Mediagazer: Ebooks now make up 33 percent of Penguin's US revenue (Laura Hazard Owen/paidContent)

12:20 AM ET, July 27, 2013

Top News:

Bradley Manning's defense attorney says soldier is a whistleblower who wanted to inform public — FORT MEADE, Md. — U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is a whistleblower who wanted to inform the American public about the troubling things he saw in the war zone, and the soldier is willing to pay …

Discussion: Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, @edpilkington, @carwinb, RT, @edpilkington, Guardian, www.wnyc.org and NPR

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

Press Conditions In Bradley Manning Trial Compared To Libya — Tensions continued to flare between the military and journalists covering the closing arguments in the Bradley Manning trial on Friday. — On Thursday, journalists reported that armed military officers were walking the aisles …

Discussion: @carwinb, Firedoglake, Techdirt, Boing Boing and Freedom of the Press …

Brian Fung / Wonkblog:
Why Bradley Manning's court-martial matters for civilians

Discussion: Guardian, Kirk LaPointe's … and Christian Science Monitor

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Washington Post launches a new site focused on state and local government — The Washington Post is taking a different approach to its government reporting. On Aug. 19 the Post will launch GovBeat, a site that focuses on the interaction between Washington, D.C., and state and local governments around the country.

Discussion: FishbowlDC, Mediashift, NetNewsCheck Latest and Columbia Journalism Review

Dylan Byers / Politico: Washington Post nabs Hotline's Reid Wilson to oversee new GovBeat project

Andy / TorrentFreak:

UK Porn Filter Will Censor Other Content Too, ISPs Reveal — On Monday David Cameron told his citizens that by the end of the year broadband subscribers will be required to go through a compulsory system which will decide what they can and cannot see on the Internet.

Discussion: Plagiarism Today, ReadWrite, Boing Boing, TechCrunch, Yahoo! News and Softpedia News

Dave Lee / BBC:
Chinese firm Huawei controls net filter praised by PM

Discussion: Yahoo! News, ANIMAL, Fast Company, Mashable, Engadget, Boing Boing, China Real Time Report, Quartz, Beijing Cream, Techdirt, Groupthink, Electronista and Business Insider

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Ebooks now make up 33 percent of Penguin's US revenue — Ebooks accounted for 33 percent of Penguin's U.S. revenue in the first half of 2013, parent company Pearson reported Friday, up from 31 percent this time last year. Worldwide, ebooks made up 21 percent of Penguin's revenue, up from 19 percent last year.

Discussion: PublishersWeekly.com, Digital Book World, Stock Investing Advice and PublishersWeekly.com

Mark Sweney / Guardian:
Pearson puts FT Group's Mergermarket up for sale

Discussion: International Business Times, Telegraph, Reuters, Agence France Presse, themediabriefing.com, Bookseller news, Reuters, Bloomberg, NASDAQ.com and Wall Street Journal

Simon Zekaria / Wall Street Journal:
Pearson Posts Loss as Restructuring Continues

Discussion: Pearson

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Yahoo Plans Splashy New San Francisco Digs (and Dreams of Neon Billboard's Return) — According to multiple sources close to the situation, Yahoo is close to signing a lease for a splashy new San Francisco outpost to keep up with the fast growth of other Web companies that have opened high-profile offices here.

Discussion: @benwitte and Bloomberg

Jeff John Roberts / GigaOM:

Content owners warn Congress of “fair use creep,” draw ridicule — Groups representing the movie, music and photography industries testified before Congress on Thursday, and called on the government to consider changing laws to do more to address piracy and file-sharing.

Discussion: Techdirt, LAW.com, The Huffington Post, Creativity Tech, @thecyberlawyer and @jmarkockerbloom

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

WBEZ president Torey Malatia resigns — Torey Malatia, the longtime general manager of public radio station WBEZ-FM 91.5, is resigning his post effective Friday. — He announced his decision in a joint statement issued by parent organization Chicago Public Media, where he served as president and CEO.

Discussion: @davidfolkenflik, Change of Subject, @robertfeder, @rsamer, @theboxfactory, @billadairduke, @rsamer, Current.org and @kairyssdal

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Glenn Greenwald To Testify Before Congress — A congressional hearing next Wednesday on the National Security Agency's surveillance efforts will include testimony from critics, including the journalist who first reported on the programs. — Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) told The Guardian …

Discussion: Guardian, Mediaite, @ggreenwald, @jeffjarvis, The Huffington Post and @mattortega

Jim Romenesko:

Newspaper editor admits he's ‘in the way of progress’ and steps down — Kudos to Joe Butkiewicz for being refreshingly honest about his decision to resign as executive editor of the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader: “In my old-fashioned way, I'm in the way of progress.”

Discussion: The Times-Tribune and The Huffington Post

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

The Obama media pool lacks racial depth — When the first black president of the United States walked into the White House press room to talk about Trayvon Martin and the complexities of race in America last Friday, the people poised to convey his remarks to the world were overwhelmingly of one race — white.

Stuart Kemp / Hollywood Reporter:

BBC Veteran Stuart Hall's Sentence for Sex Offenses Doubled — Court of Appeal judges have increased his time in prison to 30 months, after critics complained he “got off lightly” after admitting to crimes against young girls. — LONDON — The sentence of 15 months in prison …

Elias Biryabarema / Reuters:

Uganda to deport U.S. journalist for illegal presence — * Was arrested while filming opposition protest — Uganda said on Friday it would deport a U.S. freelance journalist arrested while filming opposition activists clashing with police in Kampala, accusing him of working in Uganda illegally.