Mediagazer: Startup Togather thinks crowdsourcing is key to profitable author book tours (Laura Hazard Owen/paidContent)

7:30 AM ET, August 10, 2012

Top News:

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

Publishers Turn to the Crowd — It's not everyday that a publisher is sold for $175 million. That's why Turner's purchase of Bleacher Report raised some eyebrows. — The lesson of Bleacher Report's success, and that of Huffington Post's as well, is it pays for publishers to take a page …

Howard Finberg / Poynter:

Knight report on training shows journalists want technology, multimedia, data skills — A new study by the Knight Foundation released today summarizes the state of journalism training. Some findings from “Digital Training Comes of Age”: … The report was authored by Eric Newton …

Discussion: Media News and Knight Foundation

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Startup Togather thinks crowdsourcing is key to profitable author book tours — It has never been clear whether author book tours are a worthwhile investment. Fewer publishers are shelling out to send their authors across the country these days — what's the point if you're going to sit …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, PSFK, GalleyCat, The Next Web and MediaPost

Aviva Shen / ThinkProgress:

How The Media Made The Priorities USA Attack Ad Matter — Cable news is giving a controversial new ad attacking Romney an unintentional bump in visibility. Priorities USA, the super PAC supporting Barack Obama, released “Understands” on Tuesday in just five battleground states: Florida, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio.

Discussion: New York Times, The Page, Political Capital and Mediaite

Jim Romenesko:

Buy my newspaper, please! — The owner of the weekly Carrboro (NC) Citizen tells his readers that “my energy and enthusiasm for this newspaper have waned under the constant assault of all the worries associated with running a small business” and he's putting it up for sale.

Arthur S. Brisbane / New York Times:

Lolo Jones Article Is Too Harsh — Readers have weighed in to complain about The New York Times's Aug. 5 piece on U.S. Olympics hurdler Lolo Jones. Below is the response I have sent to those who emailed me about this:

Discussion: Bleacher Report, New York Magazine, @howardkurtz, The Huffington Post, FishbowlNY, Pressing Issues, Forbes, Media Decoder, The Atlantic Wire, Madame Noire, What's Trending … and @profsamuels_nyu

Caity Weaver / Gawker:

Beloved Children's Troubadour Raffi Is Losing It At Journalists on Twitter — Everyone's childhood is currently going up in flames, as Raffi, the iconic Canadian ancestor of the modern-day Wiggle, is sort of losing it on Twitter. — A couple days ago, the Vancouver Aquarium reported that Kavna …

Discussion: PAPERMAG, New York Magazine and WebProNews

Los Angeles Times:

Marc Duvoisin named L.A. Times managing editor — A message to the newsroom from Editor Davan Maharaj: — I'm pleased to announce that Marc Duvoisin is the new managing editor of the Los Angeles Times. — As you know, this announcement is a long time coming.

Discussion: MediaPost, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Politico and LA Observed

Journalism.org:

For Communication Grads, a Modest Job Recovery — For the second year in a row, the employment situation for recent journalism and mass communication graduates has improved, according to a new survey from the University of Georgia. But placed in the context of a “terrible” job market in recent years …

Discussion: Poynter and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Lymari Morales / Gallup:

Americans, Viewers Want Top Olympics Events Televised Live — More educated, higher-income Americans watching the most, want more live coverage — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans who say they are watching the Olympics “a lot” are most likely to want the most popular events televised …

Discussion: Poynter, Deadspin, Mother Jones and The Huffington Post

Nick Bilton / NYT Bits:

How to Make a Dead Cat Bounce on Twitter — I've been told that in the olden days, reporters would write articles on these things called “typewriters.” And get this: These machines weren't even connected to the Internet! — The tools have since changed. We have blogs, smartphones, digital cameras and Wi-Fi.

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

Deadline And Hollywood Life Owner Arrested And Accused Of Breaking Into Nantucket Home — Jay Penske, owner of Deadline Hollywood, HollywoodLife.com, and the Dragon Racing IndyCar team, and his brother Mark were arrested around 2 a.m. ET this morning after reportedly trying to break into a Nantucket Yacht Club house.

Discussion: ack.net, Jalopnik, FishbowlLA and New York Magazine