Mediagazer: KCET-TV said to be in talks to sell landmark studio to Church of Scientology (Los Angeles Times)

3:55 PM ET, March 31, 2011

Top News:

Lance Ulanoff / PC Magazine:

Why I Like the New York Times Paywall — The New York Times paywall model maybe be flawed, but so it is the ‘free content’ model that preceded it. — Just as I predicted two years ago, the free Web is going bye-bye. The New York Times decision to throw its content behind a paywall …

AdAge:

Volvo Unlocks MLB Paywall for April — Fans Get Free Access to Streaming Games on Apple Devices for a Month — Play ball. For Major League Baseball's Opening Day today, an advertiser is unlocking a paywall for rabid baseball fans: Volvo is presenting free streaming games on Apple devices for one month.

Financial Times:

News Corp: keeping it in the family — Because it is not their fault, one of life's saddest spectacles is watching the offspring of the rich and famous trying to legitimise their success. Would Stella McCartney have made it to the top of the fashion world without her last name?

Discussion: The New Yorker Blog and Guardian

Katie Feola / Adweek:
What's the Real Reason for James Murdoch's Promotion?

Discussion: New York Observer, Editors Weblog, FishbowlNY and Guardian

Washington Post:

On NBC, the missing story about parent company General Electric — Bebeto Matthews / Associated Press - The story that General Electric did not pay federal taxes last year was widely reported everywhere but NBC. — It's the kind of accountability journalism that makes readers raise an eyebrow …

Discussion: Poynter, www.thetakeaway.org, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, TVNewser, Company Town and Yahoo! News

Los Angeles Times:

KCET-TV said to be in talks to sell landmark studio to Church of Scientology — KCET, which has been struggling to rebuild viewership after its split from PBS, plans to move to a smaller location, real estate brokers say. — The KCET building on Sunset Boulevard.

Discussion: Poynter., Mediaite, Movieline, TVWeek.com, Gawker, LA Observed, Show Tracker and The Atlantic Wire

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

Study of iPad users identifies obstacles for Murdoch's The Daily — Romenesko Misc. — The obstacles identified by iPad users surveyed by media research firm knowDigital “include the perception among those with the greatest interest in news that The Daily's content is lacking …

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:
How The Daily Is Doing So Far*: 500k Downloads, 75k Users

Discussion: rbr.com, Future of Journalism, NYConvergence.com and FishbowlNY

Anthony Ha / VentureBeat:

HuffPo co-founder explains the secrets of viral content — Jonah Peretti, who co-founded both the Huffington Post and BuzzFeed, has spent a lot of time thinking about what makes content go viral. Today, he shared some lessons on-stage at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco — and in the process …

Discussion: New York Observer and TechCrunch

Bloomberg:

News Corp.'s Fox Tells Time Warner Cable to Halt Use of Channels on IPad — News Corp. (NWSA)'s Fox Networks Group told Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) to stop streaming cable channels including FX to its pay-TV subscribers' iPads, saying such use isn't authorized.

Discussion: paidContent, Company Town, MacRumors, App Advice, Fast Company, Engadget, Multichannel, Electronista, Wall Street Journal, Gizmodo and GigaOM, more at Techmeme »

Kat Stoeffel / New York Observer:

Arianna Huffington and Joan Didion Pulled in Almost $100K for College Newspaper — Arianna Huffington and Joan Didion helped The Columbia Spectator raise $95,921 at their annual Blue Pencil dinner, according to a Spec alumni newsletter. — They say it's a record-breaking sum …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Daniel D'Addario / New York Observer:

Peabody Awards Go to PBS, NPR... ‘Degrassi’ — The Peabody Awards—so much more staid and trustworthy than those flashy Emmys!—announced the recipients of their prizes for excellence in media this morning, and the list is deliriously familiar, if worthy: PBS' Great Performances, American Masters …

Discussion: rbr.com and Multichannel

Guardian:

Activate New York 2011: Interview with Emily Bell — Should the internet now be regarded as a human right? Emily Bell addresses this issue, and many others, in this Activate Summit interview — How has the internet and technology changed journalism? Is journalism a more challenging profession because of disruptive technologies?

Dan Friedman / Inside AdWords:

The +1 button & AdWords — Word of mouth is powerful. When you have a choice to make, it's common to turn to the people you trust. But what about word of click? How can getting a suggestion from a friend or co-worker when you need it be as simple as having a hallway conversation — or even simpler?

Discussion: The Official Google Blog, Search Engine Land, TechCrunch, Social Web Blog, GigaOM, Journalism.co.uk, USA Today, Brave New World, ClickZ, VentureBeat, Fortune and Inside AdSense, more at Techmeme »

Jaclyn Schiff / Mediaite:

9 Questions For Tumblr Newsie Ernie Smith Of ShortFormBlog — ShortFormBlog — a news venture with the fitting tag line, “Read a little. Learn a lot” — seems like it was tailor-made for Tumblr. The punchy, personable text updates, bold graphics and unusual, yet newsy videos get to the heart of Tumblr users' news preferences.

Discussion: Soup

Joe Mullin / paidContent:

Pandora CEO: The Complexity Of International Copyright Law Is A Big Problem — When Pandora filed papers with the SEC earlier this year indicating its plans for an IPO, the company disclosed a variety of risks to investors. That included the fact that copyright royalties eat up half its revenue …

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The newsonomics of oblivion — So, how long do newspapers have? — Two years ago, that question was on the lips of many as newspapers cut back deeply — in staff, in number of pages, in the size of the page, and in selling their very headquarters and flagship buildings — in the depth of Deep Recession.