Mediagazer: End of an era for Daily Variety (Joe Flint/Los Angeles Times)

10:20 AM ET, March 19, 2013

Top News:

The Washington Post to charge frequent users of its Web site — This summer, The Washington Post will start charging frequent users of its Web site, asking those who look at more than 20 articles or multimedia features a month to pay a fee, although the company has not yet decided how much it will charge.

Ryan Chittum / Columbia Journalism Review: WaPo will, finally, charge online

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:
The Washington Post Is Building a Paywall (With a Huge Hole)

Discussion: Media Decoder

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

BBC Worldwide criticised for sale of Lonely Planet at ‘significant loss’ — Travel guides sale to US billionaire Brad Kelley for £80m less than originally paid was not good business, says BBC Trust — BBC Worldwide has been criticised by the corporation's governing body for incurring a …

Discussion: Media Week, Deadline.com and Bookseller news

Georgia Wilkins / Sydney Morning Herald:
Lonely Planet sold to US firm for $75m

Discussion: bbc.co.uk and Bookseller + Publisher's …

BBC:

Press regulation: Papers seek legal advice — Papers are currently self-regulated voluntarily through the Press Complaints Commission — A number of national newspapers are taking “high-level legal advice” about whether to co-operate with a new press watchdog established by royal charter and backed by legislation.

Discussion: The Sun, Telegraph, Hollywood Reporter, The Independent, Daily Mail and Guardian

Press Gazette:
Statutory press regulation regime is passed by Parliament

Discussion: Guardian

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Bloggers may face libel fines under press regulation deal

Discussion: Big News Network.com, UK News and Opinion and Boing Boing

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

ABC Works on an App for Streaming Shows to Mobile Devices — THE WALT DISNEY Company, while sorting out the future of the online video Web site Hulu, has an app in the works that may render Hulu passé for some people. — The app will live stream ABC programming to the phones …

Discussion: Media Decoder, Engadget, AppNewser, World Internet TV on PC, CNET and The Verge

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

NewsCred gets new $15M investment, adds New York Times as a partner — NewsCred has become a quiet force in media by offering brands and publishers an easy way to acquire high quality news content from brands like Bloomberg and Economist. In a further sign of its growing influence …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Media & Entertainment, Forbes, NetNewsCheck Latest, Business Insider and The Next Web

Freya Petersen / GlobalPost:

Family of WSJ journalist Daniel Pearl, beheaded in Pakistan, welcomes arrest of suspect — What do you think? — The family of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl has welcomed the arrest in Pakistan of man allegedly involved in his brutal 2002 beheading.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Times, LA Observed and The Huffington Post

Nasir Habib / CNN:
Pakistan arrests man in Daniel Pearl's slaying

Discussion: New York Times, UPI, New York Post, CBS News, Jewish Press, Bloomberg, Daily Mail, Encino-Tarzana, CA Patch, National Turk News, DAWN.COM, ABC News and Committee to Protect …

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

This Is the Scariest Statistic About the Newspaper Business Today — Here it is: In 2012, newspapers lost $16 in print ads for every $1 earned in digital ads. And it's getting worse, according to a new report by Pew. In 2011, the ratio was just 10-to-1.

Discussion: The Week, Slate, Rehak/Stuebing Mostly Media, LA Observed and Globe and Mail

Erik Wemple:
On cable TV, talk is cheap — and profitable

Discussion: About.com Journalism, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, TVNewser, Tampabay.com, Associated Press and Poynter

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

How Much for a How-to Lesson? Demand Media Gets Into Paid Content by Buying CreativeBug. — The Internet is swimming in how-to-guides and videos, and a lot of them are produced by Demand Media. You can see all of those for free. — But if you want to take a lesson on crocheting …

Discussion: The Next Web

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Amazon Publishing promises authors faster royalty payments — Amazon Publishing said in a letter to literary agents Monday that it will start paying its authors royalties on a monthly basis, up from every three months. — “In this digital age, we don't see why authors should have to wait six months …

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Iraq Media Failure Can Happen Again — NEW YORK — Since “Mission Accomplished” proved to be anything but, the media has done plenty of hand-wringing and soul-searching over the run-up to the Iraq War. — Major news organizations have retracted or re-examined pre-war stories, while “liberal hawks” churned out mea culpas.

Discussion: TVNewser and New Republic

Alex Sherman / Bloomberg:

Liberty Media Will Pay $2.62 Billion for 27% Stake in Charter — John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. (LMCA) agreed to buy about 27 percent of Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) from its private-equity investors for about $2.62 billion. — Liberty will pay $95.50 apiece for about 26.9 million shares …

Discussion: Reuters and Wall Street Journal

Katy Bachman / Adweek:

Streaming Internet Service Runs Out of Legal Moves — Ivi, a pay TV service that was streaming over-the-air TV signals on the Internet without permission, has finally reached the end of the road in court. — The Supreme Court on Monday denied the company's petition for certiorari and refused …

Discussion: New York Times, NetNewsCheck Latest and GeekWire

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

End of an era for Daily Variety — Lots of Hollywood honchos need to change their reading habits: The Tuesday edition is Daily Variety's last. Instead, the industry news source is focusing on its website and weekly magazine. — Daily Variety has been a print publication for almost 80 years.

Roque Planas / The Huffington Post:

‘Generation Y’ Blogger Plots Unprecedented Project In Communist Cuba — Communist Cuba may soon see a non-government newspaper produced on the island. — Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez said she plans to launch an independent digital newspaper this year, and may follow with a paper edition …

Wired:

The New Rules of the Hyper-Social, Data-Driven, Actor-Friendly, Super-Seductive Platinum Age of Television — From Game of Thrones to the new Arrested Development, television is better than ever. And it's not just a lucky accident. Turns out that networks and advertisers are using all-new metrics to design hit shows.

Discussion: Gizmodo