Mediagazer: Help! Our journalists of the future (Roger Ebert/Chicago Sun Times)

12:05 PM ET, October 20, 2011

Top News:

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Times Company Reports a Profit — The New York Times Company continued to attract paying subscribers to its flagship Web site in the third quarter, bolstering a new revenue stream that has helped offset a decline in advertising revenue. — The company, which reported its earnings …

Discussion: Adweek, The Huffington Post, Guardian, FishbowlNY, New York Magazine, paidContent, Gannett Blog, On Media's Blog, Noted and Mashable!

Dan Sabbagh / Guardian:

The Times cuts 100 editorial posts — Daily paper to shed one in seven editorial positions, with Sunday Times also due to announce reduction in staff — The Times is to cut 100 editorial posts out of a total workforce of 700, editor James Harding has told staff.

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, @dansabbagh, @dansabbagh and @dansabbagh

Mark Sweney / Guardian:
Former EMI chief to head new home of BBC magazines

Discussion: Guardian and mnilive.com

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Moammar Gadhafi Killed, Injured or Captured: Broadcast and Cable Nets Scramble to Confirm and Cover — Update: A Libyan transitional government minister has confirmed Gadhafi's death, and all of the U.S. networks are now reporting the news as such. — Update: Al Jazeera English …

Discussion: Forbes, Broadcasting & Cable, Poynter, The Daily and TVSpy

Keach Hagey / The Politico:

A Washington Post paywall? No time soon — Hurting financially but wary of acting precipitously, the Washington Post has planted a strategic stake in the ground when it comes to paywalls: Let the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, with their national distributions and elite readerships …

Discussion: mediabistro.com and On Media's Blog

Nic Christensen / The Australian: The Australian to launch paid content on Monday

Bloomberg:

Rupert Murdoch's Critics Press for Changes They Can't Force at News Corp. — News Corp. investors seeking to curb Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch's authority will use tomorrow's annual meeting to press for reform, looking to persuade a board they can't force to act.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Dan Sabbagh / Guardian:
Rebekah Brooks's payout - will News Corp investors be told about it?

Discussion: Birmingham Mail

Betsy Rothstein / FishbowlDC:

Two Daily Caller Reporters Fired, Managing Editor Quits, Employees Nervous — The last two weeks has put employees at The Daily Caller on edge. Two reporters were fired and the Managing Editor, Joe Kildea, has jumped ship. One reporter is gone because of a bad attitude; the other for being in a beat she wasn't qualified to cover.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Michael Malone / B&C:

‘Occupy’ Needs the Media, and Vice Versa — It's a rainy, windy, and miserable day down in New York, meaning it's not much fun down at Zuccotti Park. When New York had rain last week, WNYW morning anchor John Huddy had a brilliant idea, handing out a bunch of umbrellas branded …

Discussion: The New York Observer, CJR, Media News, Future of Journalism, Gawker, Broadcasting & Cable, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, Forbes, On Media's Blog and Pew Research Center

Naomi Wolf / Guardian:
How I was arrested at Occupy Wall Street

Discussion: The New York Observer, The Huffington Post, Danger Room, Washington Post, City Room and ANIMAL

Neda Semnani / Roll Call:

Heard on the Hill: Breaking the Code of Ethics — One major commandment of journalism: If thou art a hack, thou mustn't flack. — So imagine our surprise when we realized the spokeswoman for October 2011, the group occupying Freedom Plaza, is Lisa Simeone, host of the radio program …

Discussion: The Awl, On Media's Blog, Free Press, Poynter, Baltimore Sun, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, Fox News, @jayrosen_nyu, @jayrosen_nyu, @davidfolkenflik and The Daily Caller

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:

Village Voice Lays Off the Best of New York — The Village Voice has laid off Ward Harkavy, a senior editor, and Harry Siegel, a brand-new (but independently legendary) city hall columnist, Gawker reports. — The Voice is on the late end of a wave of layoffs affecting all New Times papers …

