Mediagazer: MPAA's Top Lawyer Leaving to Join Viacom (Exclusive) (Matthew Belloni/Hollywood Reporter)

11:05 AM ET, February 17, 2011

Top News:

Bahrain Protests: At Least 2 Dead in Crackdown; ABC's Miguel Marquez Roughed Up — “There was a canister that looked like — No! No! No! Hey! I'm a journalist here!” he yelled. — “I'm going! I'm going! I'm going! I'm going!,” he said. “I'm hit. ”

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, The Wire, Runnin' Scared, On Media's Blog, Gawker, New York Magazine, TVNewser and FrumForum

Taimur Khan / GQ:

How I Survived an Attack in Cairo — On the front lines, in the middle of the action, at the tip of the spear—that's where reporters like Fox News correspondent Greg Palkot always want to be. But what happens when you find yourself a little too close to the story, caught up in a melee …

Discussion: Mediaite, Inside Cable News, TVNewser and Politics Daily

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:

Is It Possible to Make Dangerous Reporting Safe? — Michael Kelly was killed in a Humvee accident in Iraq. Bob Woodruff was blown up by an I.E.D. Damn near every reporter covering the Egyptian revolution was assaulted one way or another, including Lara Logan, in the most awful possible way.

Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:

Dueling Paywalls: Brill & Crovitz's Journalism Online vs. Google's One Pass — One company set to face new competition now that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is rolling out its paid content system is Journalism Online, which to date has helped roughly 24 publications, predominately smaller-circulation newspapers …

Discussion: Search Engine Land, NetNewsCheck Latest, eMedia Vitals, GigaOM, Future of Journalism and Nieman Journalism Lab, more at Techmeme »

Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:

With Google's One Pass, Two More Newspaper Chains Join The Paywall Brigade — Included in the announcement of Google's long-expected One Pass paid content system for publishers is news that two more U.S. newspaper chains are planning to put up online paywalls at some of their newspaper sites this year …

Discussion: Burst Media Company Blog, Media Buyer Planner, NetNewsCheck Latest and WebNewser

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

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Editors Weblog and GigaOM

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

Discussion: Reflections of a Newsosaur, Nieman Journalism Lab, Folio, AdExchanger.com, Tech Trader Daily, CNNMoney.com, Editors Weblog, TechCrunch, Trends in the Living Networks, The Big Picture, The Next Web, TechCrunch and New York Magazine

Nat Ives / AdAge:

Why Elle, Nylon and Pop Sci Said Yes to Apple's iPad Subscription Terms — Nylon Thinks Subscribers Will Share Data, but Will Settle for Their Money if Not — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Many magazines are staying away from Apple's new iPad subscription system, which threatens to keep publishers …

Discussion: Poynter and NetNewsCheck Latest

Newsosaur / Reflections of a Newsosaur: iTunes subscriptions won't stop free news

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

Discussion: Exact Editions, NetNewsCheck Latest, DailyFinance, VentureBeat, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim and Zatz Not Funny!

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.

Discussion: @mattcutts and eMedia Vitals

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Forbes Accused Of Link Spam, Plays Dumb, But Forgets To Delete All The Links

Discussion: WebProNews, NoahBrier.com and Search Engine Land

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

Joe Pompeo / Yahoo! News:
Newspaper Guild of NY ready to launch $1 million campaign against NY Times

Discussion: Runnin' Scared

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Hugh Hefner Is No Longer on Top at Playboy — Hugh Hefner may not be the big dog at Playboy anymore, but he still enjoys certain perks. Image via Wikipedia — Last month, Playboy Enterprises announced that “a limited partnership controlled by Hugh M. Hefner” had made a $207 million deal …

Discussion: Poynter, Thomson IR, FishbowlNY and MediaPost

Matthew Belloni / Hollywood Reporter:

MPAA's Top Lawyer Leaving to Join Viacom (Exclusive) … Daniel Mandil, the MPAA's top antipiracy executive and a key player in its efforts to fight global movie theft and counterfeiting, is leaving the organization for a big job at Viacom, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

Discussion: paidContent and Film News Briefs

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

Wall Street is Bullish on (Its) Online Video Programming and Thomson Reuters is Delivering a Global Audience — WASHINGTON - Many top financial institutions are producing original video programming in-house, from 90-second equity analyst reports to market analysis and extended discussions.

Discussion: WebNewser

Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:

Next New Networks SEC Filing Pretty Much Confirms YouTube Buyout — While Google's YouTube is reportedly in talks to buy Web content producer Next New Networks, the New York-based startup has just filed with the SEC in relation to $19.4 million in equity financing.

Discussion: paidContent

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

Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:

The Media Industry's Biggest Fear: How Do We Know Next Year Apple Won't Be Taking 50%? — At the risk of going on and on about Apple's controversial new subscription billing rules, let me just add one more thing. Yes, these new rules may affect music streaming apps and movie streaming apps …

Discussion: parislemon, Poynter and Electricpig.co.uk, 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

Peter Lauria / The Daily Beast:

Mark Cuban Shoots Straight — The media and sports billionaire and self-described “all-around troublemaker” opens up to Peter Lauria about the future of content, the state of basketball, and why news may be delivered on a Netflix model. Plus, revisit The Daily Beast chat with Mark Cuban at 2 p.m.

Discussion: SAI and The Daily Beast

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

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 and Most Recent Home Page Posts …

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: Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog and @ckrewson