Mediagazer: U.K. Watchdog: BBC Severance Pay Has ‘Too Often’ Been Excessive (George Szalai/Hollywood Reporter)

10:20 AM ET, July 1, 2013

Top News:

Journalism, Even When It's Tilted — In a refracted media world where information comes from everywhere, the line between two “isms” — journalism and activism — is becoming difficult to discern. As American news media have pulled back from international coverage, nongovernmental organizations …

Discussion: Pressing Issues and Kirk LaPointe's …

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:

There are no journalists, there is only the service of journalism. — Yes, I know that in condensed form, that may sound like a parodic tweet. But please consider the idea. — Thanks to the Snowden-Greenwald NSA story, we are headed into another spate of debate about who is and isn't a journalist.

Discussion: Joho the Blog

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

Who's a Journalist? A Question With Many Facets and One Sure Answer — Behind almost every correction in The Times, there is a story. In the case of the correction about Alexa O'Brien, the story is a particularly interesting one. — The correction, which was in Wednesday's paper, read:

Discussion: paidContent, Green Left Weekly, Guardian, Forbes, Dave Winer, @buzzfeedben, @digiphile, @stevebuttry, @jeffjarvis, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post and Softpedia News

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Sky News cleared over ‘canoe man’ email hacking — Media regulator news channel was acting in public interest but its conduct was ‘at the boundaries of what is appropriate’ — BSkyB has been cleared of breaking the broadcasting code for hacking the emails belonging to John Darwin, the …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Paul Sawers / The Next Web:

The BBC announces 8 new comedy pilots exclusive to iPlayer — The BBC has announced a new roster of comedy pilots that will broadcast exclusively on its online ‘catch-up’ service iPlayer. — The British broadcaster will showcase eight new comedy pilots on iPlayer, two of which have already …

Discussion: Compare Mobile Phones … and The Drum

Lisa De Moraes / Deadline.com:

Al Jazeera America Confirms Soledad O'Brien Hire — Al Jazeera America confirmed this morning it had signed former CNN star Soledad O'Brien as a “special correspondent.” Additionally, O'Brien's production company, Starfish Media Group will produce hour-long documentary specials for the cable network.

Discussion: TVNewser, The Wrap, @mlcalderone and @mlcalderone

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp reborn as publishing arm targets smartphones — Chief executive says company aims to ‘own the second screen’ through deals such as Sun's Premier League highlights service — News Corporation, the newly devolved publishing division in Rupert Murdoch's global empire starts …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Hollywood Reporter, Digital TV Europe, Reuters and BBC

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

Who's Winning at Volume in Publishing — Winning in digital media now boils down to a simple equation: figure out a way to produce the most content at as low a cost as possible. — In recent years, new players like The Huffington Post burst onto the scene by pumping out a dizzying amount of content each day.

Katherine Rushton / Telegraph:

Senior Murdoch lieutenant Richard Caseby leaving after 24 years — One of Rupert Murdoch's most long-serving lieutenants, Richard Caseby, is understood to be leaving his job as the managing editor of The Sun and The Sunday Times newspapers. — Mr Caseby, who joined Rupert Murdoch's …

Discussion: Guardian and The Drum

George Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

U.K. Watchdog: BBC Severance Pay Has ‘Too Often’ Been Excessive — Overpayments to departing top executives, such as former director general George Entwistle, put the broadcaster's public trust at risk, Britain's National Audit Office says in a report. — LONDON - The BBC has breached …

Discussion: pressgazette.co.uk, Guardian, Guardian, Guy Fawkes' blog, Belfast Telegraph, BBC and ITV News

Anna Clark / Columbia Journalism Review:

How Wisconsin's watchdogs kept their home — Investigative newsroom drew on a network of allies in successful bid for governor's veto — DETROIT, MI — The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism scored a big win over the weekend, as Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican …

Discussion: WisconsinWatch.org, JSOnline and @jayrosen_nyu

Nick Statt / ReadWrite:

Siri Will Now Read You The News, Courtesy of Wibbitz — Israeli startup Wibbitz doesn't want you to read the news. It wants to read the news to you, in the form of 1-2 minute video summaries narrated by a helpful synthetic voice and accompanied by video of related images and animated infographics.

Discussion: paidContent and TechCrunch