Mediagazer: Newspaper paywalls: using a Band-Aid on a bullet wound (John Robinson/Media, disrupted)

12:35 PM ET, May 28, 2012

Top News:

A New York Times Whodunit — Who slew Times CEO Janet Robinson? Was it Arthur Sulzberger's new lady friend? The advertising market? The frustrated web guru? Or the ambitious Sulzberger cousin?

Discussion: Capital New York, Poynter, Business Insider, Boston Globe, @moorehn and @romenesko

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

The real reason for the firing of the New York Times chief executive — The Guardian reported in December that the New York Times's chief executive, Janet Robinson, was to step down. There were no clues as to why she was going. But, if a New York magazine article is to be believed …

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:
Feel the Pinch! Sans CEO, New York Times Stock Slumps, Labor Battle Grinds On

Discussion: Gawker

David Carr / New York Times:

A Doomed Romance With a New Orleans Newspaper — If it keeps on raining, levee's going to break — “When the Levee Breaks,” Led Zeppelin — Newsprint sentimentalists are part of a shrinking club. Plenty of people care about news, but the fetishists who want it to be imprisoned on paper?

Discussion: Gannett Blog

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:

The (not so) daily news — I have more conflicts than a Louisiana politician when it comes to the news of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reducing its frequency from seven to three days a week: I was in charge of digital content in the parent-company division that started its sister site …

Discussion: Strange Attractor, JIMROMENESKO.COM and The Buttry Diary

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Woman arrested over alleged money laundering — A 42-year-old woman has been arrested by police investigating phone hacking on suspicion of money-laundering offences. The woman was arrested by appointment at a south-west London police station on Monday morning by Metropolitan police detectives from Operation Weeting.

Discussion: Press Gazette and @joshhalliday

Guardian:

Tony Blair accused of war crimes by protester at Leveson inquiry — Lord Justice Leveson has ordered an investigation into security procedures at his inquiry into the media after a protester burst into the courtroom to shout at Tony Blair while the former prime minister gave evidence.

Discussion: Associated Press, @skynewsbreak, The Independent and @skynewsbreak

Guardian:
Leveson inquiry: Blair says newspapers used as ‘instruments of political power’

Discussion: Press Gazette, @hackinginquiry and @tomjharper

John Robinson / Media, disrupted:

Newspaper paywalls: using a Band-Aid on a bullet wound — As more newspapers move to paywalls, it comes clearer to me that publishers are attempting to use a Band-Aid to cover a bullet hole. I share an anecdote: — I asked my class of 20-year-old Elon University students how many were on Facebook.

Discussion: One Man & His Blog

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

BBC mistakenly uses image of Iraq in Syrian massacre story — A 2003 photo taken in Iraq was mistakenly used by the BBC website to illustrate a report about the recent massacre in Houla, Syria. The Daily Telegraph reports that the image of a child jumping over body bags was removed from the story after the BBC realized its error.

Richard Jones / Guardian:

Local newspapers' crisis: my hyperlocal site was fine, but it didn't pay — I set up Saddleworth News for two main reasons. The first was pure selfishness. I didn't want to leave journalism for ever, and... I also thought my brain would appreciate something to think about every …

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

NUJ to cut jobs — The National Union of Journalists is to cut jobs and reduce costs in order to stave off an impending financial crisis. The NUJ executive council said it had been forced to take the action to counter issues including a fall in union income, rising costs and a “challenging industrial environment”.

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:

News articles as assets and paths — This is the start of a new project I'm working on to brainstorm new forms, relationships, and (business) models for news. Responding to a current discussion on Twitter among @AntDeRosa, @felixsalmon, @jayrosn_nyu & @davewiner about the form of articles, I'm posting it here.

Discussion: Storify, The Next Web, @antderosa, Dave Winer's …, @jayrosen_nyu, @mathewi, @mathewi, Future of Journalism, @antderosa, @jayrosen_nyu, CNBC and SeanBlanda.com

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Slovakia's news payment system going large in July — Piano Media, the joint web news payment system operating in Slovakia and Slovenia, is preparing to launch in a third, larger market this summer, after recently taking funding for globalisation. … Piano claimed first-month sales of €40,000 …