Mediagazer: The NYT doesn't have a paywall; it's a line of sandbags (Mathew Ingram/GigaOM)

5:30 PM ET, August 14, 2011

Top News:

The Elusive Big Idea — A senior fellow at the Annenberg Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California and the author of “Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination.” — THE July/August issue of The Atlantic trumpets the “14 Biggest Ideas of the Year.” Take a deep breath.

Discussion: The Chutry Experiment, jenbayne.wordpress.com, Bit of Tech, Jared Bernstein and Mother Jones

Maryanne Wolf / Guardian:

Will the speed of online reading deplete our analytic thought? | Maryanne Wolf — Marshall McLuhan's hypothesis about the medium influencing our reading circuits forms an apt prelude to today's debates — Susan Greenfield's recent comments about how modern technology and social media …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

David Weinberger / Joho the Blog:

Reddit and community journalism — I've come to love Reddit. What started as a better Digg (and is yet another happy outcome of the remarkable Y Combinator) has turned into a way of sharing and interrogating news. Reddit as it stands is not the future of news. It is, however, a hope for news.

Discussion: Ryan Sholin

Andrew Damstedt / American Journalism Review:

David Leonhardt: Math's Loss, Journalism's Gain — The incoming New York Times Washington bureau chief places a premium on explanatory journalism and expresses optimism about the future. Fri. Aug. 12, 2011 — Andrew Damstedt (adamstedt@ajr.umd.edu) is an AJR editorial assistant.

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

The NYT doesn't have a paywall; it's a line of sandbags — If you follow the media sphere, you might have seen some news articles and blog posts recently about how the “New York Times paywall is working,” or words to that effect. They were all over the place, including a piece …

Discussion: A VC and Epicenter, more at Techmeme », Thanks:mathewi

Jim / Gannett Blog:

Des Moines | New commenting policy's impact? — The Des Moines Register on Wednesday became the second Gannett paper to switch to a Facebook-driven commenting system, in a bid to clean up the negative posts that often come with anonymity. (The other paper is The News-Press in Fort Myers …

Discussion: Future of Journalism and Des Moines Register

Andy Mabbett / Andy Mabbett, aka pigsonthewing:

The BBC's fundamental misunderstanding of copyright — On 6 August, I sent a complaint to the BBC: … Here's their reply, with my annotations and emboldening: … I'm speechless. — Update: I've sent a follow-up complaint to the BBC, you can see it below.

Discussion: currybetdotnet

Julie Moos / Poynter:

“Print is the new vinyl”: So newspapers are for hipsters? — You riff on the comparison between records and newspapers. — We have made it easy to comment on posts, however we require civility and encourage full names to that end (first initial, last name is OK). Please read our guidelines here before commenting.

Discussion: Knight Foundation

Katherine Rushton / Telegraph:

Hachette UK mired in pensions debacle — Hachette UK, the publishing group behind David Nicholls' One Day, is attempting to shore up a pension deficit in the region of £35m - but stands to lose some of its most “starry” editors over its handling of the situation.

David Shedden / Poynter:

Did CBS really invent original reporting on TV? — journalists appeared on the quiz show, “What's My Line?” — They were some of the best reporters in the history of broadcast — journalism: Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, Robert Trout, Charles — Collingworth and Douglas Edwards.

Brent Lang / The Wrap:

L.A. Times Sued by David Strick Over Photo Copyright (Exclusive) — Veteran Hollywood photographer David Strick has sued The Los Angeles Times over photo copyright, citing more than 500 violations of the rights to using his work, TheWrap has learned. — Ed Greenberg, an attorney for the photographer …

Discussion: The Informer and LA Observed

Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:

How Epix is investing in its future — Premium cable network Epix launched nearly two years ago with what was then a unique value proposition: In addition to its linear channel and video-on-demand assets, it also would make its large library of movies from partner studios Paramount …

Discussion: Future of Journalism