Mediagazer: Google Alerts ‘broken,’ ‘useless,’ and slowed to a ‘trickle’ (Rebecca Grant/VentureBeat)

3:30 PM ET, March 21, 2013

Top News:

Facebook Managing Editor Steps Down, Says Site 'Doesn't Need Reporters' — Facebook managing editor Dan Fletcher announced Wednesday that he will be leaving the social media giant next month. Speaking before a crowded audience at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication …

Discussion: Fast Company, @rajunarisetti, @lpintak, @lucymarcus, @mediatwit and Mashable!

Hollywood Reporter:

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch Calls U.K. Press Regulation Deal A ‘Holy Mess’ — He also lauds the defeat of new Australian media rules and joins his “Sun” tabloid in attacking the British government led by David Cameron. — LONDON - News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch on Thursday continued …

Discussion: @rupertmurdoch, Guardian and @davidfolkenflik

Emily Bell / Guardian:

The press regulation charter is illiterate about the internet — The Leveson-inspired draft bill deals with the past, not the future, of the press in failing to address the myriad ways we now receive ‘news’ — If Maria Miller, the culture secretary, has sat in as many conferences on the …

Greg Mitchell / The Nation:

Margaret Sullivan, an Ombud Who Cares — This article appeared in the April 8, 2013 edition of The Nation. — The first Times public editor, Daniel Okrent, raised some tough issues, such as his criticism of executive editor Bill Keller for failing to fully come to grips with the paper's misconduct in the run-up to the Iraq War.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, @froomkin, @ggreenwald, @nickfoxnyt and @jayrosen_nyu

Robert X. Cringely / InfoWorld:

Here lies Web journalism, dead at the hand of the almighty advertiser — Don't know if you've noticed, but there's a hullabaloo over online ads masquerading as editorial on the Web these days. I'm here to tell you that the situation is actually much worse than you might think.

Thanks:@steverubel

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Meltwater vows appeal in AP copyright suit — News clipping service Meltwater will appeal the court's decision that it infringed the use of The Associated Press' content, the company's CEO said Thursday. — U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on Wednesday ruled in favor of the AP …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Associated Press:
AP wins copyright infringement suit against Meltwater News

Discussion: Poynter, @timwindsor and @timwindsor

Clare Hutchison / Reuters:

BBC Twitter accounts hacked by pro-Assad online group — (Reuters) - The Twitter account belonging to the BBC's weather service was hacked on Thursday, the public broadcaster said. — The “Syrian Electronic Army”, a group of pro-Assad hackers and online activists that has already disrupted …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Hollywood Reporter, International Business Times, The Independent, CNET, THE STREET JOURNAL, The Sun, nbcnews.com and Telegraph

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

How a toothbrush news site can get more visits than the Economist: More on the botnet scam — A larger picture is emerging about an online advertising scam that is reportedly soaking major brands like McDonald's and Disney for $6 million a month. The scam, which has rattled publishers and the ad industry …

Discussion: Adweek, Digital Spy, PC Advisor, International Business Times, ComputerWeekly, CNET, AdAge, BBC and Businessweek

Committee to Protect Journalists:

Journalists attacked in Egypt over the weekend — At least 14 journalists were attacked by police and supporters of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood group outside the group's headquarters in Cairo on Saturday and Sunday, according to news reports and local journalists.

Discussion: Guardian

Rebecca Grant / VentureBeat:

Google Alerts ‘broken,’ ‘useless,’ and slowed to a ‘trickle’ — The internet is a massive, tangled, churning web of content, and for a long time , Google Alerts was a key navigational tool that kept users on top of things that were relevant specifically to them.

Discussion: The Financial Brand, Computerworld, WebProNews, the Econsultancy blog and Beyond Search

Joshua Gillin / Poynter:

Allyson Bird explains further ‘why I left the news’ — Allyson Bird, the 28-year-old author of a now-viral blog post detailing why she left journalism, explained in an e-mail interview that she battled against the realities of being asked to do more work for less pay.

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's …, Strange Attractor, allysonbird.com and Common Sense Journalism

Digital Book World:

Simon & Schuster Brings Attributor Anti-Piracy Data to Authors — Simon & Schuster will be giving its authors more information about how their content is being pirated around the world and what the publisher is doing about it, according to a recent letter from president and CEO Carolyn Reidy to authors.

Discussion: paidContent and GalleyCat