Mediagazer: How Futurama's 31st-Century Technology Illustrated Today's Changing Media Landscape (Adrienne LaFrance/Slate)

3:20 PM ET, September 5, 2013

Top News:

Jeff Bezos to his future Washington Post journalists: Put the readers first — Jeffrey P. Bezos had a simple bit of advice for the staff of the newspaper he'll soon own: Put readers, not advertisers, first. Don't write to impress each other. And above all, “Don't be boring.”

Discussion: Forbes, New York Times, GigaOM, Guardian, Corporate Intelligence, Prof Chris Daly's Blog, Talking Biz News, Wall Street Journal, @giner, @kiagregory, @jason_kint, @bomani_jones, @jeffjarvis and bizjournals

Erik Wemple:

Jeff Bezos and the Internet's aggregational appetites — In an interview with The Washington Post's Paul Farhi, Jeff Bezos, The Post's next owner, spoke of a new, reader-centric “golden era” for the newspaper. En route to that era, however, Bezos cited a challenge or two.

Discussion: The Buttry Diary, @johnmcquaid, @jayrosen_nyu, @dabeard, The Verge, USA Today, The Newspaper Guild, DCist, The Huffington Post, Poynter, Business Insider and Guardian

Timothy B. Lee / The Switch:

Sorry, Jeff Bezos, the news bundle isn't coming back — This week, journalists at The Washington Post (including, full disclosure, me) got our first look at our new boss's vision for The Washington Post. There was a lot to like. Bezos emphasized the importance of a focus on the long term …

Discussion: @jbritt5, @mlcalderone, @johngapper, @aschweig, @b_fung, @ktumulty, @palewire and Washington Post

Jessica Meyers / Politico:
Jeff Bezos new to journalism — but not free speech issues

Discussion: @tjortenzi and Big News Network.com

Alex Kantrowitz / AdAge:

The New York Post Gets a New Digital Look, And New Ad Units — An Improvement Over a Website That Seemed Stuck In the '90s — After years of operating a website which seemed to belong in the 1990s, the New York Post introduced a revamped, modern version today, and a set of new ad products to boot.

Discussion: Capital New York, Media Wire Daily, FishbowlNY, @natives, @huffpostmedia, @zseward, @niemanlab, WordPress.com VIP, The Awl and eMedia Vitals

Farhad Manjoo / Slate:

Changes at the Onion: America's finest news source adjusts to Internet speed — What happened to the Onion? Two words: The Internet. — There's a famous episode of This American Life that takes listeners into a planning meeting at the Onion. It was first broadcast in 2008 …

Discussion: The Awl and @stefanjbecket

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

BuzzFeed Aims for $100 Million in Sales 2014 — Lots of chatter in medialand today about BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti's state-of-BuzzFeed memo, which is full of boast-worthy boasts: A ton of page views, a lot of employees, and a profit to boot. — One thing that Peretti didn't include in the memo …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, @digitalshields, @edmundlee, @greenwombat and @pkafka

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti Says The Site Is Profitable, With 85M Uniques And 300+ Employees

Discussion: LinkedIn, paidContent, Guardian, Fast Company, @adrianlurssen, @tolles, @danswright, @tobyharnden, @keithrhernandez, @dubois, @emilybell, @derekwillis, @buzzfeedben, @chrislhayes, @fmanjoo, @michaeldweiss, Beet.TV and kottke.org

Stephanie Bodoni / Bloomberg:

Google Says Mosley Suit Over Sex-Party Search Defies Free Speech — Google Inc. (GOOG) said a lawsuit by Max Mosley, Formula One's former president, asking it to block any further search results referring to a “Nazi-themed” sex party would create unprecedented censorship on the Internet.

Discussion: Poynter, Search Engine Land, Google Europe Blog and Mashable

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

On the ‘Inherent Problem’ of the Public Editor's Role at The Times — The Roman poet Juvenal posed this pretty good question that has traveled down the centuries: “Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” — It means, “But who watches the watchers?” In the context of a diatribe against marriage …

Wall Street Journal:

Dish, Disney Gird for Showdown Over ESPN — Dish Network Corp. chairman Charlie Ergen has long railed against the high cost of sports on TV. Now he has a chance to do something about it. — Dish's agreement to carry ESPN, the highest profile and most expensive of the national sports channels, expires at the end of September.

