Mediagazer: Whither the M&A scoop? (Felix Salmon)

2:20 PM ET, August 15, 2011

Top News:

Whither the M&A scoop? — You've heard it here and everywhere: Google is buying Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. But here's the media twist to the story: you didn't hear it anywhere first. — Deal scoops are the most basic currency of business journalism.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Gawker, The Official Google Blog, Business Wire, paidContent:UK, AllThingsD, TechCrunch and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Cory Bergman / Lost Remote:

Why Google's Motorola acquisition is a huge TV play — Google announced this morning that it's sweeping up Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, a whopping 60% premium over Friday's close. You've likely read that the acquisition will give Google access to a fresh crop of patents and allow …

Discussion: Forbes, AllThingsD, MediaFile, DealBook, VentureBeat, GigaOM, Fast Company, Multichannel and BtoB Magazine, more at Techmeme »

Megan Garber / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The (actual) future of the Big Idea — The critics are right: Neal Gabler's essay in yesterday's New York Times — the one proclaiming the death of the big idea at the hands of Twitter and Facebook and the Internet in general — is wrong. And we should probably, after giving the thing …

Discussion: Free Press

Neal Gabler / New York Times:
The Elusive Big Idea

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

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Market Ills Give CNBC a Bounce — When Nik Deogun was running the financial coverage of The Wall Street Journal during the crisis in 2008, he kept a constant eye on CNBC as the events played out on television. “It was news being made, all the time, in real time,” he said.

Discussion: Gawker, TVNewser, Inside Cable News and The Big Picture

Guardian:

How the internet has all but destroyed the market for films, music and newspapers — The author of Free Ride warns that digital piracy and greedy technology firms are crushing the life out of the culture business — For most of the 80s and 90s, NBC dominated US television: Miami Vice, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends.

Discussion: Techdirt and MPAA Blog

Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:

Painful Profits From Web Video — Media companies are starting to cash in on Internet video. But that new money could be coming at a cost as fewer young people watch traditional television. — That battle between the old and new ways of watching TV is putting networks and studios in a tricky position …

Discussion: Adweek

Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:

Does Cinemax's iPad app violate Apple's no-porn policy? — Anyone who's ever subscribed to Cinemax knows that one of its biggest draws is not the availability of Hollywood movies, but the softcore movies and TV shows available on the network. With the recent launch of its iPad app …

Discussion: Digits, CNET News, Guardian, PC Magazine, Electronista, Gizmodo and 9to5Mac

The New York Observer:

The Free Agent List: 2011′s 50 Media Most Eligible Bachelors — What goes into making a list of media bachelors? The proprietary formula is in the end just that, but a few of the standards are pretty transparent. — First and foremost, they should be desirable, be it by physical specimen …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, @fmanjoo, Runnin' Scared, ...the deadline, @moorehn and @nickrizzo

Emily Steel / Wall Street Journal:

AOL Growth Comes at a Cost — After Acquisition Binge, Internet Company Faces Fierce Competition for Ad Dollars — AOL Inc. has no shortage of websites, with more than 800. They range from hundreds of little hometown-news sites in the Patch network to its 37 bigger-name properties …

Discussion: Poynter, Street Fight and MediaJobsDaily

Felix Salmon:

Why the NYT paywall isn't like the FT's — Fred Wilson has nice things to say about my analysis of the NYT paywall — thanks, Fred! — but it's worth teasing out one area where he and I might differ. — Fred says that the NYT “went with the FT's model”, and I've also heard privately …

Discussion: PSFK

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

Discussion: TeleRead, Future Journalism Project, bijan sabet and Felix Salmon, Thanks:mathewi

Eric Pfanner / New York Times:

Source Sought for False Story on French Bank — PARIS — Misunderstandings between the French and visiting British vacationers are a traditional feature of summers in France. But did a British malentendu over another French summer staple — a fictional series of articles in Le Monde …

Discussion: Regret the Error

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

Brady named Journal Register Company editor-in-chief — Jim Brady will orchestrate Journal Register Company's daily news coverage and will directly oversee all newsgathering operations, says a release. The former WashingtonPost.com executive editor and TBD.com general manager joined Journal Register …

Discussion: Journal Register Company and The Huffington Post

Lewis DVorkin / Forbes:

The Future of Digital Journalism is Transactions — There is a framed movie poster sitting on a radiator in my office almost directly across from my desk. I can't help but see it every day, all the time. It's an original “one-sheet” (creases and all) that was used in theaters to promote …

Nat Ives / AdAge:

Decoded: How Many Readers Really Use Magazine Ads' 2-D Barcodes — Among Readers Who Saw Ads with Codes, 4% Snapped a Picture, Gfk MRI Starch Research Says — As quickly as interactive 2-D barcodes and symbols have spread through magazines — check out Glamour's September issue …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Dylan Stableford / Yahoo! News:

Michele Bachmann's bodyguards developing reputation for bullying reporters — CNN weekend anchor Don Lemon says that Marcus Bachmann, the husband of Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, and two members of her campaign staff pushed him into a golf cart during a campaign stop …

David Kaplan / paidContent:

Fueled By Ad Gains, TPM To Broaden Political Coverage — In a series of bids to expand its base of traffic and advertising, Talking Points Memo wants to be viewed as more than just a politics news site centered on the war between liberals and conservatives.