Mediagazer: Michael Mann Brings ‘Witness,’ Documentary Series About War Journalists, to HBO (Dave Itzkoff/ArtsBeat)

10:00 AM ET, February 29, 2012

Top News:

James Murdoch Steps Down as Executive Chairman, News International to Focus on Expanding International TV Businesses — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—News Corporation today announced that, following his relocation to the Company's headquarters in New York, James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer …

Discussion: AllThingsD, Journalism.co.uk, Washington Post, Reuters, Business Insider, Gawker, Guardian, Poynter, Politico, VentureBeat, paidContent, Guy Fawkes' blog, @paulmasonnews, @dansabbagh and @brianstelter

Paul Sonne / Wall Street Journal:

James Murdoch Steps Down as Executive Chair of News International — LONDON—News Corp. said Deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch is stepping down as executive chairman of the company's beleaguered U.K. newspaper unit, a move that comes as he relocates to New York in the role of deputy chief operating officer.

Michael Arrington / Uncrunched:

Helpful Tips For Keeping Your Job As Editor Of TechCrunch — I rarely get writers block, but I've aborted multiple attempts to write about the leadership change at TechCrunch yesterday. So I'm going to keep it simple. — I'm exceptionally bummed that so many people have left TechCrunch.

Discussion: TechCrunch and Erick Schonfeld

Jeff Roberts / paidContent:

As Staff Flees, TechCrunch's Traffic Plummets — TechCrunch, the long-time darling of the digerati, is smashed to bits and all of AOL's horses and men will be hard-pressed to put it together again. The site has lost almost every one of its top writers and traffic has fallen sharply, dropping by 35 percent from a year ago.

Discussion: Guardian, VentureBeat, Gawker, Boing Boing and TechCrunch

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

Scoop: Less than 1M Google TV devices in use — It's widely known Google TV hasn't exactly been a success story. Early CE partner Logitech lost millions on the device, and consumer feedback was mostly negative after the first devices reached the market in late 2010.

Discussion: Softpedia News, SlashGear, Electronista and Business Insider

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

How The New York Times' corrections tracker improves accuracy — How do you handle a reporter who's making more mistakes than usual? — The New York Times recently confronted this issue with a regular freelancer whose corrections total was spiking. — Greg Brock, the Times senior editor …

Discussion: Editors Weblog

Rupal Parekh / AdAge:

Daily-Deal Sites Offer Dose of Growth for Magazine Circulation — Responses to Subscription Offers on Groupon, LivingSocial and Fab.com Have Been Positive, but Will Strong Renewal Rates Follow? — For the past two years, there's been a healthy amount of debate — and maybe a bit of praying …

Thanks:@learmonth

Dave Itzkoff / ArtsBeat:

Michael Mann Brings ‘Witness,’ Documentary Series About War Journalists, to HBO — Having taken a deep dive into the world of hardened gamblers for the HBO drama “Luck,” the director Michael Mann is reteaming with that cable channel to create a documentary series about the lives of combat photographers.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, TVWeek.com and Deadline.com

Stan Diel / Business News from The Birmingham News:

Birmingham Weekly to be published every 10 days — BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Birmingham Weekly, the alternative newspaper, will publish every 10 days rather than every seven, beginning immediately, owner Stephen Humphreys said today. — There are no plans to change the name of the publication …

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

NYC Newspapers Defend Spying On Muslims — NEW YORK — Bob McManus, editorial page editor of the New York Post, blasted the Associated Press on Tuesday, suggesting that the news organization cares more about winning a Pulitzer Prize than the threat of terrorism. — “It will win its prizes, or not,” McManus wrote.

Discussion: Capital New York, New Jersey Online, Guardian, New York Post, Buffalo News and New York Times

Peter Beaumont / Guardian:

Syrian activists killed in Paul Conroy rescue mission — Up to 13 activists died smuggling the Sunday Times photographer out of the country, it has emerged — Paul Conroy, the Sunday Times photographer wounded in the leg in an attack in the besieged city of Homs, has been smuggled …

BBC:
Syria unrest: UK's Conroy freed from besieged city

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, Reuters, Reuters, Digital Spy, CNN, Poynter and At War

Andrew Phelps / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Hacker Monthly: It's the best of the Internet, printed out, and it's turning a profit — Lim Cheng Soon's story defies convention. It's a story about the value of curation, the value of community, and, for some, the lasting value of print. — Lim is addicted to Hacker News …

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Why Warren Buffett is wrong about newspaper paywalls — Warren Buffett, one of the world's wealthiest men, got that way by making smart investments in companies like Gillette and Coca-Cola Co., and now he has acquired a newspaper: the Omaha World-Herald, which he bought recently for $150 million.

Discussion: CJR, Erik Wemple, Poynter, Publishing Executive … and NetNewsCheck Latest

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

News of the World ‘may have paid £850,000’ to Glenn Mulcaire — Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes submits table which he says shows phone-hacking investigator's earnings — The private investigator who allegedly conducted “industrial scale” phone hacking on behalf of the News …

Telegraph:
Crimewatch presenter: NotW spied on me because of its links to Daniel Morgan murder case

Discussion: Guardian, Metro.co.uk, Guardian and Journalism.co.uk

Barry Petchesky / Deadspin:

“Twitter Is Not Your Personal Playground,” ESPN Reminds Its Employees — A mole sends along the following email, which was spammed out to ESPN talent on Monday: … Going unmentioned is the brow-mopping and relief in Bristol that controversies over childish Twitter fights over attribution …

Discussion: Erik Wemple