Mediagazer: For AOL, a Costly Gamble On Local News Draws Trouble (Keach Hagey/Wall Street Journal)

12:25 AM ET, May 23, 2012

Top News:

For AOL, a Costly Gamble On Local News Draws Trouble — Patch.com, a network of small-town news sites owned by AOL Inc., has emerged at the center of a tug of war over the Internet company's future. — The high cost of running the local-news sites has fueled a campaign …

Discussion: Gannett Blog, Washington Post, NetNewsCheck Latest, Street Fight, JIMROMENESKO.COM and Poynter

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

AOL's Patch Gets a Haircut in Push For Profitability — The days of AOL treating Patch like a garbage disposal for money are officially over. — The network of local news sites for suburban towns laid off around 20 employees in a reorganization meant to eliminate an inefficient layer of management.

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:
New Twist in Lawsuit Over Huffington Post's Origins; ‘Cover-Up’ Alleged

Discussion: mediabistro.com, FishbowlNY, Poynter, @producermatthew, Capital New York and Forbes

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:
Patch Cuts 20 Managers, Restructures

Discussion: TVNewser

Howard Kurtz / The Daily Beast:

Ailes Regrets ‘Scum’ Attack on NYT — Fox News chairman backs off harsh language in a college speech — Roger Ailes, who loves to bash the liberal media, used some extraordinarily harsh language the other day—and now realizes it. — In a speech Monday night at Ohio University …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, The Huffington Post, Poynter, FishbowlNY, Inside Cable News, Chickaboomer, @carr2n, Erik Wemple, The Daily Beast, Mediaite and TVNewser

Michael Wolff / Technology Review:

The Facebook Fallacy: For all its valuation, the social network is just another ad-supported site. Without an earth-changing idea, it will collapse and take down the Web. — For all its valuation, the social network is just another ad-supported site. Without an earth-changing idea, it will collapse and take down the Web.

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @ckrewson, Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog and New York Magazine

Lynne Marek / Chicago Business:

Tribune prepares to spin off business units — Tribune Co. is streamlining its corporate structure for the possible sale of publishing and broadcast units after its exit from bankruptcy. The Chicago-based company recently filed a document with the Delaware court handling the bankruptcy …

Discussion: Poynter

Saul Daniels / Northridge-Chatsworth Patch:

Tribune Restructures to Spin Off the Los Angeles Times — Tribune Co., the corporate parent of the Los Angeles Times, is streamlining its corporate structure for the possible sale of newspaper and broadcast units, according to ChicagoBusiness.com. For years the company operated …

Felix Salmon:

How Gawker wants to monetize comments — Back in November, I grappled with the fact that online display ads in general, and banner ads in particular, are clearly not working very well; my suggested alternative was for brand advertisers to embrace the power of the external link.

Discussion: TechCrunch

Michael O'Connell / Hollywood Reporter:

CNN's Primetime Ratings Sink to 20-Year Low — Final numbers give the network's Monday-Friday showing, between 8 and 11 p.m., its smallest take among total viewers in two decades. — CNN's ratings woes continue to get worse. Following last week's news of a 15-year primetime low during Piers Morgan …

Discussion: Deadline.com, Media Decoder, Politico and The Huffington Post

Daniel Frankel / paidContent:

Dish defends ad-skipping DVR, pay TV peers throw it under bus — If Dish Network was expecting an “I am Spartacus” level of peer support for its new ad-skipping DVR, it won't find it at this week's Cable Show. And aggrevated broadcasters shouldn't be looking to hear an apology and retraction from Dish chief Charlie Ergen, either.

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, Associated Press, AdAge and Media Decoder

Betsy Rothstein / FishbowlDC:

Attorney Plots to Get WaPo's Wemple Fired — WaPo media opinion writer Erik Wemple is on the receiving end of threats today after writing about the purported plagiarism of TWT and UPI Columnist Arnaud de Borchgrave (pictured here). He reported today that the columnist has taken a leave of absence.

Discussion: Washington Post

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Arnaud de Borchgrave takes leave from Washington Times

Discussion: Washington Post

Michael Meyer / CJR:

The Ford Foundation's unprecedented grant to The Los Angeles Times — And what for-profit/ nonprofit partnerships mean in the age of Sam Zell — On Thursday, Los Angeles Times editor Davan Maharaj announced that his paper, once a profit engine for multi-billion dollar corporate owners …

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

TV Everywhere's Counting Problem — “TV Everywhere” is supposed to let the traditional TV business hang on to the status quo, by promising viewers they can watch whatever they want, whenever they want it. — As long as they keep paying for TV. — But even if consumers go for that deal …

Betsy Rothstein / FishbowlDC:

OMG! BuzzFeed to Open D.C. Bureau — The buzz around BuzzFeed opening a Washington bureau is true. Political Editor Ben Smith confirms to FishbowlDC that the LOL-laden site is shooting to bring on new blood by summer to get the cat pic operation up and running.

Discussion: DCist, FishbowlNY, Fast Company and AppNewser