Mediagazer: I am so tired of the paywall argument (Steve Buttry/The Buttry Diary)

7:45 PM ET, December 13, 2012

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

DealBook Conference Was Impressive, Lucrative and Chummy — There was a lot happening at the inaugural DealBook conference on Wednesday — and much of it was undeniably impressive. — Here is what the invitation-only conference had going for it: Big Wall Street names, flashy graphics …

Discussion: @pkedrosky, @davewiner, @fmanjoo, @brianstorms, @romenesko and DealBook

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: NetNewsCheck Latest

Steve Buttry / The Buttry Diary:

I am so tired of the paywall argument — I truly meant it more than three years ago when I said in this blog that I wanted to move on from the paywall argument. This issue and the attention it commands are perhaps the most consistent sign I see that the newspaper industry is stuck in the past.

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.

Discussion: Capital New York, NetNewsCheck Latest and Cleveland Scene

Dan Sabbagh / Guardian:

BBC boss unaware of Newsnight's McAlpine report problems for 24 hours — Former director general George Entwistle contacted BBC Trust chair Lord Patten the day after Guardian article was published — Former BBC director general George Entwistle told the BBC Trust at the critical meeting …

Mark Sweney / Guardian: Entwistle resignation meeting minutes barely mention plan to pay £450,000

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Guardian kills its Facebook social reader, regains control over its content — A little over a year ago, a big topic of discussion in the newspaper business — apart from the ongoing cataclysmic decline in print advertising revenue, of course — was how to leverage Facebook as a platform for content …

Discussion: Guardian

Alison Langley / CJR:

Europe's newspapers are dying too — The implosion of the newspaper industry, long a dreaded topic in the US, has finally hit the continent — The staff of Financial Times Deutschland appeared on the back page of the newspaper on Friday, in a deep bow. Below the photo was an apology, translated here from German:

Publishers Weekly:

New York Times Launches E-Book Programs — The New York Times today announced the launch of two publishing programs—New York Times short e-books co-published with the digital startup Byliner, and TimesFiles with Vook. — In collaboration with Byliner, The Times will co-publish up to a dozen …

Discussion: Fast Company, The Wrap, paidContent and GalleyCat

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 …

Kira Bindrim / Reuters:

The New York Times and print pressures — In a moment of dubious etiquette, venture capitalist and Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen said at a New York Times conference this week that the company should dismantle its print operations not in ten years, or five, but “as soon as possible.”

Discussion: Reuters

Press Gazette:

Amid ‘dismay’ from Times journalists over Harding exit - News Corp mulls seven-day operation — News International is understood to have taken legal advice about merging The Times and Sunday Times into a seven-day operation. — The Times reports the development today in a report …

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

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian: James Harding pulls out of BBC Question Time after quitting as editor

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 Verge, The Next Web and Bookseller news

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: paidContent, Bloomberg, Google Europe Blog and Reuters

Mark Glaser / MediaShift:

Can BitTorrent Go Legit with the Entertainment Business? — What's the first thing you think of when you hear the word “BitTorrent”? Probably visions of teenage boys in basements swapping pirated music and movie files. That's long been the public perception of the technology protocol BitTorrent …

Tom Grubisich / Street Fight:

‘Post-Industrial Journalism’ Report Deserves an A, and an F — A new report from Columbia Journalism School's Tow Center for Digital Journalism takes a look at everything that's wrong with digital journalism, starting at the top and going all the way down to the hyperlocal level.

Discussion: West Seattle Blog