Mediagazer: Canada Clears Penguin, Random House Merger (Publishers Weekly)

8:55 AM ET, April 22, 2013

Top News:

Conservative Koch Brothers Turning Focus to Newspapers — Three years ago, Charles and David Koch, the billionaire industrialists and supporters of libertarian causes, held a seminar of like-minded, wealthy political donors at the St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colo. They laid out a three-pronged …

Discussion: Gawker, Talking Biz News, The Fix, ThinkProgress, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Via Meadia, Yahoo! News, Business Insider, New York Magazine, Top Digital Journal News, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Gothamist, Deadline.com and New York Times

Felix Salmon:

The social media tail mustn't wag the MSM dog — The Boston bombing and subsequent manhunt was in many ways the first big interactive news story. It wasn't the first big event to be covered obsessively on social media, but it was the first big event where millions of people became part of the story themselves.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation, @buzzfeedben, Noah Brier dot Com, The Fix, Capital New York and TVNewser

Mark Little / Storyful Blog:

When Everyone is an Eye-Witness, What is a Journalist? — I thought a lot about one of my journalistic heroes this past week. In fact, I think of Ernie Pyle any time I need reassurance about journalism. — His World War II dispatches are lessons in humility and humanity.

Discussion: New York Times, Slate, @jayrosen_nyu and @rajunarisetti

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

Comedy Central to Host Comedy Festival on Twitter — Next week, Comedy Central will host a five-day comedy festival that includes a lineup of legends like Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner alongside popular young comics like Amy Schumer and the director Paul Feig. — But there will be no smoky comedy clubs.

Discussion: Softpedia News, Digital Spy, The Next Web, The Verge and CNET

Pekka Pekkala / Online Journalism Review:

Networked journalism will move value from “brand” to “contribution” — Journalism is not in crisis. The media industry — and journalists — might be, but the journalism itself is actually improving. — Such is the argument made by international documentary filmmaker Bregtje van der Haak …

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

Intel's TV project loses key exec months before going to market — Intel Media, the chip giant's ambitious attempt to reinvent pay TV, has lost a key executive just months before going to market. Jim Baldwin, who was working as VP of Engineering for Intel Media, has left the company.

Nitasha Tiku / Betabeat:

Storyboard Speaks: Laid-Off Tumblr Staffers Discuss David Karp's Decision — Earlier this week, Tumblr CEO David Karp took the stage at PaidContent Live for a panel called “Tumblr and the Future of Media.” It was a poignant title considering that one of the topics discussed was Mr. Karp's recent …

Abdi Sheikh / Reuters:

Somali reporter killed in fourth journalist murder this year — (Reuters) - A Somali journalist working for the government broadcaster was shot dead outside his home in the capital Mogadishu on Sunday, the fourth reporter to be murdered in the country this year, the union of journalists said.

Discussion: New York Times, Horseed Media, RBC Radio and NEWS.com.au

USA Today:

USA TODAY Sports Launches “For The Win” — The First-Ever Sports Media Property Dedicated Exclusively To Social News — FTW will focus on elevating stories that fans are, and will be, talking about most; Right Guard(R) will serve as exclusive launch partner

Discussion: paidContent

Andy Carvin / MediaShift:

ISOJ Keynote: Can Social Media Help Us Create A More Informed Public? — Here's the transcript of a talk I gave at the International Symposium for Online Journalists in Austin, Texas last Friday. We Messed Up Now as many of you know, I'm usually I'm not at a loss for words.

Discussion: Andy Carvin's Waste …, Thanks:@mediatwit

Publishers Weekly:

Canada Clears Penguin, Random House Merger — Canada is the most recent country to approve the Random House, Penguin merger without asking for any changes to the deal. Friday, the Canadian Competition Bureau and the Department of Canadian Heritage cleared the merger without conditions.

Bloomberg:

Time Warner-CBS Seen Candidate for Merger: Real M&A — Time Warner Inc. (TWX) and CBS Corp. (CBS) have flirted for years. A marriage now may make more sense than ever. — CBS shares, while trading near the highest price since the company and Viacom Inc. split seven years ago …