Mediagazer: Chicago Tribune Launches Ebook Initiative - but L.A. Times Opts Out (Alexander C. Kaufman/The Wrap)

9:50 AM ET, October 12, 2012

Top News:

BBC:

Kindle Fire HD and Paperwhite sales make Amazon no profit — Amazon boss Jeff Bezos discusses the Kindle Fire HD — Amazon has confirmed it will not make a profit from sales of its latest Kindle tablet and e-reader devices. — “We sell the hardware at our cost, so it is break-even on the hardware …

Discussion: bizjournals, Fast Company, ZDNet, Telegraph, Pocket-lint, Forbes, Engadget, PublishersWeekly.com, CNET and Bookseller news

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

In self-publishing push, Amazon expands Kindle Owners' Lending Library to Europe — Amazon is expanding the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, which allows Prime members who own a Kindle device to borrow one ebook a month for free, to the United Kingdom, Germany and France later this month.

Discussion: Telegraph and Engadget

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Times and Sunday Times make U-turn over bulk copies — Papers break ranks with industry by selling copies to partners such as airlines for a nominal sum that are then given away free — The Times and Sunday Times have boosted officially audited sales figures for September by distributing …

Discussion: Media Week and Media Week

Guardian:

Guardian chief outlines digital future — The chief executive of the Guardian Media Group, Andrew Miller, has outlined how his company must change to be sustainable — Print still accounts for 70% of the Guardian's revenues, according to its chief executive.

Discussion: paidContent

Nicole Laporte / Fast Company:

Hulu Struggles To Survive The Influence Of Its Parent Companies — Jason Kilar's vision for Hulu transformed web video. So why is Hulu in trouble and Kilar rumored to be on his way out? Because his vision transformed web video. — It's an unseasonably warm summer day, and Jason Kilar is …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest and The Verge

Niamh Ring / Bloomberg:

New York Times Gains on Stock Upgrade, Digital Progress — New York Times Co. (NYT), the newspaper publishing company, rose the most in two months after Barclays Plc upgraded the stock, citing increasing revenue from its digital paywall and a better cash position.

Discussion: paidContent and AllThingsD

Alexander C. Kaufman / The Wrap:

Chicago Tribune Launches Ebook Initiative - but L.A. Times Opts Out — Tribune Company has kicked off an ebook initiative in partnership with Agate Publishing, collecting stories and photos from the Chicago Tribune and two other newspapers and selling them as digital long-form features.

Discussion: Digital Book World and MediaPost

John Paul Titlow / ReadWriteWeb:

Boxee's Anti-Cable Gamble Could One-Up Apple's TV Plans — Whatever Apple is planning to do in with TV, it had better get busy. Boxee is planning to launch the second generation of its streaming set-top box, replacing 2010's Boxee Box with a device that sports DVR recording and live …

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Frontline invests in interactive video for The Choice 2012 — In terms of online video, Frontline got to the scene early, making full episodes of the show available on the web back in the mid-1990s. Now the documentary series is experimenting with their online repository of video to try …

Discussion: Daily Download

James O'Brien / The Content Strategist:

How Storyful Is Shaking Up News Reporting with User-Generated Content — What if your startup was trying to position itself as an online gateway for the world's news outlets to find user-generated content? — Geeknet Senior Editor Nick Kolakowski and Storyful's Erica Berger discuss user-generated content.

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Self hit by Condé cutbacks — Cutbacks started at Condé Nast late yesterday, with a least one corporate vice president and eight editorial staffers on Lucy Danziger's Self magazine getting the ax. The cutbacks are expected to continue today, with staffers from Glamour and GQ on the chopping block.

Discussion: WWD, New York Magazine, Capital New York and FishbowlNY

David Holmes / PandoDaily:

Tumblr continues its quest for original content, sending out a call for paid freelancers — More than any other social network, Tumblr has blurred the line between what a media company does and what a technology company does. Or, to piggyback on a metaphor of Buzzfeed's Jonah Peretti …

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

Look for New York Times labor deal by early November, if at all — If the mediation process between the New York Times management and Guild is going to produce a deal, it will probably come within the next month, Guild President Bill O'Meara said in an interview Thursday.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Newspaper Guild, The Huffington Post and nyguild.org