Mediagazer: NY Times' Nate Silver: ‘Punditry Is Fundamentally Useless’ (Meenal Vamburkar/Mediaite)

11:55 AM ET, December 13, 2012

Top News:

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Times-Picayune says circulation is up since it cut staff, print frequency — WWNO — On the New Orleans radio show “Out to Lunch” Monday, Nola.com business manager David Francis said The Times-Picayune's print circulation has gone up since it cut print frequency.

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

James Harding pulls out of BBC Question Time after quitting as editor — Former Times boss to be replaced on Thursday night's current affairs debating show by Lord Bilimoria, founder of Cobra beer — James Harding, who resigned as Times editor on Wednesday, has pulled out of a scheduled appearance on this week's BBC's Question Time.

Press Gazette:
Amid ‘dismay’ from Times journalists over Harding exit - News Corp mulls seven-day operation

Discussion: George Brock, The Daily Beast and Deadline.com

David Meyer / ZDNet:

Google reaches deal with Belgian publishers, avoids paying ‘link tax’ — Summary: The finer details of the arrangement are yet to emerge, but it appears as though Google has routed its opponents here. The litigation is over, and the company will not need to pay any ancillary copyright fees …

Discussion: Google Europe Blog

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

The future of television has arrived: it's called the iPad — Why owning the second screen is Apple's game to lose — The future of the television is the iPad. — That was the overwhelming message at the TV of Tomorrow conference in New York, which saw executives and decision makers …

Melanie Lee / Reuters:

Amazon launches Kindle store in China, could pave way for Kindle — (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc has launched a Kindle store for China, the company said on Thursday, selling Chinese electronic books for the mobile Kindle application, in a move that could soon see the device launched in China.

Discussion: GigaOM, CNET, The Next Web and Bookseller news

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

Amazon wins EU e-book pricing battle with Apple — (Reuters) - European Union regulators ended an antitrust probe into e-book prices on Thursday, accepting an offer by Apple and four publishers to ease pricing restrictions on Amazon and other retailers. — The decision hands online retailer Amazon …

Discussion: TechCrunch, paidContent, Digital Book World, Agence France Presse, SlashGear, The Next Web, Engadget and standard.co.uk

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Interview: Google expands mobile mag products amid web threat — Google has launched its Play Magazines storefront for UK Android devices and relaunched its Currents Flipboard app competitor, and more magazine announcements are due in a couple of weeks. — Google's EMEA news …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Official Android Blog, Softpedia News and VentureBeat

Meenal Vamburkar / Mediaite:

NY Times' Nate Silver: ‘Punditry Is Fundamentally Useless’ — The New York Times' Nate Silver — of FiveThirtyEight fame — was interviewed as part of Google's D.C. Talks series, during which he remarked on political reporting and punditry. The latter, he told Jonathan Karl, “is fundamentally useless.”

Discussion: Poynter

Marco Arment / Marco.org:

My master plan for revolutionizing the future of publishing and saving tablet-native journalism — I have a lot of respect for the publishing industry and the futurists who try to predict where it's heading. Nobody in that business has it particularly easy.

Discussion: Rex Hammock's RexBlog.com and Felix Salmon

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Entwistle resignation meeting minutes barely mention plan to pay £450,000 — BBC Trust's teleconference record only minutes four main points and does not include any comments from trustees — Official minutes of a BBC Trust meeting hurriedly convened the night George Entwistle resigned reveal barely …

Sarah McBride / Reuters:

Andreessen denies Internet bubble, advises Times to stop printing — (Reuters) - Far from experiencing a bubble, Silicon Valley has been in the throes of a “technology depression,” Netscape co-founder and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen said at the New York Times Dealbook conference on Wednesday.

Matt Brian / The Next Web:

Dropbox acquires music streaming company Audiogalaxy - but why? — Dropbox, the company behind the popular file-sharing service of the same name, has expanded its ranks with the acquisition of personal music streaming service Audiogalaxy for an undisclosed sum.

Discussion: The Audiogalaxy Blog, TechCrunch, GigaOM, Engadget, CNET and hypebot

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

Study says half of media buyers will try native advertising in 2013 — “Native advertising” is being hailed as the ad format of the future by everyone from venture capitalist Fred Wilson to BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti. Now, a survey suggests brands are ready to put down serious money to try it out.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Matthew Chapman / Brand Republic:

Sunday Times to stream live Lance Armstrong scoop outside of the paywall — News International is to live stream a discussion about Sunday Times writer David Walsh's battle to prove Lance Armstrong was a drug cheat outside of the Sunday Times paywall. — News International will screen …

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

Paywall illogic — Steve Buttry distorts our arguments—and the evidence — Followers of the hot 'n heavy paywall debate—all seven of you—may find it hard to believe, but there's plenty of room for consensus on whether digital subscriptions are good, bad, or indifferent for news.

Discussion: The Buttry Diary