Mediagazer: Comcast Shutters NBC Universal Digital Studio (Andrew Hampp/AdAge)

12:40 PM ET, July 2, 2011

Top News:

David Kaplan / paidContent:

Comcast Winds Down NBCU Digital Studio; Online To Emphasize Current Shows — NBC Universal (NSDQ: CMCSA) Digital Studio, three-year-old unit charged with creating original web content, will cease operations over the next few months, Ad Age reported. NBCU parent Comcast wants to shift …

Andrew Hampp / AdAge:

Comcast Shutters NBC Universal Digital Studio — Eleven Positions Affected; Third Season Of American Family Insurance Series in Limbo — Comcast is shuttering NBC Universal Digital Studio, a three-year-old original web content division, NBC Universal confirmed on Friday.

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

New York Times Co. Sells 55 Percent of Fenway Stake For $117 Million — It took The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) longer to find buyers for a substantial part of its stake in the Boston Red Sox than it did to build the metered paywall for NYTimes.com—and it still isn't done with the Fenway Sports Group.

Discussion: Forbes.com and Adweek

Sofia M. Fernandez / Hollywood Reporter:

Ashton Kutcher and Village Voice Twitter Feud Leads to Advertiser Loss … Social media master Ashton Kutcher has taken his Twitter feud with New York's Village Voice to a new level by contacting its advertisers to complain about the newspaper's “Back Page” personal ads.

Discussion: Gawker, Felix Salmon, Runnin' Scared and The Marquee Blog

David Kravets / Threat Level:

Lawyer to Judge: I Swear My Browser Ate My Homework — A lawyer for copyright troll Righthaven is declaring under penalty of perjury that an update to his computer's browser prohibited him from electronically submitting a legal filing before an angry judge's deadline.

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:

TheWrap Replaces THR as Reuters News Partner — We have big news today. TheWrap, which struck a partnership with Reuters last year, becomes the global news agency's main entertainment news provider as of July 1. — This new partnership replaces a long-time alliance between Reuters and The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard.

Discussion: Future of Journalism and The Wire

Doug Aamoth / Techland:

Google and Microsoft Reportedly Both Kicking Hulu's Tires — Is Hulu for sale? Not exactly. — The L.A. Times reports that Google and Microsoft have both been entertaining the idea of purchasing the online video service, which is jointly owned by NBC Universal, Fox, and Disney-owned ABC.

Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog, Future of Journalism and The Atlantic Wire

Dawn Chmielewski / Company Town:
Google Inc. in preliminary talks to buy Hulu

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

AllThingsD Plans Expansion of Reviews Section: Kara Swisher Wants “Little Walt Mossbergs Everywhere” — All Things Digital, the fast-growing events and publishing unit of Dow Jones, headed by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, plans to expand its reviews section, says Swisher in this video interview with Beet.TV

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Megan Garber / Nieman Journalism Lab:

ProPublica's newest news app uses education data to get more social — Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights released a data set — the most comprehensive to date — documenting student access to advanced classes and special programs in public high schools.

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor and U.S. Department of Education

Amie Parnes / The Politico:

White House press pool losing scoops to Twitter — The temptations of Twitter are clashing with a White House press corps tradition: the pool report. — Some reporters in the rotating pool of journalists who chronicle the president's movements are sending TwitPics, revealing factoids …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Kelvin MacKenzie / Guardian:

Thank God for Rupert Murdoch | Kelvin MacKenzie — Twenty years after flirting with disaster, the News Corp chief is on the verge of his biggest deal. We need more like him — Two decades ago Rupert Murdoch was sitting at his desk in Wapping as a financial firestorm engulfed his company.

David Folkenflik / NPR:

New CNN News Chief Takes Stock … It's pretty easy to see the winning formula for Fox News and MSNBC. They spend their evening hours stoking outrage from the political right and left, respectively. — But it's not as clear what the missing secret sauce should be for CNN.

Discussion: TVNewser, On Media's Blog and Inside Cable News

Rick Sanchez / Mediaite:

Rick Sanchez On Jon Stewart vs. Fox News: There's No Bias In Comedy — Editor's Note: This is the first column published on Mediaite by Rick Sanchez. It was originally published on his own site, and is repurposed here with his agreement. We welcome Rick to the stable of Mediate contributors …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Chickaboomer