Mediagazer: How Publishers Organize for Social Era (Josh Sternberg/Digiday)

9:35 AM ET, May 24, 2013

Top News:

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Obama: Leak Investigations Could ‘Chill Investigative Journalism’ — President Obama said Thursday that he is “troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable.” — In a major speech on national security …

Leonard Downie Jr / Washington Post:

Leonard Downie: Obama's war on leaks undermines investigative journalism — Leonard Downie Jr. is a vice president at large of The Washington Post, where he served as executive editor from 1991 to 2008. He is the Weil family professor of journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism …

Gavriel Hollander / Press Gazette:

Sun and ITV defend ‘public interest’ in broadcasting Woolwich terror video which Sky News judged too ‘distressing’ — News organisations have defended their decisions to broadcast controversial video footage shot in the immediate aftermath of the Woolwich terror attack.

Discussion: Guardian

David Banks / Guardian: Woolwich attack footage will stir debate over contempt laws

James Legge / The Independent:

Twitter libel: Sally Bercow's tweet about Lord McAlpine ruled libellous — Sally Bercow says she is “surprised and disappointed” by the High Court ruling that her tweet about Tory peer Lord McAlpine was libellous. The tweet - which read: “Why is Lord McAlpine trending?

Discussion: Agence France Presse, Bloomberg and BBC

Nate Raymond / Reuters:

Judge says leaning toward U.S. in Apple e-books case — (Reuters) - In an unusual move before a trial, a federal judge expressed a tentative view that the U.S. Justice Department will be able to show evidence that Apple Inc engaged in a conspiracy with publishers to increase e-book prices.

Discussion: Fortune, SlashGear, CNET, AppleInsider and The Mac Observer

Tara Conlan / Guardian:

BBC axes £98m technology project to avoid ‘throwing good money after bad’ — Independent investigation launched after Digital Media Initiative, which aimed to digitise archive, results in catalogue of errors — The BBC has admitted that it has wasted almost £100m on a technology project …

Discussion: BBC and PressGazette

Ronald Grover / Reuters:

Hulu video site auction attracts four bidders: sources — (Reuters) - Former News Corp president Peter Chernin and private equity fund Guggenheim Digital Media have placed bids for Hulu, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, triggering a tug-of-war for the online video service.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Electronista, CNET and The Verge

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

How Publishers Organize for Social Era — Publishers are seeing social as a big traffic driver across the board, but the question remains how to organize for this. — For some very socially savvy publishers like a Mashable, this can mean a team of five-strong and a detailed strategy …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Karen Fratti / 10,000 Words:

The Old Grey Lady: The Times Needs to Get Over ‘Snow Fall’ — Like most people, I have a fear of getting really old. You know how sometimes you see an old, grey lady in the supermarket grumbling about the price of milk and scowling at the clerk who tries to help her? I don't want to be her one day.

Discussion: Capital New York, New York Magazine and FishbowlNY

Greg Sandoval / The Verge:

With downloads dwindling, music publishers throw a roadblock into Apple's iRadio plans — Streaming services, such as Pandora and Spotify, aren't as profitable for music publishers. They want to change that. — For years, when it came to driving negotiations with internet music services over licensing …

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Telegraph cements place as only profitable mainstream ‘quality’ national with £58.4m surplus for 2012 — Telegraph Media Group has claimed a slight improvement in operating profit for 2012 despite a marginal fall in turnover. — The publisher of the Telegraph print titles …

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

BBC increases pay offer to lowest earners in bid to head off strikes — Bectu general secretary says £50 hike to pay rise for staff earning less than £60,000 a year is an insult — The BBC has attempted to head off a potential summer of strikes by increasing its annual pay offer to its lowest-earning staff.

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Hearst Taps Demand Media's Bradford and Yucaipa's Johnson to “Redefine” the San Francisco Chronicle — Media giant Hearst has hired two senior execs — Demand Media's Joanne Bradford and former Los Angeles Times CEO Jeffrey Johnson — in a significant move to digitally turbocharge and jumpstart …

Discussion: ZDNet, @rajunarisetti and FishbowlLA

Keach Hagey / Digits:

Twitter Cozies Up to Television With New Ad Products — Twitter rolled out two advertising products on Thursday aimed at showing it wants to be television's friend, not foe. — The social networking site, powered by its recent acquisition of social media data company Bluefin Labs …

Discussion: Bloomberg and AllThingsD