Mediagazer: Behind the business model of MailOnline, the biggest newspaper site in the world (Patrick Smith/TheMediaBriefing)

12:40 PM ET, March 28, 2013

Top News:

Behind the business model of MailOnline, the biggest newspaper site in the world — There is much talk of paywalls at the moment, but don't forget the other side of the payfence: there is a huge opportunity in ad-supported free media and MailOnline is showing the way forward.

Discussion: paidContent and @jayrosen_nyu, Thanks:@mediabrief

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

Steve Swartz to succeed Frank Bennack as CEO of Hearst Corp. — One of the longest-serving chief executives in the media industry is stepping down. — Frank A. Bennack Jr., chief executive of Hearst Corp. since 1979, will give up that title in June. Steven Swartz, currently president and chief operating officer, will become CEO.

Discussion: WWD Media Headlines, Wall Street Journal, Variety and Adweek

New York Times:
Chief Who Led Expansion at Hearst Will Step Down

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, Media Decoder, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and Hollywood Reporter

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

After Casting Wide Net, CNN Finds Co-Host for Morning Show — In his search for a new morning television host that lasted months, the new head of CNN, Jeffrey Zucker, considered dozens of names, some boldface and some unknown. It wasn't until he paired Christopher Cuomo …

Discussion: Deadline.com, The Wrap, Business Insider, LA Observed, Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable, AdAge, FishbowlDC and The Huffington Post

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Penguin will offer its new ebooks to libraries again as of April 2 — In 2011, Penguin decided to stop offering new ebooks to libraries, citing “concerns about the security of digital editions.” The publisher then ended its relationship with digital library distributor OverDrive.

Discussion: Associated Press, VentureBeat and PublishersWeekly.com

Jessica Testa / BuzzFeed:

Matt Lauer Apologizes To Disgruntled Former Intern On Twitter — Sort of. The Today host is not having the best week. It started Tuesday, when an executive producer at Fox 8 in Cleveland tweeted something said by anchor/reporter Mark Zinni.

Discussion: @rudemattlauer, @rudemattlauer and @markzinni

John Jannarone / Wall Street Journal:

Data Don't Add Up for Thomson Reuters — When Thomson Corp. and Reuters Group merged, employees from the two sides suffered a typical culture clash. Nearly five years later, it is investors in the combined company who may feel most out of place. — Shares of Thomson Reuters remain 13% below …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:

As Newspapers Experiment With Sponsored Content, Google Says Keep It Out Of Google News — Newspapers and news publications having “sponsored” content deals are on the rise, and Google's apparently concerned enough that it's issued a warning today that publishers should keep such content out of Google News.

Discussion: Google News Blog, Softpedia News, @it_andrewc, @aaronwall and @helenbranswell

Erik Grimm / INMA:

Digital newspaper: same advertising impact and so much more — New research reveals advertising impact is just as powerful on tablets as it is in print, especially if the online edition carries over the look and feel of the news brand. — Dutch news media have invested heavily in editions …

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

A Driving Force Behind Wikipedia Will Step Down — Sue Gardner, who oversaw a period of rapid growth and evolution at Wikipedia, said Wednesday that she would step down as executive director of the nonprofit organization that runs the free encyclopedia. — In an interview with The Times on Wednesday …

Discussion: Business Insider, AllThingsD, @xor and Wikimedia blog

Marco Arment / Marco.org:

The power of the RSS reader — With the decreasing use of RSS readers over the last few years, which will probably be accelerated by Google Reader's shutdown in July, many are bidding good riddance to a medium that they never used well. — RSS is easy to abuse. In 2011, I wrote Sane RSS usage:

Discussion: Fast Company

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Court approves Journal Register bankruptcy sale — The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved Journal Register Company's sale to 21st CMH Acquisition Co., JRC said this morning in a press release. The sale is scheduled to occur April 2.

Discussion: Digital First Media

Alison Langley / Columbia Journalism Review:

French antipiracy efforts unsuccessful — The French government started cracking down on illegal downloading, so users switched to illegal streaming — Hadopi—a wildly unpopular French antipiracy agency charged with seeking out illegal downloaders for prosecution—may be reorganized …

Andrea Morabito / Broadcasting & Cable:

Upfronts 2013: Participant Media's Cable Network Named ‘Pivot’ — Channel targeting viewers 18-34 will offer broadband-only subscription — New York — Participant Media on Wednesday announced the name of its upcoming cable network targeting millennials: pivot. The network will launch in 40 million households on Aug. 1.

Discussion: Reuters, Deadline.com and The Wrap