Mediagazer: In St. Louis, two news organizations are navigating the tricky path to a merger (Jan Schaffer/Nieman Journalism Lab)

3:45 AM ET, July 11, 2013

Top News:

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

E-Book Ruling Gives Amazon an Advantage — Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, loves disrupting markets. In that regard, he must be having a delightful summer. The book business, once so mired in the past it seemed part of the antiques trade, is up for grabs.

Discussion: @bkwalker, @bvol, @lisambayer, @lkhere, @pernillet and @annfensterstock

Reuters:
Judge says Apple conspired to raise prices on e-books

Jacob Gershman / Law Blog:
For Apple, a Tough Legal Road Grows Longer

Discussion: Reuters, Politico, Digits, Fortune, Ars Technica and www.wnyc.org

Katherine Fung / The Huffington Post:

Charles Koch: Tribune Newspaper Bid Is 'Not On The Front Burner, But It's Possible' — In his first public statement about the Tribune Company newspapers, Charles Koch said in an interview published Tuesday that “it's possible” that his company will make a bid.

Discussion: Wichita Eagle, The Raw Story and Politico

New York Times:

To Cut Taxes, Tribune Is to Split Into Broadcasting and Publishing Units — The Tribune Company's decision to divide itself into separate broadcast and publishing companies may help avoid a big tax bill, but the split does not address the bigger problem facing newspaper executives: buyers just do not want to spend on print.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, tribune.com, Wall Street Journal, Hampton Roads Daily Press, Free Press, LA Observed, Nieman Journalism Lab, Digital Media Wire, Politico and Poynter

Jan Schaffer / Nieman Journalism Lab:

In St. Louis, two news organizations are navigating the tricky path to a merger — If all goes as hoped, in coming months St. Louis Public Radio (SLPR) and the St. Louis Beacon will formally merge their two newsrooms. It will be the first time a public radio station with a staff of journalists …

Discussion: @cmatthewsnyc

David Dishneau / Associated Press:

Harvard professor says leaks changed WikiLeaks' image — FORT MEADE, Md. — An Army private's leak of classified information to WikiLeaks changed how the public, the government and traditional news media perceived the anti-secrecy organization — from a legitimate journalistic enterprise …

Discussion: Courthouse News Service, @freedomofpress, @jeffjarvis, @jeffjarvis and @xeni

Ian Simpson / Reuters:
Defense rests in court-martial of soldier accused of WikiLeaks disclosures

Discussion: GigaOM, The Huffington Post, UPI, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, @xeni, The Raw Story, Reuters, @carlmalamud, Boing Boing, RT, @xeni, @trevortimm, @wikileakstruck, @xeni and @freedomofpress

Sam Thielman / Adweek:

Zucker's Changes at CNN Are Already Bearing Fruit — The good ship CNN is riding a little higher on the waves. After months of plummeting ratings and a high-profile game of C-suite musical chairs, the original cable news network is catching up to its competitors in the core demo and showing significant year-over-year gains.

Discussion: Boing Boing

Laura Bennett / New Republic:
CNN Is Bad at Tabloid Journalism

Discussion: Gawker, Los Angeles Times and Piers Morgan

Bloomberg:

Eisner Predicts Hulu to Lose Next-Day TV Rights Post-Sale — The buyers of Hulu LLC will lose next-day rights to television shows that the service now enjoys under its current owners, Michael Eisner, former chairman of Walt Disney Co., said in an interview.

Harry McCracken / TIME:

PCWorld Exits Print, and the Era of Computer Magazines Ends — The last of the big general-interest PC magazines is no longer a magazine. — By Harry McCracken @harrymccrackenJuly 11, 2013 — The news isn't shocking. In fact, it's sort of a shock it didn't happen several years ago.

Discussion: Folio and Talking Biz News

Alastair Reid / Journalism.co.uk:

New York Times and Telegraph launch Kindle Fire apps — NYT looks to expand Android market while the Telegraph adds new features as the platform is integrated into existing subscription models The New York Times app includes free access to all sections until the end of July.

Discussion: Engadget, Big News Network.com, The Next Web and BtoB Magazine

Eliza Kern / GigaOM:

To win over media, Instagram to provide embeds for photo, video — Just a few weeks after adding video to its service, Instagram has announced Wednesday that it plans to allow users to embed their photos and videos across the web. It's a long-requested feature that will come as good news to a lot of users …

Discussion: Instagram Blog, AllThingsD, Net Worked, Nieman Journalism Lab, Digital Spy, howto.cnet.com, TUAW, @jeffehobbs, @mikeisaac, @dankennedy_nu, Los Angeles Times, WWD Media Headlines, The Next Web and Pocket-lint

Greg Sandoval / The Verge:

Boston broadcaster latest to sue Aereo for copyright violations — WCVB in Boston makes many of the same arguments against web TV service that two federal courts rejected in Manhattan — Add Hearst to the names of traditional media companies trying to stop Aereo from expanding its web TV service.

Discussion: GigaOM, Bloomberg, Boston Globe and Variety

Melissa Korn / Wall Street Journal:

CEO Re-Imagines NPR as a Pandora of News — Public-Radio Network Is Working on Letting Listeners Customize a Playlist Available via Cloud — NPR has had a rough few years, and despite new leadership, the turbulence hasn't entirely subsided. — Gary E. Knell took the helm in 2011 …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Andrew Green / Reuters:

South Sudan backs plans to boost press freedom, reporters wary — (Reuters) - South Sudan's parliament has passed two bills to improve press freedom, an official said on Wednesday, a move reporters in the African country hope will strengthen their rights in the face of regular harassment by the authorities.

Katy Bachman / Adweek:

If Publishers Fail to Self-Regulate Native Ads, FTC May Step In — BuzzFeed is famous for it, Facebook and Twitter embraced it, and The Atlantic got blasted for it. Native advertising may be all the rage, but if brands and publishers aren't careful, it could trigger some regulatory repercussions, analysts say.

Discussion: AdExchanger and eMedia Vitals