Mediagazer: Knight Lab's Joe Germuska: “We have to find room for the big experimental ideas” (Margaret Looney/IJNet)

8:00 PM ET, December 7, 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: @blakehounshell, @raju, @jayrosen_nyu, @dicktofel, @sarahkendzior and Prof Chris Daly's Blog

Kathy Chu / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Media Firms Stymied in China — Financial News Sites Blocked Inside China as Rivals Seek to Unlock a Fast-Growing Market — China's recent clampdown on foreign media is crimping the expansion plans of Western news organizations, at a time when many experts believe the Chinese market …

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

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 …

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

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 …

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

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, TheHill, TechCrunch and Free Press Blog

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: The Information, Mashable, PhoneArena and BGR

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

Jennifer Howard / Wired Campus:

Elsevier forces Academia.edu to take down research papers shared by their authors — Posting Your Latest Article? You Might Have to Take It Down — Guy Leonard received an unpleasant surprise in his inbox early this morning: a notice from Academia.edu saying it had taken down a copy …

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

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Elsevier Continues Its Efforts To Stifle The Sharing Of Knowledge To Pump Up Its Own Profits

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

Wayne Friedman / MediaPost:

Newspaper Dollars Still Tops In Local Media — Local small and medium size businesses are “optimistic” about local media growth in the near term. Still many are cautious. — When it comes to where local media dollars are spent, the survey says newspapers are still tops …

Mohana Ravindranath / Washington Post:

New White House plan reaffirms commitment to open data — A White House plan released on Friday announced new plans to make government data open to the public. — The Second Open Government National Action Plan updates an earlier iteration and lists a few new open data initiatives …

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation, White House.gov Blog and rcfp.org

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

NYPD stops giving journalists crime reports at precincts — The New York City Police Department has decided to “restrict journalists' access to the forms detailing crime reports in every New York City precinct,” Amanda Woods writes. … “The NYPD's public information office, known as DCPI …

Discussion: DNAinfo.com New York, The Nabe, Gothamist, Hit & Run and New York Magazine