Mediagazer: Q&A: David Plotz, Editor of Slate, on Aggregation (Lauren Kirchner/CJR)

11:20 AM ET, May 18, 2011

Top News:

Dorothy Parvaz is free — The Al Jazeera journalist, who disappeared in Syria 19 days ago, is back in Doha. — Al Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz has been released nearly three weeks after she went missing after arriving in the Syrian capital of Damascus, where she was to cover the protests.

Discussion: New York Times, Seattle Times, Mediaite, Nieman Storyboard, Canadian Press, J-Source and ProducerMatthew.com

Wall Street Journal:

Hulu Near Deal to Keep Shows Coming — Hulu LLC is close to renewing its deal for TV shows from its media-company owners in a move that would secure the future of the online-video site but could delay Hulu's access to some shows for its free service, people familiar with the matter said.

Discussion: Online Video News, Company Town and Los Angeles Times

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

“Hulu For Magazines” Opens Its Android Newsstand — Apple has won over some of the big magazine publishers, who have reached deals to sell subscriptions via iTunes. But it's not an exclusive arrangement: Now the magazine guys are starting to sell on Google's Android, too.

Discussion: paidContent, Adweek, PC Magazine, AppleInsider, eMedia Vitals, SAI, Engadget, AdAge and Electronista, more at Techmeme »

Charles V. Bagli / New York Times:

Condé Nast Will Be Anchor of 1 World Trade Center — Condé Nast Publications, whose stable of magazines chronicles the American zeitgeist as meticulously as any anthropologist, has reached an agreement to lease one million square feet at 1 World Trade Center …

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, Felix Salmon, Curbed NY, Curbed National, Adweek, On Media's Blog, New York Magazine, The Wire and FishbowlNY

Lauren Kirchner / CJR:

Q&A: David Plotz, Editor of Slate, on Aggregation — “It was never simply an act of summarizing.” — Last week, CJR released a new report by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, entitled “The Story So Far: What we know about the business of journalism.”

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Ingrid Lunden / paidContent:

Nielsen: Tablets Are Money Spinners, But Less Than 5% Use Them Today — Of all the wireless devices that have hit the market in the past several years, tablets present the biggest commercial opportunity for media owners, in terms of what consumers are willing to pay for and consume on the devices.

Discussion: CrunchGear and Deal Journal

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

On the Media: What went wrong with Katie Couric and ‘CBS Evening News’? — A marquee star proved not to be what viewers of the venerable newscast wanted. Her nearly five-year reign ends Thursday. — Katie Couric has poise, good looks, smarts and the kind of warmth on camera that a lot of other news people would love to duplicate.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

James Barron / City Room:

Elaine's to Close — Six months after the death of its legendary proprietor, Elaine's restaurant will close its doors next week. — On Tuesday, Elaine's longtime manager, who inherited the restaurant from Elaine Kaufman, said that the business was no longer viable. She said that Elaine's last night would be May 26.

Discussion: Movieline, The Book Bench, Gothamist and The Corsair

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

What Journalism Is Like Now: Working With 2,000 Sources — We've written many times at GigaOM about how the media industry is being disrupted, and how that is being caused in part by the “democratization of distribution” that social-media tools such as Twitter and Facebook allow.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals, Thanks:mathewi

ProPublica:

Schwarzenegger and DSK: When Powerful Men Cross Lines — The week's news about the sexual conduct of politically powerful men gives me a queasy feeling of déjà vu. — As the French agonize over whether Dominique Strauss-Kahn's star power quashed past allegations, I can respond cynically: Yes, that probably happened.

Discussion: LA Observed and The Wire

Wall Street Journal:
French Watchdog Reins In Media Coverage of IMF Chief

Discussion: New York Magazine, Gothamist, The Atlantic Wire and New York Times

INMA:

Satisfied with paid content strategy, Sulzberger turns bullish on social media — As the newsmedia industry fights to retain relevance in the digital age, many companies look to The New York Times as a bellwether for media trends. In an exclusive question-and-answer session during INMA World Congress 2011 …

Discussion: Editors Weblog

virtualeconomics:

A citizen journalism model that really breaks news? — London-based citizen journalism start-up Blottr, which destealthed towards the end of February with a Techrunch write-up and recently announced a round of angel funding, led the news agenda for much of Monday by breaking the day's major UK news story.

Discussion: Editors Weblog and Future of Journalism

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Web Ad Pioneer Dave Morgan Adapts Simulmedia To TV's Reality — The TV networks are spending the week telling advertisers to keep buying TV ads. — Great idea, says Dave Morgan. — If you pay attention to Web advertising but haven't kept track of Morgan recently, his position might strike …

Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb:

Slacker vs. Rdio vs. MOG: Which Streaming Music Service is Worth Your $10/Month? — Slacker Radio, an Internet radio service similar to streaming music giant Pandora, has just introduced a new tier to its subscription service: a $9.99 per month Premium version which offers music on-demand.

Discussion: VentureBeat, Techland, ZDNet and CrackBerry.com blogs

Joe Mullin / paidContent:

Righthaven Target Hits Back With Class Action Counter-Attack — Copyright enforcer Righthaven is on the ropes in its home state of Nevada, where defense lawyers are attacking its agreement with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, saying the flawed agreement doesn't give Righthaven the right to sue.

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab