Mediagazer: Upending Anonymity, These Days the Web Unmasks Everyone (Brian Stelter/New York Times)

2:40 PM ET, June 21, 2011

Top News:

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Upending Anonymity, These Days the Web Unmasks Everyone — Not too long ago, theorists fretted that the Internet was a place where anonymity thrived. — Now, it seems, it is the place where anonymity dies. — A commuter in the New York area who verbally tangled with a conductor last Tuesday …

Discussion: Gawker, Gannett Blog and Felix

Matthew Campbell / Bloomberg:

AOL Considering Paid Content, International Acquisitions in Company Revamp — AOL Inc. (AOL) may introduce premium versions of its online content and make international acquisitions as Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong works to turn around the struggling Internet pioneer.

Discussion: Mixed Media, FishbowlNY, Adweek, Online Video News, Noted and National Review

Jim / Gannett Blog:

Bulletin: Gannett announces 700 newspaper layoffs — U.S. newspapers division President Bob Dickey distributed the following memo today: — CONFIDENTIAL CONTAINS PROPRIETARY BUSINESS INFORMATION - NOT FOR PUBLIC DISSEMINATION — June 21, 2011 — To: All US Community Publishing employees

Discussion: Poynter and Adweek

Mat Honan / Gizmodo:

I Call This Blackmail — Aol employee Mike Arrington is angry! The TechCrunch founder and co-editor fired off a histrionic screed yesterday directed at Caterina Fake, founder of Flickr and Hunch, with an explicit threat aimed at anyone who doesn't kowtow to him.

Discussion: Quora and SAI

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

Why We Often Blindside Companies — A couple of weeks ago I apologized to the CEO of AdMeld for writing about their acquisition without even contacting him to let him know beforehand or ask for a comment. He wrote back “the call would have been nice.” — I know how frustrating …

Discussion: Digital Media, Caterina.net, AllThingsD, SAI, @marshallk, @alexbraunstein, Betabeat, @tcarmody, @tcarmody, ReadWriteWeb, @dangillmor, cdixon.org, @sarahcuda, @furrier, @gnat, @megan and Future of Journalism

Lois Beckett / Nieman Journalism Lab:

A discovery engine for narrative nonfiction: Byliner.com launches with high hopes and a sleek site — It's a nonfiction nerd's fantasy: a database of nearly 30,000 feature stories, meticulously organized, sleekly presented, and fully searchable — by author, by publication, by topic.

Discussion: Poynter, The Atlantic Wire, The Wire and Mashable!

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Economist group results defy downturn — Almost all British-based newspaper and magazine publishers are contemplating losses or declining profits. But the Economist group, as it does on a regular basis, is telling a very different story today. — According to its results …

Discussion: Adweek and Press Gazette

Tanzina Vega / New York Times:

Bloomberg TV Pushes for a Wider Audience — Bloomberg has begun a major marketing effort for its television operation in a bid to persuade business executives to see the company as more than just a maker of the terminals that are popular on trading floors. — “We want to be the most …

Discussion: Company Town, Adweek, The Wire and Inside Cable News

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Van Jones Considers Legal Action Against Fox News — NEW YORK âÂ"- After challenging Glenn Beck to a debate over the weekend at Netroots Nation and in a MoveOn.org-sponsored ad Monday, Van Jones may have taken his beef with Beck a step further. — Jones, a senior fellow …

Discussion: Free Press, National Review, TVNewser, Mediaite and Media Decoder

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

6 reasons to consider Onswipe for tablet-friendly websites — A new product launching today, Onswipe, helps news publishers easily set up a tablet-friendly version of their websites for iPad users and will help sell premium ads on those sites. — You may have come across the Onswipe interface already …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Betabeat, GigaOM and eMedia Vitals

Adweek:

First Mover: Vivian Schiller — Adweek: What's your favorite NBC News program? — Vivian Schiller: You're not really going to ask me that question are you? I know better than to pick one. — So how do you represent a giant brand like NBC News, which is a bunch of shows, across different digital platforms?

Discussion: On Media's Blog

Keach Hagey / On Media's Blog:

Olbermann's return — Keith Olbermann resumed his old position as host of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” at 8 p.m. tonight, albeit on a cable network that with only about two thirds of the reach of his former perch, and brought enough of his show with him for his fans to feel at home.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Gawker

Joe Mullin / paidContent:

‘Hot News’ Doctrine Not Looking So Hot After Apppeals Court Ruling — In the past couple years, media companies doing battle with news aggregators—or competitors—began to turn to the little-known legal doctrine of “hot news.” It stems from a 1918 Supreme Court case that found news organizations might …

Discussion: Mixed Media, Threat Level, ap.org, @gaberivera, @kouroshk, Bloomberg and NetNewsCheck Latest

Ellie Behling / eMedia Vitals:

The rise of the journalist as publisher — The rise of the journalist as publisher — Journalists can be their own publishers — able to produce, distribute, market and monetize their own content. It's not a new concept, but it continues to gain traction on new platforms like the iPad.

John Sellers / The Wrap:

New York Times Cuts Reader Chat: '5,000 Words Isn't a Comment, That's an Article' — You can still comment on New York Times articles — just be more succinct about it. — With only a cryptic explanation, the paper announced Monday on its homepage that it would be cutting the character limit …

Discussion: Thompson on Hollywood, Refinery29, Future of Journalism, Adweek, FishbowlNY and Mediaite