Mediagazer: Spiers' last issue of ‘The New York Observer’ (Joe Pompeo/Capital New York)

7:05 AM ET, August 23, 2012

Top News:

David Meyer / GigaOM:

Google lashes out at German copyright ‘threat’ — Google has launched a broadside against a proposed law in Germany that would see search engines forced to pay license fees for linking people to news stories. — Well, actually that's slightly inaccurate: the draft law would make search engines pay …

Discussion: PC World, InformationWeek, Muktware Daily Newsletter, Search Engine Land and Daily Dot

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Limited Convention Coverage Will Leave Ann Romney Off Air — At 10:30 on Monday night, Ann Romney is scheduled to take the stage at the Republican National Convention, in Act 1 of her husband's four-day introduction to the nation. But tens of millions of people will not be able to watch.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Caucus, CNN, TVNewser, Politico and The Huffington Post

Miranda Maxwell / Reuters:

Australia's Fairfax slashes newspaper values by almost $3 billion — (Reuters) - Australian publisher Fairfax Media (FXJ.AX) slashed the value of its newspaper titles by almost $3 billion on Thursday, as it posted a steep fall in profit and said it saw no early turnaround in the worst advertising conditions in more than 30 years.

Robert Mackey / The Lede:

Japanese Journalist's Final Report From Syria Is Released After Her Death — Two days after the Japanese journalist Mika Yamamoto was shot and killed in the Syrian city of Aleppo, her news agency released some of the footage she recorded in her final hours.

The Daily Telegraph:
Husband of Japanese journalist killed in Syria speaks of attack

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders

Guardian:
Syria: footage released of journalist Mika Yamamoto's final hours - video

Discussion: Reuters and The Huffington Post

Jack Shafer / Reuters:

Column: Barry Diller's deal of the day — Barry Diller runs his company, IAC, like a used-car dealership. That comparison is meant to disparage neither Diller nor used-car lots but to capture the shark-toothed, high-velocity, unsentimental manner in which Diller conducts business.

Jeff John Roberts / GigaOM:
Aereo sues to squash copycat BarryDriller

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, MediaPost, Radio & Television … and NetNewsCheck Latest

Adriana Lopez / Forbes:

‘Super PAC App’ Shazams The Truth Out Of Political Ads — As more and more political advertisements start to ambush your evening television viewing bliss, do you ever wish that each one would include a BS barometer? — Well, I am glad you asked, because there is now an app for that. Kind of.

Discussion: CNN, Mashable!, The Verge, AdAge and TechCrunch

Neil Wallis / The Huffington Post UK:

Lord Leveson Will Decide Whether Britain's Press Will Publish Those Naked Prince Harry Photos — Extraordinary scenes are going on this morning in newsrooms and editors offices all over Britain. The subject is a set of photos taken of a naked Prince Harry cavorting with naked girls in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Discussion: fleet street fox, @dansabbagh, @dansabbagh, @davidallengreen, The Independent and The Daily Beast

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Longreads offers some exclusive content to paying members — Longform journalism site Longreads, which curates long stories from around the web that are “best enjoyed away from your desk,” has started offering paying members “exclusive access to stories that aren't available anywhere else on the web …

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Tumblr 'truly disappointed by Twitter's decision' to block friend-finding on the blogging service — Tumblr is the latest company to respond to the strict guidelines found in Twitter's new API terms. As spotted by Matt Buchanan, the site just abruptly removed Twitter from its …

Discussion: CNET

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Newsweek's Barnett to head TNR redesign — Continuing its ongoing reinvention under new ownership, The New Republic has hired Newsweek creative director Dick Barnett to lead the magazine's redesign, POLITICO has learned. — Barnett's hire comes amid a hiring spree at TNR …

Shen Hong / Wall Street Journal:

Website of People's Daily Doubles Profit — SHANGHAI—Apparently, touting the Communist Party line can be good for business. — People.cn Co., the website of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the People's Daily, more than doubled its first-half net profit …

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Mike Sallah joins Washington Post as first hire with Ford Foundation money — Michael Sallah will join The Washington Post as an investigative reporter and editor. Post honchos say in a memo to staff that his hiring is the paper's first using money from a grant the Ford Foundation made to the paper.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Abramson 5th on Forbes ‘Power Women’ list — New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson ranks fifth in this year's Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. — “In year one as the first woman at the top of the New York Times masthead, Jill Abramson has shuffled senior editorial staff …

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Spiers' last issue of ‘The New York Observer’ — After sending this week's New York Observer to the printer last night, the newsroom staff headed south to Old Town, the 120-year-old Flatiron District watering hole. — They were at the scene of many a former Observer staffer's send-off …

Discussion: Boing Boing and The New York Observer

Eduardo Garcia / Reuters:

Ecuador's leader says open to talks with Britain on Assange — (Reuters) - Ecuador is ready to negotiate over the fate of Julian Assange if Britain withdraws a threat to raid its embassy in London where the WikiLeaks founder has sought refuge, President Rafael Correa said on Tuesday.

Discussion: Guardian and Gawker