Mediagazer: Amazon adds vinyl to its AutoRip service, offering a free digital copy of every LP bought since 1998 (Nick Summers/The Next Web)

3:05 PM 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: The Huffington Post, Daily Mail and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Bill Carter / New York Times:

Leno Blesses ‘Tonight Show’ Succession Plan — “The Tonight Show” will begin a new era in February when Jimmy Fallon succeeds Jay Leno as host of the most storied and successful program in late-night television. — NBC plans to announce on Wednesday its plan to install Mr. Fallon …

Emily Yahr / Washington Post: It's official: Jimmy Fallon to replace Jay Leno on ‘The Tonight Show’

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, @anonomia, @robcrilly, @_shamkk, @jeffjohnroberts, @jamalmosman and @emerbeamer

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, VentureBeat, GigaOM, BGR, Droid Life, CNET, TechSpot, ZDNet, Unwired View, HEXUS.net Latest Content, Pocket-lint, 9to5Google, Ubergizmo, The Verge, Engadget, The Next Web, WebProNews, Electronista and Mashable

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.

Discussion: 10,000 Words

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, Wall Street Journal, Corporate Intelligence, SocialTimes, Sydney Morning Herald, BBC, VentureBeat, Variety and Fortune

Joshua Gallu / Bloomberg:
Netflix CEO Won't Face SEC Claims Over Disclosures on Facebook

Discussion: U.S. Securities …, Wall Street Journal, The Next Web, Quartz and Reuters

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Times Internet Is Bringing Business Insider To India, Adding To Its Gawker Media Partnership — Today, Times Internet, the digital arm of Times of India, is announcing a strategic partnership with Business Insider, the online business news site founded by Henry Blodget, for the launch of Business Insider India.

Discussion: MediaNama and Poynter

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

Four years in the making, Vdio finally opens up to Rdio subscribers in the US and UK — Vdio, the premium video service founded by Skype co-founder Janus Friis, emerged from private beta Tuesday night with an offering that looks more like Vudu or iTunes than Netflix.

Discussion: VentureBeat, Fast Company, CNET, TechCrunch, Home Media Magazine, The Next Web, Engadget, Wired, @christinachaey and The Verge

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.

Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Are You A Teenager Who Reads News Online? According to the Justice Department, You May Be a Criminal — During his first term, President Barack Obama declared October 2009 to be “National Information Literacy Awareness Month,” emphasizing that, for students, learning to navigate the online world …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

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 …

Discussion: The Dish

Brent Lang / The Wrap:

Netflix's ‘House of Cards’ Getting DVD, Blu-ray Release — “House of Cards” may be upending the way viewers watch television by releasing all of its episodes in one binge-friendly gulp, but Netflix's series will have a rather conventional afterlife. — The glossy, 13-episode political thriller …

Discussion: Cinema Blend Television, Home Media Magazine, Pocket-lint and The Verge

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.

Janko Roettgers / paidContent:

Angry Birds, fat pigs and the future of television — Rovio's Angry Birds games have been downloaded more than 1.7 billion times, and are played by more than 263 million active users per month. The company is now targeting those hundreds of millions of players with a weekly animated show …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal, Deadline.com, TechCrunch, Guardian, mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk, Rapid TV News, The Next Web, FierceMobileContent News, CNET, The Drum and Digital TV Europe

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 Drum and The Next Web

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.

Greg Sandoval / The Verge:

Spotify doesn't appear to be slowing Pandora's growth — Research shows Pandora and Spotify are growing at traditional radio's expense — Pandora, the web's top radio service, continues to record big growth in the number of subscribers and hours of usage.

Discussion: MarketWatch