Mediagazer: Good Journalism at the U.N.? (Brett D. Schaefer/National Review)

8:25 AM ET, June 20, 2012

Top News:

Julian Assange faces bail breach arrest — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faces arrest after breaching his bail conditions when he applied for political asylum at Ecuadorian Embassy last night. The 40-year-old Australian is inside the building in Knightsbridge, London …

Guardian:

Julian Assange requests asylum at Ecuador embassy - live coverage — 12.10pm: More legal opinion from Joshua Rozenberg, the Guardian's Law blogger who may help to answer some of those questions from readers.. Julian Assange's decision to seek political asylum in Ecuador shows how desperate he must feel.

Reuters:

Ecuador says WikiLeaks' Assange seeks asylum — (Reuters) - WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has asked for political asylum in Ecuador and officials in the South American nation are considering his request, its foreign minister said on Tuesday. — “Ecuador is studying and analyzing the request …

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, Salon, Bloomberg, The Firewall, The Atlantic Online, Betabeat, AJE, Yahoo! News, New York Magazine, @ggreenwald, Telegraph, This Just In, @davidclinchnews, @producermatthew, @noelapdc, Guardian, Guardian, Mediaite and Gawker

Embassy of Ecuador in London:
Statement on Julian Assange

Discussion: Daily Dot

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:

New Yorker Writer Jonah Lehrer Plagiarizes Himself Repeatedly [Update] — Did you ever pull that old college trick where you wrote the same paper for two classes? It's frowned upon, but hard to get caught. Not so on the Internet: New Yorker staffer Jonah Lehrer, who just moved over from Wired …

Discussion: Poynter and bookforum.com

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Jonah Lehrer, self-borrowing and the problem with “big ideas” — Newly appointed New Yorker staff writer Jonah Lehrer — author of the bestselling books “Imagine,” “How We Decide” and “Proust Was a Neuroscientist” and a former editor at Wired — has been recycling a bunch of his own content in pieces for various publishers.

Discussion: Poynter and Slate

Jim Romenesko:
Jonah Lehrer's NewYorker.com ‘Smart People’ post borrows from earlier WSJ piece

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Gawker, Poynter and Politico

Adrienne LaFrance / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Tor Project helps journalists and whistleblowers go online without leaving a trace — Originally built in a U.S. Naval laboratory as a way to protect government communications, Tor has grown into a wide-reaching project that helps individuals stay anonymous online.

Discussion: Media News, GigaOM and Journalism.co.uk

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:
Knight Foundation diversifies its journalism investments again with its new Prototype Fund

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

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

New York Post Pivots On iPad Strategy, Dropping Paywall — This person might have chosen to read the New York Post with his coffee, if it were free on the iPad, and in Swedish. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) — The “most egregious paywall yet” is how one tech writer described the system introduced …

Discussion: The Verge and NY Convergence

Glenn Peoples / Billboard.Biz:

What's Going on With Vevo's Numbers? — Music video network Vevo has helped revolutionize online video, has been the subject of IPO rumors and is reported to be wooing investments from Google and Facebook. — But exactly what investors would get is a bit fuzzy to outsiders.

Discussion: Digital Music News, fierceonlinevideo.com, SocialTimes, Mashable! and paidContent

Greg Sandoval / CNET:
Publishers gain ground on music-video payday

Discussion: paidContent and MediaPost

Ben Sisario / Media Decoder:

NPR Intern Gets an Earful After Blogging About 11,000 Songs, Almost None Paid For — When it comes to digital music, can the audience be shamed into doing the right thing? That is, even if we all agreed that it was the “right thing” for musicians to be paid each time someone listened to their music, would it make any difference?

Discussion: www.wnyc.org, TeleRead, The Huffington Post and Techdirt

Brett D. Schaefer / National Review:

Good Journalism at the U.N.? — With all the corruption at the United Nations, you might think that the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) would have better things to do than pick a fight with a single reporter. But you would be wrong. Matthew Lee is the only reporter …

Gavin Lower / Wall Street Journal:

News Corp. Offers Bid for Consolidated Media — MELBOURNE—News Corp. has offered 1.97 billion Australian dollars (US$2 billion) to buy Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd. in a move that, if successful, would strengthen the company's interest in Australia's largest pay TV service.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Deal Journal, BBC, afr.com, @rafat and AllThingsD

Charlie Warzel / Adweek:

Everything in Moderation — As online publishing grows increasingly social, publishers are eagerly trying to foster community on their sites. But when everyone gets a voice, things can easily go too far. Thus, among several top Web publishers, the role of comment moderator is becoming that much more demanding.

Discussion: The Corsair, The New York Observer and Poynter

Wall Street Journal:

Worldreader: An E-Book Revolution for Africa? — Schools in developing countries are experimenting with digital books; endless titles, spotty electricity — Humble school students learning how to use Kindles in February. ‘It took the kids just a few days,’ says a teacher.

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

How The Telegraph Monetized its iPad App — With a fractured landscape, from both a content and device perspective, publishers grapple daily with finding the best ways to reach and maintain their readers. In the mobile world, the introduction of lean-back (tablet) devices has slightly changed the game.