Mediagazer: Inkling to Turn Google Into Storefront, Take Run at Amazon (Jeremy Greenfield/Digital Book World)

9:45 AM ET, January 16, 2013

Top News:

When advertorial bites back — At about noon today, the Atlantic put on a very snug hair shirt, issuing a statement of apology and regret for having posted on its website Church of Scientology “Sponsor Content” yesterday. — The Scientology advertisement, composed by tone-deaf propagandists unable …

Discussion: CJR, Adweek, 10,000 Words, JIMROMENESKO.COM, TechCrunch, New York Magazine and Business Week

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:
The Atlantic On That Scientology Advertorial: ‘We Screwed Up’

Discussion: The Onion, NetNewsCheck Latest, eMedia Vitals, Media Decoder, @jackmirkinson, Guardian and The Next Web

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Weekly World News erects paywall, ending debate forever — The Weekly World News will move its website behind a paywall, the company announced Wednesday. Listen up, information-needs-to-be-free types: When Bat Boy goes behind a paywall, there's nothing left to discuss.

Discussion: Weekly World News

Erin Geiger Smith / Reuters:

News outlets improperly used photos posted to Twitter: judge — (Reuters) - A judge has found that two news organizations improperly used images that a photojournalist had posted to Twitter in one of the first big tests of intellectual property law involving social media.

Discussion: Fast Company, eMedia Vitals, CNET, UPROXX, Poynter, Mashable! and Boing Boing

Dylan Byers / Politico:

CNN President Jeff Zucker backs Piers Morgan's gun control campaign — CNN president Jeff Zucker told CNN New York staff today that he supported Piers Morgan's decision to speak in favor of gun control, sources at the network tell POLITICO. — During a town-hall meeting with staff …

Discussion: Inside Cable News, The Wrap, Mediaite and Deadline.com

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

News Corp. may convert Fox Soccer into entertainment network — Fox Soccer may become an entertainment network. (Fox Sports ) — News Corp. is considering revamping its Fox Soccer cable channel into a general entertainment network, according to people briefed on the matter.

Discussion: EPL Talk

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

N.Y.'s tough new gun law also prohibits disclosure of gun owners' names — The New York state Assembly will vote Tuesday on gun legislation that would broaden the definition of assault weapons and require mental health professionals to report anyone they thought may become dangerous.

Discussion: Associated Press, Hit & Run, The New Republic and New York Magazine

Erik Wemple / Washington Post: How the New York Times scored its Journal News interviews

Jeremy Greenfield / Digital Book World:

Inkling to Turn Google Into Storefront, Take Run at Amazon — The most trafficked ebook store in the world today is Amazon. Very soon, that might not be the case. — Illustrated ebook store and ebook production management start-up Inkling has found a way to make Google Search a storefront …

Discussion: paidContent

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Google wins $1 million worth of USA Today ads in Print Advertising competition — Google Creative Lab won a print-advertising contest run by USA Today. Publisher Larry Kramer tells The New York Times “he could see how people may consider it ‘hysterical,’” Stuart Elliott writes.

Discussion: New York Times

Sandra Guy / Chicago Sun Times:

Aaron Swartz was ‘killed by government,’ father says at funeral — At 26, Internet activist and visionary Aaron Swartz had long ago established himself as a hero and wise elder of people power through copyright reform and open access to online information. In a 2001 interview with WBEZ Radio …

Discussion: CNET, Hillicon Valley, The Daily Beast, Guardian, The Huffington Post, Stanford CIS Blog, ABCNEWS, New Yorker and The Huffington Post

Chicago Tribune:

Tribune Buyout and Bankruptcy: Culture Shock — With the takeover complete, Sam Zell and his team of outsiders brought a new approach, but their ideas never took off and their style alienated employees — Tribune Tower was in crisis, and the illustrations of penguins installed …

Chandrahas Choudhury / Bloomberg:

A Newspaper for and About India's Rural Majority — A newspaper devoted exclusively to rural news appeared in north India last month. Here's why this was such a big deal. The most significant development in India in the last two decades has been the rapid (and often messy) …

Erik Wemple:

President Obama credits power of conservative media — At a time when the media are being blamed for mass shootings; burglaries against gun owners; burglaries against non-gun owners; failing to properly cast the debate over debt and taxes; and any number of other ills, President Obama …

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Amazon's European Netflix Competitor, LOVEFiLM, Signs TV Series Streaming Deal With NBCU — Another day, another content licensing agreement in the online streaming space. Amazon-owned LOVEFiLM, a European Netflix competitor, has signed a new streaming deal with NBCUniversal International TV Distribution …

Discussion: SlashGear, The Next Web and Pocket-lint

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Guardian News & Media to launch digital Australia edition — Katharine Viner, the Guardian's deputy editor, to lead digital venture which is backed by internet entrepreneur Graeme Wood — The Guardian is to launch a digital edition in Australia, backed by internet entrepreneur and philanthropist Graeme Wood.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals, Journalism.co.uk, Media Week, Radio New Zealand, The Drum, @revdancatt, mUmBRELLA and @iburrell

Andrew Miller / Lean Back 2.0:
Why the Guardian is launching a digital edition in Australia

Discussion: pressgazette.co.uk

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Former Yahoo Boss Ross Levinsohn Has a New Gig, and a Digital M&A War Chest — Ross Levinsohn, who wanted to run Yahoo but didn't get the gig, has a new perch. He's heading up a new digital media company backed by Guggenheim Partners. — Guggenheim already controlled several media trade titles …

Discussion: Folio, AdExchanger, The Wrap, Media & Entertainment, bizjournals and AdAge