Mediagazer: Murdoch's Australian news chief rejects beefed up regulation (Roy Greenslade/Guardian)

3:30 AM ET, June 10, 2012

Top News:

Rishad Tobaccowala / Lean Back 2.0:

Why the tablet worsens the magazine industry's headache — Many on this blog have proclaimed the tablet to be the publishing industry's savior; however, I'm skeptical as I have watched my own and others' usage of content on the tablet. We now hear of Conde Nast slowing down on iPad development and …

Economist:

The threat of the internet has forced magazines to get smarter — “PRINT is dead” was a common refrain a couple of years ago. The costly print advertisements that kept magazines and newspapers alive were migrating to the web, where they earned only pennies on the dollar.

Nitya Rajan / Beet.TV:

WSJ Social Media Editor: Structured Use Of Twitter Puts Him One Step Ahead — Using Twitter in a structured way, puts him one step ahead of the game says The Wall Street Journal's (WSJ) new Social Media Editor Neal Mann, in this video interview with Beet.TV

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

Comcast Is Said to Be Mulling Bid for BSkyB — Updated Comcast is exploring whether the British Sky Broadcasting Group, Britain's largest satellite broadcaster and a lucrative pay TV asset 39 percent owned by News Corporation, could become available for purchase, according to several people briefed on the company's strategic thinking.

Discussion: @ckrewson, Variety, @jcstearns, @yinkawrites, New York Magazine, The Wrap and @felixsalmon

Deadline Hollywood: Comcast CFO: Report That Comcast Pondering BSkyB Buy Is “Rubbish”

Antonio Jimenez / Nieman Journalism Lab:

In the Netherlands, a Patch-like hyperlocal network is making money and nearing profit — In the United States, there are any number of individual hyperlocal sites that are proving sustainable — Berkeleyside, West Seattle Blog, and the like. What's proved more elusive …

Discussion: Street Fight and Sarah Hartley

Associated Press:

Attorney General Holder appoints 2 US attorneys to lead leak probes — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday appointed two U.S. attorneys to lead a pair of criminal investigations into possible unauthorized disclosures of classified information.

Discussion: The Hill, The Huffington Post and New York Times

Sabrina Siddiqui / The Huffington Post:
President Obama: ‘Offensive’ To Suggest Administration Purposefully Leaked Intelligence Info

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Reuters, Washington Wire, Bloomberg and Business Insider

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
The ‘leak’ wars — President Barack Obama's administration …

Discussion: Gawker and Business Insider

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Murdoch's Australian news chief rejects beefed up regulation — A debate in Australia about the appropriate powers for a press regulator may be a pointer to News International's views on the outcome of the Leveson inquiry. — Campbell Reid, the editorial director of Rupert Murdoch's Australian outfit …

Steve Outing:

It's not a ‘paywall’ when it's ‘freemium’ — The word “paywall” as applied to news websites sucks. It's a negative word. If a consumer hears that a favorite news site is putting up a “paywall,” the response is highly likely to be: avoid! — Some news-site user monetization systems truly are “paywalls.”

Discussion: Techdirt and @yurivictor

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:

Mashable Execs Are Preparing For A Sale To CNN, Auditing Financials And Discussing Integration — Over the past few days, Mashable executives have been busily preparing for an acquisition by CNN, two sources say. — One source tells us that Mashable has audited its finances and sent them to Turner.

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, @awallenstein, msnbc.com, VentureBeat, @felixsalmon, The Huffington Post, WebProNews and New York Post

Michaelle Bond / American Journalism Review:

Newhouse: Staying the Course in New Orleans — Despite the public outcry against its plan to reduce publication of the Times-Picayune to three days a week, the company is not backing down. Fri., June 8, 2012. — Michaelle Bond (mbond@ajr.umd.edu) is an AJR editorial assistant.

Discussion: Poynter

Julie Moos / Poynter:

NPR's ‘Car Talk’ to end original run this fall — The popular NPR show will stop producing original episodes this fall. “Click and Clack” brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi, 74 and 62 years old, have hosted “Car Talk” for 25 years, but say they will now “stop and smell the cappuccino.”

Discussion: NPR, Associated Press, Tampa Bay Times, Washington Post, Mediaite, JIMROMENESKO.COM, entertainment.time.com, Forbes, Media Decoder, Erik Wemple, Radio & Television …, Guardian, Car Talk and LA Observed

Andrew Phelps / Nieman Journalism Lab:
A brief history of Car Talk: “They've changed the way people see public radio in America”

Discussion: Poynter and New York Magazine

Eric Pfanner / New York Times:

Europe Preparing to File Charges in Universal-E.M.I. Deal — PARIS — The European Commission intends to file an antitrust complaint against Universal Music Group's proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of the E.M.I. music recording business, a top commissioner said Friday, citing concerns that the deal would reduce competition.

Discussion: Reuters, Reuters, Bloomberg and New York Post

Shalini Ramachandran / Wall Street Journal:

Dish Chief: TV Needs to Change — Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen said a new ad-skipping feature that has infuriated major broadcast TV networks is a “competitively necessary” response to the explosion of cheap Internet video. That Web video threatens the pay-TV ecosystem …