Mediagazer: Whither the Pageview Apocalypse? (Brian Abelson)

8:30 AM ET, October 11, 2013

Top News:

27 of the world's top editors challenge claim that the Guardian aids Britain's enemies — Editors on the NSA files: ‘What the Guardian is doing is important for democracy’ — On Thursday the Daily Mail described the Guardian as 'The paper that helps Britain's enemies'.

Guardian:
Spies and journalism: when worlds collide

Discussion: @declanwalsh, @kathviner, Jon Slattery, @arusbridger and Daily Mail

Amy Hollyfield / PolitiFact:

PolitiFact to launch PunditFact, checking pundits and media figures — PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking website of the Tampa Bay Times, will soon launch PunditFact, a site dedicated to checking claims by pundits, columnists, bloggers and the hosts and guests of talk shows.

Discussion: @asharock, @amy_hollyfield, @fordfoundation, @ktumulty, @katielsanders, TVNewser, Mediaite, @therickwilson, @thestalwart, @brianstelter, @jayrosen_nyu, @justinwolfers, @jpodhoretz, @abeaujon, The Huffington Post, Poynter and Pressing Issues

Andy Fixmer / Businessweek:

Hulu Said Close to Naming Fox's Mike Hopkins CEO of Web Service — Hulu LLC, the streaming service controlled by Walt Disney Co. and 21st Century Fox Inc., is close to naming Fox executive Mike Hopkins as its new chief executive officer, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Reuters, The Verge, AllThingsD, Variety and GigaOM

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Follow-up on Flipboard: We can't pay salaries with ‘brand awareness’ — Are Operations Like Flipboard Scams Against Publishers? — Since we'd gotten a number of questions from readers, I jotted down a short post a couple days ago explaining that we've removed TPM from Flipboard …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, @injuryexpert, @davewiner, @politicalwire, @coudal, @jmcolberg and @choire

Tow Center for Digital Journalism:

The Effects of Mass Surveillance on Journalism — Mass surveillance of the kind practiced by the NSA produces a chilling effect on journalism, because sources do not feel they can have a private conversation with a reporter. That's the message of a group of scholars, journalists …

Discussion: @niemanlab, @evacide, @timkarr and Committee to Protect …

Brian Abelson:

Whither the Pageview Apocalypse? — This is the first in the series of two posts about pageviews. This post will deal with some of theoretical baggage tied up in the metric, while the second will detail some research I've conducted on the correlates of pageviews. … The pageview is dead.

Discussion: AdExchanger, @jennifersun, Digiday and @derekwillis

Bloomberg:

Sinclair tried to top Gannett's $1.5 billion offer for Belo stations — Sinclair Losing Belo Leaves Gray as Deal Option: Real M&A — Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. (SBGI) tried and failed to steal Belo Corp. (BLC) from the clutches of Gannett Co., leaving Gray Television Inc. and Lin LLC …

Discussion: @gdinges, Gannett Blog and TVSpy

Leonard Downie Jr / Committee to Protect Journalists:

The Obama Administration and the Press — Leak investigations and surveillance in post-9/11 America — U.S. President Barack Obama came into office pledging open government, but he has fallen short of his promise. Journalists and transparency advocates say the White House curbs routine disclosure …

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
Obama Administration Has Gone To Unprecedented Lengths To Thwart Journalists, Report Finds

Discussion: Committee to Protect …

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Third of millennials watch mostly online video or no broadcast TV — Thirty-four percent of millennials surveyed watch mostly online video or no broadcast television, new research from The New York Times says. — Brian Brett, the Times' executive director of customer research …

Discussion: Pew Internet, GigaOM and Broadcasting & Cable

David Meyer / paidContent:

Anonymous comments could suffer under European Court of Human Rights ruling — An Estonian court did not violate a local news site's right to free expression by holding it liable for offensive anonymous comments made under one of its stories, the ECHR has ruled.

Discussion: Index on Censorship, PC World and ERR NEWS 2013

Lauren Klinger / Poynter:

Journalism program takes lessons from teaching hospitals — What's happening in journalism education sounds eerily like what's happened to the newspaper industry over the last decade-and-a-half: While the talk in academia is of adjuncts and buyouts instead of freelancers and layoffs …

Discussion: @wadeontweets and @rabeam

Dave McNary / Variety:

Nickelodeon Pays $11 Million To Writers Following WGA Claims Of Late Payments — Guild had threatened to strike shows — Following a strike threat, the Writers Guild of America has reached an agreement with Nickelodeon for the network to pay $11 million in residual payments and interest for writers who work on Nick shows.

Discussion: Deadline.com and Los Angeles Times

Associated Press:

2 Philly Inquirer owners sue company, publisher — PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two owners of The Philadelphia Inquirer have sued their company and publisher over the firing of Pulitzer Prize-winning editor Bill Marimow. Former New Jersey Nets owner Lewis Katz and cable TV mogul H.F. “Gerry” …

Jim Romenesko:
[UPDATED] Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News alums call for review of Bill Marimow's dismissal

Discussion: facebook.com and @romenesko

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Broadcasters Denied Injunction Against Aereo in Massachusetts — The ruling comes as stations are prepared to take the fight against the TV streaming service to the Supreme Court. — Aereo has won an important ruling in a Massachusetts federal court. — U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton …