Mediagazer: Justice Dept. Sues Apple and Publishers Over E-Book Pricing; 3 Publishers Settle (Julie Bosman/Media Decoder)

7:15 PM ET, April 11, 2012

Top News:

Julie Bosman / Media Decoder:

Justice Dept. Sues Apple and Publishers Over E-Book Pricing; 3 Publishers Settle — Updated The Justice Department filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple and major book publishers on Wednesday, charging that the companies colluded to raise the price of e-books in 2010.

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Some big-six publishers refuse to sign new contracts with Amazon — At least two of the big-six publishers are refusing to sign new annual contracts with Amazon. Though that could end with their “buy” buttons being turned off, it is more likely for now that the feud will result in less promotion of their titles on Amazon's website.

Discussion: CNET, GalleyCat, The Verge, Bookseller news, Forbes, Jacket Copy, Bloomberg, The Digital Reader, Mike Cane's xBlog, Multichannel and TeleRead

The United States Department of Justice:

Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the E-books Press Conference — Good afternoon. Today I'm joined by Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Sharis Pozen, and Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, to announce the Justice Department's latest progress …

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

States pile on, claim Apple e-book conspiracy cost consumers $100 million — Apple and book publishers already have their hands full after the Justice Department sued them in New York today for allegedly fixing the price of e-books. — Now, state governments are seeking their own pound of flesh.

Discussion: Digits, CT.gov Portal, VentureBeat, GigaOM, CNET, Bloomberg, Business Insider and WebProNews

Tim Carmody / Wired:

DOJ Announces Terms of Settlement With 3 Publishers in E-Book Lawsuit — Along with filing a lawsuit against Apple and five of the “Big Six” publishers for collusion over e-book prices, the U.S. Justice Department also filed terms of a proposed settlement in the suit with Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster.

Discussion: Mike Cane's xBlog, The Digital Reader, SlashGear and WebProNews

Jeremy Greenfield / Digital Book World:
Amidst Justice Department Lawsuit, Kindle E-Book Prices Rise Sharply

Discussion: Publishers Lunch

Claire Davenport / Reuters:
EU receives proposals to close e-book probe

Discussion: paidContent

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Patch Editor In Chief Brian Farnham Is Leaving AOL — The week of big news out of AOL continues: Brian Farnham, editor in chief of the Patch network of hyperlocal news sites, is leaving. He announced his departure on a conference call with employees late Wednesday as well as in a blog post.

Discussion: Patch Blog, The Wrap, Street Fight, Business Insider, JIMROMENESKO.COM, FishbowlNY and New York Magazine

Jon Bershad / Mediaite:

Fox News Spokesperson Tells Mediaite: We Found The Mole (UPDATE) — So, when we asked readers how long it would take for Fox News to find the mole that Gawker had in their midst, did anyone put money down on “24 hours”? If so, it would appear that you just won the jackpot.

Steve Myers / Poynter:

The Bay Citizen ends its relationship with NYT — Robert Rosenthal, executive director of the Center for Investigative Reporting, has confirmed a tweet from The Bay Citizen's Jeanne Carstensen saying that it is ending its relationship with The New York Times as of April 29.

Discussion: Center for Investigative …, Network News and News for Digital Journalists

Lauren Rabaino / 10,000 Words:

CIR Launching YouTube Channel For Investigative News Video — The Center for Investigative Reporting will soon have a new way of sharing watchdog journalism with the masses: An investigative YouTube Channel. — The organization announced today that, in partnership with the Investigative News Network …

Discussion: @jcarstensen, Nieman Journalism Lab, Politico, LA Observed and The FJP

Mike Giglio / The Daily Beast:

Phone-Hacking Scandal Comes to the U.S. — In an exclusive interview, a London lawyer reveals his plans to take on Murdoch on behalf of clients who believe their phones were hacked in America. — Fleet Street lawyer Mark Lewis is coming to America this week—and he's bringing the phone-hacking scandal with him.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Guardian and Daily Mail

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Photojournalist sues cop, Suffolk County, N.Y., over right to videotape police — Photojournalist Phil Datz has sued Suffolk County, N.Y. and the officer who arrested him while he was filming a police scene last year. Attorneys for the National Press Photographers Association …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Thanks:@myersnews

Stuart Dredge / Guardian:

Spotify launches Play Button for websites to stream music — Tumblr support for bloggers alongside big media websites, but no brands allowed — Spotify founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon want to become ‘the OS of music’ — Spotify has unveiled its latest attempt to beef …

Discussion: paidContent, Spotify, blogs.independent.co.uk, TechCrunch, AllThingsD, Shareaholic Blog, VentureBeat, CNET, Techland, The Next Web, Inside Facebook, Media Week, The Verge and Journalism.co.uk

Paul McNally / Journalism.co.uk:

Newspaper reporter: fifth worst job? US careers study seems to think so — It is not as hard work as being a lumberjack, or as dangerous as working on an oil rig - but a US careers website has published a study claiming that being a newspaper reporter or broadcaster is one of the worst jobs going.

Discussion: Jobs Rated, Jobs Rated, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Poynter, PR Newswire and Big News Network.com

CBC News:

CBC cancels shows, slashes 88 news jobs — The one-hour TV news program Connect with Mark Kelley, the radio show Dispatches and drama programming on Radio One will be eliminated as part of cost-cutting measures to CBC English Services to cope with planned budget cuts, the public broadcaster announced Tuesday.

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

YouTube adds pay-per-view to live streaming — YouTube is adding monetization options to its live streaming platform, including the ability for publishers to charge for live events. The new feature was announced on YouTube's publisher blog Tuesday:

Discussion: Marketing Pilgrim, PC Magazine, SocialTimes, Softpedia News, YouTube Creator Blog, Engadget and WebProNews

MediaShift:

Governments Increasingly Targeting Twitter Users for Expressing Their Opinion — This piece is co-authored by Trevor Timm. — In its six years of existence, Twitter has staked out a position as the most free speech-friendly social network. Its utility in the uprisings that swept …

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Google Takes Its Flipboard Competitor Currents Global — Last December, Google launched Currents, its attempt at challenging popular mobile apps like Flipboard and Zite. Since then, the company has added about 400 new publishers and over 14,000 self-published editions to its lineup .

Discussion: Google Mobile Blog, ZDNet, GigaOM and App Advice