Mediagazer: American Prospect Exceeds Fundraising Goal, Raises Enough To Stay Alive (Michael Calderone/The Huffington Post)

7:00 PM ET, June 20, 2012

Top News:

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

NBC Prepares to Replace Ann Curry on ‘Today’ — NBC executives are readying a plan to replace Ann Curry on the “Today” show, only a year after she became the co-host of the iconic franchise. The planning — which is taking place in secret and has not been finalized …

Discussion: New York Times, The Wrap, Mediaite, TVNewser, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Tampa Bay Times, New York Magazine, Deadline.com, TVbytheNumbers, From Inside the Box and TVLine

Jacob Silverman / The Daily Beast:

Jonah Lehrer's ‘Self-Plagiarism’ Scandal Rocks The New Yorker — On June 5, bestselling pop-neuroscience writer Jonah Lehrer announced that he was leaving Wired, where he was a contributing editor, and moving his Frontal Cortex blog to The New Yorker, where he would be a staff writer.

Discussion: paidContent, Capital New York, Erik Wemple and Poynter

Jim Romenesko:

Jonah Lehrer ‘understands he made a serious mistake’ — Will Jonah Lehrer remain at The New Yorker? NewYorker.com editor Nicholas Thompson “couldn't comment on Lehrer's future at the magazine,” writes Jacob Silverman, but Thompson made it clear that the recycling issue first disclosed on JimRomenesko.com …

Discussion: ArtsBeat, Poynter, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Reluctant Habits, FishbowlNY, The Awl, New York Magazine and paidContent

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

Jonah Lehrer is the latest target of Google Game, crowdsourced investigation — Timothy Goeglein. — Does that name ring a bell? I imagine most folks have forgotten about him, but at one time he worked in the White House for President George W. Bush as a special assistant and public liaison deputy director.

Discussion: GalleyCat, CJR and Slate

Felix Salmon / CJR:
How Jonah Lehrer should blog

Discussion: Poynter, Gawker and New York Magazine

Michael Powell / New York Times:

Andrew Sarris, Influential Film Critic, Dies at 83 — Andrew Sarris, one of the nation's most influential film critics and a champion of auteur theory, which holds that a director's voice is central to great filmmaking, died on Wednesday morning in Manhattan. He was 83.

Discussion: /Film, The Wrap, The New York Observer, LA Observed, Gawker, The New Yorker Blog, ARTINFO, @joepompeo, Runnin' Scared, Guardian, Reviews and Gothamist

Guardian:

Mail on Sunday journalist who claimed Leveson threatened to quit to appear at inquiry — The journalist responsible for a Mail on Sunday story which claimed Lord Justice Leveson had threatened to quit over comments made by a government minister is expected to appear before the inquiry next week.

Discussion: Big News Network.com

Martin Hickman / The Independent:
Boris Johnson under fresh pressure over Murdoch meeting

Discussion: BBC

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Philly publisher Bob Hall to staff: ‘We will probably experience another substantial loss this year’ — In a memo to staff of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com, returning Philadelphia Media Network publisher Bob Hall says a report of $4 million profit didn't take into account …

James Ball / Guardian:

Julian Assange's drama: in the third act, we still don't know what the story is — With its stand-off at the tiny Ecuadorian embassy in London, the Assange melodrama has entered its third act. But despite the drama, we don't yet know for sure what kind of story it is.

Discussion: fleet street fox

Gail Shister / TVNewser:

Will a TV Show About the News be More Compelling Than the Real Thing? — I admire Aaron Sorkin, but he gives me a headache. By the time his characters finish a monologue, I'm ready for a nap. Sorkin's latest work, “The Newsroom,” which debuts Sunday on HBO, is no exception.

Discussion: The Wrap, The Corsair and mediabistro.com

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

American Prospect Exceeds Fundraising Goal, Raises Enough To Stay Alive — The American Prospect, the liberal politics and policy magazine that was on the verge of shutting down last month, has exceeded its fundraising goal and will remain alive. Editor Kit Rachlis told The Huffington Post …

Discussion: LA Observed

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Rollingstone.com lays off staffers — Wenner Media has laid off at least five staffers for Rollingstone.com, according to sources there. Managing Editor Evie Nagy and Associate Editor Matthew Perpetua are among those let go Tuesday. Last week the company informed employees in a note …

Discussion: FishbowlNY and Gawker

Steve Myers / Poynter:

African-Americans take greater hit in Times-Picayune layoffs — African-Americans were disproportionately hit in last week's layoffs at The Times-Picayune, meaning the newspaper serving the majority-black city will become less diverse unless the difference is made up with new hires.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Jon Russell / The Next Web:

YouTube founders to launch mysterious publishing service Zeen next week — Speaking at Le Web 2012 London, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley has revealed that the mystery around Zeen, a site that helps create online magazines and publications, will soon be lifted as the service will launch next week.

Discussion: VentureBeat, PC Magazine and mediabistro.com

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Knight Foundation diversifies its journalism investments again with its new Prototype Fund — The Knight Foundation is broadening its funding mechanisms again with the addition of the Knight Prototype Fund. Announced yesterday at the MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference, the prototype fund will be a smaller …

Discussion: Knight Foundation, NetNewsCheck Latest, Ryan Sholin, Drone Journalism Lab and MediaShift Idea Lab