Mediagazer: “A BRIDGE TOO FAR”: AOL Requires Patch Editors To Drum Up Ad Sales Leads (Nicholas Carlson/Business Insider)

2:45 PM ET, September 24, 2011

Top News:

Recognizing publishers' standout content in Google News — Every day, news organizations and journalists around the world dedicate significant time and resources toward some of the most critical types of coverage: exceptional original reporting, deep investigative work, scoops and exclusives …

Discussion: Search Engine Land

Ethan Klapper / 10,000 Words:

Google News Releases Standout, A Way To Flag Your Best Work — BOSTON — Google News unveiled a major new feature at the Online News Association Conference on Saturday, which will allow publishers to mark their top content as well as give credit to others who have a major scoop.

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:

“A BRIDGE TOO FAR”: AOL Requires Patch Editors To Drum Up Ad Sales Leads — Yesterday, we reported that, as the year ends, AOL plans to use some clever accounting to make it look like 10 or so Patches are finally profitable. — But that's not all AOL is doing to juice Patch revenue numbers!

Discussion: Gannett Blog

David Kaplan / paidContent:

Vacancies Open Up For The Lead Roles At Bloomberg.com And Time.com — Big changes atop digital at two major news sites today: Kevin Krim, the head of Bloomberg.com, is leaving the company, while Jim Frederick, who oversaw operations at Time.com as the site's managing editor, is the new editor of Time (NYSE: TWX) International.

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Noah Davis / Business Insider: Ex-Yahoo VP Hired To Save Bloomberg.com Quits

Tim Ebner / American Journalism Review:

Steering Clear of Misinformation — An ONA session helps journalists avoid online hoaxes. — The speed at which breaking news moves online can result in embarrassing mistakes for journalists. Case in point: the spread of the inaccurate rumor that Piers Morgan had been suspended by CNN inspired by a fake tweet in late July.

Andrew Jacobs / New York Times:

Journalist Is Detained in China for Article on Sex Slaves — BEIJING — For a nation not yet inured to lurid and senseless crime, a report that a former civil servant in central China kept six women enslaved in an underground bunker — and that he killed two of them — was shocking enough.

Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:

TechCrunch Founder Michael Arrington Launches A New Blog, Uncrunched — TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, who recently left the company he founded over six years ago, is back in action. Or at least, he has proven that he still knows how to set up a WordPress blog.

Discussion: Business Insider and Future of Journalism, more at Techmeme »

Henry Blodget / Business Insider:

EXCLUSIVE: Ex-TechCrunch Star Paul Carr Is Starting A New Company Backed By... Michael Arrington's CrunchFund! — Last week, TechCrunch columnist and author Paul Carr quit TechCrunch in spectacular fashion, accusing AOL management of royally screwing up everything and knifing founder Mike Arrington.

Discussion: Bringing Something …, VentureBeat, Adweek and GeekWire, more at Techmeme »

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

CNN Managing Editor Mark Whitaker: We are Reaping the Benefits of Global Expansion — CNN's sizable investment in international coverage has paid off with increased television ratings and digital consumption, says Mark Whitaker, EVP and Managing Editor of CNN Worldwide, in this interview with Beet.TV

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

Baltimore Sun to put up paywall next month — The Sun's paywall goes up October 10. “To encourage readers to sign up at launch, we will offer a special introductory rate of 99 cents for the first 4 weeks,” says publisher Tim Ryan's memo. “After that, digital-only subscribers will have a cost of $2.49 a week or $49.99 for 26 weeks.

Matt Burns / TechCrunch:

Blockbuster Movie Pass: Dish Network's $10/Month Answer To Netflix — Dish Network has the answer to Netflix: Blockbuster. The company bought the bankrupt Blockbuster six months ago at auction for $228 million and apparently wasted no time integrating Blockbuster's current streaming service into Dish's satellite TV plans.

Discussion: The Media Business, CNET News, Forbes, MediaFile, Multichannel, The Consumerist, MediaPost and The Wrap

Keach Hagey / The Politico:

Jay Carney schools White House reporters — Jay Carney never lets the reporters he briefs each day forget that not so long ago, he was one of them. — Whether he's sidestepping a request to predict what can pass the House ("Well, I hung up my reporter cleats"), shutting down a line …

Discussion: Poynter

New York Post:

Si's digital dollars creating Condé Niche — Armed with a $500 million war chest, Advance Publications, owned by the billionaire Newhouse family, has been quietly looking outside the Condé Nast tower to place bets on startups in the digital and tech world.

Discussion: Betabeat and Business Insider

Sky News:

Andy Coulson To Sue News Group Newspapers — Former News Of The World editor Andy Coulson is suing News Group newspapers, his former employer. — Mr Coulson is taking legal action over their decision to stop paying his legal fees. — Papers were reportedly served at the High Court …

Discussion: Associated Press, Adweek and On Media's Blog

Caitlin Johnston / American Journalism Review:

CNN Under Fire — Should the news outlet have cosponsored a GOP debate with the Tea Party Express? Fri., September 23, 2011 — Caitlin Johnston is a graduate student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. — Texas Gov. Rick Perry isn't the only one under fire this primary season.

Discussion: TVNewser