Mediagazer: An Assignment for the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page (Jack Shafer/Slate Magazine)

7:00 PM ET, August 19, 2011

Top News:

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Mulcaire told to reveal who ordered hacking — Steve Coogan leads battle to reveal whether News of the World ordered hacking of Elle Macpherson and five other public figures — Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal …

Discussion: On Media's Blog, Media & Entertainment, The Huffington Post, The Independent, Adweek, NetNewsCheck Latest, New York Magazine, The New York Observer, Media Law Prof Blog and Wall Street Journal

Jack Shafer / Slate Magazine:
An Assignment for the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page

Discussion: Poynter, Talking Biz News and Yahoo! News

Nick Bilton / Bits:

F.T.C. Says It Will Not Investigate Ashton Kutcher — It looks like Ashton Kutcher is in the clear. — Mr. Kutcher drew criticism this week after the release of an online-only version of Details magazine that he guest-edited. In the issue, Mr. Kutcher failed to fully disclose his investments …

Discussion: Poynter, MediaFile, NYConvergence.com, digiday:DAILY, Forbes, The First Post, The Wire, FishbowlNY, Future of Journalism and Bits, more at Techmeme »

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:
Ashton Kutcher and the Absurdity of Policing Endorsements

Discussion: Gawker and Betabeat

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

News sites using Facebook Comments see higher quality discussion, more referrals — News organizations that have turned to Facebook to power their website comments say they are seeing a higher quality of discussion and a significant increase in referral traffic.

Discussion: Zombie Journalism, GigaOM, Adweek, One Man & His Blog, The Business Insider, Future of Journalism and Media Nation

Dan Archer / Poynter:

An introduction to comics journalism, in the form of comics journalism — To some, the only connection between comics and newspapers is in the funny pages, or a single panel editorial cartoon. However, a new breed of journalist is emerging: one that is as comfortable conducting interviews …

Discussion: One Man & His Blog

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Reader's Digest Subscriptions Come To The iPad — As part of its ongoing efforts to adapt its 89-year-old flagship to the digital age, Reader's Digest subscriptions are now available through the magazine's iPad app, for $1.99 per month or $14.99 per year. — Print subscribers can read …

Discussion: Poynter, Media & Entertainment, FishbowlNY, GigaOM and Medacity

AdAge:

Fewer Magazines to Read in Doctors' Offices and Hair Salons — With Some Exceptions — Magazines have pulled back sharply on the copies they send to doctors' offices and hair salons. But a few titles — such as Details, Ebony and Reader's Digest — are giving public-place copies a bigger role.

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

New generation of Web analytics applies ‘big data’ to newsroom decisions — New data tools, perhaps best described as Web analytics on steroids and with psychic powers, are making their way into newsrooms and changing the way that editors decide what stories to promote, where, and when.

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Alexandra Alter / Wall Street Journal:

Conjuring the Next Harry Potter — To fill the void left by the blockbuster series, publishers are making big bets on new authors. The global marketing push behind a tale of young magicians in love. — Erin Morgenstern, an elfin painter with ink-black hair and a fondness for bowler hats …

Discussion: Gawker and GalleyCat

Dylan Stableford / Yahoo! News:

How Yahoo! Sports broke the Univ. of Miami college football story — Even if you're not a sports fan, you've probably heard the explosive news this week that Nevin Shapiro, the University of Miami booster jailed for his role in a $930 million Ponzi scheme, told Yahoo! Sports he provided millions …

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:

Editing Community Kibin Helps You Proofread Your Writing Fast And For Free — I am primarily writing about this startup because I need it desperately, and because it is the problem I would attempt to solve if I ever decided to flip the switch and become a startup founder instead of the personification of …

Discussion: Pulse2, Betabeat, The Next Web, The Huffington Post and hypebot

Maxwell Wessel / HBR.org:

Why AOL Should Double Down on Patch — Disclosure: The author is a shareholder in AOL. — It's been funny watching the financial press and the tech community eviscerate AOL's Patch.com since last week's disappointing earnings call. The irony is that Patch is AOL's last, best chance to build a growth engine.

Press Gazette:

Policeman arrested amid Guardian leak claim — A 51-year-old Scotland Yard detective has been arrested over leaks during the phone hacking investigation. — It is believed that the leak may involve The Guardian newspaper, Sky News has reported. — A 35-year-old has also been arrested …

Discussion: Guardian, Deadline.com, New York Times and FleetStreetBlues

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Western Europe Sees Huge Shift Toward E-Books — Europe has lagged behind the U.S. in widespread adoption of e-books, but a new report suggests that they are finally taking off. The e-book market in Western Europe grew by 400 percent in 2010, a new report finds.