Mediagazer: Future of Media recap: Start-ups, gamification and ‘pay-what-you-can walls’ (Future of Media)

8:40 AM ET, April 8, 2011

Top News:

Atlantic Reporter Captured in Libya — Clare Morgana Gillis and three other journalists have been taken into custody — Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi captured four journalists on Tuesday at around 1 p.m. local time a few miles outside of Brega, which is currently under government control.

Discussion: New York Magazine and The Huffington Post

Larisa Epatko / Online NewsHour:
GlobalPost Reporter James Foley Detained in Libya

Discussion: CBS News, CTPost.com and CNN

The Big Lead:

USA Today Takes the Plunge: Paper to Pay Bonuses to Writers Based on Page Views — USA Today had a conference call last night and according to a source, the paper outlined a plan in which it will pay annual bonuses to writers based on page views. The goal, obviously, is to get writers thinking digital.

Discussion: Poynter, FishbowlNY, The Wire, The Awl and Gannett Blog

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:
USA Today: No decision on page view bonuses

Discussion: Gannett Blog and Future of Journalism

Jeff Simmermon / Time Warner Cable Untangled:

We Filed A Request For Declaratory Judgment With Viacom This Afternoon — Last week, we pulled a number of channels from our iPad app. The Internet - not exactly a haven for measured discourse or patience for complex ideas - lit up with verbiage more commonly found in war movies and interviews with professional wrestlers.

Discussion: Business Wire, paidContent, 9 to 5 Mac, App Advice, CNET News, TechEye, Light Reading, Multichannel News, GigaOM and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Joe Flint / Company Town:

Time Warner Cable fires back at Viacom in dispute over streaming channels on iPad — Time Warner Cable has fired back at Viacom in a dispute the two are having over whether the cable operator has the rights to stream the programming giant's networks on an iPad.

Discussion: Guardian, MediaMemo, Lost Remote, Multichannel, Media Decoder, Multichannel News, rbr.com, Media Money … and @yinkareuters

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

As Breaking News Fades, Ratings Fall at CNN — In a repetition of a pattern that has become familiar for CNN, the surge of interest in breaking news that helped drive up its audiences has faded - and so have CNN's ratings. — The cable news network's prime-time lineup has not capitalized …

Discussion: Poynter and Inside Cable News

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Journalism 2.0 Didn't Kill Anyone, and Neither Did Old Media — Does the journalist who reported on a Quran burning by a right-wing pastor in Florida last month share some of the blame for the deaths of 24 people in Afghanistan in the wake of that event? And is the fact that they died …

Discussion: Mixed Media, CJR, Poynter and Big News Network.com, Thanks:mathewi

Steve Myers / Poynter:
Florida Quran burning, Afghanistan violence raise questions about the power of media blackouts

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire and Runnin' Scared, Thanks:myersnews

ASNE:

Newsroom employment up slightly, minority numbers plunge for third year — American newspapers showed a very slim increase in newsroom employees last year, finally halting a three-year exodus of journalists. — The percentage of minorities in newsrooms totaled 12.79 percent …

Discussion: Poynter, Prof Chris Daly's Blog and On Media's Blog

Matt Shanahan / Digital Equilibrium:

Why Revenue Estimates for The New York Times Paywall Are Wrong — A digital subscription to the New York Times (NYT) is now a minimum of $195/year ($3.75 per week times 52 weeks). Chatter about the possibility of low subscribership and why $40M was too much to pay is everywhere.

Discussion: Folio and Mediaweek, Thanks:taylorbuley

AdAge:

AOL's New Way: Huffington Steers Portal Away From Freelancers, Ramps Up Aggregation — “If you're going to produce great journalism, you have to build a team of people who are working together and driving toward the same goals editorially,” Arianna Huffington said today at Ad Age's Digital Conference.

Carter Maness / The Awl:
I'm Permalance No More! “Thank You Very Much for Your Contributions to AOL”

Discussion: Betabeat and Wall Street Journal

Kat Stoeffel / New York Observer:

Lady Gaga, Editor: Befuddling Pop Star to Guest Edit ‘Metro’ — Even the city's snobbiest subway commuters should consider leaving their Kindles at home on May 17. On that day, the free subway daily will be edited by pop performance artist Lady Gaga. — It's not entirely a gimmick!

Discussion: Media News International, Mediaite and Gawker

David Kaplan / paidContent:

@ AADigital: Arianna: Paywalls Only Work For Special Content, ‘Weird Porn’ — Life is pretty good at AOL (NYSE: AOL) these days, including the use of three “resting rooms” that the newsroom has dubbed “NapQuest,” Arianna Huffington told AdAge's Ed Lee at the close of the AdAge Digital conference.

Discussion: AdAge and NetNewsCheck Latest

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

AP: Why we need to reduce our pension obligation — Romenesko Misc. — Two days after the AP union issued it's “Tweet-out” memo, the Associated Press sent a letter to employees saying that it's bargained in good faith during the last five months and that “throughout the negotiations …

Discussion: On Media's Blog

Washington Post:

Five myths about the future of journalism — There are few things journalists like to discuss more than, well, themselves and the long-term prospects for their industry. How long will print newspapers survive? Are news aggregation sites the future? Or are online paywalls …

Brent Lang / The Wrap:

From Katie Couric to Matt Lauer: Why Don't News Anchors Want the Job Anymore? — News anchors don't seem to want the job anymore. — Among the latest looking to abandon the chair: Katie Couric on CBS; Meredith Vieira on NBC's top-rated “Today,” and apparentlyher co-anchor, Matt Lauer is ready to jump ship, too.

Future of Media:

Future of Media recap: Start-ups, gamification and ‘pay-what-you-can walls’ — The future for media organizations is not all doom and gloom, and there is more opportunity and experimentation happening today than ever before. That was the overall discussion at Digital Journal's Future of Media panel discussion last night in Toronto.