Mediagazer: How CNN gathered the views of 20K Africans by SMS (Sarah Marshall/Journalism.co.uk)

2:45 PM ET, March 17, 2013

Top News:

Camille Dodero / Gawker:

Newspapering Is a Business: The Death of the Legendary Boston Phoenix — Yesterday, the Boston Phoenix announced that the alternative-newsweekly would stop publishing after 47 years. I learned this by phone, from someone who'd been a colleague of mine there, while the paper was experimenting with editors …

Discussion: Grantland and Deadspin

Jack Shafer:

The long, slow decline of alt-weeklies — Alternative weekly colossus Boston Phoenix cracked and fell yesterday, ceasing publication after 47 years. According to a Phoenix executive quoted in the obituary in today's Boston Globe, the alternative weekly was losing more than $1 million a year …

Discussion: @susie_c, @edmundlee, @mjfuhlhage and The Boston Globe

Susan Orlean / New Yorker:
Memories of the Phoenix — I attended the University of Michigan …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab and NetNewsCheck Latest

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The newsonomics of a news company of the future — What will news companies look like in 2018? How will they operate differently? — That future is coming into focus. While many publishers' vision is still quite blurry, it's the Financial Times that is clearest-eyed about its roadmap and its future.

Discussion: ftresponse.blog.com

Wall Street Journal:

Bribery Allegations Surfaced Against WSJ in China — The Justice Department last year opened an investigation into allegations that employees at The Wall Street Journal's China news bureau bribed Chinese officials for information for news articles. — A search by the Journal's parent company found …

Discussion: Quartz and Talking Biz News

Sarah Marshall / Journalism.co.uk:

How CNN gathered the views of 20K Africans by SMS — CNN partnered with a start-up called Jana which rewards people with mobile phone credit for answering surveys — Respondents fill in surveys via feature phones, receiving mobile credit as a reward — Copyright: lirneasia on Flickr.

Felix Gillette / Businessweek:

Meredith, the Publishing Company That Beat the Internet — On the eve of Valentine's Day, news of a surprising courtship roiled the magazine industry. Meredith (MDP), the demure Iowa-based publisher of upbeat women's service magazines (including Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies' Home Journal …

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

With Pulse Following Zite's Lead, Mark Johnson Talks About News Reading App Landscape — Earlier this week, I reported that LinkedIn was readying a purchase of Pulse, one of the more popular of the many news reader apps, for upward of $50 million. — By coincidence, only days before …

The Huffington Post:

Matthew Keys Was An Undercover Journalist, Attorney Says — Matthew Keys, the Reuters deputy social media editor charged with helping Anonymous attack the website of his former employer, acted as an “undercover” journalist when he communicated with members of the hacker group, his attorneys told The Huffington Post Friday.

Discussion: The Next Web, Softpedia News, The Atlantic Wire, Gawker, Politico, Betabeat, BuzzFeed and TVSpy

Ben Dowell / Guardian:

What next for BBC's head of Vision Roger Mosey? Not director of TV — Corporation stalwart has not applied for director of television or director of news, but may take a new role devised by Lord Hall — Roger Mosey, the BBC's acting head of Vision, has not applied for the senior posts …

Guardian:

Phone hacking: Rupert Murdoch hit by 600 fresh claims — Suspect turned informant gives new evidence to Met before parliament vote on newspaper regulation — Detectives are examining an estimated 600 fresh allegations of phone-hacking incidents at Rupert Murdoch's now closed News of the World …

Discussion: Strange Attractor, Daily Mail, The Atlantic Wire, The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, BBC, The Daily Beast, News RSS, TheJournal.ie and Reuters

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

News organizations can now see how their content performs on Pinterest — The image-sharing network Pinterest released a new analytics tool this week that serves up lots of data about how its users engage with your website's content. — Here are some of the questions you can now answer pretty easily.

Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:

BuzzFeed to Launch Business Section — BuzzFeed, the news and entertainment website known for its mix of animal lists and political scoops designed to be shared on social networks, is launching a business section. — The move, which Buzzfeed plans to formally announce Monday …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, BuzzFeed, @dylanbyers and FishbowlNY