Mediagazer: The threat of the internet has forced magazines to get smarter (Economist)

3:23 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, @yinkawrites, @jcstearns, New York Magazine, The Wrap and @felixsalmon

Deadline Hollywood:

Comcast CFO: Report That Comcast Pondering BSkyB Buy Is “Rubbish” — Comcast's CFO is slamming a New York Times report that the company is weighing a possible purchase of BSkyB. “This is complete rubbish”, Michael Angelakis, Comcast's vice chairman and chief financial officer, told the Times today.

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

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 …

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

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

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

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

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