Mediagazer: Comment Ban Sets Off Debate (Pam Belluck/New York Times)

9:15 PM ET, October 1, 2013

Top News:

Reporting on government shutdown has failed democracy … American news reports are largely blaming the government shutdown on the inability of both political parties to come to terms. It is supposedly the result of a “bitterly divided” Congress that “failed to reach agreement” (Washington Post) …

Discussion: New York Times, @dangillmor, @johnmcquaid, GigaOM, Vanity Fair, Washington Post and msnbc.com, Thanks:@jaredbkeller

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Journalism Lab:
Is the government shut down? Quartz will tell you (and drive a little traffic in the process)

Discussion: @zseward

Alexander Abad-Santos / The Atlantic Wire:
Ranking the Best Newspaper Front Pages on the Government Shutdown

Discussion: Poynter, TVNewser, @bob_ortega, Capital New York, @ohnorosco and The Huffington Post

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

The Washington Post closes sale to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — Amazon.com founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos formally took over as the owner of The Washington Post on Tuesday, officially ending 80 years of local control of the newspaper by the Graham family.

Discussion: Poynter, MinOnline, Politico, @jfdulac, @jfdulac and @washingtonpost

Jia Lynn Yang / Washington Post:

The future of the Washington Post Co. without its flagship newspaper — The sale of the Washington Post newspaper Tuesday marked an emotional milestone for its former parent company, whose future long ago stopped revolving around its flagship publication. — What comes next is as much a mystery …

Wall Street Journal:

Thomson Reuters to Review Business Units — Thomson Reuters Inc. plans a fresh review of the company's business units, in the latest sign the data provider is looking for ways to respond to weak demand from its financial services clients. — In a video emailed to staff on Tuesday …

Discussion: @joepompeo, @peterlauria3, @keachhagey and Talking Biz News

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Did leaks alert al Qaida leaders they were being monitored? — WASHINGTON — The U.S. government-ordered closure of 19 U.S. diplomatic facilities in August has prompted a new controversy, this one about whether news reports at the time alerted al Qaida leaders that their communications were being monitored.

Discussion: @jonathanlanday, @jimasher, @markseibel, The Huffington Post, New York Times and Pressing Issues

Greg Mitchell / The Nation:
‘NYT’ Fingers McClatchy for ‘Terror’ Leak—and Now McClatchy Hits Back

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Politico

Bill Carter / New York Times:

George Will to Leave ABC News for Fox News — George Will, who has been a conservative presence on ABC News for more than three decades, is leaving for the Fox News Channel, the cable news network announced on Tuesday. — The news of Mr. Will's hiring was first reported by the conservative news site The Daily Caller.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Fox News, Mediaite, TVNewser, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, @davewiner, The Huffington Post and Variety

Austin Carr / Fast Company:

Scribd, HarperCollins Launch $8.99 Subscription Book Service — Spotify and Netflix have brought subscription services to the music and movie space. Could Scribd apply that model to the world of books? — For a small monthly fee, consumers are used to getting unlimited access to all types of content …

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Daily Beast's John Avlon rallies troops as roughly 20 colleagues lose their jobs — On the first day of its new life without Newsweek, Daily Beast executive editor John Avlon rallied the troops with an afternoon memo full of good news, like a 36-percent year-over-year traffic gain and a nomination to Adweek's annual “Hot List” poll.

Discussion: Gawker and New York Magazine

Kara Brandeisky / ProPublica:

Northwestern's Journalism Program Offers Students Internships with Prestige, But No Paycheck — Northwestern University's journalism school boasts of its prowess in preparing students for prestigious careers — but it also serves as a pipeline for unpaid internships.

Discussion: @farai, @yayitsrob, @byrontau, @robertfeder, @cicm, @andymboyle, Gawker, @karabrandeisky, @propublica and @mtdukes

Michael Rondon / Folio:

Publishers, AOL Partner on Subscription Service — Seven magazines, other services, offered at the new storefront. — Publishers have partnered with AOL on a new bundled-subscription offering the company rolled out Monday. — The service, Gathr, packages subscriptions to a variety of products and services at a discount.

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, Valleywag, AOL Blog, VentureBeat and Digital Media Wire

Jack Marshall / Digiday:

The Limits of Twitter's TV Pitch — As it prepares to make its IPO filing public this week, Twitter is working hard to convince marketers, media owners and now investors that its links with television are worth their attention. — The company used its multiple Advertising Week appearances …

Discussion: @digiday, Business Insider, TechCrunch, AdExchanger and Fast Company

Wall Street Journal:

Phony Web Traffic Tricks Digital Ads — As Online Marketing Budgets Soar, Fraudsters Skim Millions with 'Botnets" — The website Songsrpeople.com looks a lot like other amateur-video sites. It is wallpapered with clips featuring “the most insane amusement park ever” and “your girlfriend's six friends.”

Discussion: @jeffjohnroberts and Corporate Intelligence

Pam Belluck / New York Times:

Comment Ban Sets Off Debate — Care to comment on a Popular Science article — say, “These Magnetic Nanobots Could Carry Drugs Into Your Brain” or “FYI: Do Animals Have Orgasms?” — That's not possible — not anymore. Last week, the magazine, known for a chatty, pop-culture approach to serious science …

Discussion: @lauraelizdavis

Angela Washeck / 10,000 Words:

The Texas Tribune Wants You to Help Fund Its Livestreaming Efforts — It's fair to say that before her marathon filibuster on the Texas Senate floor, not many citizens knew who Wendy Davis was. — But on the night of June 25, 2013, they learned. And nonprofit news organization …

Discussion: TVSpy

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Another Key Hulu Executive Leaves — Hulu sales head JP Colaco, one of the video company's key remaining early hires, is leaving the company. — Andy Forssell, the website's acting CEO, announced the departure via a blog post yesterday, and said Colaco was leaving later this month to …

Discussion: Hulu Blog, AdAge and Variety

Dawn C. Chmielewski / Los Angeles Times:

Netflix stock hits all-time high on forecast of strong global growth — Netflix Inc. stock soared to record levels Tuesday, apparently propelled by a new analyst report predicting surprising growth in the streaming video service's international subscribers.

Discussion: Mercury News, NASDAQ.com and TheStreet.com