Mediagazer: HBO Says No, for Now, to Fans Who Want a Web-Only Option (Brian Stelter/Media Decoder)

9:20 PM ET, June 6, 2012

Top News:

Dylan Byers / Politico:

New York Times responds to John Kerry — The New York Times is responding to Sen. John Kerry's questioning of its decision to publish stories about President Obama's cyberattacks, which have become the focus of congressional anger following Sen. John McCain's call for an investigation into White House leaks.

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Kerry questions NYT decision to run stories — Sen. John Kerry on Wednesday questioned whether the New York Times should have published explosive stories last week about President Obama ordering cyberattacks against Iran's nuclear program. — “I personally think there is a serious question whether …

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
New York Times Scoops Spur Calls For Investigation, White House Responds

Discussion: Politico and @mlcalderone

John Koblin / Deadspin:

How A Teenager With A Fake Escort Service Duped Darren Rovell And CNBC — An 18-year-old high school senior named Tim was bored one day last November when CNBC's sports biz guy, Darren Rovell, sent out the following tweet: If you are losing a paycheck/business because of the NBA, I want to tell your story.

Discussion: CNBC, The Atlantic Wire, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Inside Cable News, The Huffington Post and Poynter

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

HBO Says No, for Now, to Fans Who Want a Web-Only Option — HBO doesn't want your money, Web-only television viewers. — The premium cable channel on Wednesday acknowledged a fan campaign called “Take My Money, HBO!” with a Twitter message that said, in effect, thanks but no thanks.

Discussion: paidContent, Home Media Magazine, SplatF, Broadcasting & Cable, Deadline.com, Doc Searls Weblog, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, GitHub, Multichannel, Gawker, CNET, The Atlantic Wire, PC Magazine, Wired, Lost Remote and Adweek

Ed Pilkington / Guardian:

Bradley Manning defence gets report on WikiLeaks damage to US interests — Judge rules that Obama administration must hand over documents assessing leak of diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks — Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of being the source of the biggest leak of state secrets …

MSNBC:
Bradley Manning's Wikileaks hearing opens as defense seeks dismissal of 10 counts

Discussion: CNN, Agence France Presse, Associated Press and Techdirt

Stuart Levine / Variety:

NBC digital chief Zigler exits — NBCUniversal digital president Vivi Zigler is out at NBC. Topper of the digital division since 2008, Zigler has been replaced by Showtime alum Robert Hayes, who is now the exec VP of digital media. Not only is a new exec now running the digital department …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable and The Wrap

Michael Oneal / Chicago Tribune:

Tribune, creditors to present plan to leave bankruptcy — It took 3 1/2 years and more than $400 million in fees to lawyers and other professionals, but it appears that Tribune Co. may finally be on the verge of winning approval for a plan to emerge from bankruptcy court.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

How things went bad at GOOD magazine, what's next for fired staff and the company they left — Max Schorr isn't interested in engaging in what he calls “he said/she said back and forth” with the former staffers of GOOD, the magazine he cofounded that laid off most of its editorial staff last Friday.

Discussion: Capital New York, The Informer, @editorialiste and The Raw Story

TOMORROW:
Hello Tomorrow

Discussion: #realtalk from your editor, Newsweek, The Other NWA and Megan Greenwell

Merrill Knox / TVNewser:

John Moody Returns to Fox News as Executive Editor; Michael Clemente Promoted to EVP — Fox News is making some changes on the executive level. Michael Clemente, the network's senior vice president of news editorial, has been promoted to executive vice president, and John Moody will return …

Discussion: Mediaite, Media Matters for America and FishbowlLA

Katy Bachman / Adweek:

Future of Audio Hearing Kicks Over Old Issues — A House hearing on the future of audio kicked the rock over on two old issues in the radio business exacerbated by the stunning growth of digital radio services like Pandora. Should over-the-air radio stations be forced to fork over performance fees …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, TechCrunch and Billboard.Biz

Salvador Rodriguez / Los Angeles Times:
Pandora is lobbying Congress to keep online radio royalties low

Discussion: WebProNews, Free Press and Hillicon Valley

Ben Sisario / Media Decoder:
Clear Channel and Taylor Swift's Label Agree to Reinvent Royalty System

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal, AdAge and Radio & Television …

Dave Itzkoff / ArtsBeat:

Back to You: Aaron Sorkin Returns to Television With ‘The Newsroom’ — LOS ANGELES — A new one comes every few years, like a presidential election or the Olympic Games: an Aaron Sorkin television series set in a high-pressure work environment. “The Newsroom,” which will have its HBO debut on June 24 …

Discussion: Forbes

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Wattpad raises $17 million to become the YouTube of writing — Wattpad, which describes itself as the world's largest online community of readers and writers, has raised a Series B funding round of $17.3 million from a group of venture funds led by Khosla Ventures and including Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang.

Discussion: VentureBeat, AllThingsD, Betabeat, MarketWatch, TechCrunch and Digital Book World

Associated Press:

Media executives cite progress in dispute over Labor Department curbs on release of jobs data — WASHINGTON — Progress is being made in talks with government officials over a Labor Department proposal to require reporters to use agency computers and telephone lines to file stories …