Mediagazer: Struggling industry throttles newspaper metrics (Alan D. Mutter/Reflections of a Newsosaur)

8:00 PM ET, October 31, 2013

Top News:

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

USA Today's circulation up 67 percent? Newspaper industry makes comparisons increasingly difficult — Circulation in September 2013 rose at The New York Times, fell at The Wall Street Journal and skyrocketed at USA Today, according to figures released Thursday by the Alliance for Audited Media.

Discussion: Gannett Blog, Associated Press, Capital New York, The Wrap, Media & Entertainment, Radio & Television …, Alliance for Audited Media, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Bloomberg and NetNewsCheck Latest

Sam Kirkland / Poynter:

Why USA Today's huge growth in digital circulation isn't what it seems — The Alliance for Audited Media released a new round of circulation figures today — a twice-yearly occasion for newspapers to write about themselves. In true Halloween spirit, a few of them published press releases disguised …

Discussion: Gannett Blog

Alan D. Mutter / Reflections of a Newsosaur:

Struggling industry throttles newspaper metrics — Unable to arrest years of declining ad sales and sliding print circulation, two key trade groups representing the newspaper industry have done the next best thing: — They effectively have stopped reporting on the metrics that make it possible …

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

Times Co. Reports Quarterly Loss After Sale of Globe — The New York Times Company reported on Thursday a net loss in the third quarter, driven mainly by the company's recent sale of the New England Media Group, which included The Boston Globe. Digital circulation gains helped produce a slight increase in overall revenue.

Discussion: Newsonomics, NetNewsCheck.com, The Huffington Post, NetNewsCheck Latest, Talking New Media, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Politico, Reuters, Zolmax, investors.nytco.com, @mathewi and @romenesko

New York Times Company:

The New York Times Company Reports 2013 Third-Quarter Results — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)— The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) announced an operating profit of $12.9 million in the third quarter of 2013 compared with $8.9 million in the same period of 2012.

Discussion: AdExchanger, @niemanlab and @zseward

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

‘Times’ C.E.O. touts advertising ‘innovation’ following report of sales struggles — The New York Times' sales team got a vote of confidence from chief executive Mark Thompson amid a report this week that the paper of record's sales reps are struggling. — On a conference call …

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Phone hacking: Glenn Mulcaire was paid more than £400,000 by NoW — Jury hears that private investigator working for the News of the World was given ‘exceptional’ treatment at time of budget cuts — Private investigator Glenn Mulcaire had an “exceptional” arrangement with the News …

Discussion: @arusbridger

BBC:
Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson had affair lasting six years, UK phone-hacking trial hears

Discussion: Guardian, @tom_watson, @emilybell, The Huffington Post, @davidfolkenflik, Financial Times and National Updates

Press Gazette:
News of the World hacked rival journalists as part of the ‘dog eat dog’ world of journalism

Discussion: Irish Independent, Variety and Variety

Reuters:
Emails revealed phone-hacking at Murdoch tabloid, court hears

Discussion: Globe and Mail, Bloomberg, Trust.org, Associated Press, The Independent, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Guardian, BBC, Telegraph, Trust.org and New York Times

Dan Primack / Fortune:

Norman Pearlstine leaves Bloomberg for Time Inc. — Veteran media exec returning to Time Inc., as company preps for spin-out from Time Warner. — FORTUNE — Media executive Norman Pearlstine is stepping down as Bloomberg LP's chief content officer, in order to take a similar position with Time Inc. (publisher of Fortune).

Discussion: New York Times, Folio, WWD Media Headlines, Talking Biz News and FishbowlNY

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Time Warner Cable Drops 306,000 TV Subs, In Part Because of CBS Blackout — MSO also cuts full-year revenue growth forecast after subscriber losses — A monthlong blackout of CBS for Time Warner Cable customers in key markets led the cable operator to lose more residential video subscribers …

Discussion: Reuters, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Capital New York, Forbes, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Home Media Magazine, Broadcasting & Cable and AdAge

David Lieberman / Deadline.com:
Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt Reflects On 41 Years At An Industry That Fulfilled His Dreams

Discussion: BuzzFeed

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

Time Inc. Signs on With Flipboard — No. 1 magazine publisher Time Inc. announced plans to put its magazine content on Flipboard. People and InStyle will roll out this week on the mobile news aggregator app, with Time and Fortune scheduled to follow in December.

