Mediagazer: Julian Assange is right to fear US prosecution (Michael Ratner/Guardian)

4:00 PM ET, August 2, 2012

Top News:

Changes at the New York Observer — The Observer Media Group announced today that editor-in-chief and editorial director Elizabeth Spiers is leaving her post at the end of August to launch a new company. — “I'm incredibly proud of what we've built to date and will miss the fun of putting …

Discussion: Man About Town, Politico, Gawker, The Wrap, AdAge, @reidpillifant, New York Magazine, WWD Media Headlines, Media Decoder, FishbowlNY, @reidpillifant, @pfro and @pkafka

Tom McGeveran / Capital New York:

‘New York Observer’ heads of business and editorial are leaving — The New York Observer is changing editors. Elizabeth Spiers, a founding editor of Gawker and of Dead Horse Media, original home of Above The Law and other popular blogs, will leave the top post at the local media organization owned …

Discussion: Observer

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Huffington makes her tablet magazine free, after five issues — When The Huffington Post launched its weekly iPad magazine, Huffington, a month and a half ago, executive editor Tim O'Brien explained why they had decided to make it a paid product at 99 cents an issue, $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year.

Discussion: Folio, FishbowlNY, NetNewsCheck Latest and Mashable

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

NBC Says Live Online + Tape Delayed Olympics Are a Ginormous Success — OK, people who are furious about NBC's Olympics coverage. The network has thrown you a bone: On a press call today NBC sports head Mark Lazarus said the company is watching the criticism it's getting on Twitter and Facebook.

Discussion: paidContent, NetNewsCheck Latest, Broadcasting & Cable and Reuters

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

NBC Drops Paywall for Michael Phelps v. Ryan Lochte Live Stream — This could be an interesting concession/experiment from NBC: A tipster says the network is about to drop its paywall when it streams the 200 meter men's individual medley race, featuring a head-to-head matchup between Michael Phelps …

Discussion: Mashable

BNO News:

Police statement: Rebekah Brooks charged by Operation Weeting — [As released by Scotland Yard] Further to last week's announcement by the CPS in connection with Operation Weeting, the MPS investigation into the hacking of voice mailboxes, Rebekah Brooks [H] answered bail at Lewisham police station …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, ABCNEWS, Press Association and ITV

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post: Rebekah Brooks Formally Charged With Conspiring To Hack Phones

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Lehrer's publisher runs ads telling bookstores to send back “Imagine” for a refund — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is running digital ads telling booksellers to send back copies of Jonah Lehrer's Imagine for a full refund. — Earlier this week, Tablet magazine's Michael Moynihan reported …

Discussion: Poynter, Reuters and FishbowlNY

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Writer dares to defend Jonah Lehrer

Discussion: Poynter, GalleyCat and VICE

Craig Silverman / Poynter:
4 warning signs that a promising young writer may be developing dangerous habits

Discussion: bookforum.com

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Investigative news channel ‘The I Files’ launches on YouTube — The Center for Investigative Reporting has launched a new investigative news channel on YouTube, The I Files, with the aim of acting as a “showcase for the best investigative news videos from around the world”.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

Just Before Olympics, ‘Good Morning America’ Takes Crown Away From ‘Today’ — The last shred of morning television dominance owned by NBC's “Today” show came crashing down last week as ABC's “Good Morning America” won the ratings across the board, even among the group of viewers most prized by news advertisers.

Discussion: Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable, TVNewser and The Huffington Post

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Desktop, laptop use of New York Times' website drops over two years — People using computers at home and work spent less time on nytimes.com in April and May of 2012 than they did during the same months in 2010, according to Nielsen figures released to Poynter.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Verge is giving extra credit (and links) to primary sources — When technology site The Verge site launched last fall, Josh wrote a broadly laudatory review on the site's design and infrastructure. We had one quibble, though, about how The Verge gave credit to other sites …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Simon Rabinovitch / Financial Times:

China keeps up block on Bloomberg website — (Financial Times) — Bloomberg's news website remains blocked by China's state censors a full month after it detailed the riches amassed by the family of Xi Jinping, the man who is expected to be the country's next president.

Howard Kurtz / The Daily Beast:

Palestinian Remarks Furor: Romney Campaign Hits AP as ‘Irresponsible’ — A top Romney strategist tells Howard Kurtz the Associated Press ‘manufactured’ a controversy over the candidate's statements in Jerusalem on Palestinian culture. Howard Kurtz examines the campaign's complaint.

Discussion: Politico, The Huffington Post and The Hill

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:

Steve Snyder Names Assistant Managing Editor of Time — Time has promoted Steve Snyder from senior editor to assistant managing editor. Snyder has been with Time since 2009, when he joined as an associate editor and helped launch Time.com's Newsfeed. He was also the lead culture critic for Time's Techland vertical.