Mediagazer: Pierre Omidyar's journalistic venture is another of his efforts to fuse philanthropy with profit — so far, not so good (Tom Slee/The New Inquiry)

10:55 AM ET, November 1, 2013

Top News:

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Johnston Press to launch 'people's paper', with 75% of content from public — Regional publisher denies ‘Bourne Experiment’ is about cutting costs, and hopes it proves new model for small weekly papers — Regional publisher Johnston Press is to attempt a radical reinvention of one of its titles …

Discussion: @ashleyhi and @charliebeckett

Tom Slee / The New Inquiry:

Pierre Omidyar's journalistic venture is another of his efforts to fuse philanthropy with profit — so far, not so good — Pierre Omidyar's journalistic venture is another of his efforts to fuse philanthropy with profit — so far, not so good — There is no doubt that the new journalism …

Dylan Byers / Politico:

President Obama, off the record — President Barack Obama is often accused of being insular. He's not a schmoozer. He doesn't like meeting with lawmakers, and he doesn't particularly care for talking to reporters, either. — But get him in an off-the-record setting with a small group …

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: Associated Press, Chicago Sun Times, Denver Post, Media & Entertainment, Radio & Television … and Poynter

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

Discussion: @newsosaur, Alliance for Audited Media, BtoB Magazine and The Wrap

Dominic Casciani / BBC:

Phone-hacking trial: Andy Coulson told editor ‘do his phone’ — Mr Goodman and Mr Coulson face two counts in relation to paying for royal directories. Prosecution will elaborate after a break. #hacking — Dominic Casciani @BBCDomC … Dominic Casciani @BBCDomC

Discussion: Guardian, @bbcnews, Reuters and Reuters

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Phone hacking: Glenn Mulcaire was paid more than £400,000 by NoW

Discussion: @arusbridger and BBC

Laura Hazard Owen / Gigaom:

Kindle First lets Prime members read one upcoming Amazon-published ebook in advance each month, for free — Amazon announced a new perk for Prime members on Friday: A program called “Kindle First” will let them read one upcoming Amazon Publishing ebook, from a choice of four …

Discussion: GalleyCat, MarketWatch, The Verge and The Next Web

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Vocativ Brings The Tools Of The Spy World Into The Newsroom — If you were to eavesdrop on social-media conversations all over the world involving the term “NSA” and run a sentiment analysis on the results, you'd probably find that the wire-tapping spy agency is none too popular with just about anyone these days.

Discussion: @michaelroston and @emilybell

Andrea Peterson / The Switch:

Comcast is donating heavily to defeat the mayor who is bringing gigabit fiber to Seattle — One of Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn's big policy initiatives has been expanding the quality and quantity of high-speed Internet access throughout the city. A public-private partnership plans …

Discussion: @zeynep, TechCrunch, @jome20 and GeekWire

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Time Warner Left Bruised in Fee Battle With CBS — Time Warner Cable on Thursday reported the steepest quarterly loss of television subscribers in its history, which it attributed at least in part to the monthlong battle it had with the CBS Corporation in August. — The CBS blackout ended in early September.

Discussion: Business Insider, Reuters, @rga, BGR, BuzzFeed, Gothamist, The Verge and Variety

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

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Netflix Needs Cable, But the Feeling Isn't Always Mutual — Streaming company cuts deal with Danish operator Waoo, but Comcast exec says adding Netflix is ‘not a high priority’ — Netflix is banking on getting on cable set-top boxes to hit aggressive growth targets in the next few years …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Wall Street Journal:

Electricity Use Impedes Aereo's March … Aereo Inc.'s upstart TV streaming service has provoked a legal onslaught from broadcast networks. But even if it wins that fight, it still has to overcome more-pedestrian issues, like making sure it can pay for the electricity it needs.

Wall Street Journal:

Verizon and AT&T Experiment With Delivery Outside Traditional Cable-TV Bundle. — Shalini Ramachandran … The way things are going, the term “cable TV” may have to be replaced by “phone TV.” — Nearly a decade after Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. began building pipelines …

Agence France Presse:

Kenyan press up in arms over ‘draconian’ media bill — Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya's media reacted with shock and outrage Friday after parliament voted through a bill that could see journalists and outlets slapped with huge fines for violating a code of conduct. — In a late-night sitting Thursday …

Discussion: Capital News, standardmedia.co.ke, The Star, The Star and HumanIPO