Mediagazer: Sam Zell Blames Tribune Failure on ‘Greedy’ Journalists. (Jeff Bercovici/Mixed Media)

7:10 PM ET, February 22, 2012

Top News:

Marie Colvin killed: Syrian forces had pledged to kill ‘any journalist who set foot on Syrian soil’ — Syrian forces murdered journalist Marie Colvin after pledging to kill “any journalist who set foot on Syrian soil”, it has emerged. — The 55-year-old Sunday Times reporter …

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, @ramsaysky and The Daily What

New York Times:

Two Western Journalists Killed in Syria Shelling — CAIRO — Two Western journalists, one American and one French, were killed early Wednesday as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad pursued a deadly bombardment of the central city of Homs, according to activists and officials.

Michael Rundle / The Huffington Post - UK:

Syrian Minister ‘Unaware Foreign Journalists Were In Country’ After Deadly Shelling — Syria has said they were unaware foreign journalists were in the country after an American and French journalist were killed on Wednesday. Marie Colvin, a veteran correspondent for the Sunday Times …

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Syria Correspondent Wanted Her Reporting Read Outside Pay Walls — Before her death on Wednesday in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, the veteran war correspondent Marie Colvin voiced a common frustration for journalists who are reporting from distant areas about conflicts that can feel remote to readers back home.

Discussion: Online NewsHour, Poynter, Lens, CBS New York, The Wall Blog and The Journalism Foundation

Reuters:

U.S., French journalists killed in Syria — (Reuters) - Two Western journalists were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday when shells hit the house they were staying in, opposition activists and witnesses said. — They were named as Marie Colvin, an American working …

Discussion: Erik Wemple, Telegraph, CNN, Journalism.co.uk, @nytjim, @pdanahar, @fieldproducer, Guardian, @laurapitel, @billneelyitv, @jessradio, @katz, @nytjim, ITV, Digital Spy, Press Gazette, The Staggers and Jon Slattery

Lindsey Hilsum / Channel 4:
My friend, Marie Colvin

Discussion: Guardian, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and The Huffington Post

Erika Solomon / Reuters:
Syria asks foreign journalists to report to government

Discussion: @producermatthew

Ahmed Al Omran / NPR:
Rami Al-Sayed, Syrian Citizen Journalist, Is Killed During Attack On Homs

Discussion: Guardian and The Lede

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Gannett Building Paywalls Around All Its Papers Except USA Today — The vogue for digital paywalls sweeping the news business has made it all the way to the top: Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper publisher, is planning to switch over all of its 80 community newspapers to a paid model …

Discussion: Media Decoder, Jon Slattery, @jackshafer, 10,000 Words and Nashville Scene

Jeff Roberts / paidContent:
Gannett's Big Paywall Play: Will It Work?

Discussion: Gannett.com

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Cherie Blair to sue News International — Tony Blair's wife to take action against Glenn Mulcaire and NI over the alleged hacking of her phone by News of the World — Cherie Blair, the wife of the former prime minister, is suing News International and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire …

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Church hacking case ‘not resolved’ — Despite reports of settlement of up to £500,000, star's manager says talks with News of the World publisher are still ongoing — Charlotte Church has not yet settled her phone-hacking case against Rupert Murdoch's defunct tabloid the News of the World …

Discussion: The Wrap and Bloomberg

Jim Romenesko:

Did CNC ‘cause problems’ for MacArthur's City Hall friends? — Chicago journalist Geoff Dougherty claims the Chicago News Cooperative and MacArthur Foundation relationship went sour because CNC “had enough reporters and know-how to cause problems with MacArthur buddies at City Hall.” He writes:

Discussion: CJR and Time Out Chicago

Jim Romenesko: CNC editor: No MacArthur Foundation interference

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Sam Zell Blames Tribune Failure on ‘Greedy’ Journalists. — Sam Zell. Credit: Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty Images — Sam Zell must miss being the most hated man in the newspaper industry. Why else would the ever-pungent real estate billionaire be speaking up about his disastrous time running Tribune Co., all this time later?

Discussion: Gawker, LA Biz Observed and New York Times

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Amazon Yanks 5,000 Kindle Titles In Fight Over Terms — Updated: IPG's full memo to publishers on page 2. — Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) has turned off the buy button on nearly 5,000 Kindle titles from distributor Independent Publishers Group after IPG refused to capitulate to Amazon's demand for better terms.

Discussion: Publishers Lunch, Bits, Boing Boing, WebProNews, eBookNewser and Electronista

Andrew Pugh / Press Gazette:

FT facing discrimination claims and strike action — The Financial Times is facing an employment tribunal over discrimination allegations involving journalists working on the Chinese version of the FT website, according to the NUJ. — It is also facing the possibility of strike action on Friday in a separate dispute over pay.

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Whitney Houston Funeral Drew Millions on TV and Online — Millions of television and Web viewers spent time Saturday afternoon watching the funeral service for Whitney Houston, the pop music icon who died a week earlier. — CNN was the biggest beneficiary of the viewer vigil, according to Nielsen ratings.

Discussion: Pew Research Center, The Wrap, Digital Spy, FishbowlNY, TVNewser, Capital New York, Chickaboomer, Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel

John Glenday / The Drum: BBC Whitney Houston coverage criticised

Jim Romenesko:

Detroit News unhappy with Romney camp's editing of endorsement — I just got off the phone with Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley, who said he's calling the Romney campaign “right now” to complain about its handling of today's News endorsement.

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:
Romney Campaign Scrubs Criticism from Editorial Before Sending It Out

Discussion: detroitnews.com, Online NewsHour and Guardian

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

TBS Extends ‘Conan’ Through 2014 — The cable channel TBS announced on Wednesday that it had extended its contract with Conan O'Brien to star in the late-night series he began on the network in November 2010. — The new agreement, which amounted to picking up an existing option …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable and rbr.com

Vanity Fair:

Reed Hastings on Netflix's Recent Rise and Fall — Still bloodied by one of the worst self-inflicted corporate disasters in recent memory—last year's $12 billion wipeout—Netflix C.E.O. Reed Hastings remains adamant about his goal: moving from red envelopes to streaming video.

Discussion: Home Media Magazine