Mediagazer: With Launch Of The Verge, SB Nation Parent Rebrands As Vox Media (Staci D. Kramer/paidContent)

Dan Walker Smith / Adweek:

‘Engadget’ Alumni Launch ‘The Verge’ — Former Engadget editor Josh Topolsky has unveiled The Verge, a new site dedicated to tech. The site launched early on 1st November. — Topolsky says the new site will not just be “a stagnant, fixed entity, but an evolving, growing piece of technology.”

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab and Business Insider

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

With Launch Of The Verge, SB Nation Parent Rebrands As Vox Media — As of Tuesday, SB Nation no longer stands alone. The sports site, which has grown from a federation of sports blogs to a prominent network and sports hub, will joined by The Verge, a personal tech site from Joshua Topolsky …

Discussion: AllThingsD, NetNewsCheck Latest and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Joe Flint / Company Town:

DirecTV and News Corp. reach new deal — News Corp. has struck a new deal that will keep its powerful cable and broadcast channels on satellite broadcaster DirecTV. — The two sides had been bickering over a new contract and DirecTV was set to drop more than two dozen News Corp.-owned Fox cable networks …

DirecTV and News Corp. Avert Channel Blackout — 6:30 p.m. | Updated | Representatives for DirecTV and News Corporation said Monday evening that they had averted a looming blackout of regional sports networks, FX and other Fox-owned cable channels. — After warring in public for a week …

Discussion: TVWeek.com, rbr.com, Adweek, Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel

Bloomberg:

Tribune Judge Rejects JPMorgan, Aurelius Reorganization Plans — Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) — Competing reorganization plans for Tribune Co. were rejected by a judge who threatened to put the biggest U.S. media company in bankruptcy under a trustee unless it improved its strategy for ending the case.

Discussion: Guardian

Rip Empson / TechCrunch:

Aol's Patch Taps Ad Tech Startup PaperG To Boost Local Ad Sales In Over 100 Markets — Traditional publishers and fledgling digital publications alike are trying to find the best ways to monetize their content on the Web and take advantage of the benefits offered by hyperlocal content …

Press Association:

Blair aide's phone ‘hacked by NotW’ — A lifestyle consultant who worked with ex-Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie has said she was told by police that her mobile phone messages were hacked by a private investigator working for the News of the World.

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Huffpo's Brand Is Worth Way More Than AOL's, Study Shows — After AOL acquired the Huffington Post in February, CEO Tim Armstrong had some tough decisions to make regarding which of his company's brands to keep and which to discard in favor of the Huffpo versions.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, Future Journalism Project and Nieman Journalism Lab

Jon Russell / The Next Web:

BBC set to expand Asian presence with new services in Thailand and Taiwan — The BBC is set to launch new channels across Taiwan, Indonesia and Taiwan continuing its expansion across Asia, according to a report from Media Newsline. — The corporation announced that it will introduce …

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

HarperCollins' Acquisition Of Thomas Nelson Is An Investment In Digital — HarperCollins is acquiring Christian publisher Thomas Nelson—publisher of the mega-bestselling Heaven Is For Real—for an undisclosed sum in a deal that will be finalized by the end of the year.

Discussion: HarperCollins Publishers, Media Decoder and GalleyCat

Gail Shister / TVNewser:

‘Rock Center’ Review: 'It's hard to be different. It's harder to be good' — It's been 20 years since the launch of a successful prime-time newsmagazine, and last night's debut of Brian Williams' “Rock Center” on NBC showed why. — It's hard to be different. It's harder to be good.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, mediabistro.com and B&C

David Kaplan / paidContent:

Adobe, Looking To Grab Rising Online Video Ad Dollars, Buys Auditude — Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) is continuing to build its advertising business through major acquisitions and this time, it's buying Auditude, which operates a platform for managing online video ads.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Stephen Engelberg / ProPublica:

Raising Cain: When is a Scoop Ready to be Published? — Politico's story on possible sexual harassment by Herman Cain may be the biggest investigative scoop of the campaign season. But it would be hard to deduce that from the facts as published. — The story lacks the key details needed …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, New York Times, Jack Shafer, Latest Open Salon Blog, Big Journalism, The New Yorker Blog, ABCNEWS, Mediaite, FiveThirtyEight, Iowa Caucuses, Erik Wemple, www.thetakeaway.org and Future of Journalism

Rip Empson / TechCrunch:

After Acquiring NAVTEQ Ad Group, Matchbin Becomes Radiate Media; Adds $22 Million In Financing — Matchbin, a company that creates CMS solutions and hosts websites for community newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations, announced today that it has acquired NAVTEQ Media Solution's Radio and Television Group.

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

New website builds dossiers on journalists, hopes transparency will lead to trust — Ira Stoll is 38. He has a Facebook page and a Twitter account. His phone number is (718) 499-2199 and his email is ira@futureofcapitalism.com. He went to college at Harvard, has worked at the Los Angeles Times …

Discussion: Future Journalism Project

Discussion: Center for Sustainable …, Future of Journalism and The Future of Capitalism

Paul Tash / St. Petersburg Times:

St. Petersburg Times changing its name to Tampa Bay Times — Since I started here as a reporter in 1978, I have answered my phone with some version of “St. Pete Times.” I will need to learn a new habit. — Starting Jan. 1, this newspaper will become the Tampa Bay Times.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Poynter

Nat Ives / AdAge:

Biggest Advertiser on Kindle of Late? Amazon — Early Adopting Marketers Like the Results, but Haven't Made Device a Regular Buy — Yet — Almost six months after the first Kindle with Special Offers arrived bearing on-screen ads for national brands such as Buick, Olay and Visa …

Keach Hagey / On Media's Blog:

WaPo promotes Evans to ‘chief experience officer’ — Laura Evans, the Washington Post's director of research analytics, has been promoted to a newly created position with a curious title: chief experience officer. — Publisher Katharine Weymouth's internal memo explaining the change is long …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Ben Blanchard / Reuters:

China shuts 50 microblogs for porn, vulgarity — (Reuters) - China has shut 50 microblogs for distributing pornography and carrying “vulgar content”, state media said on Monday, as the government steps up monitoring of the internet. — “The microblogs were shut down for violations …

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

A reporter upsets the precedent, manages rare switch from ‘Post’ to ‘Journal’ — Back in 2007 when News Corp. bought The Wall Street Journal's parent company, Dow Jones, it seemed likely that the company would be able to stem some losses at The New York Post by finding, well, synergies between the two papers.

Discussion: The New York Observer and Future of Journalism

Gabe Rivera / Techmeme News:

Revealed: Why Techmeme links to them instead of you! — Over time, nearly every major tech news publisher has asked us a variant of “Why do you always post them and not us?” or “Why did you pick them over us for that story when we posted first?” So it's probably time to address this issue in a general way.

Discussion: SiliconFilter, TechCrunch and Trends in the Living Networks, more at Techmeme »

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Perform Group Eyes More Acquisitions With On-Track Business Growth — Online sports broadcasting firm Perform Group says it sees a “promising pipeline” of potential acquisitions it will buy using funds raised in its recent market listing. — It raised £72.5 ($116.26) million when it floated in London in April.