Mediagazer: Paywalls: Maybe Not So Complicated After All (Ryan Chittum/CJR)

4:20 PM ET, January 21, 2012

Top News:

Pick up the pitchforks: David Pogue underestimates Hollywood — Writing in his blog on the New York Times yesterday, David Pogue, one of the Times' tech columnists, advises toning down the alarmist rhetoric over SOPA, suggesting that opponents of the bill (and its Senate cousin PIPA) should Put Down the Pitchforks.

Discussion: O'Reilly Radar, MediaShift, Future of Journalism, Marco.org and The Rumpus.net, more at Techmeme »

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

MPAA Directly & Publicly Threatens Politicians Who Aren't Corrupt Enough To Stay Bought — Reinforcing the fact that Chris Dodd really does not get what's happening, and showing just how disgustingly corrupt the MPAA relationship is with politicians, Chris Dodd went on Fox News …

Discussion: The Greenroom, Hillicon Valley, Public Knowledge, Fox News, New York Times and Telegraph, more at Techmeme »

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Europe Says It Won't Adopt ‘Bad’ Digital Policy Like SOPA — Don't expect the European Commission to introduce its own version of America's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). — Digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes, who, in a previous life as antitrust commissioner, fined Microsoft (NSDQ …

Dan Gillmor / Guardian:

The struggle against Sopa and Pipa is not over — Online protest against Sopa and Pipa has worked well but the corporate interests behind the copyright lobby won't let it rest — • See the Guardian's interactive explainer: understanding Sopa — Has Sopa, the draconian copyright …

Discussion: Mashable!, TeleRead, Gothamist, Forbes and paidContent

Marc Fisher / Washington Post:

Polarized news market has altered the political process in South Carolina primary — We follow three South Carolina voters and profile their media consumption, matching up their habits against national survey data. Watch a video of their activity and take a quiz to see which shows …

Discussion: Future of Journalism and FishbowlDC

Erika Fry / CJR:

What I Saw at the South Carolina Debate — Or, how campaign coverage is like industrial farming — SOUTH CAROLINA — The campaign media horde congregated in Charleston Thursday night for the Republican presidential debate, eagerly billed by host network CNN as the “First in the South.”

Discussion: B&C, The Politico, Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel, BuzzFeed and The Daily Dish

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

Paywalls: Maybe Not So Complicated After All — Thinking over Clay Shirky's piece on the success of the NYT model — Clay Shirky, a leading paywall skeptic, deserves credit for grappling with what is now generally conceded to be the clear success of The New York Times's digital pay model.

Tim Carman / Washington Post:

And that's why we test — The storyout of Chile was enough to make a publisher's blood turn colder than a liquid nitrogen milkshake. In late December, the country's Supreme Court ruled that the newspaper La Tercera had to shell out more than $160,000 to 13 victims who were burned while trying to fry churros in hot oil.

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Dan Sabbagh / Guardian:

Has phone hacking changed attitudes at the top of News Corp? — Payouts to phone-hacking victims and new executive appointments show an attempt to move on — Rupert Murdoch was in London on Thursday in time to follow the coverage of the 37 News of the World phone-hacking settlements …

Discussion: Media & Entertainment

Edward Schumacher-Matos / NPR Ombudsman:

Santorum, Race and the Limits of Journalistic Fairness — Rick Santorum speaks at the Daily Grind coffee shop on Jan. 1, 2012 in Sioux City, Iowa. — You're an NPR reporter covering a presidential candidate. Serious stuff, even if it's still early in the election season.

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

Editor overhears councilwoman's phone conversation, tweets about it — While on a train Thursday, Bob Salladay, a senior editor at California Watch and the Center for Investigative Reporting, realized he was sitting near Santa Ana City Council member Michele Martinez.

Discussion: Total Buzz, The Liberal OC, Navel Gazing and The Next Web

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

Chuck Todd Rips Stephen Colbert's Presidential Run (VIDEO) … NBC News , Stephen Colbert , Video , Chuck Todd , Stephen Colbert 2012 , Chuck Todd Stephen Colbert , Stephen Colbert President , Media News — NBC's Chuck Todd lit into Stephen Colbert on Thursday, accusing the Comedy Central host …

Discussion: Indecision Forever, Mediaite and Big Journalism

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Daily Mail publisher loses challenge to Leveson inquiry anonymity ruling — High court declines to grant Associated Newspapers review of decision to allow anonymous submissions from journalists — The Daily Mail publisher, Associated Newspapers, has lost its high court challenge …

Discussion: Editor's Blog, Associated Press and Press Gazette