Mediagazer: China's rumor crackdown has ‘cleaned’ Internet, official says (Megha Rajagopalan/Reuters)

4:50 AM ET, November 29, 2013

Top News:

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Lessons from journalism startup Matter: Paywalls make growing readership difficult — When journalism startup Matter launched a year ago, it was one of the most highly-funded media projects on Kickstarter, having pulled in more than $140,000 in donations — almost three times what it initially set out to raise.

Discussion: Medium, @raju, @stevebuttry and Poynter

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Harding hires former Times deputy as managing editor of BBC news — Keith Blackmore was deputy editor of Times under Harding, who has also hired Jonathan Munro of ITV News — James Harding has hired his former Times deputy, Keith Blackmore, to be managing editor of BBC news and current affairs.

Discussion: broadcastnow.co.uk

Matt Katz / Politico:

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close — “How'd you draw the short end of the stick?” Chris Christie asked me the first time I walked into his office for an interview. — By this point in early 2011, Christie was barely a year into his New Jersey governorship, and I'd been covering him for just six weeks.

Discussion: @zekejmiller and @mollyesque

John Plunkett / Guardian:

'BBC should open more shows up to indies if it doesn't subsidise Channel 4' — Up to 75% of BBC's shows should be available to independent sector if it wants to defend licence fee, says All3Media chairman — All3Media chairman Steve Morrison has said the BBC should make up to 75% …

John Plunkett / Guardian:
BBC chief wants corporation to be ‘less British’ defending the licence fee

Discussion: @jamescridland and bbc.co.uk

Robert Andrews / Beet.TV:

The Guardian Now More Popular In US Than UK — LONDON — It started out as The Manchester Guardian in 1821 and had since become a national newspaper. But, this fall, The Guardian crossed another geographical rubicon - it became more popular in the US than its native UK.

Thanks:@steverubel

Paul Steiger / ProPublica:

Why Reporters in the U.S. Now Need Protection — Last night, ProPublica founder and executive chairman Paul Steiger received the Burton Benjamin Memorial award from the Committee to Protect Journalists. Here are his remarks. — In recent days I thought a lot about the 16 previous recipients …

Discussion: Poynter, @florianklenk, @rantaramic, @raju, @franklomonte, @jcstearns and @davidbarstow

Andreas Whittam Smith / The Independent:

How the Leveson Report stopped the press in its tracks: One year on, the forensic cataloguing of media bullying retains its power to shock — It's a year since Lord Justice Leveson delivered his verdict on British newspapers. The implications are still sinking in, says Andreas Whittam Smith

Discussion: @mscott

A. O. Scott / New York Times:

The Big Picture Strikes Back — Like a character who develops a discreet but noticeable cough at the end of the first act, the movies have been dying for a long time. The latest chapter in their decline — which began, depending on who is telling the story, with the introduction of sound …

Discussion: @hutchesonnick, @timocity and @sternbergh

Megha Rajagopalan / Reuters:

China's rumor crackdown has ‘cleaned’ Internet, official says — (Reuters) - China's campaign against online rumors, which critics say is crushing free speech, has been highly successful in “cleaning” the Internet, a top official of the country's internet regulator said on Thursday.

Discussion: Softpedia News and @meghara

Andy / TorrentFreak:

Unpublished Salinger Books Leaked to Private File-Sharing Site — From very early in its life the Internet became a mine of amazing things, but while accessing information was relatively easy for most, becoming a publisher was a different matter. — Soon enough regular people learned …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed, The Verge, ArtsBeat and Daily Dot

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

BT to add music service to TV offerings — Music streaming and karaoke offering backed by Universal Music — BT is to launch a music streaming and karaoke service backed by the world's largest music company, Universal Music. — The service will initially offer the equivalent …

Discussion: Music Ally, Financial Times, NME and Variety

Kelefa Sanneh / New Yorker:

Why blockbusters still rule the entertainment industry. — In 1976, a music executive named Walter Yetnikoff launched a campaign that came to be known as Walter's War. He had recently become president of CBS Records, the parent company of Columbia Records, and resolved to rally his troops by providing them an enemy.

Discussion: @donetodeath

BBC:

Japan approves new state secrecy bill to combat leaks — The lower house of the Japanese parliament has approved a state secrecy bill that imposes stiffer penalties on civil servants who leak secrets and journalists who try to obtain them. — The move had been criticised by reporters …

Discussion: ABC, Daily Maverick, Kirk LaPointe's … and Global News