Mediagazer: The hard part of solution journalism is agreeing on the problems (Jonathan Stray)

9:40 AM ET, May 16, 2012

Top News:

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Leveson inquiry: Adam Boulton says Brown's pyjama party was ‘bonkers’ — The “slumber party” the former prime minister's wife Sarah Brown hosted for guests including Wendi Deng and Rebekah Brooks was “completely bonkers”, Sky News political editor Adam Boulton told the Leveson inquiry.

Ned Simons / Huffington Post UK:

Jack Straw Tells Leveson Rupert Murdoch Likes To ‘Play’ With Political Leaders — Rupert Murdoch liked to “play with political leaders” by tempting them with the possibility that his newspapers would support them, Jack Straw has said. Giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry into press ethics …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, @lisaocarroll and @hackinginquiry

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Leveson inquiry: Jeremy Hunt, adviser and lobbyist to appear in next fortnight

Discussion: Guardian, Journalism.co.uk, Press Gazette, Guardian and Press Gazette

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Flipboard Expands: Adds Audio From NPR, Public Radio & SoundCloud; Introduces Japanese Version — “Social magazine” Flipboard may have to think up a new tagline for itself, as tonight the company is rolling out an update which greatly expands its focus beyond text-based content to also include audio.

Discussion: Techland, Media News, NetNewsCheck Latest, VentureBeat, The Verge and The Next Web

Daniel Frankel / paidContent:

ESPN: No talks yet about Apple TV authentication — As the most powerful programming brand on cable television, you'd expect that ESPN would spend the day of its upfront presentation bolstering its still-very-lucrative linear television business. — But the Disney-owned sports channel spent …

Bloomberg:
Disney's ESPN in Talks With Apple To Expand Digital Access

Discussion: CNET, The Verge, iDownloadBlog.com, MacRumors, App Advice, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, parislemon and Business Insider

Politico:

President Obama and Mitt Romney's common enemy — Barack Obama and Mitt Romney spend a lot of time trumpeting their differences, but they do share at least one common conviction: disdain for a political news media they see as eager to vaporize them for the sheer sport of it.

Jonathan Stray:

The hard part of solution journalism is agreeing on the problems — The only editorial mantra that ever made any sense to me comes from the Voice of San Diego new reporter guidelines: “Our bent: Reform. Things can always be better.” It's been said that the role of journalism is to inform …

Discussion: Groundswell

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

New USA Today publisher Larry Kramer gets to apply his theories about newsroom evolution — New USA Today Publisher Larry Kramer hasn't had a newspaper job since 1991, when he left the San Francisco Examiner to found DataSport, and eventually MarketWatch. But he's thought about newspapers ever since …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals, @martinn123, NetNewsCheck Latest, The Daily Beast, BtoB Magazine, Gannett Blog, The Wrap, Adweek, paidContent and Politico

Nancy Messieh / The Next Web:

Storify working with Middle Eastern initiative Taghreedat to translate the site into Arabic — Storify has recently announced that it will be working in cooperation with Taghreedat to translate its interface into Arabic. We caught up with Taghreedat co-founder Mina Takla to find out more about the project.

Press Association:

Leading figures pay tribute to journalist Marie Colvin at memorial service — Leading figures from the worlds of media, politics, and the arts gathered to pay emotional tribute to “bravest of the brave” war correspondent Marie Colvin. Singer Cerys Matthews performed two songs including …

Richard Sandomir / Media Decoder:

ESPN Doubles Up on ‘30 for 30’ Documentary Series — ESPN's faith in sports documentaries is so deep that on Tuesday it will announce a second go-round for its “30 for 30” series, which made its debut in the fall of 2009. — The first 30 films — produced by independent filmmakers as diverse …

Discussion: Bleacher Report, Grantland, The Wrap, Deadspin and SBNation.com

Matthew Fleischer / FishbowlLA:

Exclusive: LA Times Magazine is Shutting Down — Nearly three years after the LA Times Magazine was removed from control of the business end of the paper and put back under the LA Times' editorial umbrella, the monthly pub is being shut down. FishbowlLA spoke with the mag's editor …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Poynter and LA Observed

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Google explains why Adweek ‘survey wall’ stopped Gawker editorial director — Scott Kidder, director of editorial operations at Gawker Media, said it was “desperate” that Adweek's website tried to get him to share a story on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ before he had read it.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, Nieman Journalism Lab, AllThingsD, Scott Kidder and State of the Fourth Estate