Mediagazer: How Do You Create A Free Media Culture In Syria? (Tom Fudge/KPBS San Diego)

10:35 AM ET, August 30, 2013

Top News:

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

People Mag Prepares New Subscription Model — Time Inc. cash cow People is preparing to unveil a new pricing model designed to transform the way people think about subscriptions, according to people familiar with the publisher's plans. Other titles in the company are expected to follow suit.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Erik Maza / WWD:

Time Inc. CEO Laura Lang to Exit in September — A LITTLE TOO LATE: In September, Laura Lang will formally leave her position as chief executive officer of Time Inc. Later in the month, she will be addressing a panel on leadership. — Lang lasted at Time Inc. for a little more than a year and a half …

Press Gazette:

High Court told Miranda was carrying ‘58,000 highly classified UK intelligence documents’ — Material seized from a Guardian journalist's partner after he was held at Heathrow under anti-terror laws included information that was “misappropriated” and “classified”, the High Court has heard.

Discussion: Telegraph and Head of Legal

George Brock / Guardian:
Does David Miranda count as a journalist? That's not the point

Discussion: @megclement

Nora Caplan-Bricker / The New Republic:

A Guide to Syria's Best Citizen Journalism — Well before the United States weighed an intervention, Syria had become the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. Legacy media outlets have, understandably, sent fewer and fewer of their reporters into harm's way …

Discussion: Wonkblog, @millermena and Kirk LaPointe's …

Tom Fudge / KPBS San Diego: How Do You Create A Free Media Culture In Syria?

Committee to Protect Journalists / The Huffington Post: In hopeful sign, two journalists escape Syria

Ian Burrell / The Independent:

Censure for reporter over Gaza tweet sparks BBC rethink over social media — Governing body calls for rethink over use of Twitter but journalists worry about losing credibility — The censure of a senior BBC correspondent over his use of Twitter in covering the Middle East …

Discussion: @jeffjarvis, @scottbix, @daschles and @colrichardkemp

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Digital now makes up 11.3% of Hachette's revenues worldwide, and 20% of Random House's — Digital now accounts for 11.3 percent of Hachette's sales worldwide, and about 20 percent of Random House's — Lagardére, parent company of book publisher Hachette, and Bertelsmann …

Scott Roxborough / Hollywood Reporter:
Germany's Bertelsmann Reports Record First-Half Operating Profit

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Reuters

Sara Morrison / The Wrap:

Tribune Co. Profit Plunges Sharply on Lower Broadcast Revenue, Print Ads — Parent company of the L.A. Times reports steep drop in income during three-month period — Beleaguered Tribune Co. issued another bruising financial report late Thursday, acknowledging a 61 percent income drop …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune

Lynne Marek / Chicago Business:
Tribune's operating profit drops

Discussion: Chicago Sun Times and PR Newswire

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Rupert Murdoch's Pay for Latest Fiscal Year Dropped to $28.9 Million — UPDATED: The media mogul had made $30.0 million in the previous year before a 3.7 percent decline for the latest period ended June 30. — Rupert Murdoch's compensation for the latest fiscal year dropped 3.7 percent to $28.9 million.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Deadline.com and The Wrap

Quentin Hardy / NYT Bits:

Troubles Ahead for Internet Advertising — When it comes to advertising, the Internet is at war with itself. — Much of the Web relies on advertising income, but anti-ad technology could put a dent in that revenue. A recent report from the Web service PageFair said that on average 22.7 percent …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals, @rga, @bobtheprguy and @niemanlab

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Grazia publisher's profits fall by 75% — Bauer, which owns more than 20 titles in the UK including Empire, Q and Zoo, saw pre-tax profits collapse to £13.9m — Bauer, the publisher of titles including FHM, Heat and Grazia, has reported a 75% slump in profits for 2012 …

Roy Greenslade:

Canadian newspapers abandon holiday publishing — Two leading Canadian newspaper publishers have cancelled the publication of their papers next Monday, Labour Day, for the first time in their history. — The Toronto-based Globe & Mail explained its decision to subscribers by saying it was due to a lack of advertising revenue.

Alex Stedman / Variety:

Stage Play About Life of Rupert Murdoch Opens in Australia — “Rupert,” a stage play about the life of News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, opened Thursday in Australia. — The Melbourne Theatre Company production, written by prominent Aussie playwright David Williamson …

Discussion: TheAustralian, @hawthornemark, Curtain Call and BroadwayWorld.com

David S. Cohen / Variety:

Closing Piracy Powerhouse Actually Hurt Movie Revenues — Only blockbusters benefitted from shutdown of Megaupload; grosses of mid-range pics declined — Closing the notorious piracy site Megaupload didn't help theatrical film grosses , according to a new study.

Discussion: Digits

Hannah Karp / Wall Street Journal:

Cumulus Radio Deal Could Crowd Clear Channel — Radio broadcaster Cumulus Media Inc. is close to acquiring one of the country's largest syndicators of radio programming, Dial Global Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, in a deal that is likely to shake up the industry's competitive landscape.

Discussion: @ethanwsj, Reuters, Radio Ink Magazine and AllAccess.com

Bloomberg:

Microsoft Is Said to Be in Talks to Invest in Foursquare — Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is in talks with Foursquare Labs Inc. about a potential investment in the social-media company, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. — The talks are at an advanced stage, said two of the people …

Discussion: USA Today, Street Fight, GigaOM, TechCrunch, TechnoBuffalo, Ubergizmo, VentureBeat, CNET, The Next Web, @edmundlee, ZDNet, @dcurtis, @amir, WebProNews and Digits

Nick Bilton / NYT Bits:

A Tale of Two Online Business Models — Over the weekend, the tech blogosphere was in a tizzy over a profile of Marissa Mayer, the chief executive of Yahoo. — While some readers slurped up the content in the piece, titled “The Truth About Marissa Mayer: An Unauthorized Biography,” …

Discussion: @slate, Digiday, @pkafka, @olivianuzzi, @jamesrbuk, @dicktofel, @davidsirota, @hblodget, @mikeisaac, @kevinroose, @tonymanfred and @davemorgannyc

Nic Christensen / mUmBRELLA:

APN CEO Miller: Industry needs more women in senior roles — The CEO of Australia's third largest publisher APN News & Media Michael Miller has told a forum that there are not enough women in senior leadership position in the sector and urged them “to do more” about the issue.

Discussion: @dangelofisher

Alexander C. Kaufman / International Business Times:

Exclusive: Aereo To Launch On Android In September, Says CEO — Aereo uses tiny antennas to pick up over-the-air signals and beam them to subscribers' iPads and computers. Courtesy of Aereo — Aereo, the upstart television streaming service, plans to launch its product on Android devices in September …

Discussion: The Next Web, CNET, Engadget, Softpedia News, The Verge and GigaOM