Mediagazer: From the ground up: The growth of independent media in Romania (Stefan Candea/Nieman Journalism Lab)

12:50 PM ET, March 16, 2011

Top News:

Moviefone's Response to the TechCrunch Post — By now you may have read the recent post in TechCrunch regarding that site's SXSW coverage of the film ‘Source Code.’ A representative from Moviefone, who set up the interview with Summit Entertainment, received some feedback from the studio …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Poynter, The Awl, NetNewsCheck Latest, LA Observed, Soup and The Atlantic Wire

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:

AOL Asks Us If We Can Tone It Down — Earlier this week I interviewed Duncan Jones and Jake Gyllenhaal at SXSW, at the press junket for their movie The Source Code. While the film doesn't have a huge tech angle other than the title, I thought it might be good video content for TCTV …

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, Gawker, Nieman Journalism Lab, Bloggasm, Guardian, Soshable, Marketing Pilgrim, Poynter, @dannysullivan, The Wrap, @hblodget, Runnin' Scared, @jeffjarvis, @jayrosen_nyu, Kempton, @poniewozik and The Awl, more at Techmeme »

Scott Weinberg / @scotteweinberg:
Effective immediately, I no longer work for @moviefone. Here's why: http://tcrn.ch/eLmTwi I will always love @cinematical.

Discussion: @scotteweinberg, @alexia and @erikmal

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline.com:

Netflix To Enter Original Programming With Mega Deal For David Fincher-Kevin Spacey Series ‘House Of Cards’ — EXCLUSIVE: Video streaming juggernaut Netflix is becoming an original series player. In what is probably the biggest gamble in its 14-year history, I hear Netflix …

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Netflix Crushing the Digital Movie Competition

Discussion: Ars Technica and GigaOM

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

Quake Coverage Draws Viewers to CNN — CNN once again proved its appeal to viewers of breaking news last Friday through Monday night, with coverage of the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. — Friday's audience for the total day, 2.273 million, was CNN's largest since the Inauguration in January 2009.

Discussion: Mediaite, Poynter, TVWeek.com and rbr.com

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

Bob Woodward: ‘You get the truth at night, the lies during the day’ — During a visit to Poynter on Tuesday, Bob Woodward talked about why he likes his iPad, what he thinks about the future of long-form journalism and what he considers to be the best time of day to access hard-to-reach sources.

Discussion: MediaMemo, Editors Weblog and Poynter

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

On the Media: Patch.com's Newark plan smells of conflict — Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington (Jason Kempin / Getty Images For IMG / March 16, 2011) — The AOL hyper-local news operation, now under Arianna Huffington, enters a partnership with a New Jersey mayor that doesn't seem journalistically sound.

Discussion: Mediaweek and On Media's Blog

Dave Winer / Scripting News:

Will we see the NY Times paywall soon? — Amid revolutions and huge earthquakes and nuclear meltdowns, we're reminded that we might see a NY Times paywall any day now. — I've always said that the Times likes to talk about a paywall, and they've been doing that for a long time …

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

100 Percent Fresh Exclusive!: Flixster/Rotten Tomatoes in Acquisition Talks With Yahoo and Others — Flixster-the popular social movie site whose brands include the Rotten Tomatoes premium reviews site, as well as BuddyTV-is in early acquisition talks with several suitors, including Yahoo, said sources close to the situation.

Discussion: VentureBeat

minonline.com:

Hearst Magazines is 2010 Group Publishers' Ad-Page Champ — With the explosion of magazine apps, social media and the resurgence of print advertising, magazine brands are showing a prominent face to their loyal and new readers and advertisers. This week's top 5 chart looks …

Discussion: Folio and FishbowlNY

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Facebook Takes Another Swing At Web Video: Live Streaming Major League Baseball — Last week, you could rent a movie on Facebook. Today, you can watch a live pro baseball game on the site. — Still think Facebook can't be a big player in Web video? — You can watch the game …

Discussion: paidContent and San Francisco Chronicle, more at Techmeme »

Stefan Candea / Nieman Journalism Lab:

From the ground up: The growth of independent media in Romania — Editor's Note: Our sister publication Nieman Reports is out with its spring issue, which spotlights the efforts of reporters trying to uncover corruption. We're highlighting a few entries that connect with subjects we follow in the Lab, but go read the whole issue.

Laura Martinez / Multichannel:

Univision Dips Its Toes Into English — News Twitter Feed, Soccer Site Aim for Anglophone U.S. Hispanics — Univision might be having a change of heart about the English language. — The company, which for decades has embraced a Spanish-only policy, seems to be dipping its toes into English-language content online.

CNN:

RNC considers selling TV rights of presidential primary debates — Washington (CNN) — The Republican National Committee is considering sanctioning the GOP presidential primary debates and then selling the broadcast rights to news outlets, two Republicans with knowledge of the idea tell CNN.

Discussion: TVNewser and Politics Daily

Julie Bosman / New York Times:

Publisher Limits Shelf Life for Library E-Books — Imagine the perfect library book. Its pages don't tear. Its spine is unbreakable. It can be checked out from home. And it can never get lost. — The value of this magically convenient library book — otherwise known as an e-book …

Discussion: New York Observer, Shelly Palmer Digital Living and Engadget

Los Angeles Times:

Reel China: Hollywood tries to stay on China's good side — Without Beijing even uttering a critical word, MGM is changing the villains in its ‘Red Dawn’ remake from Chinese to North Korean. It's all about maintaining access to the Asian superpower's lucrative box office.

Discussion: Company Town

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Exclusive: After Ad Changes, Yahoo Media Unit Gets a Management Shakeup — Last week, Yahoo's advertising unit got the once-over from its new sales head Wayne Powers. And, this week, its new Audience unit head Mickie Rosen is making a series of executives moves.

Discussion: VentureBeat, mroth.info, paidContent and SAI