Mediagazer: News Corp. Explores Sale of U.S. Community Papers (Keach Hagey/Wall Street Journal)

9:35 AM ET, April 3, 2013

Top News:

A Leave of Presence — Thank you. Forty-six years ago on April 3, 1967, I became the film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. Some of you have read my reviews and columns and even written to me since that time. Others were introduced to my film criticism through the television show …

Mark Caro / Chicago Tribune:

Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert cuts workload after cancer recurrence — Roger Ebert announced late Tuesday night that he is stepping back from some duties as the Chicago Sun-Times' film critic after a recurrence of cancer. — Calling the move a “leave of presence,” Ebert wrote on his online journal …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, The Huffington Post and Daily Mail

Associated Press:

‘Illegal immigrant’ no more — The AP Stylebook today is making some changes in how we describe people living in a country illegally. Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll explains the thinking behind the decision: The Stylebook no longer sanctions the term …

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
AP's Dropping Of ‘Illegal Immigrant’ Could Have Wide Ramifications For Media

Discussion: The Raw Story and msnbc.com

Jamal Osman / The Daily Beast:

Fake Somali Pirates Scam Western Journalists — Time magazine, Danish filmmakers among the outlets apparently fooled by Kenyan actors pretending to be Somali pirates. … The story begins in the slums of Eastleigh, a sprawling suburb of Nairobi in Kenya and home to a huge Somali community.

Discussion: Channel 4, @jeffjohnroberts, @robcrilly, @jamalmosman, @anonomia, @emerbeamer and @_shamkk

Michael J. de la Merced / DealBook:

S.E.C. Sets Rules for Disclosures Using Social Media — Updated Chief executives can now feel free to post, blog or tweet — as long as they inform investors about their social media strategy first. — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday outlined new disclosure rules …

Discussion: Forbes, SocialTimes, Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, Sydney Morning Herald, Corporate Intelligence, BBC and Variety

Michael Wolff / Guardian:

This tipping-point for paywalls does not fix newspapers' larger crisis — Not even the smartest metered model can make up for paltry digital ad revenues and a failure to recruit younger readers — To the surprise of many digital evangelizers and old-media doubters, newspaper paywalls turn out to work.

Sarah Kessler / Fast Company:

A Personalized News App At Its Simplest: No Articles, Just Data — INSTEAD OF TRACKING HEADLINES, NUMBEEZ TRACKS NUMBERS. HERE'S WHY THAT MIGHT NOT BE AS ABSURD AS IT SOUNDS. — When Mark Zuckerberg says he wants to build a “personalized newspaper,” he's talking about photos, conversations between friends, music and news articles.

Stuart Kemp / Hollywood Reporter:

U.K. Retail Giant Tesco, BBC Worldwide Ink Content Deal For Ad-Supported Film, TV Service — Shows such as “Blackpool” starring David Morrissey and comedy “Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps” will be offered on Clubcard TV, the retailer's loyalty card holders' service.

Discussion: Broadband TV News, The Next Web and The Drum

Leslie Meredith / TechNewsDaily:

Instagram and Vine Shake Up News Industry — News as we know it is poised to change, and it's in the hands of smartphone users. — On March 31, the New York Times ran a photo of New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez taken by sports photographer Nick Laham — on his iPhone and edited in Instagram.

Reuters:

Google to sell second-gen Nexus 7 tablet from July: sources — (Reuters) - Google Inc will launch a new version of its Nexus 7 tablet powered by Qualcomm Inc's Snapdragon processor around July, two sources told Reuters, as the software giant pushes deeper into the cut-price mobile hardware market.

Discussion: TechCrunch, CNET, 9to5Google, Unwired View, Droid Life, HEXUS.net Latest Content, ZDNet, Electronista, The Verge, Engadget, Pocket-lint, The Next Web, Ubergizmo and Mashable

Robert Darnton / New York Review of Books:

The National Digital Public Library Is Launched! — The Digital Public Library of America, to be launched on April 18, is a project to make the holdings of America's research libraries, archives, and museums available to all Americans—and eventually to everyone in the world—online and free of charge.

Discussion: paidContent and Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

Editors Weblog:

Australian startup Newsmodo allows freelancers to name price for their reporting — After more than a decade-long career, Australian broadcast journalist Rakhal Ebeli realized his responsibilities had changed. He was no longer only chasing his own stories but also collecting those of others.

Josh Luger / Business Insider:

Inside Andrew Sullivan's Attempt To Turn The Digital Media Business Model On Its Head — This January, noted blogger Andrew Sullivan left his perch at The Daily Beast to embark upon a highly visible and seemingly risky enterprise. He took his blog, The Dish, independent and decided …

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Music Video Company VEVO Learns Dutch, Launches In The Netherlands — VEVO just became available in a whole new market, as its streaming music video service was launched in The Netherlands today. The launch will make more than 75,000 music videos available to Dutch viewers …

Discussion: VEVO.com and Music Week

Stuart Pfeifer / Los Angeles Times:

Kathy Thomson named chief operating officer of Tribune publishing — Tribune Co. has promoted Kathy Thomson, president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Times, to the newly created position of chief operating officer of Tribune's publishing division.

Discussion: Associated Press and Deadline.com

Ken Layne / The Awl:

The Rise and Fall of the L.A. Examiner, a Blog That Was a Newspaper That Never Existed — My office was the living room closet in a huge one-bedroom in a 1920s East Hollywood apartment court, across the street from the big blue Scientology headquarters in the old Cedars of Lebanon Hospital.

Discussion: New York Times and LA Observed

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

New CEO's plan for About.com: same business model, more flash — About.com announced on Tuesday that Neil Vogel, founder of the best-of-the-internet “Webby Awards,” will be the company's new CEO. His immediate tasks will be to increase the site's brand recognition and to persuade people …