Mediagazer: Coming in the side door: The value of homepages is shifting from traffic-driver to brand (Adrienne LaFrance/Nieman Journalism Lab)

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Star Correspondents Bolt Tampa For NOLA, As Isaac Approaches — Two TV news correspondents who made their marks covering Hurricane Katrina seven years ago are returning to New Orleans as another hurricane approaches. — Fox News Channel's Shepard Smith and CNN's Anderson Cooper …

Discussion: FishbowlDC, Forbes, New York Magazine, Yahoo! News, Globe and Mail, Associated Press, @andersoncooper and The Huffington Post

With Isaac Bearing Down, Networks Weigh Their Options — Put yourself in the shoes of a network news president for a moment. There's a tropical storm bearing down on the Gulf Coast, reviving memories of Hurricane Katrina seven years ago. But there's also a political convention beginning in Tampa …

David Carr / New York Times:
Political Conventions Can Learn From Reality Shows

Discussion: Politico, Media Decoder, BuzzMachine and Poynter

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

IAC Buys About.com From NY Times Co. For $300 Million — “Invest in the Times” is the watchword at The New York Times Co. these days. Now the publisher has another $300 million to invest in its core brand, thanks to internet mogul Barry Diller. Diller's IAC has completed a deal to buy …

Discussion: The Wrap, PC Magazine, NetNewsCheck Latest and New York Times

Jim Edwards / Business Insider:

Here's How Much Money The New York Times Was Losing On About.com — IAC has agreed to buy About.com from the New York Times for $300 million in cash, according to Bloomberg, and no wonder—the encyclopedia site was losing barrowloads of cash. But the sale won't fix NYT's overall digital problems …

Liana B. Baker / Reuters:

Fox asks court to ban Dish's ad-skipping features — (Reuters) - Fox Broadcasting Company is asking a court to put a stop to two features on Dish's new digital video recorder that let consumers skip commercials because it is hurting the TV networks' business.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Discussion: @alanmairson

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

CNN Looks for a Boost From HBO Shows — In a bit of corporate synergy, Time Warner is planning to dip into one of its strongest cable channels, HBO, to help revive the fortunes of one of its weakest, CNN. — As part of Time Warner's attempt to reinvigorate its 24-hour cable news channel …

Discussion: TVNewser, The Huffington Post and Los Angeles Times

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

Book Reviewers for Hire Meet a Demand for Online Raves — TODD RUTHERFORD was 7 years old when he first understood the nature of supply and demand. He was with a bunch of other boys, one of whom showed off a copy of Playboy to giggles and intense interest.

Discussion: Betabeat, The Verge, Page-Turner, bookforum.com, Business Insider and The Big Picture

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

‘Slate’ Gets a New Publisher — Online magazine Slate recently created a dedicated sales force to capitalize on its traffic growth, and now it's getting a new publisher to lead it. Matt Turck, the vp of sales and marketing who built up the new team, will start in the new role Sept. 10.

Discussion: The Wrap and FishbowlNY

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

Google discloses paid bloggers and journalists, says Stanford professor Mark Lemley is outside counsel — inShare Google has followed up with a judge's order to disclose anyone it might have paid to influence coverage of its trial against Oracle, and the list includes a well-known Stanford professor …

Erik Wemple:

Brisbane hammers NYT for ‘progressivism,’ Occupy bias — Outgoing New York Times Public Editor Arthur Brisbane made himself a hot aggregational commodity this weekend with a farewell column accusing his paycheck issuer of bias. The money graphs: … So the New York Times covered Occupy Wall Street like a cause, huh?

Discussion: Poynter, The Huffington Post and Media Myth Alert

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

High Country News raises bar for clever mobile promotions — High Country News is earning a reputation for nontraditional marketing of its new digital products. — Last December, the nonprofit news magazine about the American West sent an unusually honest press release about its new digital subscription plan and iPhone app.

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

No, metered-content walls won't save journalism — Paywalls of all kinds have been popping up at newspapers across North America like mushrooms after a rainstorm, thanks in large part to the adoption of a metered paywall at the New York Times last year. The latest to join the cavalcade …