Mediagazer: How Online Advertising Turned Media Into a Race to the Lowest Common Denominator (Gene Hoffman/AdAge)

10:25 PM ET, May 31, 2011

Top News:

Greg Sandoval / CNET News:

Apple still wants films, TV shows for iCloud — Feature films could be part of Apple's iCloud launch next week. — In the past several weeks, Apple executives have stepped up their attempts to convince some of the major Hollywood film studios to issue licenses that would enable Apple …

Discussion: PC Magazine, SAI, AppleInsider, MacRumors, MacStories, The Next Web, Electronista and parislemon, more at Techmeme »

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

How to publish news and reach your audience when your website goes down — When the PBS website came under attack by hackers this weekend, the Newshour staff took to publishing its news transcripts and videos to Tumblr instead. A month earlier, a TV station in Tallahassee, Fla. …

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

5 small steps journalists can take to build a bigger, more engaged audience — Traffic on news sites isn't just about page views and unique visits; it's about people. To build an audience, you have to engage with your site's users and develop strategies to help you maintain your current audience …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Brian Steinberg / AdAge:

News Corp.'s Hulu Hope: To Add More Commercials — Plan Is to Beef Up Inventory so Fox Can Sell Advertisers Richer Cross-platform Deals — Coming soon to Hulu: More ads? — As it negotiates its next contract with Hulu, News Corp. is pushing for the ability to run a greater number of ads …

Discussion: Mashable!, rbr.com, Media Buyer Planner and MediaPost

Parmy Olson / Disruptors:

Interview With PBS Hackers: We Did It For ‘Lulz And Justice’ — The deface page posted on the PBS website by small hacking group LulzSec. — Ever wonder why black hat hackers and cyber vigilantes risk prison terms to do what they do? The group of four people who hacked the PBS NewsHour website …

Discussion: TechFlash, TVWeek.com, Future of Journalism, http://www.Stinkyjournalism …, Eurogamer, ZDNet, On Media's Blog and L.A. Times Tech Blog

Kevin Poulsen / Threat Level:
Hacktivists Scorch PBS in Retaliation for WikiLeaks Documentary

Bobbie Johnson / GigaOM:

Can Twitter Survive the British Privacy Onslaught? — What is it that the British have against Twitter's legal department? Not only did the company become embroiled in a legal controversy in Britain surrounding a court order gagging the press from naming soccer player Ryan Giggs as an alleged adulterer …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Guardian and The Next Web

Lauren Indvik / Mashable!:

Men's & Women's Health Launch Search for Most Attractive Bodies on Facebook — Men's Health and Women's Health have launched a joint search for the fittest bodies to feature in their respective magazines — and they're doing so on Facebook. — From now until July 24 …

Thanks:laureni

Gene Hoffman / AdAge:

How Online Advertising Turned Media Into a Race to the Lowest Common Denominator — The Need For Scale Means Niche Media Will Need Subscription Models to Survive — Late last year, Nick Denton posted a preview on Gizmodo of the now-known-to-be-controversial redesign of the Gawker family of sites.

Discussion: digiday:DAILY

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Jann Wenner Is Wrong Again, This Time About Tablets — Jann Wenner. Image by Getty Images via @daylife — Jann Wenner, the founder and owner of Rolling Stone and Us Weekly, thinks it will be “a generation at least, maybe two generations” before readers switch en masse from printed magazines to tablet computers like the iPad.

Discussion: Electronista, AppleInsider, Gizmodo, Techland, PC Magazine and Future of Journalism, more at Techmeme », Thanks:laureni

New York Times:

Retailers Offer Apps With a Catalog Feel — Mia Sara, 43, a Manhattan transplant in Los Angeles, misses window shopping in New York, but has found a replacement — shopping on her iPad. — “It's a reasonable facsimile of doing a little window shopping and maybe you stop in somewhere …

Thanks:jspepper

Greg Masters / American Journalism Review:

Leaning Forward — The peripatetic John Solomon explains his move from the Center for Public Integrity to Newsweek/The Daily Beast. Posted: Tue, May 31, 2011 — Greg Masters (gmasters@ajr.umd.edu) is an AJR editorial assistant. — John Solomon speaks very quickly …

Lacey Rose / Hollywood Reporter:

Piers Morgan Tackles Summer Double Duty as 'America's Got Talent' Judge and CNN Host (Q&A) … Piers Morgan isn't lacking for air time. — Since taking over for long-time CNN host Larry King in January, the British journalist-turned-reality television personality has become a ubiquitous force …

Discussion: TVNewser

Katie Feola / Adweek:

Heir to the Times' Throne? — If The New York Times' new paywall does somehow end up being the success the paper sorely needs, one man may benefit most of all: David Perpich, the Ochs-Sulzberger heir you've never heard of, the man who, if the paywall works, will look very much like his family's best hope.

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

NYT Discounts iPad Access By 80 Percent For Lincoln Subs — The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) is pulling out the stops to build a base during the first year of its digital subscriptions. The latest: supplementing a marketing deal with Lincoln for free access to NYTimes.com and smartphones …

Discussion: Poynter