Mediagazer: Zimbabwe Prof Arrested, Tortured for Watching Viral Vids (Sam Gustin/Danger Room)

12:40 AM ET, February 27, 2011

Top News:

Dan / Xark!:

Advertising is not enough — The ongoing death throes of TBD, a Washington-based local news site that launched in April, attract my attention because a talented friend of mine joined the venture last spring. I remember wishing him well in a coffee shop 11 months ago while thinking “I've got a bad feeling about this.”

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Is Hyper-Local News Doomed, or Did TBD Just Get Sandbagged? — As a journalism startup run by a widely-admired former Washington Post online veteran, TBD.com had a lot of high hopes riding on it. Among other things, it looked like the site could help to pave the way for other smart …

Discussion: ReJurno and Newspaper Death Watch, Thanks:torodneptune

Emily Bell / Guardian:

Spotlight falls on media management psychology as lights go out at TBD — The failure of a local news website in Washington highlights a key dilemma: embrace the new, or rely on the tried and trusted? — One of the most high-profile journalism launches in the US in recent months …

NPR's On the Media:

The Formula for a Most-Emailed Story — What motivates people to want to share a newspaper article with a friend, co-worker or grandma? What makes some stories climb to the top of the “most e-mailed list”? Professors Katherine Milkman and Jonah Berger studied The New York Times …

Discussion: TeleRead

Ellie Behling / eMedia Vitals:

The New York Times talks Twitter — Not having a draconian Twitter policy has helped The New York Times thrive, according to a panel of reporters speaking at an Online News Association event in New York. The panelists said they use the social media platform for a variety of pretty common reasons …

Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:

The (Ex) Voice of the Village — WAYNE BARRETT wants to say nice things about people. He wants to, but he finds it so hard. — “We haven't had bad mayors,” ventured Mr. Barrett, the muck-raking investigative reporter who has made a career of hounding New York City's chief executives.

Discussion: Poynter, FishbowlNY and AAN

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline.com:

HBO Not Going Ahead With ‘Tilda’ Comedy — HBO has passed on the comedy pilot Tilda, which starred Diane Keaton as a powerful and reclusive Hollywood blogger (not unlike Deadline's Nikki Finke). The hot pilot had a great pedigree - co-written by Bill Condon and Cynthia Mort, directed by Condon …

Discussion: The Wrap and LA Observed

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Feds spy on reporter in leak probe — Federal investigators trying to find out who leaked information about a CIA attempt to disrupt Iran's nuclear program obtained a New York Times reporter's three private credit reports, examined his personal bank records and obtained information …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Salon, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Yahoo! News and Poynter

John Temple / The Atlantic Online:

Life After Death: Two Years Since The Demise of My Newspaper — Two years ago, on Feb. 26, 2009, journalists at the Rocky Mountain News learned their fate. E.W. Scripps President Rich Boehne told them the edition they produced for the next day would be the Denver newspaper's last.

Discussion: TEMPLE TALK, The Atlantic Wire, Poynter and JackLail.com

Sam Gustin / Danger Room:

Zimbabwe Prof Arrested, Tortured for Watching Viral Vids — Munyaradzi Gwisai, a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe's law school, was showing internet videos about the tumult sweeping across North Africa to students and activists last Saturday, when state security agents burst into his office.

Discussion: Techdirt

New York Post:

Last rites for Adweek's iconic Hot List of mags — The Adweek Hot List, a staple of the magazine world since the legendary Clay Felker launched it in the mid-'80s, will not appear next month — and it may be scrapped for good as a closely watched barometer of the magazine world.

Discussion: @romenesko

Dylan Stableford / The Wrap:

Univision Chief: We'll Be the Top U.S. TV Network Within 5 Years in Any Language — Univision reported growing quarterly revenue and net income on Thursday, as its chief reiterated his prediction that the Spanish-language television giant would become the top-rated TV network in the U.S. within five years — regardless of language.

Discussion: MediaPost