Mediagazer: Eugene Patterson and Aaron Swartz: Ghosts speaking across the page (Ann Marie Lipinski/Nieman Journalism Lab)

3:20 PM ET, February 20, 2013

Top News:

‘Times’ editor Jill Abramson opens up about layoffs, the time she almost quit, and loneliness at the top — Several months ago, New York Times Company C.E.O. Mark Thompson accompanied Times executive editor Jill Abramson on a trip to California, in which she took meetings with …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, New York Magazine, @juliemmoos, @janinegibson, @felixsalmon, @hermanywong and The Huffington Post

Esther Zuckerman / The Atlantic Wire:

Andy Carvin: What I Read — How do people deal with the torrent of information pouring down on us all? What sources can't they live without? We regularly reach out to prominent figures in media, entertainment, politics, the arts, and the literary world to hear their answers.

Discussion: @acarvin, @jayrosen_nyu, @mkoplow, @sullduggery, @toddjolmstead and @sourceadam

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

Publishers Opt Out of the Pageview Rat Race — The promise of the Internet was that anyone with a keyboard and a connection could become a publisher and make tons of money. Like many promises rooted in theory, when it comes to practicality, things are quite different.

Discussion: @newswhip, @mccarthyryanj, @rajunarisetti, @chrisdaps, @jonfine, @rafat, @kevglobal, @joshsternberg, @johngapper, @myersnews and Kirk LaPointe's …

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Yahoo's latest attempt to reinvent the portal is too little and too late — There's been a rush of optimism about Yahoo lately, thanks in large part to its new CEO, much-admired former Google executive Marissa Mayer. After a number of speeches about her broader strategy to reinvent the company …

Discussion: Business Insider, CNET and CNNMoney.com

Amar Toor / The Verge:
Yahoo unveils new ‘personal’ homepage with news feeds and social integration

Discussion: Yodel Anecdotal, NYT Bits, Adweek, Bloomberg, Digits, @anildash and Wired

Ann Marie Lipinski / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Eugene Patterson and Aaron Swartz: Ghosts speaking across the page — They died the same weekend, one 26, a prodigy of the Internet age who took his own life, the other an 89-year-old whose moral battles were waged on newsprint and whose final assignment was editing the Old Testament.

Greg Sandoval / The Verge:

Spotify pushing labels to lower costs, open up free service to phones — Streaming service seeks to edge into profitability by controlling content costs, growing subscriber base — Spotify, the popular music subscription service, is due to meet in the coming weeks with its major counterparts …

Discussion: Music Ally, App Advice, Digital Spy, MacRumors, TNT Magazine, Pocket-lint, Fast Company, CMU, Guardian and Gizmodo

Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:

Condé Nast Reveals Investment In Jewellery Startup, As Media Scrambles For New Revenues — In yet another an indication that big media powerhouses are starting to refocus their businesses on driving new models like commerce, publishing giant Condé Nast has made what is understood …

Discussion: The Next Web

Sarah Marshall / Journalism.co.uk:

Dennis Publishing invests in app start-up Padify — The software allows designers at the magazine publisher to create content that will be suited to a range of devices — Copyright: C. Regina on Flickr. Some rights reserved. — Dennis Publishing, which produces The Week …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Cotton Delo / AdAge:

Twitter's Big Money Move? Let Others Optimize Ad Campaigns — Initial API Partners Are Adobe, Salesforce, HootSuite, Shift and TBG — Twitter announced today a long-awaited move that could throw open the floodgates of ad investment: it's opening up its advertising API …

Discussion: Twitter Advertising, AdAge, AllThingsD, GigaOM, Forbes, VentureBeat, The Next Web and TechCrunch

Jasper Jackson / TheMediaBriefing:

Datawatch: Price vs volume and why newspapers should put their prices up faster — When it comes to media economics - which is more powerful? Price, or volume? Should sell more stuff or raise prices? — Both the Guardian and the Daily Mirror — put their cover prices up in January …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Anthony Crupi / Adweek:

Fox Inks Partnership With YouTube's WIGS Channel — Fox on Tuesday announced it has entered into a multiyear pact with YouTube's female-centric drama channel WIGS. — One of the 100 or so original content channels launched by YouTube a year ago, WIGS offers broadcast-quality dramatic fare designed to appeal to female viewers.

Discussion: Variety, Variety, bizjournals, tv.broadwayworld.com, Broadcasting & Cable and Deadline.com

Ian Burrell / The Independent:

Top BBC executive accused of bullying in Rose review — Several staff at the BBC are each the subject of multiple allegations in an official inquiry into bullying and sexual harassment, The Independent can disclose. — One senior BBC executive is the subject of more than 20 complaints …

Discussion: Guardian