Mediagazer: ABC Deal Close for Katie Couric (Howard Kurtz/The Daily Beast)

3:45 PM ET, May 26, 2011

Top News:

ABC Deal Close for Katie Couric — THE DAILY BEAST ON: — The network is nearing an agreement with Katie Couric after upping the ante on a lucrative syndication offer. Howard Kurtz reports on the behind-the-scenes bidding for Couric's daytime show. — When Katie Couric started looking …

Discussion: TVNewser, Mediaite and The Atlantic Wire

Glynnis MacNicol / The Wire:

HuffPo Employees Flee AOL After “Brutal” “Awful” “Worst Few Weeks” — Since Aol purchased the Huffington Post from Arianna Huffington in February for $315 million most of the subsequent coverage has focused on the widespread layoffs of Aol employees; the hiring of experienced reporters …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, NetNewsCheck Latest, Future of Journalism and SAI

David Kaplan / paidContent:
Huffington-ization Of AOL Continues With Daily Finance Reset

Discussion: The Wire and FishbowlNY

Wall Street Journal:

Comcast Takes Online Rivals' Technology for a Spin — Comcast Corp., facing a growing threat from online video services, is fighting fire with fire. — The country's largest cable-service provider soon will start testing a new way to deliver its television channels, co-opting …

Discussion: gigaom.com, SAI, Light Reading, ZDNet, ReadWriteWeb, NetNewsCheck Latest, Electronista and Shelly Palmer Digital Living

Noah Davis / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:

Magazine Editors Are 100% Sure Tumblrs Are Driving Subscriptions, But They Can't Prove It — The stunning success of Tumblr continues to filter its way across the internet landscape. — The rapidly maturing microblogging platform recently passed 250 million page views per day, shocking even founder David Karp.

Discussion: NYConvergence.com

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Zuckerberg: All Of Media Should Go Social Like Games Have — Facebook won't try to offer music, movie or book services - but CEO Mark Zuckerberg has grand pronouncements for those sectors nevertheless. … Whilst almost religiously celebrating internet users' ability to share …

Discussion: Bits, digiday:DAILY, Media News, Daily Mail, Digits, Consumer Reports News, Mashable!, AllThingsD, The Consumerist, SAI, ZDNet and Disruptors, more at Techmeme »

Lauren Goode / Venture Capital Dispatch:

Groupon Founders Turn To Financial News With Benzinga Investment — In their latest investment through a separate seed fund, two Groupon founders are turning their attention towards a new area: financial news. … Lightbank, the seed fund created by Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell …

Discussion: Forbes.com and DailyDeal Media

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Topolsky and Bankoff on Engadget, SB Nation, and the new tech site that's bringing them together — There can be a very real “through the looking glass” feel to working on a site that covers technology, especially when you start contemplating the technology of publishing.

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Ed Schultz Apologizes On The Ed Show For Calling Laura Ingraham A ‘Right-Wing Slut’ — MSNBC's Ed Schultz, suspended by MSNBC Wednesday evening for calling conservative radio host Laura Ingraham a “right-wing slut” on his nationally syndicated radio show, addressed his comments …

Discussion: Facebook, On Media's Blog, Gretawire, NY Daily News, Washington Post, Adweek, FishbowlDC and Gawker

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

Yahoo, The Wall Street Journal and the Daily News Finding Revenue from Ashton Kutcher-backed SeatGeek — SeatGeek, the New York-based marketplace for premium tickets for sporting and entertainment events, is driving revenue for big publishers including Yahoo, The Wall Street Journal …

Discussion: New York Times, VentureBeat, gigaom.com, The Atlantic Wire and FishbowlNY

Jessica Roy / 10,000 Words:

Humans vs. Cyborgs: Four Ways @NYTimes Has Changed This Week — On Monday, New York Times social media editors Lexi Mainland and Liz Heron announced from the @NYTimes account that all week long, they would be engaging in a social experiment: the automated @NYTimes Twitter account …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, eBookNewser, mediabistro.com, FishbowlDC, SocialTimes.com and NYConvergence.com

Brian McGrory / Boston Globe:

Connors joins group of investors looking to purchase Globe — (Dominic Chavez/Globe Staff/File 2008) — Prominent Boston businessman Jack Connors has joined a group of investors preparing an offer to buy The Boston Globe, adding new credibility to an investment team that has worked for over a year to raise funds.

Discussion: mediabistro.com, Poynter and DailyDeal Media

Lois Beckett / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Longreads is becoming more social (and making a play at sustainability) — Last month, Rolling Stone brought three of its reporters to a Manhattan bookstore for a standing-room-only conversation about long-form journalism. The event was co-hosted by a hashtag.

Thanks:reportermike

The Huffington Post:

Family Of Journalist Killed In Libya Trying To Get Body Home — JOHANNESBURG — The family of a South African photographer slain while covering turmoil in Libya is pleading with South Africa's president to help bring his remains home. — Bronwyn Friedlander, a spokeswoman for the family of Anton Hammerl …

Callum Borchers / NetNewsCheck Latest:

Online News Competition A Big Deal In Big D — Dallas-Fort Worth features a fragmented online news market, in which many outfits thrive in their chosen subjects, however narrow. Even those that are part of Dallas-Fort Worth's “Big Six” — the major newspaper and TV sites — display penchants for local and niche content.

ProPublica:

Podcast: Richard Tofel on the Future of News — ProPublica General Manager Richard Tofel joins the podcast this week to discuss the future of the news industry and where ProPublica's work fits in as a leading nonprofit outlet. — Although Tofel emphasizes that ProPublica alone cannot save …

Discussion: Poynter