Discussion: The Desk

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Sun and Mirror journalists unite to show support for colleagues in court — More than 30 turn up at Westminster magistrates' court as nine face charges over alleged unlawful payments — More than 30 Sun and Daily Mirror journalists have put in a show of support at a central London court …

Discussion: @neilwallis1

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette: The Sun's stolen mobile ‘conspiracy’: They were just reporters doing their jobs

Mike Shields / Adweek:

Pressure Mounts on Yahoo's De Castro — Yahoo finally got its latest ad savior yesterday when the company officially announced that former AOL executive Ned Brody will become svp of Americas, reporting directly to chief operating officer Henrique De Castro.

Discussion: Media Wire Daily, @jyarow, AdExchanger, MarketingVox News & Trends and Business Insider

Erik Wemple:

Washington Post Magazine struggles with advertising relationship — The Washington Post Magazine's Aug. 11 Education Issue came out a bit on the thin side. It contained a helpful cover story on how to emerge from college with a job. One of the lessons: Lots of students who pursue a degree …

Discussion: Poynter, @eaweiss, @jfdulac, @andrewrgoldman, @tomhawthorn, @smencimer and @huffpostmedia

Economist:

Why are The Economist's writers anonymous? — The Economist explains itself — Why are The Economist's writers anonymous? — Sep 4th 2013, 23:50 by ???? — Editor's note: This week, to mark the 170th anniversary of the appearance of the first issue of The Economist on September 2nd 1843 …

Discussion: @glennf, @jason, @emmabgardner, Talking Biz News and The Economist explains

Tiffany Kary / Bloomberg:

Fortress to Create ‘New Media’ Through GateHouse Bankruptcy — Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG:US) plans to create a newspaper and website company, New Media, through the bankruptcy of its GateHouse Media Inc. (GHSE:US) and the recently purchased assets of Newcastle Investment Corp. (NCT:US)

Discussion: rbj.net, bizjournals, Massachusetts News and Wall Street Journal

Janis L. Magin / Pacific Business News:

HuffPost Hawaii only adds to the world's distorted view of Paradise — Nearly 20 years ago, I was stuck in the middle seat of a five-seat row on a connecting flight from Chicago to Honolulu. The woman seated to my left, who was from Iowa, asked whether I had been to Hawaii before, and I told her I had.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Janis L. Magin / Pacific Business News:
Huffington, Omidyar launch HuffPost Hawaii website

Discussion: The Huffington Post, @jbenton and Civil Beat

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

25% of people have posted anonymous comments, Pew finds — A quarter of all Internet users have posted anonymous comments, a Pew study about online anonymity says. — But when it comes to posting any material online, people “are more likely than not to attach their name or a recognizable screenname …

Discussion: Pew Internet, Fast Company, NYT Bits, Los Angeles Times, VatorNews, 24/7 Wall St. and TechCrunch

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Former Yahoo and Microsoft Media Exec Scott Moore Tapped as Cheezburger President and COO — Cheezburger, the Seattle-based humor site famous for LOLcat photos, has hired well-known former Yahoo and Microsoft exec Scott Moore as its new president and COO. — Moore will be “responsible …

Steven Erlanger / New York Times:

Britain to Examine Why BBC Severance Payments Exceeded Contract Terms — LONDON — Of the BBC and its money, mostly provided by ordinary Britons who pay a fee to watch television, there is no end to the argument, or the accounting. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee will hold …

Discussion: @froomkin

Sasha Chavkin / Columbia Journalism Review:

Déjà news — The FCC ignores local TV news' quiet consolidation strategy — A strange thing happens when you turn on the news in Hawaii. Tune into the 10pm local newscast on KGMB, the Aloha State's CBS affiliate, then switch to its supposed NBC competitor, KHNL. Then go back and forth again.