Mediagazer: More Proof That Paywalls Work From...Newsday? (Jeff Bercovici/Forbes)

9:35 PM ET, November 1, 2011

Top News:

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:

Law firm documents add to heat on James Murdoch — (Reuters) - A law firm which represented Rupert Murdoch's London tabloids has turned over to the British parliament documents which could embarrass his son James when he returns to testify before a committee investigating a phone-hacking scandal.

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Phone hacking: QC warned of ‘culture of illegal information access’ at NoW — • QC told NI ‘there is a powerful case that there is ... a culture of illegal information access’ — • NoW lawyer warned editor of ‘damning email’ in 2008 — • Met had evidence that ‘at least three’ reporters involved

Discussion: Press Gazette, Media & Entertainment, Digital Spy and Future of Journalism

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Phone hacking: Internal News International documents published — The culture, media and sport select committee publishes documents submitted by law firm Farrer & Co, including internal News International emails and manuscript conversation notes — A batch of internal News International documents …

Discussion: Guardian

Press Association: Blair aide's phone ‘hacked by NotW’

Jason Deans / Guardian: NoW lawyer warned editor of ‘damning email’ in 2008

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times top latest circulation report — ABC has released circulation figures for the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2011. This is the second reporting period in which ABC is counting circulation differently, so you can't compare current figures to previous periods.

Discussion: Capital New York and Future of Journalism

David Kaplan / paidContent:

Fas-Fax: Major Newspapers' Total Digital Editions Rise 63 Percent — Digital editions of the top 25 newspapers rose 63 percent to 2,169,843 for the six months ending in September, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations' Fas-Fax tally. For the most part, the numbers reflect newspapers …

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

The sideways numbers you'll see in today's newspaper circulation report — The latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures will be released this morning, and I can confidently predict totals for individual newspaper organizations and for the industry will be neither up nor down. They will be sideways.

Discussion: LA Observed, MediaPost, WWD and NewsBulletin Connection

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

More Proof That Paywalls Work From...Newsday? — A new semi-annual report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations contains yet more evidence that the digital paywall The New York Times erected in March is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. To wit, it's not only getting people to subscribe …

Discussion: Adweek, NetNewsCheck Latest, On Media's Blog, Media Decoder, The New York Observer, New York Magazine and The Wrap

Tim Molloy / The Wrap:

Ratings: ‘Rock Center’ Off to Bad Start as Halloween Cuts Into Ratings All Around — “Rock Center with Brian Williams” is off to a bad start, debuting 38 percent lower than the premiere of “The Playboy Club,” the now-canceled drama it replaced in the Mondays-at-10 timeslot.

Discussion: TVNewser and rbr.com

Hollywood Reporter:
Brian Williams' ‘Rock Center’ Premiere: What the Viewers Are Saying

Discussion: Washington Post, Chickaboomer and The Huffington Post

Bill Carter / New York Times:
‘60 Minutes’ Draws Viewers With the Madoffs

Discussion: TVNewser and GalleyCat

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Gawker network three times more valuable than Drudge Report, according to survey — The financial news site 24/7 Wall St. has come up with a list of the 25 most valuable blogs (perhaps more aptly, aggregators and news sites) based on revenue, profits, market differentiation and “founder risk …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Mike Sauter / 24/7 Wall St.:

The Twenty-Five Most Valuable Blogs In America - 2011 — After years in the shadows of major media sites, blogs have come into their own. They now compete directly with the most well-funded online content sites, many of which are owned by the largest media companies.

Discussion: Future of Journalism and The Atlantic Online

Ernesto / TorrentFreak:

Major Book Publisher Files Mass-BitTorrent Lawsuit — Since early 2010 more than 200,000 people have been sued in the U.S. for sharing copyrighted works via BitTorrent. Thus far these lawsuits have been the exclusive territory of independent and adult film studios, but today they are joined …

Discussion: the Econsultancy blog, TeleRead, Softpedia News, Free Press, The Digital Reader and ReadWriteWeb

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Our relationship with e-books: It's too complicated

Discussion: TeleRead and The Next Web

Frances Martel / Mediaite:

Politico's Ken Vogel Refuses To Confirm Or Deny Cain Story Came From Rival Camp — As the fallout continues from last night's scandalous Herman Cain exposé, many trying to parse Cain's response to accusations of having had to settle a sexual harassment claim as head …

Discussion: Erik Wemple, Guardian, CJR and Mother Jones

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
Limbaugh Denounces Herman Cain Story

Discussion: Erik Wemple, Washington Post, Slate and New York Times

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline.com:

CNN's ‘Piers Morgan Tonight’ Gets Beat In The Ratings By A 3 AM Fox News Show — CNN's 9 PM anchor Piers Morgan Tonight is regularly pummeled in the ratings by its Fox News primetime counterparts. But in October, it also got beat by Fox News' overnight program Red Eye, which airs at 3 AM.

Discussion: TVNewser

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

Time Warner Trims Its Excesses — The sprawling taupe-colored offices of Jeffrey L. Bewkes, Time Warner's chairman and chief executive, overlook Central Park from the 11th floor of one of Manhattan's most plum pieces of commercial real estate. Mr. Bewkes cannot wait to move out.

Discussion: Company Town, Deal Journal, On Media's Blog, Guardian and The New York Observer

Dee Gill / paidContent:

Why Is Reed Hastings Selling So Much Netflix Stock? — As the bloodbath for Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) (NFLX) investors carries on, perhaps the CEO could boost a little confidence in the company if he would stop selling his own shares. — CEO Reed Hastings has exercised buy options …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

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 Nov. 1. — Topolsky says the new site will not just be “a stagnant, fixed entity, but an evolving, growing piece of technology.”

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, The Verge, Business Insider and NYConvergence.com, more at Techmeme »

Anna Sanders / The New York Observer:

John Swansburg Leaves the New Yorker After Only 2 Months, Returns to Slate — Early this morning, Slate editor-in-chief and chairman Jacob Weisberg tweeted that former colleague and culture editor John Swansburg was “back!” A New Yorker spokesman confirmed that Mr. Swansburg's …

Thanks:megan

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Newly-Bankrupt MF Global Owes CNBC $850,000 — Financial services company MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, and surprisingly CNBC is one of the company's larger creditors. MF Global owes CNBC nearly $850,000, and while that pales in comparison to the more than $1.2 billion …

Discussion: FT Alphaville, The Atlantic Online and Business Insider

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

The ‘Times’ debuts its latest Goliath: A new, web-friendly event calendar for New York — The New York Times today launches its very soberly named Arts & Entertainment Guide, which is actually a big deal: It means a Goliath is entering the online event-calendar market for really the first time.