Mediagazer: FT digital subs pass 300,000, growing readership and revenue (Robert Andrews/paidContent)

9:55 AM ET, October 29, 2012

Top News:

Times Reaches Tentative Deal With Newspaper Guild — The New York Times said Sunday night that it had reached a tentative agreement with the Newspaper Guild, setting the stage for a new labor contract after more than 18 months of negotiations. — In a message to the staff, the executive editor …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Poynter, New York Magazine and Politico

Jim Romenesko:

New York Times and union reach ‘conceptual agreement’ on 5-year contract — Newspaper Guild of New York president Bill O'Meara sends this email: The Guild and The Times have reached conceptual agreement on a new five-year contract. The tentative compromise reached late today with the aid …

Charlie Osborne / CNET:

New York Times, Wall Street Journal shed paywalls for Hurricane Sandy — As people go online to get more information on Hurricane Sandy, news outlets are responding by making their content free. — Two major publications have stripped away their paywalls to give consumers unfettered access …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, VentureBeat, Mediaite, Poynter, Forbes, Mashable!, Journalism.co.uk, Yahoo! News, Broadcasting & Cable, Betabeat, New York Times and PC Magazine

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Hurricane Sandy Media Coverage Competes With Final Week Of 2012 Election — NEW YORK — On Monday, CNN plans to kick off its end-of-the-election series, “The Final Battlegrounds,” with over two-dozen correspondents dispatched across eight pivotal states for the 2012 campaign's eight remaining days.

Discussion: mediabistro.com, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Mashable!, SocialTimes and TVSpy

Sky News:

Jimmy Savile: Thompson's Office ‘Was Warned’ — The Jimmy Savile child abuse allegations were flagged up to the office of former BBC boss Mark Thompson at least twice, according to new claims. — The then director-general's office was formally alerted by journalist Miles Goslett …

Discussion: Daily Mail

Nicholas Kulish / New York Times:

Arrest of '70s Rock Star Widens Sexual Abuse Case Tied to BBC — LONDON — The sexual abuse scandal surrounding the late television host Jimmy Savile widened Sunday after the British police arrested a former pop star in connection with the case. — Metropolitan Police arrested Paul Gadd …

Discussion: BBC, Telegraph, BBC, Wall Street Journal, Daily Mail and New York Magazine

Alex Diaz / Press Association:

Investigation into BBC's ‘culture’ during Jimmy Savile era to start — An inquiry into the BBC's “culture and practices” during the era of star presenter Jimmy Savile's campaign of sexual abuse is to begin today. Led by former Court of Appeal judge Dame Janet Smith, the probe …

Jessica Hodgson / Wall Street Journal:

Penguin, Random House Ink Deal — LONDON—Pearson PLC and Bertelsmann A.G., two of the world's biggest media groups, agreed Monday on a plan to combine their book-publishing operations, Random House and Penguin. — German media giant Bertelsmann said Monday that it plans to create …

Discussion: The New York Observer, Fast Company, Telegraph, paidContent, Pearson, BBC, Metro.co.uk, Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times, Telegraph, Business Insider, This is Money, Guardian, New York Times, The Verge, MarketBeat and Quartz

Mark Sweney / Guardian: Penguin revenues declined in 2012, says Pearson

The Week:
Murdoch snubbed as Penguin Random House deal is struck

Discussion: CNNMoney.com

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

FT digital subs pass 300,000, growing readership and revenue — Most Financial Times readers are now digital subscribers, after another spurt in online subs pushed the publisher to 313,000 digital subscribers this September. — The 17 percent annual subs jump means FT Group has a combined print …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Pearson and Talking Biz News

Paul Krugman:

The War on Objectivity — Brad DeLong points me to this National Review attack on Nate Silver, which I think of as illustrating an important aspect of what's really happening in America. — For those new to this, Nate is a sports statistician turned political statistician …

Discussion: @carr2n, @dangillmor and The Daily Caller

Todd Cunningham / The Wrap:

NBC Sports Acquires U.S. Rights to Premier League Soccer — NBCUniversal, via the NBC Sports Group, has acquired the exclusive U.S. media rights to the Premier League — the world's top soccer league — through a multi-year agreement that begins with the 2013-14 season, both parties announced Sunday.

Discussion: Deadline.com and Broadcasting & Cable

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

An Opinion to Consider Before You Vote — WHEN Jill Abramson, the executive editor, answered questions from readers this month on the Times Web site, she gave an unequivocal answer to a question about Times editorials. — “As executive editor, I have no involvement with editorials,” she said.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Poynter and Pressing Issues

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
New York Times endorses Obama ‘enthusiastically’

Discussion: New York Times, @jcstearns, The Raw Story, @jayrosen_nyu, @palafo, Pressing Issues and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:

The World Is Not Enough: Google and the Future of Augmented Reality — The new Google FieldTrip app probes the question: What digital information do you want to see overlaid on the physical world? — It is The Future. You wake up at dawn and fumble on the bedstand for your (Google) Glass.

Discussion: GigaOM, Wired and @alexismadrigal