Mediagazer: Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation (Marco.org)

6:25 PM ET, April 28, 2011

Top News:

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Godspeed on That Investing Thing, Yertle-But I Still Have Some Questions for Your Boss, Arianna — Would it surprise you to know that BoomTown doesn't really care or not anymore if TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington sidelines as a blogger while he makes investments in tech companies his tech news site covers.

Discussion: Two Bananas Marketing, Silicon Valley Watcher, SiliconANGLE, @rafat, @mediatwit, @karaswisher and @learmonth, more at Techmeme »

Nicholas Carlson / SAI:
EXCLUSIVE Q&A: Arrington Says The Real Conflict Of Interest In Tech Reporting Has Nothing To Do With Money

Discussion: BoomTown and TechCrunch

Tom / TomsTechBlog.com: The Twisting Web of Biases

Tom Foremski / IMHO Blog| ZDNet: Is it OK for AOL's Techcrunch Editors to invest in companies they write about?

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
An Update To My Investment Policy

Discussion: The Wire, Adweek, Gawker, FishbowlNY, Talking Biz News, Silicon Valley Watcher, @baznet, @semilshah, memeburn, @timdl, @benparr, The Wire and SAI

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

CBS Reporter Talks About Her Assault in Egypt — Lara Logan thought she was going to die in Tahrir Square when she was sexually assaulted by a mob on the night that Hosni Mubarak's government fell in Cairo. — Ms. Logan, a CBS News correspondent, was in the square preparing a report for …

Discussion: Speakeasy, Broadcasting & Cable, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Runnin' Scared, The Wire, Poynter, New York Magazine, LA Observed, Gawker, FrumForum, TVNewser and FishbowlNY

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

CNBC's Burnett Is Said Ready to Jump to CNN — The CNBC anchor Erin Burnett is poised to sign a long-term contract with CNN, according to three people with knowledge of her plans. — The signing will represent a shift to general news anchoring for Ms. Burnett, who has shown interest …

Discussion: MediaPost, Broadcasting & Cable, Poynter, TVNewser, Dealbreaker, TVWeek.com, The Huffington Post and New York Magazine

Simon Dumenco / AdAge:

Celeb Baby Bump: Slate Editor and Pregnant Media Vanguard Award Winner David Plotz (PHOTOS) — A Q&A on Slate's Old Print Editions, Current Fresca Fellowships and Advanced Age of 15 — As part of our continuing series of talks with Media Vanguard Award winners, today we present …

Discussion: The Wire and Poynter

Marco.org:

Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation — Last fall, I conducted an experiment: I quietly removed Instapaper Free from the App Store1 for three days, leaving only the full, $4.99 Instapaper app. Not only did sales increase incrementally, but nobody seemed to notice.

Discussion: GigaOM, Betabeat, MacStories, Technologizer and eMedia Vitals, more at Techmeme »

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The newsonomics of story cost accounting — Editor's Note: Each week, Ken Doctor — author of Newsonomics and longtime watcher of the business side of digital news — writes about the economics of news for the Lab. — What's a story worth? — Last week, I looked at a single investigative story …

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

In Trying to Debunk a Theory, the News Media Extended Its Life — The facts about Barack Obama's birth never wavered. But the more the fraudulent theories were debated and dispelled in major news media outlets, the more people seemed to believe them. — The conspiracy theories …

Discussion: FrontBurner, The New Yorker Blog and White House.gov Blog

The Daily:

Auto-racing heir Penske poised to add Variety to his empire — Jay Penske, the heir to the Detroit car-racing clan, is mulling a bid to buy Variety from the Amsterdam-based Reed Elsevier company, sources say. — Penske, 30, already has an Internet media conglomerate with Movieline …

Discussion: Folio and FishbowlLA

Aida Alami / New York Times:

Web Offers a Voice to Journalists in Morocco — CASABLANCA — After the Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet wrote about the king's real estate holdings in 2001, he was tried in court on defamation charges and the article cost him his career: His satirical magazine, Demain, a symbol of the independent press, was shut down.

Noah Davis / The Wire:

This Startup Just Solved Every Publication's Paywall Problem — And It Is Using The Huffington Post As Proof — Suppose you are a web publisher who wants to institute a pay wall. You could spend millions on developing one like The New York Times. — Or you could call Tiny Pass.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Andrew Phelps / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Your handiest reporting tool may be the smartphone in your pocket — Every journalist has found herself in some version of this situation: Bianca Vazquez Toness, a reporter for Boston's WBUR public radio, drove about 40 minutes north of her office Tuesday to interview the controversial mayor of Lawrence …

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

Meredith Vieira to Leave ‘Today’ in June; Ann Curry is Replacement … Meredith Vieira will exit the Today show in June, nearly three months before the end of her contract, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation. — Today newsreader Ann Curry will be promoted to co-host …

Jack Shafer / Slate:

Michael Kinsley's First Bloomberg View Column — What it should say. — My friend and former boss Michael Kinsley has packed his smartphone and khakis and is leaving Politico for a job at Bloomberg View, Bloomberg LP's soon-to-be-launched editorial and opinion website.

Discussion: New York Observer, LA Observed, FishbowlLA and Talking Biz News

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Jersey Shore No Laughing Matter At Viacom; Helps Push Revs Up 20 Percent — A strong quarter from Viacom (NYSE: VIA), thanks to home entertainment, television licensing and domestic advertising combined with a 50 percent increase in film revenues. Domestic advertising was up 11 percent …

Discussion: MediaPost

Adweek:

Reader's Digest Looking to Unload Web's Top Food Site? Allrecipes.com had become company's digital jewel By Lucia Moses — The struggles of Reader's Digest magazine have grabbed headlines in recent years, but a food website may have been a bigger factor in Mary Berner's departure as CEO of Reader's Digest Association.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

How the AP will cover the Royal Wedding — “Friday is royal wedding day in London and our report will look a little different,” says a memo to Associated Press staff. “The Associated Press will be alerting every development, running live video in SD and HD, tweeting and posting on Facebook …

Discussion: FishbowlNY