Discussion: Adweek, Gigaom, The Next Web, The Verge, @time_inc and Engadget

Rebecca J. Rosen / The Atlantic Online:

Twitter Marks Philadelphia City Paper as Spam, Breaks All Links to the Site — With an election looming in less than a week, journalists are being pressed into holding off on publishing their work, for fear that they won't be able to serve it to readers. — Reporter Daniel Denvir has a story that's burning a hole in his pocket.

Discussion: @citypaper, @cosmocatalano, @citypaper, @tiffanyg89 and @altweeklies

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Betsy Rothstein out at Fishbowl DC — Betsy Rothstein, the trouble-starting scourge of the Washington media, has resigned as editor of the news and gossip site Fishbowl DC. — “Whether raging waters or smooth sailing, my 3 years at FishbowlDC have been the perfect storm. Onto new adventures.

Discussion: @betsyscribeindc, The Huffington Post, City Desk, @radleybalko and Poynter

Roxanne Cooper / The Raw Story:

Village Voice editor Tony Ortega to helm editorial at Raw Story — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Village Voice editor Tony Ortega to helm editorial at Raw Story — BERKELEY, CA - October 31, 2013 — Raw Story is pleased to announce that Tony Ortega, former editor-in-chief at The Village Voice …

Discussion: Capital New York, FishbowlNY and @rawstory

Harro Ten Wolde / Reuters:

German journalists urged to shun Google and Yahoo — (Reuters) - The union representing German journalists advised its members on Thursday to stop using Google and Yahoo because of reported snooping by U.S. and British intelligence. — “The German Federation of Journalists recommends journalists …

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The newsonomics of outrageous confidence — Who expected a virtual coming-out party for the newspaper industry in late 2013? — In the past several weeks, we've seen new newspaper owners proudly raising the flags of their new enterprises, speaking grandly of their futures and spouting …

Discussion: @niemanlab

PJ Vogt / On The Media:

Mother Jones co-editor Clara Jeffrey talks about the subreddit ban of her magazine — WHAT IT'S LIKE WHEN REDDITORS BAN YOUR WEBSITE — /R/ politics is one of Reddit's most popular subreddits, with over three million accounts subscribed. On Monday, its moderators added a bunch of websites to their banned list.

Discussion: Mother Jones, @dannysullivan and Daily Dot

Laura Hazard Owen / Gigaom:

Amazon will test 2 new dramas, by X-Files screenwriter Chris Carter and author Michael Connelly — Amazon Studios is considering its first hour-long original dramas, and has greenlighted two pilots for testing by Amazon users. If the pilots get positive viewer feedback …

Discussion: Amazon.com, GeekWire, Variety, VentureBeat, The Verge, The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

NPR offers Andy Carvin, others buyouts in order to reduce headcount — NPR's Andy Carvin offered buyout, he hasn't yet accepted — Andy Carvin's Twitter page — NPR senior strategist Andy Carvin announced on Twitter this morning that he's been offered a buyout from the company.

Discussion: Andy Carvin's Waste …, Erik Wemple, The New York Observer and @kristenhare

Lynne Marek / Crain's Chicago Business:

Chicago Tribune braces for cost cuts — Chicago Tribune is preparing to reduce costs as it makes plans for next year, even as it expects to exceed projections for this year, the newspaper's publisher said in a memo to employees today. — “As is typical this time of year …

Discussion: Poynter, JIMROMENESKO.COM and Chicago Sun Times

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

VEVO Relaunches Its Web And Mobile Sites To Streamline Music Video Search And Discovery — Music video powerhouse VEVO is launching a major redesign this week, after rebuilding its back end from the ground up. The online music video site has undergone a complete overhaul, which you can see here …

Discussion: FierceOnlineVideo News

Michael Malone / Broadcasting & Cable:

Journal Communications Television Revenue Up 2.2% — Acquisition of WTVF helped, blackout from Time Warner Cable did not — Journal Communications reported third quarter television revenue of $39.8 million, up 2.2% over the same quarter a year ago. Excluding political and Olympic revenue …

Discussion: Radio & Television … and bizjournals

Erik Wemple:

Just who is meddling with the Philadelphia Inquirer? — George E. Norcross III, part owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, likes data. He is a prominent insurance executive and a massive force in New Jersey Democratic politics, not to mention the chairman of the board of trustees …

Discussion: Poynter