Mediagazer: Time Warner Cable posts its political file online, so why the fuss, NAB? (Keenan Steiner/Sunlight Foundation …)

3:55 AM ET, June 16, 2012

Top News:

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Apple Gives Podcasts a Gentle Push Out of iTunes — Podcasts were supposed to be a big deal several years ago, but that boom never happened. Now there's at least anecdotal evidence that the format is actually picking up steam, as creators, listeners and advertisers warm to the format.

Discussion: MacRumors, Podcasting News, The Verge, MacStories, VentureBeat, Macgasm, @tcarmody, WebProNews, The Next Web, Engadget, 9to5Mac, App Advice and TUAW

Media Decoder:

Sports Illustrated to Cut Editorial Staff — Weeks before the Olympics and the start of N.F.L. Training Camp, Sports Illustrated is cutting editorial staff through buyouts and possible layoffs. — Terry McDonell, editor of the Time Inc. Sports Group, has asked reporters and editors to volunteer for buyout packages by June 21.

Discussion: WWD and Bloomberg

Nat Ives / AdAge:

Time Inc. CEO Laura Lang: Why We Changed Our Minds About the iPad — Need to Sell iPad Subscriptions ‘Was Obvious for Me,’ New CEO Says — Time Inc. on Thursday ended its long refusal to sell iPad subscriptions in the App Store, deciding that earlier concerns over Apple's power and policies weren't worth the missed opportunity.

Discussion: @carr2n and Business Insider

Michael Massing / CJR:

How far can CNN sink? — How far can CNN sink? — In April, CNN recorded its lowest monthly ratings in more than 10 years. In May, it recorded its lowest monthly primetime ratings in more than 20 years. It's now regularly eclipsed not only by Fox News (long the leader in cable news) but also by MSNBC.

Discussion: Mediaite

John Hudson / The Atlantic Wire: The Secret to ‘Ailing’ CNN's Success

Michael Hastings / BuzzFeed:

War Correspondent Gina Chon Defends Herself: “I've Never Felt So Vulnerable” — In an heartfelt email to friends, former Wall Street Journal reporter Gina Chon defends herself, and her husband, Brett McGurk, after their private emails leak. McGurk is the nominee to be next ambassador to Iraq.

Discussion: Business Insider, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post and Gawker

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Warren Buffett's Buffalo News to erect paywall — “Trusted, credible and enterprising news gathering by 140 professional journalists doesn't come cheap, nor should it,” Buffalo News Editor Margaret Sullivan writes in announcing a digital subscription plan coming this fall.

Discussion: Buffalo News

Steve Myers / Poynter:

What the future of news looks like in Alabama after Advance cuts staff by 400 — To people who've never been to Alabama, it's a single place, synonymous with the Deep South and whatever that means to you. — Those who live in Alabama know it's a long way — physically, mentally and culturally …

Discussion: CJR, Justin Fox and Second Front, Thanks:@myersnews

David Conn / Guardian:

How football has kept the Murdoch empire afloat — If BSkyB hadn't secured the rights to the Premier League, the Leveson inquiry would almost certainly not be taking place — At the Leveson inquiry this week, the current and last Conservative prime ministers reflected on the fact …

Discussion: NPR and Media News

Keenan Steiner / Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group:

Time Warner Cable posts its political file online, so why the fuss, NAB? — If posting already-public information on political ad spending is so damaging to broadcasters, as the National Association of Broadcasters argues, then why has one of the country's biggest cable providers been doing it since 2010?

Susan Johnston / Ebyline Blog:

By the Numbers: Average Writer and Reporter Wages by State — This week's news that the median net worth for American families had fallen to the same level as the early 1990′s got us thinking about how journalists and writers are faring in this economy.

Discussion: Poynter and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Ethiopian Government Bans Skype, Google Talk And All Other VoIP Services — The Ethiopian government, Al Jazeera reports, has criminalized the use of Skype and other VoIP services like Google Talk. Using VoIP services is now punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Discussion: PC Magazine, BetaNews, BGR, Betabeat, VentureBeat and TechCentral

BBC:

NeverSeconds blogger Martha Payne school dinner photo ban lifted — Martha's NeverSeconds blog started as a writing project with her dad — A council has lifted its controversial ban on a nine-year-old girl taking photographs of her school meals. — Martha Payne, from Argyll …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Wired, CNET, Techdirt, Business Insider, PC Magazine, Forbes, Argyll and Bute Council, Boing Boing, Daily Dot, Gawker, neverseconds.blogspot.co.uk, Telegraph, The Verge, ZDNet, Guardian and The Next Web

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

Google appeals decision to let book scanning case go ahead — Two weeks after a court gave a green-light to authors and photographers to proceed with a class action over unauthorized book scanning, the search giant has filed an appeal. The filing is the latest twist in the long running case …

Discussion: Publishers Weekly