Mediagazer: Al Jazeera America: A Unicorn is Born (Joe Pompeo/New York Magazine)

4:05 AM ET, July 12, 2013

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

How Acceptable Was Anonymous Speculation About Snowden's Laptops? — It's the story that just won't quit: The tale of Edward J. Snowden and his leak of classified information about the United States government's secret surveillance of citizens. — Rife with skirmishes and subplots …

Discussion: @balthazarbierma, @michelelassauxh, @jamesrbuk, @jackshafer, @ggreenwald, The Week, FP Passport, Mother Jones, The Huffington Post, ABC News and New York Magazine

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Pew: About a quarter of Americans say journalists contribute little to society — 27 percent of Americans say journalists contribute little or nothing to society's well being, according to a study by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Discussion: Pew Forum on Religion …, @jackshafer, NationalJournal.com and TVSpy

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Holder to deliver report to Obama on press probe guidelines — Attorney General Eric Holder is scheduled to deliver a report to President Barack Obama Friday on proposed changes to Justice Department guidelines on criminal investigations that involve the news media.

Joe Pompeo / New York Magazine:

Al Jazeera America: A Unicorn is Born — Where the magic will happen: Al Jazeera America's newsroom. — The modern realities of the media business have so accustomed us to seeing journalistic entities disbanded, either abruptly or in slow motion, that there's an undeniable fascination …

Discussion: @jshormannl, @jamespoulos and Los Angeles Times

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Andrew Goldman is leaving ‘Talk’ post at ‘New York Times Magazine’ — The New York Times Magazine is getting a new columnist for its weekly Q & A feature. — Andrew Goldman, the writer on Its most recent incarnation, “Talk,” bid farewell to fans on Twitter today and said that his column …

Discussion: The New York Observer

Ira Teinowitz / The Wrap:

Battle Over the FCC's Future Kickstarted Again in Congress — Greg Walden rips the FCC for taking too long to review communications deals and for overreaching in demanding concessions such as in the Comcast-NBCU merger — The battle over the Federal Communications Communication's future returned …

Discussion: Radio & Television … and Broadcasting & Cable

David Kravets / Wired:

RIAA Wants Infamous File-Sharer to Campaign Against Piracy — Did you hear the one about the world's most infamous music file-sharer being asked to publicly extol the virtues of the Recording Industry Association of America's anti-piracy platform? — The RIAA is suggesting Jammie Thomas-Rasset do just that.

Discussion: TorrentFreak, Techdirt, Softpedia News and The Verge

Jeff Jarvis / Guardian:

Who is a journalist? Manning trial poses question of vital public interest — In this age of radically open networks, journalism is no longer a profession. It is a service to inform society anyone can provide — When Bradley Manning's defense attorneys wanted someone to explain journalism …

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's …, Prof Chris Daly's Blog and Boing Boing

Hamish McKenzie / PandoDaily:

Upworthy's biggest threat: Becoming a one-note wonder — Upworthy is one of the hottest media stories around. In May, it registered 30 million unique visitors, an incredibly high number for a 13-month-old company, placing it above Hulu.com, NBC Sports, and Us Magazine on the pageview totem pole.

Daniel E. Slotnik / New York Times:

Layhmond Robinson Jr., 88, Dies; Paved the Way for Black Journalists — Layhmond Robinson Jr., one of the first black reporters at The New York Times, who later became a local television news correspondent, died on June 29 in Queens. He was 88. — The cause was complications of pneumonia, his daughter Deborah Robinson said.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Publishers Try a Different Kind of Pay Wall, Unlocked by Watching Web Video — Publishers including Maxim, Radar Online, Guitar World and USA Today Sports Media are experimenting with a pay wall that instead of charging readers requires them to watch an advertiser's video.

Discussion: @themediaisdying

Liana B. Baker / Reuters:

Malone says cable companies should make joint bid for Hulu — (Reuters) - Cable companies should make a joint bid to buy Hulu, the online video site currently conducting an auction, billionaire cable pioneer John Malone said on Thursday. — Joint ownership of Hulu would give cable companies …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter and @lianabaker