Mediagazer: How @breakingnews keeps news junkies current in a crisis (Nilay Patel/The Verge)

1:50 PM ET, May 4, 2013

Top News:

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

How @breakingnews keeps news junkies current in a crisis — General manager Cory Bergman talks about his team's process, the Boston bombings, and the importance of the gut check — Lots of people follow @breakingnews on Twitter — the account and the breakingnews.com website and mobile apps …

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

U.K. Publishers Hit Book Sales Record for 2012 Amid Digital Growth — Spending on printed and digital books rose 4 percent to more than $5.1 billion, with “Fifty Shades of Grey” and “Hunger Games” among the bestsellers. — LONDON - British publishers brought in their highest-ever annual sales in 2012 …

Alex Kantrowitz / Digiday:

Behind Reddit's Ambivalent Embrace of Advertising — Sitting at the helm of the Internet's newest social juggernaut, Reddit general manager Erik Martin has a tough task on his hands. He is charged with simultaneously turning Reddit's 4.5 billion monthly pageviews (by its count) …

Hollywood Reporter:

Howard Kurtz Status at CNN Unchanged — The “Reliable Sources” host will address the controversy on Sunday's program. — Howard Kurtz status at CNN remains unchanged, according to the network. — “There has been no status change with Howard Kurtz, he remains the host of Reliable Sources,” said a network spokesperson on Friday.

Discussion: Erik Wemple, American Journalism Review, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Wire and TVNewser

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Why Did Howard Kurtz Take Such Large Role In Obscure Site? — NEW YORK — Before The Daily Beast fired Howard Kurtz on Thursday, newsroom staffers had been wondering why their Washington bureau chief appeared to be spending so much time working with an obscure media site called Daily Download.

Discussion: Politico, Gawker, @mlcalderone, FishbowlNY, Slate, Pressing Issues and The Wrap

Ivan Moraes Filho / Free Press:

Brazilian Reformers Launch Campaign for Better Media — If you've ever watched television in Brazil, you would think that the country has no ethnic or cultural diversity. Most Brazilian TV announcers and actors look the same and speak with a similar accent.

Dean Starkman / Columbia Journalism Review:

Those immobile newspaper companies — Only 22 percent of a big sample even offer mobile products — One of the truisms of digital journalism, and one that happens to be true, is that mobile is a big part of the future of news, if it isn't the future. — The latest Pew “State of the Media” …

Jennifer Saba / Reuters:

Washington Post profit plunges 85 percent on weak news, education revenues — (Reuters) - Washington Post Co reported an 85 percent drop in first-quarter net income on Friday on weakness in its education and newspaper businesses. — Stronger results from the television and cable operations …

Discussion: Quartz, The Week, RTTNews, Fort Mill Times and New York Magazine

Steven Mufson / Washington Post:
The Washington Post Co. earnings decline; revenue sees slight increase

Discussion: Poynter and paidContent

Michael Kelley / Library Journal:

OverDrive and Sourcebooks to Launch Ambitious Ebook Data Experiment — OverDrive and Sourcebooks are preparing to launch an innovative and ambitious pilot program whose goal is to clearly demonstrate the impact library ebook lending has on book sales and author recognition.

Discussion: paidContent

Eddie Scarry / FishbowlDC:

Layoffs Hit CQ Roll Call — In addition to the buyouts of five CQ Roll Call staffers announced Thursday, there have been layoffs of several other employees, FishbowlDC has learned. — A source familiar with the layoffs, who asked to speak on condition of anonymity, could not confirm …

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg:

William Cox Jr., Dow Jones Heir Who Sold Company, Dies at 82 — William C. Cox Jr., the patriarch of the Bancroft clan that controlled Dow Jones & Co. for 105 years and sold it to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. in a decision sparking a family feud, has died. He was 82.

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:

Nicole Cliffe is Leaving The Hairpin to Start New Site — Nicole Cliffe, the books editor at The Hairpin, is leaving The Awl network's site to start her own. Ms. Cliffe is partnering with Mallory Ortberg, who is a familiar name over at The Hairpin and has contriubuted to Gawker, The Atlantic and The Gloss.

Discussion: The Hairpin

Gordon Rayner / Telegraph:

Leveson: Government's press regulation plans put on ice — The Government's proposal for a Royal Charter on the future of press regulation, drawn up with the help of the campaign group Hacked Off, has been put on ice after newspaper editors put forward an alternative plan.

Discussion: Mirror.co.uk and PressGazette