Mediagazer: British newspapers are becoming more American (Economist)

11:20 AM ET, July 29, 2013

Top News:

Bloomberg Media Recruits a New Chief From the Atlantic — Justin B. Smith, whose digital strategy swiftly transformed The Atlantic, one of the statelier media vessels around, is about to get a bigger boat. — On Monday, Bloomberg will announce that Mr. Smith, the president of Atlantic Media …

Discussion: AllThingsD, BuzzMachine, TVNewser, MediaPost, JIMROMENESKO.COM, GigaOM, The New York Observer, Los Angeles Times, @atlblog, The Huffington Post, eMedia Vitals, @justin_b_smith, Trust But Verify, @jeffjohnroberts and New York Magazine

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Cumulus planning to drop Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity — In a major shakeup for the radio industry, Cumulus Media, the second-biggest broadcaster in the country, is planning to drop both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity from its stations at the end of the year, an industry source told POLITICO on Sunday.

Discussion: TVNewser, FishbowlNY, Deadline.com, The Week, @charliespiering, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, @passantino, New York Magazine and The Raw Story

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Why the time is right for The Washington Post & others to boost video initiatives — The Washington Post will formally launch PostTV today — a big gamble that it can widen audience and win significant advertising revenue by producing digital video programs and distributing the segments to various partners.

Discussion: Washington Post, NetNewsCheck Latest and @abeaujon

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Washington Post Launches New Political Web Shows — WASHINGTON — In a newly renovated section of the The Washington Post's fourth-floor newsroom, seven words are scrawled atop a wall-sized chalkboard: “Would you watch it or share it?” — That's the question PostTV producers and hosts …

Bloomberg:

Publicis to Merge With Omnicom as Biggest Advertising Company — Publicis Groupe SA (PUB) and Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) agreed to merge in an all-stock deal to create the world's largest advertising company, toppling market leader WPP Plc. (WPP) — Shareholders of Paris-based Publicis …

Liana Aghajanian / Public Spectacle:

Boing Boing Editor Xeni Jardin Talks About Her Ongoing Recovery From Breast Cancer — Xeni Jardin live-tweeted her cancer diagnosis — and all the pain that followed. — “I have breast cancer and I'm in good hands.” — Those are the words Xeni Jardin, tech journalist …

Discussion: @adamslisa and @trevortimm

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

A Blow for the Press, and for Democracy — SOMETIMES James Risen feels like Jean Valjean, the beleaguered protagonist of “Les Miserables,” hounded for years by the authorities. — “They just keep coming at me,” Mr. Risen, a Times reporter in Washington, told me by phone last week.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

Are Magazines Blowing iPad Sales? — Last week, the Association of Magazine Media released some unsettling, albeit not surprising, numbers for news magazines. It found that many mags had significant drops in ad pages in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Sinclair to buy Allbritton TV stations for $985 million — Sinclair will buy Allbritton's TV stations for $985 million, the company announced Monday. The stations purchased include WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., WSET in Lynchburg, Va., and WCIV in Charleston, S.C.

Discussion: Politico, sbgi.net and TVSpy

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Independent & others published fake Jenny McCarthy quote — Attention journalists, Jenny McCarthy never said this: … She's responsible for many objectionable and false claims about autism, but the above isn't one of them.

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, @davidfolkenflik, The Superficial and @dangillmor

Marc Tracy / New Republic:

How a Terrible Fox News Interview Became a Traffic Bonanza for BuzzFeed — There is much to be said about the interview Reza Aslan did Friday on Fox News' online show “Spirited Debate.” Aslan, a Muslim writer who converted from Christianity (to which he had converted from Islam) …

Discussion: BuzzFeed and Slate, Thanks:@ericmarkdo

Graham Bowley / New York Times:

An Afghan Media Mogul, Pushing Boundaries — AT the inaugural championship of the new Afghan premier soccer league in Kabul last October, Saad Mohseni stood on the well-groomed sideline wearing a Western blazer and a toothy smile that said, “Yes, you had better believe it.”

Discussion: @peterwsinger and @mlcalderone