Mediagazer: NY Times Describes ‘Torture’ More Under Obama (Michael Calderone/The Huffington Post)

9:45 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, @brianstorms, @fmanjoo, @romenesko, DealBook and Pressing Issues

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.

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

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, Cleveland Scene and NetNewsCheck Latest

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

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

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 …

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

NY Times Describes ‘Torture’ More Under Obama — The New York Times, which tied itself in linguistic knots during the Bush years to avoid describing waterboarding as torture, splashed this headline on Thursday's front page: “Portrayal of C.I.A. Torture in Bin Laden Film Reopens a Debate.”

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 …

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

Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:

Aereo licenses Bloomberg TV as first cable station — Thus far, streaming TV service Aereo has stayed squarely focused on local network TV channels, but that is just starting to change. According to The Wall Street Journal, Aereo has added its first cable channel in the form of Bloomberg TV.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and GigaOM

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

GNM journalists agree industrial action vote if compulsory job cuts go ahead — NUJ ballot backed by 400 staff as company moves to reduce annual editorial budget by £7m — Guardian News & Media journalists have voted to ballot for industrial action should the company go ahead …

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