Discussion: Gizmodo, Gawker, Village Voice and Runnin' Scared

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

The Economist Mistakenly Gave Away Free Digital Subscriptions — The Economist will next week revoke premium digital subscriptions from some users after realising it had been accidentally servicing them for free. — “Unfortunately, we have been providing you with full digital access in error …

Discussion: Poynter and paidContent:UK

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Does Warner Bros. Really Have Exclusive Movie Rights to a Story Posted on Reddit? (Analysis) — Fledging author James Erwin sold Warner Bros. on movie rights to his short story posted on Reddit. But the user agreement for the news community website could raise some thorny intellectual property questions.

Discussion: SocialTimes.com

David Kaplan / paidContent:

NYTCo's Robinson: Paywall Hasn't Dented Pageviews—Much — The weak economy and the About Group's declines have eaten away at revenue gains that the New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) won with last year's ad recovery. But CEO Janet Robinson said that there hasn't been much negative impact …

Mark Kleinman / Kleinman:

Exclusive: Kingdom Eyes Twitter Stake — The ultra-wealthy Saudi investor who owns stakes in Citigroup and News Corporation is examining a swoop on the internet industry that would involve acquiring hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of shares in Twitter, I have learned.

Discussion: The Next Web and The Wall Blog

Sean Connolly / Online News Association:

Herman, Keefe, Summers elected to 2012 Online News Association Board — Members of the Online News Association, the world's largest membership organization of digital journalists, elected three new members to its Board of Directors and reelected three incumbents to two-year terms.

Aly Semigran / PopWatch:

Adam Levine and Fox News hosts exchange angry tweets over use of his music — Typically its Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine that's the one taking requests, but on Wednesday, The Voice mentor had one for Fox News: Don't play my music. Or, more specifically, as he put it on Twitter …

Discussion: Speakeasy and Mediaite

Jon Slattery / jonslattery.blogspot.com:

BBC staff magazine Ariel to close after 75 years — The BBC is closing the print version of Ariel, its staff magazine, which has been published for 75 years. — It is part of the latest round of cuts which will see the BBC's communications division shed 30 posts.

Discussion: Guardian, BBC Ariel and Press Gazette

Roger Ebert / Chicago Sun Times:

Help! Our journalists of the future — An old friend and distinguished colleague of mine writes: — “These are verbatim quotes — repeat, VERBATIM quotes — from radio newscast scripts turned in by students in my Broadcast and Film Writing classes. The students were assigned to do a morning after …

Thanks:timcohn

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:

Phone hacking victims get access to critical evidence — (REUTERS) - Like all good tabloid tales, the News of the World saga is a scandal that keeps on giving. — British investigators have spent months sharing thousands of pages of seized evidence with hundreds of suspected targets …

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Department of Justice still wants New York Times reporter's sources — In a move that could unleash a major First Amendment battle, the Justice Department is asking a federal appeals court to force a New York Times reporter to testify about his confidential sources at the trial …

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Yahoo's Jerry Yang: “We Want to Be the Premier Digital Media Company” — When Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang last appeared on the D stage back in 2008, the Internet giant was in tumult. Tapped as successor to former CEO Terry Semel and the man who would finally turn Yahoo's fundamental strengths …

Discussion: AllThingsD, CNET News and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:

Romney Campaign: CNN Asked Us To Pull Down Brutal Anti-Perry Ad — Romney Campaign: CNN Asked Us To Pull Down Brutal Anti-Perry Ad … The strange case of the missing Mitt Romney YouTube video has been solved, Team Romney says: Turns out CNN did it. — In an email to TPM …

Discussion: Mediaite, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com and Business Insider

Martin Robbins / Guardian:

Why did the BBC show a clip comparing sex education teachers with paedophiles? — The BBC's decision to broadcast a clip during Sunday Morning Live that compared sex education teachers with paedophiles raises serious questions about their editorial judgement; as professionals attack the Corporation for putting teachers ‘at risk.’