Mediagazer: The newsonomics of Tribune's detour (Ken Doctor/Nieman Journalism Lab)

2:55 PM ET, July 11, 2013

Top News:

Brian Lowry / Variety:

Tribune Spinoff Sounds Death Knell for TV-Print Synergy — Tribune's grand plans surrounding Times Mirror merger never materialized — You can't hurry love. And you can't force synergy. — Tribune's long-awaited decision to spin off its newspaper holdings and bet squarely …

Discussion: Free Press, LA Observed and Broadcasting & Cable

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, Poynter, Digital Media Wire, LA Observed, Reuters, Nieman Journalism Lab, Politico and bizjournals

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The newsonomics of Tribune's detour — Is it a detour of some kind? Is it a deke? Or is it a Koch-around? — The big question is why Tribune would go through the time, money, and bother to split the companies when it doesn't want to be in the newspaper business and has would-be buyers waiting for company data.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Katherine Fung / The Huffington Post:
Charles Koch: Tribune Newspaper Bid Is 'Not On The Front Burner, But It's Possible'

Discussion: Wichita Eagle, LA Observed and The Raw Story

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: Forbes, The United States Department …, paidContent, @pernillet, @bvol, Kindle Review, @lkhere, @bkwalker, @annfensterstock, @lisambayer, Corporate Intelligence, Top Digital Journal News, AllThingsD and GalleyCat

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

Discussion: CNET, Business Insider, Reuters, Politico, Mercury News, Fortune, Digits, Ars Technica and Reuters

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 … and TVSpy

Siraj Datoo / Guardian:

BBC's Jeremy Bowen successfully treated after being shot in Egypt — Corporation's Middle East editor has operation to remove shotgun pellets that hit his head while he was covering protests — The BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, has had an operation to remove shotgun pellets in his head.

Discussion: The Wrap, TVNewser and The Huffington Post

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: HotHardware.com News, Folio, Talking Biz News and eMedia Vitals

Arif Durrani / Media Week:

Guardian set to report annual losses of around £35m — Guardian News and Media is set to report pre-tax losses in the region of £35 million for its year to 1 April 2013 next week, around a 20% drop from losses in 2012. — Last year, Guardian News & Media …

Discussion: Guardian

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: Boing Boing and Prof Chris Daly's Blog

Ben Woods / The Next Web:

Meet Lumi, the no-effort content discovery engine from the founders of Last.fm — What do you do when you've built a product up from nothing to the point of being acquired for hundreds of millions of dollars by a massive American corporation? You take some time off.

Discussion: TechCrunch, GigaOM, Guardian, Mashable, Motherboard, CNET, The Independent, Telegraph, @caseynewton, Tech City News and Co.Labs

Maxwell Williams / Los Angeles Times:

Top Museum Directors Protest L.A. Times Arts Reporter Layoff — Leaders of LACMA, MOCA, the Getty and the Hammer have sent a letter to editor Davan Maharaj calling for arts writer Jori Finkel's reinstatement, saying they are “dismayed” by the layoff. — It's not often a newspaper writer makes …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, DealBook and ANIMAL

Lynda V. Mapes / The Seattle Times:

Top editor David Boardman leaving Seattle Times — Boardman, executive editor and senior vice president at The Times, is taking a new job as dean of the School of Media and Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia. — After 30 years — and four Pulitzer Prizes — David Boardman …

Discussion: Poynter, Associated Press, Philly.com, Temple University News and Strange Bedfellows

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 …

Lucas Shaw / The Wrap:

Blip Hires Former Tumblr and Gawker Editor Chris Mohney to Oversee Programming — Blip has hired former Tumblr executive Chris Mohney as its vice president of programming, the digital video network said Wednesday. Blip created this position for Mohney, who will oversee all editorial content for the company's site.

Discussion: Adweek and SocialTimes