Mediagazer: Finding the value in Guardian local ‘experiment’ (Rachel McAthy/Journalism.co.uk)

8:55 AM ET, April 28, 2011

Top News:

Joel Meares / CJR:

The Royals Ban Satirical Coverage of Kate and Wills' Big Day — A video feed rule change and CJR's call for a royal boycott — Finally, CJR finds a Royal Wedding angle. — It comes to us all the way from Sydney, Australia, where the national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Network …

Discussion: ABC News, Crikey, AdAge, Sydney Morning Herald and The Daily Beast

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

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: The New Yorker Blog

Julie Moos / Poynter:
Factchecking Obama: Birther controversy was 4% of newshole, not ‘dominant’ story

Discussion: Journalism.org, New York Times, Mediaite, White House.gov Blog, Democracy in America, Online NewsHour, New York Times, TVNewser, The Wire, Pajamas Media and The Huffington Post

Andrew Phelps / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Want to keep mobile users engaged longer? Just add audio — NPR's iPhone, iPad, and Android apps have together surpassed five million downloads, an impressive number — but most of their users never stream audio. When they do listen, however, they are far more engaged.

Discussion: MediaPost and eMedia Vitals

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Finding the value in Guardian local ‘experiment’ — Yesterday the Guardian announced it was winding down its local blogging “experiment” Guardian Local. — The platform, which ran three blogs for Cardiff, Leeds and Edinburgh, was first launched in March 2010, described at the time by Guardian editor …

Discussion: Jon Slattery

Meg Pickard / Guardian:
Guardian Local - an update on the experiment

Discussion: matt.me63.com, paidContent:UK, Journalism.co.uk, AndyDickinson.net and Jon Slattery

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: Poynter

MediaShift Idea Lab:

'There's No Problem!' Newsrooms in Denial About Rampant Errors — Jonathan Stray has opened a new conversation about measuring accuracy in news reports. Stray, who works at the Associated Press and blogs on the side, comes at the issue with a refreshingly analytical, data-driven perspective.

Katie Feola / Adweek:

The New York Times Has Not Sunk...Yet Sulzberger talks up company at annual meeting — NEW YORK—At the New York Times Company's annual meeting here on Wednesday, company chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. did his best to keep the focus on the flagship paper's high quality journalism.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Newsosaur / Reflections of a Newsosaur:

Why newspaper ad sales are not recovering — Nearly two years after the U.S. economy began climbing out of the worst recession since the 1930s, advertising sales at newspapers have yet to hit bottom. — Now, the question haunting every newspaper executive is: How low will they go?

Discussion: SEO Book.com

Kara Swisher / BoomTown:

Ahead of Earnings Next Week, Demand Media Shares Drastic Dip Due to Googley Panda-Monium — April showers bring...well, a bad month for the still-young stock of online content maker Demand Media. — After a successful IPO in January, shares of the Santa Monica, Calif. …

Yvette Kantrow / The Huffington Post:

The Maginot Media — Nearly three years after the financial world imploded, the business media is still operating under a cloud of shame for failing to sound the alarm that the end was near. The press, the story goes, should have warned us sooner that real estate was a bubble …

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

Journalists call for independent investigation of Protess controversy at Medill — Romenesko Misc. — The 35 people who signed the statement say they “are deeply concerned about what appears to be a retaliatory — campaign by law enforcement authorities and Northwestern University …

Kevin Ryan / AdAge:

Will Google's Search Ad Previews Break The Click? — Probably Not, But Big Adjustments Lie Ahead For Search Advertisers — Search ad formats are in a constant state of motion. Since sponsored ads first appeared on the scene, tweaks to how ads appear and what makes people click have kept marketers on their toes.

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Jesse Thorn on making your own thing in public radio (while still being able to feed your family) — Two years ago, I did an interview with Jesse Thorn, the host of the public radio program The Sound of Young America and, to my mind, one of the most interesting entrepreneurs in public media today.

Laurie Sullivan / MediaPost:

Google Experiments With News, Acquires Mobile Start-up — Google has been testing a new format for its News page. This design gets a little more social by displaying expandable sections with related stories about the subject, highlighting movable modules.

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

An Update To My Investment Policy — Before TechCrunch I was an occasional angel investor, going back to the mid 1990s. I've also made investments since TechCrunch, in companies like Dogster, DanceJam, Seesmic and Daylife. Some people have seen this as a conflict of interest, which it of course is.

Discussion: Gawker and SAI, more at Techmeme »