Mediagazer: What's worse than sponsored content? The FTC regulating it (Jack Shafer)

11:45 AM ET, December 8, 2013

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

The Thorny Challenge of Covering China — HOW do major American news organizations write about a Communist country with the world's second-largest economy — a country that doesn't believe in press rights and that punishes tough-minded coverage? — Aggressively? Cautiously? Fearlessly?

Discussion: @felixsalmon, @raju, @blakehounshell, @niubi, @jonathanshainin, @dicktofel, @kgosztola, @sarahkendzior, @jayrosen_nyu and Prof Chris Daly's Blog

Kathy Chu / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Media Firms Stymied in China

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Evan Osnos / New Yorker:
The Meaning of China's Crackdown on the Foreign Press

Discussion: @nickkristof, @maureenfan, @blakehounshell, GlobalPost, @comradewong, @jwassers, @lpolgreen and The Huffington Post

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Politico, Hill Reporters Get Rare Access For Hillary Clinton Book — NEW YORK — When CNN recently canceled a Hillary Clinton documentary, Charles Ferguson, the film's director, lashed out at the former secretary of state's aides. — Ferguson suggested that longtime Clinton protector Philippe Reines …

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Jessica Lessin talks about paywalls, The Information and the virtues of knowing who your audience is — Former Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Lessin got some attention when she left the newspaper six months ago to start a new online news venture, and this week she launched the project …

Discussion: @garrettgoodman, @theinformation, @gabestein, StartupBook, @jessicalessin, @jayrosen_nyu and Daring Fireball

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:

We Wrote a Heartbreaking and Terrifying Post about Viral Content without Lists or GIFs. Then You Clicked on It, and Magic Happened. … PinIt InstapaperPocketEmailPrint — As long as people have been publishing, they've been trying to figure out what will make large numbers of people burn …

Discussion: @fivethirtyeight and The Dish

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Profile: Time editor Nancy Gibbs, an insider navigating declining revenue at an iconic brand — Her ‘Time’ — On a Thursday afternoon in October, Nancy Gibbs, who shattered a glass ceiling the previous month when she became the first woman to reach the top of Time's masthead …

Discussion: @cschweitz and @tmcgev, Thanks:@steverubel

Jack Shafer:

What's worse than sponsored content? The FTC regulating it — What's more dangerous to consumer well-being, sponsored content or the intervention of the Federal Trade Commission? On Wednesday, the agency held a conference, “Blurred Lines: Advertising or Content,” to “discuss native advertising,” as the New York Times put it.

Discussion: @bdeskin and PRNewser

Reuters:

Once piracy havens, China's Internet video websites turn police — (Reuters) - The website of China's biggest Internet video company Youku Tudou Inc was once a haven for illicit Hollywood blockbusters and hit South Korean soap operas, until it realised piracy really doesn't pay.

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's …

Margaret Looney / IJNet:

Knight Lab's Joe Germuska: “We have to find room for the big experimental ideas” — What started as an idea for creating tools for local media in Chicago three years ago has evolved into an innovation hub for the global journalism and technology community. — The Knight Lab at Northwestern …

Nicole Levy / Capital New York:

Remnick: ‘New Yorker’ mulled biweekly route, once — Since news of New York's move to biweekly publishing in 2014 broke on Monday, media personalities have spun the decision two ways: as a promising flank of the magazine's digital advance and a dismal signifier of the industry's retreat from print.

Discussion: @nbj914 and Capital New York

Robert Mahoney / Committee to Protect Journalists:

A chill over British press — A prime minister says a newspaper has damaged national security and calls for its editor to be brought before Parliament; his government tells the same paper there has been “enough” debate on an issue and sends its security officials into the paper's offices …

Discussion: The New Yorker Blog, TechCrunch, TheHill and Free Press Blog

Tom Gara / Corporate Intelligence:

Behind the FCC's Intervention in a $985 Million Local TV Deal — The TV business has been on a furious consolidation drive this year, with billions of dollars worth of mergers and acquisitions snapping up the companies that bring broadcast TV to local markets across the country. But a letter from

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:
FCC Asks Sinclair to Revise Plans to Use ‘Sidecar’ Companies

Discussion: TVNewsCheck.com

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Elsevier Continues Its Efforts To Stifle The Sharing Of Knowledge To Pump Up Its Own Profits — In the academic publishing world, I'm not sure if there's any company quite as hated as Elsevier. You may recall the big campaign by academics to boycott Elsevier over its opposition to rules …

Discussion: Sauropod Vertebra Picture …, @hylopsar, @vkhosla, @rmounce, @openscience, @bioinfocus, @lambo, @macloo, @glynmoody and @kevincarson1

Jennifer Howard / Wired Campus:
Elsevier forces Academia.edu to take down research papers shared by their authors

Discussion: CNET, Beyond Search, @jenhoward, VentureBeat, @ai1sa, @bryanalexander, @thesiswhisperer, @jmarkockerbloom and @nowviskie

Dante D'Orazio / The Verge:

Google could launch ‘Nexus TV’ Android set-top next year, says report — Google isn't giving up its living room ambitions. The company is said to be working on a “Nexus TV” device that will run Android, stream video from services like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, and play a selection of video games.

Discussion: Mashable, The Information, PhoneArena and BGR

Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:

Media Rights Capital in Talks to Sell Stake to Guggenheim Partners (Exclusive) — The “House of Cards” and “Ted” producer would partner with the investor in Dick Clark Productions and the Los Angeles Dodgers. — Media Rights Capital, the prolific film and TV studio behind Netflix's House …