Mediagazer: Barnes & Noble Launches 8 GB, $199 Nook Tablet (Laura Hazard Owen/paidContent)

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Barnes & Noble Launches 8 GB, $199 Nook Tablet — Hoping to compete against the $199 Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) has a new $199 tablet, the not-so-well-named Nook Tablet—8 GB. — With the release, which coincides with Barnes & Noble's Q3 2012 earnings report this morning …

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Barnes & Noble Misses In Q3; NOOK Business Up 38 Percent To $542M — Barnes and Noble reported earnings this morning, with total sales increasing 5% compared to the prior year, from $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion, falling short of analyst expectations. Net income was $52 million, which is flat with the previous year's earnings.

Discussion: The Verge and TeleRead, more at Techmeme »

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Billionaire Romney donor uses threats to silence critics — Frank VanderSloot, Romney finance co-chair, suppresses scrutiny by threatening reporters and bloggers — Frank VanderSloot is an Idaho billionaire and the CEO of Melaleuca, Inc., a controversial billion-dollar-a-year company …

E.D. Kain / American Times:

Possible Conflict Of Interest In ABC's Exclusive Access To Apple Chinese Supply Chain — ABC has been granted exclusive access to Apple's Chinese supply chain. — In January, the New York Times published a controversial and troubling report about working conditions in FoxConn factories where Apple products are manufactured.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post, Fortune, Techland, 9to5Mac and Gizmodo

Sarah Fitzmaurice / Daily Mail:

The Colbert Report returns as Stephen honours sick mother, 91, on screen — With a nod of tribute to his ailing mother, Stephen Colbert returned to present The Colbert Report last night. — The political satirist was back at the helm of his show after he cancelled taping last week …

Discussion: Huffington Post

Alex Fitzpatrick / Mashable!:

Tweeting a War: How One Journalist Is Using Twitter in Afghanistan — Journalists are using Twitter more and more these days, even in an unlikely place: Afghanistan. — With about a million active Internet users out of a total population of just less than 35 million …

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Is Twitter a newspaper, or is it the phone company? — Is Twitter a publisher and distributor of information like a newspaper, or is it just a dumb pipe like a telephone network? Lawyers in Australia seem to believe that a case could be made that Twitter is a publisher, like a newspaper …

Discussion: citmedialaw.org, Thanks:@mathewi

Bill Keller / New York Times:

WikiLeaks, a Postscript — THIS is apparently the revenge of Julian Assange: everyone who runs afoul of the rock-star leaker is condemned to spend eternity discussing the cosmic meaning of WikiLeaks. As the editor of The Times during our publication of many articles based on that treasury …

Discussion: Gawker and The Nation

Jim Romenesko:

The story behind ‘the most bad-ass obit ever’ — “I have something really fun for you,” New York Times deputy obituaries editor Jack Kadden told Margalit Fox last Monday. He handed the obit writer a copy of Adam Bernstein's Washington Post piece on “professional adventurer” John Fairfax, who died Feb. 8.

Discussion: Gawker

Paul McNally / journalism.co.uk:

A Guardian hotel? Publisher says it is ‘exploring options’ — Guardian News and Media says it is “currently researching and exploring a range of options”, amid claims that it is thinking of developing a new hotel concept. — A post on the Washington-based Harry's Place blog quoted …

Suw Charman-Anderson / Forbes:

Million Dollar Book Proves Kickstarter Model, Now Authors Just Need The Reach — The Order of the Stick Reprint Drive became the first book project on Kickstarter to cross the million dollar mark last night. Currently sitting at $1,072,528 raised from 12,797 backers and with 23 hours to go …

Discussion: readingarefun.wordpress.com and Digital Spy, more at Techmeme »

Julie Moos / Poynter:

James O'Shea calls early reporting on Chicago News Coop's demise “sloppy” and “inaccurate” — Chicago News Cooperative is planning to suspend operations next Sunday, editor and CEO James O'Shea announced in a letter to readers today. Word of the Coop's fate spread on Friday …

Discussion: mediabistro.com, The Wrap, Time Out Chicago, 10,000 Words, NetNewsCheck Latest and blogs.phillymag.com

Guardian:

Man convicted in conspiracy case also accused of hacking computer for NoW — Philip Campbell Smith, who allegedly hacked former army spy's computer for News of the World, convicted of conspiring to illegally access private information for profit — A man at the centre of allegations …

Discussion: Softpedia News, Naked Security, Press Gazette and Telegraph

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Memorial fund set up in honour of New York Times journalist — The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced a memorial fund in honour of Anthony Shadid, as well as plans for a scholarship and ‘possibly’ an award in his name — The university at which New York Times foreign correspondent …

Discussion: New York Times and Journalism.co.uk

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, California Watch, Long Island University, Poynter and The New York Observer

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Sun on Sunday: NI plots ad-backed push for sales top spot — Publisher to take battle to rivals with cut-price family-oriented product - and no topless page 3 models — The Sun's Sunday edition will be a more family-oriented product than its predecessor the News of the World …

Discussion: I'm With Kanye, Guardian and The New York Observer