Mediagazer: Sam Sifton Opens Up (Dylan Byers/Adweek)

1:20 PM ET, September 19, 2011

Top News:

Facebook Is Expected to Unveil Media-Sharing Service — For cloud-based digital music services like Spotify and Rhapsody, which stream millions of songs but have struggled to sign up large numbers of paying users, being friended by Facebook could prove to be a mixed blessing.

Discussion: Noted, PC Magazine, ZDNet, Future of Journalism, Fast Company, Digits and CNET News, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

NBC in Talks With Ted Koppel — NBC is in talks to bring veteran news anchor Ted Koppel to its new news magazine program slated for fall, according to people familiar with the matter, the network's latest attempt to lend some more star power to the prime-time program.

Discussion: TVNewser and The Huffington Post

Tom Junod / Esquire:

Jon Stewart and the Burden of History — He's not so funny anymore, and it's not only because he's come to take himself seriously. It's because in the Obama era, we're starting to see the price of refusing to stand for anything. — Published in the October 2011 issue, on sale any day now

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Mediaite

Michael Wolff / Adweek:

Is Content the Problem Or the Solution? — The ever-mounting disarray at Yahoo, along with the not-so-far-behind-it disarray at AOL, is just another part of the long-in-coming conclusion that content doesn't work as a business online. — “Content doesn't work” means, in this context, that other businesses work better.

Alan Feuer / New York Times:

As an MSNBC Host, Sharpton Is a Hybrid Like No Other — At 50 minutes to airtime, the Rev. Al Sharpton, in pinstripes and cufflinks, was sitting in his office at Rockefeller Center, tinkering with Tuesday's introduction to “PoliticsNation,” his new nightly show on MSNBC.

Discussion: TVNewser and Prof Chris Daly's Blog

Dylan Byers / Adweek:

Sam Sifton Opens Up — New York Times restaurant critic and former culture editor Sam Sifton is getting ready to take the reigns at the paper's national desk, under the paper's new editor, Jill Abramson. In an interview with Adweek, he said he's looking forward—with a “pleasant terror” …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Avril Ormsby / Reuters:

News International to pay $4.7 million to settle hacking case — (Reuters) - News International is expected to pay about three million pounds($4.7 million) to settle hacking claims by the family of murder victim Milly Dowler against the now defunct News of the World newspaper, sources close to the case told Reuters on Monday.

David Lieberman / Deadline.com:

Can News Corp Escape Scandal Unscathed? — If you look at News Corp's stock price since July 4, you might wonder whether you're peering into a parallel universe. This is a period during which the company's been battered by damaging revelations from the News of the World phone hacking and police bribery scandals.

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Adweek:

First Mover: Maryam Banikarim — Gannett's been around for 100 years; why do they need a CMO all of a sudden? — I think there's this recognition that while it was fine to be more of a holding company and let these businesses all operate independently—which was a great thing …

Discussion: Poynter, CJR and Gannett Blog

Michael Depp / NetNewsCheck Latest:

Hard News, Events Drive Independent — In Connecticut, The New Haven Independent caters to an audience that is more in tune with hard news, the news site is sponsoring discussions that stem from the site's content, bringing newsmakers together in public forums with a live audience.

Cotton Delo / AdAge:

Your Guide to Who Measures What in the Online Space — Nielsen Quantcast, Hitwise Compete, Google's Doubleclick — Which Service is Right for You Depends on What You're Tracking — The online marketing world has never been more awash in quantifiable information on audience sizes …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

New York Times CEO Janet Robinson Is A Secret Tweeter — New York Times Co. president/CEO Janet L. Robinson and Forbes president/COO Tim Forbes — On Friday, Janet Robinson, the president and CEO of The New York Times Co., came by the offices of FORBES for lunch.

Discussion: Poynter

Ki Mae Heussner / Adweek:

Silicon Valley's Seal of Approval — They might not be Us Weekly fodder yet, but a growing number of tech personalities seem to have the kind of star power that makes advertisers gush. — In the past year, entrepreneurs and engineers from Silicon Valley and New York City have popped up in ads on TV, the Web, and in print.

Discussion: Business Insider

James Robinson / Guardian:

Phone hacking: Operation Weeting has cost £1.8m — Metropolitan police investigation into phone hacking has so far cost about £200,000 a month — Operation Weeting, the Metropolitan police investigation into phone hacking, has so far cost just over £1.8m, or £200,000 a month, it was revealed on Monday.

Discussion: Press Gazette and The First Post

Monica Hesse / Washington Post:

Many media types live in the land of Twitter, but most regular people don't — When the East Coast earthquake struck in late August, it appeared to hit particularly hard a place called “Twitter.” — “U.S. East Coast earthquake generated more Tweets than Osama bin Laden death,” the United Kingdom's Telegraph reported.

Discussion: Poynter