Mediagazer: ABC News Chief Tells His Reporters to Turn a Terror Threat Story Into a ‘Thriller’ (John Cook/Gawker)

10:15 AM ET, October 14, 2011

Top News:

Reuters's Dizzying Changes to Its Soros-Occupy Wall Street Story — Because of a “technical glitch” and an editor's mistake, Reuters published a story that alleged that George Soros was the secret backer of the Occupy Wall Street protests because he gave money to a group that gave money …

Discussion: Quote and Comment, New York Magazine, Reuters, The New York Observer, The Huffington Post and Talking Biz News, Thanks:adamclarkestes

Felix Salmon:

On George Soros, Occupy Wall Street, and Reuters — Wouldn't it be ironic if Occupy Wall Street — the soi-disant “99%” — were being secretly funded by billionaire Davos Man George Soros, exemplar of the 1%? Well, no, it wouldn't, actually. As Noreen Malone points out, lots of the 1% have …

Discussion: The New York Observer, New York Magazine, Reuters, The Awl, Gothamist, The Huffington Post, The Lede, Slate, On Media's Blog, Media Matters for America, Guardian and Business Insider

New York Times:

News Corp. Hits a Bump as Investors Prepare to Meet — The European edition of The Wall Street Journal accounts for less than 1 percent of total business at its parent company, the News Corporation. But the controversy this week over an unorthodox circulation deal that resulted in the resignation …

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Like WSJ Europe, some US papers rely on deeply-discounted circulation — The Wall Street Journal Europe's dealings with a Dutch consulting firm to prop up circulation, exposed this week and resulting in the departure of its publisher, raises an obvious question: How much of this sort …

Mark Sweney / Guardian:
WSJ circulation figures to be investigated

Discussion: FleetStreetBlues, http://www.Stinkyjournalism …, Deadline.com, msnbc.com, Forbes, Poynter and CJR

Steve Myers / Poynter:
WSJ confirms side deals in paid circulation boost at Journal's Europe edition

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Forbes, FishbowlNY, CJR and Talking Biz News

Hulu Blog:

Hulu Equity Owners Announce Decision To Terminate The Hulu Sale Process — The following is a joint statement from Hulu owners News Corporation, Providence Equity Partners, The Walt Disney Company and the Hulu senior management team: — “Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value …

Discussion: AllThingsD, TechCrunch, Softpedia News, paidContent, GigaOM, CNNMoney.com, Techdirt, Electronista, VentureBeat and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Andy Fixmer / Bloomberg:

Hulu Owners Will Retain Control of Video Service — Hulu LLC's owners canceled a four- month auction of the online video service, saying the company's strategic value outweighed a sale. — “We have terminated the sale process and look forward to working together to continue mapping out its path …

Discussion: VatorNews

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Worldwide, newspapers reach more people than the Internet, WAN-IFRA survey shows — WAN-IFRA — At the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Vienna, Austria, a survey of 69 countries showed where print circulation, revenue and mobile use were rising for newspapers, and where they are declining.

Discussion: Future of Journalism, WAN-IFRA and Media News

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Global circulation falls as readers become ‘promiscuous’ — WAN-IFRA delivers its World Press Trends report, which found that circulation declined globally by 2%, but showed disparity between the east and west — Worldwide daily newspaper circulation fell by nine million in 2010 …

Discussion: Globe and Mail and Future Journalism Project

Betsy Rothstein / FishbowlDC:

Politico Reporter Dismissed for Plagiarism — A NYT reporter has brought information to Politico's Editor-in-Chief John Harris and Executive Editor Jim VandeHei that has led to a reporter's forced resignation. Politico issued a lengthy and serious memo tonight to employees announcing that Kendra Marr …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Regret the Error, The New York Observer, The Politico and Poynter

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The newsonomics of 100% reach — Editor's Note: Each week, Ken Doctor — author of Newsonomics and longtime watcher of the business side of digital news — writes about the economics of news for the Lab. — You won't find a “Subscribe” top-level link on The Day's home page.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Jacob Harris / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Word clouds considered harmful — In his 2003 novel Pattern Recognition, William Gibson created a character named Cayce Pollard with an unusual psychosomatic affliction: She was allergic to brands. Even the logos on clothing were enough to make her skin crawl, but her worst reactions …

John Cook / Gawker:

ABC News Chief Tells His Reporters to Turn a Terror Threat Story Into a ‘Thriller’ — ABC News president Ben Sherwood is a notorious social climber and horrible self-help writer whose detractors call him “the Draco Malfoy of broadcast news.” When he took over the news division last year …

Michael Montgomery / California Watch:

Feds to target newspapers, radio for marijuana ads — Federal prosecutors are preparing to target newspapers, radio stations and other media outlets that advertise medical marijuana dispensaries in California, another escalation in the Obama administration's newly invigorated war against the state's pot industry.

Discussion: Poynter, ThinkProgress, The Snitch, FishbowlLA, On Media's Blog, The Daily Weekly, Future Journalism Project and Seattle Times

Suzanne Perry / The Chronicle of Philanthropy:

Nonprofit News Outlets Face Long Waits for IRS Approval — When SF Public Press, a nonprofit news organization in San Francisco, applied to the Internal Revenue Service for a tax exemption in January 2010, its founder, Michael Stoll, thought the bid would be a “slam dunk.”

Discussion: Poynter and LA Observed