Mediagazer: The Economist rethinks ‘lean forward, lean back’ model (Sarah Marshall/Journalism.co.uk)

7:45 AM ET, September 29, 2013

Top News:

Memo: ‘Regretfully, a number of Patches will have to be closed’ — Bud Rosenthal, the new CEO of AOL's Patch, told employees in a memo sent at 6:14 p.m. ET Friday that “we have believed strongly in the value of a connected local community. However this commitment has not translated …

Discussion: @dangillmor

Paul Carr / PandoDaily:

NSFWCORP CEO announces success in public appeal for funds following loosened SEC rules — NSFWCORP's race to survive... The results are in — On Monday, I wrote about my “Brewster's Millions"-style struggle to close NSFWCORP's latest round of funding before we were forced into a unwanted “pivot.”

Discussion: @fried, @bgoldberg, @jason_pontin, @voraciousbrain, @sarahcuda, @olivianuzzi, @markcenicola and @rafat

Jared Malsin / Columbia Journalism Review:

In Egypt, an anti-Brotherhood media crackdown — The current censorship exceeds the crackdown of ousted president Mohamed Morsi — CAIRO—The screens went black around 9pm. It was night of July 3, and Egypt's military chief, General Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, announced on state television …

Discussion: Middle East

Eleanor Clift / The Daily Beast:

As Newsweek changes owners, contributing editor Eleanor Clift reflects on her 50 years there — The Magazine That Was — “Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end”—as the song from the 1960s goes. I can still remember the thrill of walking into the lobby …

Discussion: @jackshafer, JIMROMENESKO.COM, @hadas_gold and @joepompeo

Sarah Marshall / Journalism.co.uk:

The Economist rethinks ‘lean forward, lean back’ model — The rise in popularity of touch-screen devices means publishers should be ‘touch first and mobile second’, Neelay Patel from The Economist Group tells conference — Until recently The Economist's model was lean forward, lean back publishing.

Discussion: @jeffjarvis and @marklittlenews

Adrienne LaFrance / Nieman Journalism Lab:

What does the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel know that your newsroom doesn't? — Editor's note: In 1882, not long before his 25th birthday, a Wisconsin newspaperman named Lucius Nieman gave his new paper, The Milwaukee Journal, a mission: “The Journal will be the outspoken …

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu and Nieman Reports

Edirin Oputu / Columbia Journalism Review:

Q&A: Andrew Kueneman and Steve Duenes, NYT graphic and Web designers — Behind the scenes of “Tomato Can Blues,” the Times' latest multimedia project — The New York Times celebrated its 162nd birthday in style last week with the launch of “Tomato Can Blues,” a longform multimedia piece …

Andrew Roth / The Lede:

Russian News Sites Protest Detention of Journalists With Greenpeace Activists — A Russian court on Thursday ordered that 22 members of the Greenpeace team that protested Arctic drilling by trying to scale a state-run oil rig may spend up to two months in detention in a Murmansk jail …

Discussion: @cobbing, Global Voices and Committee to Protect …

Nico Hines / The Daily Beast:
Kieron Bryan: British Journalist Held Without Trial in Russia

Discussion: @greenpeaceuk

RT:
Russian media protests detention of Greenpeace freelance photographer

Discussion: The Moscow Times and Associated Press

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

What makes the Texas Tribune's event business so successful? — When The Texas Tribune launched in 2009, Evan Smith says the nonprofit news site was in a “proof by assertion” stage. The assertion, in this case, was that there was an audience hungry for intensely focused-coverage of Texas politics …

Discussion: @simonowens, @niemanlab, Reuters, The Texas Tribune and Knight Foundation

Cale Guthrie Weissman / PandoDaily:

Chris Hughes: The separation of business and editorial is outdated — Chris Hughes, Facebook co-founder, Obama campaigner, and current owner and editor-in-chief of the New Republic, says he would repeat the most controversial move he's made since the publication's January re-launch.

Discussion: @profjeffjarvis, @samgustin, @paulxharris, @seth_fletcher, @justinjm1, @gregpinelo and @mathewi

Alexis Sobel Fitts / Columbia Journalism Review:

For the sake of science — PopSci's ‘scientific’ justification for shutting down comments conveys the research poorly — The internet has largely weighed in on Popular Science's sudden decision to shut off its comments section earlier this week. The responses have been, for the most part …

Rachel Bartlett / Journalism.co.uk:

The Forbes contributor model: Technology, feedback and incentives — A look at Forbes's approach to content production by a technology and data-driven newsroom, and wide network of contributors — Read more — Other top stories — Also on Journalism.co.uk...

Discussion: @jasonmoriber and @jayrosen_nyu