Mediagazer: NBC, Olympics Sucking Up Ad Revenue, Rivals Say (Ryan Nakashima/Associated Press)

9:05 AM ET, August 3, 2012

Top News:

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: Mashable, Garcia Media, Folio, FishbowlNY, New York Magazine and Canadian Magazines

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

HuffPo, The Daily and the flawed iPad content model — A little over a month ago, The Huffington Post launched an ambitious project with much fanfare: a weekly magazine app for the iPad called Huffington, which users could download for 99 cents an issue or $19.99 for a year's worth.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals and Publishing Executive …, Thanks:@mathewi

The New York Observer:

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

Tom McGeveran / Capital New York: ‘New York Observer’ heads of business and editorial are leaving

Nadia Khan / Unity News:

Student journalist ejected from open NAHJ board meeting — The president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Michele Salcedo, refused to allow media coverage of its open board meeting Tuesday, July 31, 2012. Salcedo barred use of social media and video recording in the meeting …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Tanzina Vega / New York Times:

Division Threatens Unity as Minority Journalists Meet — LAS VEGAS — Nearly every four years since the mid-1990s, hundreds of journalists like those gathering here this week have come together under the banner of “Unity: Journalists of Color,” a nod toward the conference's efforts to increase …

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

Rebekah Brooks Formally Charged — Rebekah Brooks was formally charged on Thursday with conspiring to hack into phones, including that of murdered teenager Milly Dowler. The former News of the World editor and News International chief appeared at a London police station Thursday night and was charged with three counts.

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: Poynter, The Daily Beast, Guardian, Deadline.com, Hollywood Reporter, ABCNEWS, Politico, ITV and The Wrap

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: entertainment.time.com, paidContent, Guardian, Media Decoder, Poynter, Reuters, AllThingsD, NetNewsCheck Latest, Broadcasting & Cable and Beet.TV

Associated Press:
NBC tape delay: Research finds people who know Olympic results more likely to watch tape-delayed coverage

Discussion: Gawker

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Northcliffe Media abandons efforts to unmask spoof Twitter account — Newspaper group withdraws attempt to force Twitter to reveal identity of person behind @UnSteveDorkland after legal fight — Regional newspaper group Northcliffe Media has abandoned its bid to unmask a spoof Twitter account of its chief executive.

Discussion: Press Gazette, Media News, Digital Spy and Electronic Frontier Foundation

Alexis Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:

15 Minutes of Meaning for Jonah Lehrer — What happens when you make humans into vessels for ideas. — Forgive me for being late to Jonah Lehrer's transgressions and resignation. It's a sad story. I did not know quite what to say. — I don't want to delve too deeply into the media scrum …

Ryan Nakashima / Associated Press:

NBC, Olympics Sucking Up Ad Revenue, Rivals Say — LOS ANGELES (AP) — NBC's windfall on the Olympics is turning into a downfall for other TV networks. On Thursday, CBS Corp. Chief Executive Les Moonves became the third major media company executive in three days to acknowledge …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times

Scott Shane / New York Times:

National Security Leaks Lead to F.B.I. Hunt and News Chill — WASHINGTON — F.B.I. agents on a hunt for leakers have interviewed current and former high-level government officials from multiple agencies in recent weeks, casting a distinct chill over press coverage of national security issues …

Discussion: ProPublica, Lawfare, Media Decoder, The Caucus and Hillicon Valley

Erik Wemple:

Van Susteren's ‘Gretawire’ works for free — A year ago, the techies at Fox News were sprucing up Gretawire, the blog platform for the host of “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.” The goal was to polish the graphics presentation and upgrade the video interface for Van Susteren's YouTube channel …