Mediagazer: McCain, Blumenthal want FCC to move ball forward on sports blackout rule (Jennifer Martinez/Hillicon Valley)

7:30 AM ET, June 20, 2013

Top News:

Robert Picard / Guardian:

Digital news is finally starting to pay — Workable revenue models are emerging that make the future look brighter for publishers, a new report has found — Newspaper publishers beleaguered by digital developments for the past decade are starting to believe that business models to support digital journalism have emerged.

Discussion: Guardian and Journalism.co.uk

Leo Kelion / BBC:

Online news is becoming easier to sell, suggests study — Consumers are becoming more willing to pay for online news, although most still choose not to, a study suggests. The percentage of UK-based web users who read paid-for content had more than doubled to 9% during the past 10 months, it said.

Discussion: Newsworks

James Poniewozik / TIME:

Michael Hastings and Who Journalists Really Work For — I'm not the person to write a personal appreciation of Michael Hastings, the 33-year-old investigative journalist who died in a car crash in Los Angeles yesterday. I never met him; I don't know if he was a good guy, or a bad guy, or both in what ratio.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, New York Times, The Informer, Hollywood Reporter, New Yorker, Slate, LAist, Hillman Foundation blogs, Business Insider, FishbowlDC, Boing Boing and FishbowlNY

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Sree Sreenivasan to leave chief digital officer post at Columbia University — Sree Sreenivasan, the journalism professor and social-media evangelist, is leaving his full-time job at Columbia University, where he's taught for two decades, sources tell Capital.

Discussion: @columbiaspec, @fbonacci, @rubinafillion, @jasonchupick, @ryanbeckwith and @columuniversity

Linda Kinstler / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Times of London, navigating audience with a strict paywall, retires its opinion Tumblr — When you bet on a strict, un-leaky paywall as The Times of London has, you're forced to get creative about how to put your work in front of new audiences — particularly if you're trying to influence their opinions.

Discussion: pressgazette.co.uk and SocialTimes

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Wired Editor Michael Copeland Joins Andreessen Horowitz To Lead New ‘Content Strategy’ — Wired Senior Editor Michael Copeland is joining venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. We've confirmed with the VC firm that Copeland will be leading Andreessen's new ‘content strategy.’

Discussion: @mvc

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

AP Takes A Stake In Bambuser, The Real-Time Mobile Video Service That Helps Eyewitnesses Tell Their Stories — Bambuser, the upstart mobile video service that has carved out a name for itself as a crucial tool for eyewitnesses to record and transmit footage of major events …

Discussion: Beet.TV, Journalism.co.uk, Associated Press and The Next Web

New York Times:

Muffling of a Voice Provokes an Outcry in Greece — ATHENS — The poignant image made its way around the world: A blond violinist, tears streaming down her face as she played Elgar in a studio orchestra of Greek's state broadcaster to protest Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's unilateral decision …

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

The New York Times is making ads for the future — but where's the present day money? — The Idea Lab of the New York Times has cranked out a series of innovative ad products. Here's some examples — and a look at why the flashy ads haven't lifted Times' ad sales out of a rut.

John Eggerton / Broadcasting & Cable:

Sen. Cantwell Criticizes Gannett/Belo Deal — Calls it effort to skirt local media ownership rules — Media consolidation critic Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) Tuesday criticized Gannett over its proposal to buy Belo stations, including three in Washington state, to create a so-called Super Group.

Discussion: Gannett Blog

Jennifer Martinez / Hillicon Valley:

McCain, Blumenthal want FCC to move ball forward on sports blackout rule — Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Wednesday pressed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move the ball forward on potentially changing its sports blackout rule.

Discussion: Variety, Adweek, Broadcasting & Cable and Radio & Television …

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

Dan Abrams To Become ABC Nightline Anchor And Expands Role At Good Morning America — We've just learned that “The Bossman,” a.k.a., Mediaite's founder and publisher Dan Abrams is expanding his role with ABC News, becoming an anchor of Nightline and gaining the title of Chief Legal Affairs Anchor for ABC News.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, TVNewser, TVWeek.com, Hollywood Reporter, The New York Observer, Los Angeles Times, FishbowlNY, Deadline.com, Broadcasting & Cable and The Huffington Post

Kevin Fitchard / GigaOM:

With Dish (mostly) out of the way, the path is clear for Sprint-SoftBank deal — Dish Network is shelving its plans to acquire Sprint, letting the deadline to counter SoftBank's $21.6 billion buyout bid pass on Tuesday. That pretty much clears the way for the Sprint-SoftBank deal to close …

Discussion: Forbes and The Next Web

Reuters:
Dish abandons Sprint bid for now to focus on Clearwire

Discussion: Multichannel.com, AllThingsD, VentureBeat, The Verge and Engadget

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

Cleveland Plain Dealer staffers facing layoffs — The Cleveland Plain Dealer plans to lay off staffers in the marketing, finance, information technology, pre-press and building service departments, according to the Save the Plain Dealer Campaign's Facebook page.

Discussion: Facebook and WKYC-TV

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

Older TV viewers driving audience growth, but it's a mixed blessing — Call it the “Matlock” effect: TV viewing among older Americans is on the rise. (Los Angeles Times) — By 2015, almost half of all television viewing will be done by folks over the age of 50, says media analyst Todd Juenger …

Bloomberg:

News Corp. Spinoff Pegs Value of Publishing at $9.1 Billion (2) — News Corp. (NWSA)'s publishing spinoff began trading today at a market value of about $9.1 billion, one-seventh the size of the entertainment side of the media empire, underscoring the business's growth challenges.

Discussion: Reuters, Insider Monkey and Bloomberg