Mediagazer: Report: CBS News Top-Performing Media Site, MSNBC Most Improved (Mark Walsh/MediaPost)

11:46 AM ET, March 22, 2011

Top News:

That was quick: Four lines of code is all it takes for The New York Times' paywall to come tumbling down — The New York Times paywall is costing the newspaper $40-$50 million to design and construct, Bloomberg has reported. — And it can be defeated through four lines of Javascript.

Discussion: Daring Fireball, The Buttry Diary, Mixed Media, Technologizer, Magazines Online, Associated Press, broadstuff, Gizmodo, @chanders and Euri.ca Blog, more at Techmeme »

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:

NYTimes Paywall Limit To Extend Beyond Google To “All Major Search Engines” — more info (via: Wylio)When the details of the New York Times paywall/fence were announced on Thursday, Times PR representatives told press that it would be placing a five article a day limit on Google referrals, and only Google referrals.

Discussion: @dannysullivan, MediaMemo, mediabistro.com, Search Engine Land, eMedia Vitals, Fast Company, Switched, MediaNama, Betabeat, @dannysullivan, @pkafka and Seeking Alpha, more at Techmeme »

Ken Doctor / Newsonomics:

Nine Questions as the NYT's Pay Fence Gets Ready to Go Global — We'll undoubtedly look back at great Pay Wars offensive of 2011 with great laughter. We'll likely be gloriously right or wrong about news media's ability to charge for digital access. — There's little laughter now.

Discussion: The Wire

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
All Blog Links To The New York Times Will Be Freebies. This Could Get Ugly.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, THE DRUM, Seeking Alpha, ReveNews, The Atlantic Wire and New York Times

Jean-Louis Gassée / Monday Note: The NY Times: Un-Free At Last!

Lauren Indvik / Mashable!:

Hyperlocal News Source EveryBlock Relaunches As Community Site — EveryBlock, a hyperlocal news site acquired by msnbc.com in August 2009, unveiled a new version Monday designed to encourage conversation and collaboration among neighbors. — “We're shifting from a one-way newsfeed …

Discussion: 10,000 Words, Editors Weblog, Poynter., Lost Remote and Journalism.co.uk

Adrian Holovaty / The EveryBlock Blog:

EveryBlock's first major redesign — We've just launched the first major redesign of EveryBlock. — Driven by the feedback we've been getting over the past year, we've not only changed the way the site looks, we've also changed the site's focus. In short, we're shifting from being a news feed …

Discussion: Poynter

New York Times:

A Dangerous Pursuit — In a world where most people consume their news safely, perhaps in a comfortable chair on some electronic device, it is worth remembering how dangerous news-gathering has become. Monday's release of four New York Times staff members in Libya was a powerful reminder …

Discussion: Guardian and Press Gazette

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Freed Times Journalists Give Account of Captivity

Joe Mullin / paidContent:

Some More Bad News For Copyright-Enforcer Righthaven — Righthaven, a company that has garnered controversy by suing 250 different blogs and websites over newspaper copyrights, has lost its second case. The company lost a lawsuit on Friday in a ruling that, if upheld on appeal …

Discussion: MediaJobsDaily, eMedia Vitals, MediaPost, PlagiarismToday and Techdirt

Los Angeles Times:

News Corp. exec's new rallying cry: Pay up — A likely successor to CEO Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. president Chase Carey has moved fast to secure new revenue streams for the media giant. — In Chase Carey's first stint at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., he was instrumental in reinventing Fox …

Discussion: On Media's Blog

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

If You Love Something, Set It Sort-Of Free: Condé Nast Mulling Reddit Spin-Off — Condé Nast, which bought Reddit five years ago, is considering spinning out the social news site. — The publisher would continue to own the site, but it's talking to investors about selling a stake.

Discussion: CNET News, Pulse2, SAI and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

Warning Shots? Glenn Beck To Poach Fox News Bigwig, Suggesting Big Plans — It would be fair to say that the relationship between Fox News and Glenn Beck is being...tested. A recent NY Times column that suggested that Fox News was considering life without its controversial star has led …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Company Town, Deadline.com, TVNewser, The Atlantic Wire, DailyFinance, Inside Cable News and The Wire

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:

Kadafi, Gaddafi, Qaddafi: In The Age Of Search, News Publications Still Struggle With Libya Leader's Name — A decades-old dispute involving Libya remains unresolved. How do news organizations spell the name of Libya's leader, Muammar Gaddafi? The exact spelling has a bigger impact these days, where people search for news.

Kunur Patel / AdAge:

Why Media Companies Will Feel the Pinch if AT&T and T-Mobile Seal the Deal — Over Time, Merged Telecom Will Lower Spending, but Ad Battle With Verizon, Sprint Could Be Boon for Marketplace — When the No. 3 U.S. ad spender, AT&T, makes a bid to acquire a marketer that spends $500 million-plus domestically …

Discussion: paidContent, The Atlantic Online, VentureBeat and Media Money …

Mark Walsh / MediaPost:

Report: CBS News Top-Performing Media Site, MSNBC Most Improved — CBS News was named the top media Web site in 2010, followed by Yahoo News and The New York Times, according to an annual report rating sites based on actual Web performance rather than content....

Discussion: Noted

David Lieberman / USA Today:

In a renaissance for radio, more listeners are tuning in — Radio stations are receiving a surprisingly strong signal from audiences and the financial markets this year, even as they face intensifying competition from satellite and Web-based audio services including Sirius XM Satellite Radio XM and Pandora.

Committee to Protect Journalists:

In Ivory Coast, journalists pick sides or flee — Reporting on the power struggle in Ivory Coast is increasingly perilous, with journalists facing a climate of threats, intimidation, and attacks that has forced many to choose between adopting partisan coverage or fleeing to safety.

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

Jennifer 8. Lee, Matt Thompson join CPI Board — Romenesko Misc. — Former New York Times reporter Jennifer 8. Lee “thinks and works at the cutting edge of our digital 21st century journalism,” says Center for Public Integrity executive director William E. Buzenberg.

Lauren A. E. Schuker / Wall Street Journal:

Tiny Channel's Big Gamble — For one struggling cable channel, the controversial miniseries “The Kennedys” is a high-stakes bet to put itself on the map—a playbook that's increasingly common among fledging cable networks. — In February, the low-rated network ReelzChannel bought …

Discussion: Speakeasy and New York Observer