Mediagazer: Textbook publishers revamp ebooks to fight used market (Reuters)

7:55 AM ET, July 23, 2013

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

Nate Silver Went Against the Grain for Some at The Times — Why did Nate Silver decide to leave The New York Times and accept an offer from ESPN? — That's the cause of great speculation in media circles at the moment. As has been noted elsewhere, there's no question that The Times …

Tessa Cheek / The Colorado Independent:

The Story after the Story: Remembering Armando Montaño a Year Later — Mando in full form in DC on a trip to the Newseum, which he jokingly referred to as his future wedding location. — A YEAR AGO this week, I found myself in Shove Chapel on Colorado College's campus where …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, @stephenceasar, @mike_littwin, @coindependent, @bschraum and @bdelossantos1

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Exclusive: Yahoo Loses Its Media Head, as Mickie Rosen Ankles From Company — According to sources, Yahoo's media head Mickie Rosen is leaving the Silicon Valley Internet giant. — Rosen, who reported to COO Henrique De Castro, is one of the highest-ranking execs to depart the company in recent months.

Discussion: AllThingsD, TechCrunch, Digits, Hollywood Reporter, PC World, Bloomberg, @saramorrison, Tech Trader Daily, @cnbc, @bmorrissey, @tcarmody and @mat

Lacey Rose / Hollywood Reporter:

Al Jazeera America Names ABC News' Kate O'Brian President — Ehab Al Shihabi, executive director for international operations, has been named as an interim CEO of the forthcoming channel. — A month ahead of Al Jazeera America's planned launch, the forthcoming international news channel is finally lining up its top executives.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Mediaite, TVNewser, ABC News, New York Times, @jayrosen_nyu, The Wrap, Guardian, @jamesrbuk, @dylanbyers, @nycjim and @jayrosen_nyu

David Kravets / Wired:

Local Newscast Uses DMCA to Erase Air Crash Reporting Blunder — Local San Francisco television news station KTVU has embarked on a novel use of copyright law to cover up embarrassing footage. It has been issuing takedown notices to YouTube for videos showing its anchor literally reading fake names …

Discussion: Poynter, TVSpy, CNET, @jayrosen_nyu and SFist

Lex Friedman / Macworld:

Apple: One billion iTunes podcast subscriptions and counting — Apple on Monday announced that the iTunes Store eclipsed 1 billion podcast subscriptions. That's a whole lot of talking. A special promotion appeared in the iTunes Podcasts directory to commemorate the big number.

Discussion: Inquirer, Cult of Mac, Huffington Post UK, Ubergizmo, The Verge, TUAW, The Next Web, Pocket-lint, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac and Engadget

Reuters:

Textbook publishers revamp ebooks to fight used market — (Reuters) - A booming market in recent years for selling and renting used college textbooks has saved students across the United States a ton of cash. — But it has put textbook publishers in a bind. They don't make a cent unless students buy their books new.

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

Mainstream Media [Hearts] Sponsored Tweets — Last week, the Associated Press sent out a promoted tweet on behalf of Edelman, a public relations firm, to its 2.2 million followers. The tweet, which the AP labeled as “sponsored tweet,” links, coincidentally enough, to a report by a PR firm on the ethics of sponsored content.

Thanks:@steverubel

Robert Andrews / Beet.TV:

Dublin's ‘Storyful’ Monetizing News Clips for Citizen Video Journalists — Having built a business verifying newsworthy amateur video for YouTube and several professional news organizations, Storyful now wants to have uploaders profit from their work as well as properly control their rights.

Thanks:@storyful

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Washington Post to launch new tech blog — Timothy B. Lee will lead the blog, which is to be called The Switch. Brian Fung and Andrea Peterson will join as reporters. The blog appears to be modeled a bit on Wonkbook, which Lee joined recently. Tech reporters Hayley Tsukayama, Cecilia Kang and Craig Timberg will also contribute.

Discussion: Washington Post, Medium, FishbowlDC and @binarybits

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Dominic Mohan severs staff ties with Rupert Murdoch — Former Sun editor is no longer on the payroll and could be in line for severance package of more than £2m — Dominic Mohan, who was recently moved from his role as editor of the Sun, has left the staff of News Corporation …

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Monday Q&A: Mother Jones' Steve Katz on that 47% video and turning attention into donations — Nonprofit news outlets rely on their readers to support their work — preferably not just in likes or retweets, but also in dollars. If you follow the path laid out by Mother Jones …