Mediagazer: Defence Force denies having journalist's phone data (Kate Shuttleworth/New Zealand Herald)

7:40 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, JIMROMENESKO.COM, GigaOM, eMedia Vitals, @justin_b_smith, Trust But Verify, @jeffjohnroberts, The Huffington Post 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: The Week, Mediaite, @passantino, New York Magazine and Deadline.com

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 …

Discussion: New York Times, Digiday, GigaOM, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, AdAge, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Variety, @contagious, BBC, Radio & Television …, Forbes, mUmBRELLA, ZDNet, Chicago Tribune, @rajunarisetti and Reuters

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.

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

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: @trevortimm

Kate Shuttleworth / New Zealand Herald:

Defence Force denies having journalist's phone data — Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman says there is no evidence the Defence Force had copies of journalist Jon Stephenson's phone metadata. — Dr Coleman said in a statement today he would be very concerned if this had occurred.

Discussion: Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand Listener, New Zealand Herald and 3 News

Nieman Journalism Lab:

At the intersection of journalism, data science, and digital media: How can j-schools prep students for the world they're headed into? — Editor's note: Two journalism educators — Amy Schmitz Weiss of San Diego State and Cindy Royal of Texas State — have provided their own lenses …

Discussion: Prof Chris Daly's Blog

Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:

NBC to Emphasize Live Events in Lineup — NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt Addresses Challenges Facing Broadcast Television — By - KEACH HAGEY - — NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt was frank about the network's failures last season in addressing a press tour Saturday …

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Business Insider Gives Advertiser Veto Power Over ‘Future of Business’ Edit Mix — To Start, Newsroom Stories in Sponsored Section Won't Include Competitors of SAP — When Business Insider introduced a sponsored section last November called “The Future of Business,” it promised to give …

Alexis Sobel Fitts / Columbia Journalism Review:

Reuters's global warming about-face — A survey shows the newswire ran 50 percent fewer stories on climate change after hiring a “skeptic” — Reuters has long been one of the most prolific producers of climate change journalism, leading The New York Times and the Guardian for most climate-centric articles in 2011.

Discussion: Guardian

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: @mlcalderone