finds A Heartbeat Beyond It — We love the “RSS Is Dead” meme here at TechCrunch. Hell, we started it. And while RSS isn't exactly dead as in gone, it is dead in that the vast majority of people who consume content on the web have absolutely …

Discussion: The Pulse Blog and MacStories

Maria Bustillos / The Awl:

Meet the Heroes of Early Scientology Reporting—Plus, a Visit to the Celebrity Centre — Across the street from Scientology's fabled Celebrity Centre, on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, there is a coffee house called The Bourgeois Pig. It is super dark in there but the coffee isn't bad, and you can sit outside.

Discussion: LA Observed, Most Recent Home Page Posts …, The Atlantic Online, Runnin' Scared, Nieman Storyboard and The New Republic

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.)

Discussion: The Official Google Blog, CNET News, Search Engine Land, ReadWriteWeb, O'Reilly Radar and Google Labs, more at Techmeme »

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 …

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” …

MediaShift:

How the Kindle Made Single-Story Sales a Reality for Magazines — I've never seen a “Not for Individual Sale” label on a magazine story. So why can't I buy most individual magazine articles in digital form just yet? — Selling stand-alone stories has seemed like a potential business model …

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

Daniel D'Addario / New York Observer:

‘Approval Matrix’ Show Aims for Brilliant — Faith Salie sounded exhilarated when we spoke to her around eight last night. The TV special she hosted, a television adaptation of New York magazine's highbrow/lowbrow “Approval Matrix” feature, had just finished taping: “It's hot off the presses—today's news.”

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.