Mediagazer: Journal Register can't afford for legacy costs to derail Digital First progress (Rick Edmonds/Poynter)

3:20 PM ET, September 6, 2012

Top News:

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Journal Register can't afford for legacy costs to derail Digital First progress — Journal Register filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday. Hey, aren't these the same folks who have been touting as breakthroughs each step along the way of their fast-track digital transition?

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, GigaOM, The Latest Word, Reuters, The Newspaper Guild, Guardian and Digital First

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

Journal Register, future-of-news star, is bankrupt again — Yesterday, John Paton announced that Journal Register Company is filing for bankruptcy for the second time in three years. That's something of a surprise to people who's read his announcements of soaring digital revenues and profits credulously.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Gannett Blog, Poynter and San Francisco Peninsula …

Matt DeRienzo / Connecticut Newsroom:

What bankruptcy means for Journal Register Company newsrooms — First of all, let me couch this by saying that I'm speaking only for myself, and that I continue to appreciate the fact I work for a company that allows and encourages employees to think for themselves, speak their minds and debate company strategy in public view.

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:
The news we can afford — I want to see news organizations grow again.

Discussion: Poynter, Nieman Journalism Lab, Journal Register Company, Top Digital Journal News, Deadline.com and The Buttry Diary

Laura Hazard Owen / GigaOM:

Live blog: Amazon's fall Kindle event — We're here in Los Angeles for Amazon's press conference. The company is expected to announce a new Kindle Fire and Kindle e-reader today, and we'll have all the details for you live from Santa Monica. At 10:30 a.m. PT on Thursday, Amazon is holding a press conference in Los Angeles.

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Verge, Forbes, AllThingsD, GalleyCat, Poynter, The Wrap, Home Media Magazine, CNET, ZDNet, MacRumors, Pocket-lint, WebProNews, Kindle Review, NYT Bits, @fmanjoo, AppNewser and Engadget

Ina Fried / AllThingsD:

Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite: Four Years in the Making — Amazon executives gush about their new e-reader as the Kindle they always wanted to make. — While the latest Kindle Touch came out last year, the technology behind the Kindle Paperwhite's new lit screen is four years in the making.

Discussion: TechCrunch, TechCrunch, Reuters, Pocket-lint, The Verge and Engadget

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Amazon Confirms The Launch Of New, Episodic Publishing Format — Kindle Serials

Discussion: The Next Web, AllThingsD, @gartenberg and Techland

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Tom Brokaw Rushed to Charlotte Hospital — NBC News special correspondent Tom Brokaw was taken by ambulance to a Charlotte hospital this morning after an appearance on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” — Brokaw, 72, who stepped down as anchor of “Nightly News” after the 2004 election …

Discussion: FishbowlDC, Deadline.com, Mediaite and The Huffington Post

Meena Hart Duerson / NY Daily News:
Tom Brokaw discharged from hospital ‘in good health’; Anchor says he ‘mistakenly took’ Ambien and ‘all is well’

Discussion: @tombrokaw and @producermatthew

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

Breaking: Judge approves e-book price-fixing settlement — In a surprise move, a federal court abruptly approved a settlement between the Department of Justice and three publishers that will resolve a controversy over e-book pricing. In an opinion filed Thursday in Manhattan …

Discussion: Media Decoder, Publishers Weekly and CNET

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

AP Defends Decision To Fact-Check Bill Clinton Using Monica Lewinsky — CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Associated Press defended its invoking of the Monica Lewinsky scandal in a Thursday fact-check of former President Bill Clinton's speech, amid criticism of its relevance to a point Clinton was making about welfare.

Discussion: FactCheck.org

Dylan Byers / Politico:

AP's Clinton fact-check cites Lewinsky — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Several fact-checking organizations and news outlets are providing a ‘fact-check’ of former President Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic convention last night, though the Associated Press has taken it one step further.

Discussion: Poynter, New York Magazine and ThinkProgress

CNN:

CNN International's Response to the Guardian — Here is CNN International's response to Glenn Greenwald's Guardian story about Amber Lyon's documentary. 1. False: CNN International did not air “its own documentary”. The Truth: It was never intended to air on CNN International.

Discussion: @ggreenwald, Inside Cable News and Guardian

Glenn Greenwald:

Reply to response from CNNi — CNN International has posted a six-point response to my Guardian story from Tuesday on its refusal to broadcast a documentary featuring Amber Lyon showing the repression and violence used against protesters in Bahrain and its substantial financial relationships …

Discussion: @fieldproducer

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

News International attempts to block phone-hacking damages case — News International is trying to have a phone-hacking damages case involving Elle Macpherson's former adviser thrown out of court, 18 months after her claim was launched. Mary-Ellen Field, who acted as the model's financial adviser …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Former Labour MP says News of the World contributed to loss of her baby

Discussion: Press Gazette

Jim Romenesko:

‘Rigged appraisal system’ at Reuters gets veteran copy editor fired — Earlier this year, Reuters management gave Performance Improvement Plans (PIP) to 29 journalists that it believes are “laggards”; they face dismissal if bosses don't see enough improvement in 30 days.

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Beyond Borders: Kobo Moves On With New E-Readers And Indie Bookstores Pact — While Amazon dominates the market for e-books and e-readers, the 27% share held by Barnes & Noble shows there's no shortage of buyers out there who prefer to get their reading devices from a bricks-and-mortar storefront.

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

MSNBC President Phil Griffin On Convention Ratings Victory: ‘Nobody Thought We Could Do This’ — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — MSNBC president Phil Griffin is a happy man. On Wednesday afternoon, Griffin learned that MSNBC was the top-rated cable network for the opening night of the Democratic National Convention …