Mediagazer: Why Warren Buffett is buying newspapers (Jeff John Roberts/paidContent)

9:05 AM ET, May 18, 2012

Top News:

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

Why Warren Buffett is buying newspapers — The Oracle of Omaha acquired his hometown newspaper in January and just snapped up dozens more in a $142 million deal. This is supposed to be the fastest declining industry in America. What is Warren Buffett up to? — Here's why the deal makes a lot more sense than it appears:

Discussion: Poynter, Omaha World-Herald, Erik Wemple, Newsonomics, Gawker and Wall Street Journal

Julie Moos / Poynter:
Media General to sell most of its newspapers to Warren Buffett's group

Discussion: Media News, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, PRNewser, Poynter, Guardian, PSFK, Washington Post, @romenesko, Bloomberg, FishbowlNY, mediabistro.com, NetNewsCheck Latest, Broadcasting & Cable and MediaPost

Eric Deggans / Tampa Bay Times:
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to purchase all Media General newspapers except Tampa Tribune for $142 million

Discussion: @ckrewson

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

Los Angeles Times receives $1-million grant from Ford Foundation — The funds will help The Times expand coverage of key areas, including immigration and ethnic communities in Southern California. — The main entrance of the Los Angeles Times building (Los Angeles Times / April 30, 2012)

Discussion: LA Observed, The Informer, @jayrosen_nyu, @michelemclellan, Politico, Poynter, @jayrosen_nyu, @ckrewson and @ckrewson

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Sir Harold: ‘Fatal miscalcuation’ over Murdoch's 1981 bid — Speaking about Rupert Murdoch's bid for the Times and the Sunday Times Sir Harold Evans also described the revelation of a meeting between Margaret Thatcher and Murdoch in 1981 as ‘astonishing’ — Sir Harold Evans …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Guardian and Telegraph

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

After 7 Years, No End in Sight to Phone Hacking Scandal — LONDON — The phone hacking scandal that shook Rupert Murdoch's global media empire and hit the heart of the British government began quietly on a Monday in 2005, when aides to the British royal family gathered in a palace office appointed …

Discussion: Free Press

Huffington Post UK: David Cameron ‘Was Briefed By News International’ On How To Treat Murdoch

Steve Buttry / The Buttry Diary:

Aggregation guidelines: Link, attribute, add value — Aggregation has become a dirty word in much of journalism today. — Bill Keller, former editor of the New York Times, last year wrote: “There's often a thin line between aggregation and theft.” — Patrick Pexton, Washington Post ombudsman …

Discussion: Poynter

Tom McGeveran / Capital New York:

In a memo, Ricketts tells his news staff his politics have ‘absolutely no impact’ on their work — The ‘Ricketts’ playbook obtained by the ‘Times.’ — Late this afternoon, Joe Ricketts, the founder of AmeriTrade who was the subject of a front-page article in today's New York Times …

Discussion: New York Times, The Caucus, Politico, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, The Caucus, Media Matters for America and Capital New York

Josh Stearns / MediaShift:

The First Amendment Should Protect Everyone's Right to Record — Since September, police have arrested dozens of journalists and activists around the country for the “crime” of trying to document political protests in public spaces. People using smartphones and mobile devices are changing the way we record and share breaking news.

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

They'll do it live: Inside Boston Sports Live, The Boston Globe's new noon sports show — “Where's Gasper? We might need him.” — There's an empty chair where Christopher Gasper should be. It's at a news desk set against a green screen in the studio where Boston Sports Live will go on the air at noon in about 15 minutes.

DealBook:

Spotify's Financing Is Said to Lift Value to $4 Billion — Spotify is in the process of raising a new round of financing that would value the popular online music service at up to $4 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter, in the latest eye-popping Internet company valuation.

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, VentureBeat, The Verge, Forbes and WebProNews

David Bauder / Associated Press:

Larry King Talk Show ‘Larry King Now’ Debuts This Summer — NEW YORK (AP) — Larry King said Thursday that his talk show will resume this summer on the new digital network Ora.TV, earlier than he or the network had anticipated. The show “Larry King Now” will mark the startup of the network financed by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.

Greg Sandoval / CNET:

Simon & Schuster settles antitrust-ebook suit with state AGs — Simon & Schuster is the first of the five publishers accused of illegally fixing e-book prices with Apple's help to settle an antitrust suit brought by 29 states. — Follow @sandoCNET — Simon & Schuster …

Discussion: News on ZDNet Australia, The Mac Observer and The Verge

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

CNN Hits Lowest Primetime Demo Rating at 9 PM In 15 Years — Last night was a typical, boring Tuesday, with little earth-shattering news to drive TV viewers to cable news. It was also May sweeps, with the season finale of “NCIS: LA,” “America's Got Talent” on NBC and “Dancing With the Stars” …

Discussion: Deadline.com and All Things CNN