Mediagazer: For BuzzFeed's New Washington Bureau, An Atypical Approach (Kelsey Pospisil/American Journalism …)

3:40 AM ET, June 21, 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 Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, TVNewser, @joshsternberg, Gothamist, Gawker, The Wrap, Mediaite, Business Insider, Chickaboomer, Inside TV, Tampa Bay Times, New York Magazine, TVbytheNumbers, Deadline.com and TVLine

Jack Shafer:

Jonah Lehrer's recycling business — “Write every piece three times,” the late Richard Strout used to advise journalists who craved advancement in the profession. — Strout, who wrote the New Republic's TRB column for four decades and worked 60 years as a Washington correspondent …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Media Decoder and Noah Brier dot Com

Jacob Silverman / The Daily Beast:
Jonah Lehrer's ‘Self-Plagiarism’ Scandal Rocks The New Yorker

Discussion: WWD Media Headlines, paidContent, GalleyCat, Erik Wemple, Newsweek, Capital New York and Poynter

Craig Silverman / Poynter:
Jonah Lehrer is the latest target of Google Game, crowdsourced investigation

Discussion: CJR

Felix Salmon / CJR:
How Jonah Lehrer should blog

Discussion: Poynter, Gawker and New York Magazine

Jim Romenesko:
Jonah Lehrer ‘understands he made a serious mistake’

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

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

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 …

Jim Edwards / Business Insider:

SOURCE: AOL Faces Brutal Choice On Patch — Close It Or Double Down — AOL CEO Tim Armstrong has a simple but brutal choice to make about Patch, a source close to the ad sales side of the local news business told us over lunch recently: Ditch it or double down and take the thing national …

Rob Tornoe / Poynter:

‘Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening ends ‘Life in Hell,’ comic that started it all — After exploring a world populated by “anthropomorphic rabbits and a pair of gay lovers” for over 30 years, “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening is putting down his pen and ending his highly acclaimed comic strip, “Life in Hell.”

Discussion: USA Today, The Wrap, Laughing Squid, Gawker, Splitsider, ArtsBeat and LA Observed

Lev Grossman / entertainment.time.com:

The Department of Justice vs. the Publishers: Nobody Wins — If Apple and publishers are found guilty of collusion, it could mean lower e-book prices — for now — but the future is much scarier — (Lev Grossman writes about books here on Wednesdays. Subscribe to his RSS feed.)

Discussion: Melville House Books and Page-Turner

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

Kelsey Pospisil / American Journalism Review:

For BuzzFeed's New Washington Bureau, An Atypical Approach — One of its first two hires will focus on LGBT issues. Wed., June 20, 2012. — Kelsey Pospisil (kpospisil@ajr.umd.edu), an AJR editorial assistant, is a master's student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

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

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

Julie Bosman / Media Decoder:

From Penguin, a Plan to Make Its E-Books Available in New York City Libraries — In the past year, Penguin Group USA has slowly pulled away from the library e-book market. Now it is tiptoeing back in. — The publisher is working with New York City libraries and 3M on a pilot program …

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: Gawker and FishbowlNY