Mediagazer: Steve Coll surprises Columbia J-school faculty with talk of a two-year program (Joe Pompeo/Capital New York)

5:30 PM ET, April 4, 2013

Top News:

Roger Ebert dies at 70 after battle with cancer — Except for those he hated. — For a film with a daring director, a talented cast, a captivating plot or, ideally, all three, there could be no better advocate than Roger Ebert, who passionately celebrated and promoted excellence in film …

Douglas Martin / New York Times:

Roger Ebert, Popular Film Critic, Dies at 70 — Roger Ebert, the popular film critic and television co-host who along with his fellow reviewer and sometime sparring partner Gene Siskel could lift or sink the fortunes of a movie with their trademark thumbs up or thumbs down, has died.

Discussion: NPR, Chicago Tribune, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Variety, The Atlantic Wire and The Hairpin

@suntimes: There is a hole that can't be filled. One of the greats has left us. Roger Ebert has passed away at the age of 70. http://suntm.es/Z4EIOF

Josephine McGowan / Columbia Daily Spectator:

New Journalism School dean Coll plans two-year Master's, tuition reductions — Steve Coll, the new dean at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, is considering a two-year Master's program, lower tuition fees, and a more rigorous Master's project. — Steve Coll, the new Journalism School dean …

Discussion: @chanders, @laureni, @laureni and @mlcalderone

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Steve Coll surprises Columbia J-school faculty with talk of a two-year program — Faculty members of the Columbia Journalism School were surprised by some comments from their incoming dean in a report published by the Columbia Spectator today. — The new dean, Steve Coll, who begins in July …

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

Cleveland Paper to Curtail Delivery and Cut Staff — The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, whose reporters organized one of the industry's most active opposition movements against its parent company's plans for cutbacks, will trim home delivery to three days a week and create a new digital company …

Discussion: UPI and Scene and Heard

Jim Romenesko:

Plain Dealer to cut home delivery to 3 days a week, continue to publish in print 7 days a week — The Cleveland Plain Dealer says that beginning late summer, it will cut home delivery to three days a week. Those days are still being determined, but will include Sunday.

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Poynter, Columbia Journalism Review, Cleveland Magazine, Plain Dealer, Shaker Heights, OH Patch, Willamette Week, Crain's Cleveland Business, WaitingForNextYear, FOX8.com, Associated Press, @aegualtieri, @audreywhitetx, The Huffington Post and WEWS-TV

Eric Deggans / Tampa Bay Times:

Bill Adair, editor of Pulitzer Prize winning website PolitiFact, to leave Tampa Bay Times for Duke University — Bill Adair, PolitiFact editor, to leave for Duke University. — Bill Adair, the Washington Bureau Chief who created and edits the Tampa Bay Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning …

Discussion: Poynter, Politico and @dylanbyers

Kelly McBride / Poynter:

Three lists about BuzzFeed's serious journalism — A little more than a year ago, BuzzFeed made the leap into the realm of serious journalism. It hired some known journalists and a lot more hungry young writers, expanded its verticals, and announced a plan to create serious content to go alongside the site's trademark clever lists.

Discussion: Fast Company, paidContent and @jayrosen_nyu

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

TV Broadcasters Looking Into Aereo-Dish Network Discussions — Dish Network is looking to quash a subpoena. In a court filing, the company says that TV networks aren't entitled to learn whether it has plans to incorporate Aereo technology. — Dish Network co-founder Charlie Ergen

Discussion: Seeking Alpha, Fortune and Corporate Intelligence

William Alden / DealBook:

Twitter Arrives on Wall Street, Via Bloomberg — Largely blocked on Wall Street, Twitter is making its big debut on trading desks — via Bloomberg terminals. — Bloomberg L.P. announced on Thursday that it was incorporating tweets into its data service, which is widely used in the financial industry.

Discussion: Business Wire, Betabeat, CNET, @jaredbkeller, The Atlantic Wire, Financial Times, AllThingsD, Talking Biz News, Ubergizmo and Mashable

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

CNN.com Getting New Homepage And Organizational Structure — In a sign of just how quickly new CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker is moving to change the company, the CNN.com homepage will be getting a new look this afternoon, as well as a new organizational structure.

Discussion: NewscastStudio

Karen Fratti / 10,000 Words:

Vourno: A Crowd-Funding Platform for the News — If Joe Verdirame has his way, we're all going to be ‘vournos’ pretty soon. You heard me: vourno, or a video journalist. Along with his brother and some friends from college, none of whom are practicing journalists, Verdirame has created …

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Fairfax Media CEO Hywood's memo to staff on restructure — Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood sent a note to staff this morning detailing the second round of a sweeping restructure underway at Fairfax as it reengineers for structural change in the media sector. Here's his full message: