Mediagazer: SFTW: How to scrape webpages and ask questions with Google Docs and =importXML (Paul Bradshaw/Online Journalism Blog)

6:55 AM ET, July 29, 2011

Top News:

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

Hyperlocal sites tend to ban anonymous commenting — Many editors of news websites in small communities require that real names are attached to comments on their sites, Tom Grubisich reports. Batavian publisher Howard Owens explains, “If you have people commenting in a public forum …

Tom Grubisich / Street Fight:

Why Hyperlocals Are Making Anonymity Obsolete — I don't ordinarily read anonymous comments, but “patriotmommy” stopped my browsing eyes recently on Patch's Reston, Va., site. I was reading an upbeat story about graduation at the high school where my two daughters were educated.

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Can news publishers learn anything from Netflix? — Users of Netflix's digital movie-rental service have been up in arms about a sudden change to the company's pricing plans, which appears to be aimed at reducing demand for its DVD-by-mail service by jacking up prices.

Thanks:bradfordcross

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The newsonomics of Netflix and the digital shift — Editor's Note: Each week, Ken Doctor — author of Newsonomics and longtime watcher of the business side of digital news — writes about the economics of news for the Lab. — Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says he is surprised that customers …

Discussion: Future of Journalism and TeleRead

Guardian:

News of the World targeted phone of Sarah Payne's mother — Exclusive: Private investigator Glenn Mulcaire had personal details of murdered girl's mother — Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered in July 2000, has been told by Scotland Yard …

Discussion: Press Gazette, New York Times, Journalism.co.uk, Poynter, CJR, Adweek, The Lede, Vanity Fair, Salon, The Daily Beast, Gawker, msnbc.com, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, The Wire, The Nation, Financial Times and Guardian

Wall Street Journal:
U.K. Tabloid's Lawyer Had a Ringside Seat

Discussion: The New York Observer

Jonathan S. Geller / BGR:

Does Apple have any interest in buying Barnes & Noble? — We received a tip from an unproven source claiming to have knowledge of discussions within Apple to possibly purchase Barnes & Noble. While this might seem like a strange move at first, it actually makes a whole lot of sense.

Discussion: Technologizer, AppleInsider, Good E-Reader Blog, The Next Web, Future of Journalism, MacRumors, The Digital Reader, WebProNews, VentureBeat and Tech Trader Daily

D.M. Levine / Adweek:

Current TV's CEO Out Mark Rosenthal will be replaced by co-founder and former CEO Joel Hyatt By D.M. Levine — Photo by Joe Kohen/Getty Images for Current TV — Adweek has confirmed that Mark Rosenthal is stepping down as CEO of Current TV. Current co-founder Joel Hyatt, will take over for Rosenthal.

Discussion: Deadline.com, paidContent:UK, MediaPost and Multichannel

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Former News of the World staff offered jobs in Siberia and Finland — Journalists who lost their jobs when News International closed the News of the World have been offered News Corp posts as far afield as Russia, South Africa, Siberia, Finland and Dubai — Former staff at the News …

Discussion: Adweek, Press Gazette, The New York Observer, The Wire and The Independent

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Pruitt: ‘Feels like the 19th’ inning for McClatchy as it reports disappointing revenues again — With most newspaper companies now having reported results through the first half of the year, the basic story remains the same. Print advertising revenues just keep declining.

Discussion: paidContent and NetNewsCheck Latest

Martin Bryant / The Next Web:

Anatomy of a Twitter rumor: When a story's too juicy not to retweet — The latest example of ‘think before you retweet’ emerged today when a false rumor spread like wildfire that British journalist and TV presenter Piers Morgan had been suspended from his position as a CNN talkshow host.

Discussion: Felix, Felix Salmon, Adweek, The New York Observer, Poynter, Guardian, AdAge, Regret the Error, New York Magazine, Lost Remote, American Journalism Review, On Media's Blog and Kirk LaPointe's …

Nieman Storyboard:

Memoir's truthy obligations: a handy how-to guide — How true does a memoir have to be? That question has been the basis of an ongoing debate kicked off by the revelation, five years ago, that much of James Frey's bestselling “A Million Little Pieces” was made up. — Unfortunately, it has never been adequately answered.

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab

Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:

Daily Show episode yanked from UK TV because Brit law prohibits using Parliamentary footage in satire — Graham Linehan (co-creator of such beloved TV as Father Ted and The IT Crowd) asked Channel 4 why they hadn't aired the most recent Daily Show in the UK, given that the episode deals with the News of the World scandal.

Thanks:rakeshagrawal

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Why The Atlantic joined up with Pulse — and what the app's usage stats can tell data-hungry publishers — Just last week Pulse struck a new partnership agreement, adding The Atlantic, The Atlantic Wire, and The National Journal to its list of featured content providers.

Discussion: Future of Journalism and Cision

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Here's What Steve Forbes Is Telling His Staff About That Brutal Fortune Article — Fortune depantsed longtime rival Forbes today with a story detailing the business magazine's finances, which have been terrible. — Don't worry about it, Forbes chairman Steve Forbes tells his staff, via an internal memo which you can read below.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Business Insider, Future of Journalism, FishbowlNY and New York Magazine

Katie Benner / Fortune:
The Forbes family's big deal causes big trouble

Discussion: Folio, The Business Insider, Poynter, Adweek, Mr NYC, FishbowlNY and The Huffington Post

Greg Sandoval / Media Maverick:

A defense of charging more for Web TV (Q&A) — So apparently we were just kidding ourselves and the Internet really isn't going to send us to some digital TV Shangri-La, where all the content was free of charge, available at our fingertips, and killed commercial breaks.

Discussion: CNET News, TorrentFreak, Most Recent Home Page Posts …, mediabistro.com, GigaOM and Broadcasting & Cable