Mediagazer: Halifax Media buys more Florida newspapers (Julie Moos/Poynter)

4:35 PM ET, June 1, 2012

Top News:

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Warren Buffett responds to Times-Picayune pleas for help — New Orleans musician Evan Christopher wrote an open letter to Warren Buffett last week, and the billionaire newspaper owner has responded: … Optimists will note that Buffett did not say he wouldn't buy the paper.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, The Atlantic Wire, The Best Degrees, @justinnxt, NolaVie and Blog of New Orleans, Gambit

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Times-Picayune staff memo to editors: ‘Will there be quotas for online entries?’ + 60 more questions — New Orleans Times-Picayune staffers are expected to start hearing next week how their jobs will change — if they have jobs — once the newspaper shifts to printing only three days a week with an emphasis on digital publishing.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Paul Sonne / Wall Street Journal:

News Corp. Could Face 500 Phone-Hacking Claims — LONDON—Lawyers for both News Corp. and phone-hacking victims on Friday estimated in court that the media company will ultimately face about 500 civil claims related to illegal voice-mail interception by the now-closed News of the World tabloid.

Discussion: Guardian and The Huffington Post

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Roger Ailes, Upstate Press Baron, Is in a Newspaper War — Roger Ailes, in his day job, rules the Fox News media empire that has been the dominant force in cable news ever since he took on CNN's entrenched monopoly in the mid-nineties. But now Roger Ailes, community newspaper baron …

Discussion: The Awl, FishbowlNY and The Huffington Post

Jim Romenesko:
Roger Ailes cancels biographer's newspaper subscription

Discussion: Politico and Gawker

Adrienne LaFrance / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Wall Street Journal “cannot generate enough video streams” to meet advertising demand — The Wall Street Journal announced this morning the launch of a new early-morning show, Asia Today, which will broadcast weekdays at 6:30 a.m. (Eastern), with a focus on business, finance, and breaking news in the region.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:

Turner's Kent ‘Very Unhappy’ With Ratings Dive at CNN — Backs Cooper, Morgan, Burnett, but other shows may be replaced — Turner Broadcasting CEO Phil Kent admitted to being “very unhappy” with CNN's primetime ratings, but said it won't resort to tricks to increase viewership.

Discussion: B&C, Mediaite, TVNewser, Inside Cable News and The Huffington Post

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

Responding to Shirky on the Washington Post — Transformation is required, and transformation takes investment — Thanks to Clay Shirky for responding to my piece on the financialization of the Washington Post Company, which during the financial crisis has handed more than a billion dollars …

Clay Shirky / CJR:
WaPo must transform to survive

Discussion: (Re)Structuring Journalism and Garcia Media

Sarah Wachter / Poynter:

Google News Founder: To invent the future, news industry must hire ‘restless agents of change’ — Media companies of the future must operate using a different business model that addresses the endless waves of disruptive new technology and staggering competition, said Krishna Bharat …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Daniel Bentley / Journalism.co.uk:

CoveritLive switches to paid-only service — Popular liveblogging platform CoverItLive has announced the end of its free usage tier, becoming an entirely paid for subscription service. — In an email to current subscribers the company wrote: … CoveritLive's ‘Starter’ subscription costs $9.99 per month …

Discussion: Examiner and 10,000 Words

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Kickstarting a Soccer Magazine: An Old Medium Finds A New Way Of Funding — To launch a print magazine in 2012, you almost by definition have to be something of a nostalgist. But when it came time for George Quraishi and Mark Kirby to raise money for Howler, their new magazine for American soccer fans …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Katy Bachman / Adweek:

Microsoft's Do Not Track Browser Angers Online Ad Industry — Microsoft's new Do Not Track default browser may win the company points with Washington, but it pissed off the online ad industry. — Buried in yesterday's release of Windows 8 was a revelation that took the industry by surprise …

Discussion: Betabeat, TechNet Blogs, Softpedia News, Wired, VentureBeat, CNET, Hillicon Valley, CNNMoney.com, Engadget, ZDNet, AdPulp, Broadcasting & Cable and Digits

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Halifax Media buys more Florida newspapers — Freedom Communications announced today that it is selling its North Carolina and Florida newspapers to Halifax Media. Halifax bought 16 newspapers from The New York Times Co. earlier this year, including three in North Carolina and five in Florida.

Jack Shafer:

Drug panics, bath salts, and face-eating zombies — Last Saturday afternoon, a naked man gnawed off most of the face of a half-naked man on a Miami causeway. He continued chewing even after police shot him and did not stop until they shot him dead. — Things like that don't happen everyday …

Discussion: Boing Boing, Erik Wemple, The Week and Guardian

Jen Doll / The Atlantic Wire:

Journalism's Gender Imbalance Includes Who's Quoted, Too — Following a string of reports that reveal a gender byline gap in the media (both new and old), there's a new study indicating that the trend goes deeper than we first imagined. This time the report goes beyond the bylines or breakdown …

Discussion: @mathewi, The Daily Beast and CJR