Mediagazer: Journatic claims it was about to fire editorial head who resigned (Julie Moos/Poynter)

10:25 PM ET, July 15, 2012

Top News:

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Microsoft and NBC Complete Web Divorce — On Sunday night, MSNBC.com did something that successful Web sites almost never do: it renamed itself. — The site became NBCNews.com, signifying the end of a relationship between NBC and Microsoft that dates back to the earliest days of the commercial Web.

Discussion: AllThingsD and @nbcnews

M. Alex Johnson / NBC News:

Msnbc.com becomes NBCNews.com — REDMOND, Wash. — NBC News has acquired full control of msnbc.com and its digital network from Microsoft Corp. and is immediately rebranding the site as NBCNews.com. Many details of the arrangement remain to be worked out, and financial terms weren't disclosed.

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Tribune newsroom takes over TribLocal work done by Journatic — In a memo sent Sunday afternoon, Chicago Tribune Editor and Senior Vice President Gerould Kern told staff that the paper would once again be directly responsible for its suburban TribLocal content.

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, WY Daily and Chicago Sun Times

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Journatic claims it was about to fire editorial head who resigned — In an apparent attempt to neutralize a high-level critic, Journatic is now claiming it was about to fire an editorial executive who resigned from the company Saturday. — The resignation of Mike Fourcher …

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Vouchification, Radio & Television … and Poynter

Lauren Ashburn / The Daily Beast:

How the Drudge Report, With Its Condoleezza Rice ‘Scoop,’ Again Rules the Media — His Condi Rice “scoop” went viral despite its utter implausibility. Lauren Ashburn on why the press is held captive by the conservative blogger's thinly sourced gossip. — The headline screamed across …

Discussion: USA Today, Erick's blog and Politico

Andrew Phelps / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Are you sure that's true? Truth Goggles tackles fishy claims at the moment of consumption — True or false? No googling. … Now, what if I told you President Obama uttered those words? Do you trust the statistic more or less? What if Mitt Romney said it?

Discussion: Daily Download

Helen Pidd / Guardian:

Indian anger over media footage of girl being sexually assaulted — Film of mob attack prompts row about safety of women, police indifference and why journalist at scene did not intervene — Indians have expressed horror at video footage of a teenage girl being sexually assaulted …

Discussion: India Ink, The Raw Story and The Independent

Somini Sengupta / New York Times:

U.S. Pursues Richard O'Dwyer as Intermediary in Online Piracy — Richard O'Dwyer, an enterprising 24-year-old college student from northern England, has found himself in the middle of a fierce battle between two of America's great exports: Hollywood and the Internet.

Discussion: Betabeat

Stefanie Friedhoff / Nieman Reports:

Be Careful Who You Quote — lawyer who once was a federal prosecutor and counsel to powerful Congressional committees, Melanie Sloan now chases legal and ethical wrongdoing in Congress. As executive director of the nonprofit government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington …

Claire Wardle / Storyful Blog:

State of the (News) Nation — On Friday, myself, our CEO Mark Little and Felim McMahon from our editorial team are heading to News:Rewired. The conference has developed a strong reputation and has endured in a space with multiple ‘future of news’ conferences that lead to much *eye-rolling …

Michael Hastings / BuzzFeed:

Bright Lights, Big Secret — “As a general rule it's not a crime for a removable alien to remain in the U.S,” says Jose Antonio Vargas, reading from Justice Anthony Kennedy's brief on the recent Supreme Court decision on immigration. “When I saw that I was like, 'Okay, well, I guess that means that I'm no longer illegal.”

Ian Sample / Guardian:

Free access to science research within two years — Radical shakeup of academic publishing will allow papers to be put online and be accessed by universities, firms and individuals — The government is to unveil controversial plans to make publicly funded scientific research immediately available …

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Virtual life on the line, The Daily launches WKND — News Corp.'s digital tabloid The Daily has been on borrowed time since it was an idea, given enough resources and backing by Rupert Murdoch to launch with a flourish but no guarantee that it would last. Given the way some projects have gone …

Discussion: The Daily and The Next Web