Mediagazer: Brian Stelter's CNN Debut Gets Bumpy Ratings Start (Tim Kenneally/The Wrap)

1:10 PM ET, December 10, 2013

Top News:

Marcella Bombardieri / The Boston Globe:

New York Times columnist David Carr to join Boston University faculty — Times columnist to join BU faculty — Boston University has landed star New York Times media columnist David Carr to fill a new endowed chair dedicated to exploring creative business models to support journalism in the digital era.

Discussion: Poynter, FishbowlNY, @mmckinnon, @brianstelter, @jenniferpreston, @cynthianeedham, @jayrosen_nyu, @craigsilverman, @melissaadan_, @jeffjarvis, @jbenton, @hblodget, @dankennedy_nu and Capital New York

Fox News:

New York's top court rules Fox reporter cannot be forced to reveal sources in Colorado — In a ruling likely to be hailed as an affirmation of laws protecting journalists, New York's top court ruled that FoxNews.com reporter Jana Winter cannot be forced to reveal to a Colorado court her sources …

Discussion: Poynter, FishbowlNY, TVNewser, Mediaite, Hit & Run, @howardkurtz, The Desk, @jaredbkeller, @alexweprin and The Huffington Post

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The OJR.org saga has a happy ending, with the domain headed back to USC Annenberg — OJR.org is going back to its original home. — A quick recap for those who haven't been following this tale of wayward domain names (one, two, three): The Online Journalism Review was, starting in the late 1990s …

Discussion: @jbenton

Oliver Laughland / Guardian:

Murdoch is evil: the message hidden in a children's puzzle in one of his papers — Third line down says LIVESIHCODRUM (read it backwards) as puzzlemaster has a laugh at paymaster's expense — Harry the Dog's weekly kids' word search in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph tabloid

Discussion: Sydney Morning Herald, FishbowlNY, Mediaite, The Desk, Agence France Presse, Gawker, @paullewismoney, @eriqgardner, @davidfolkenflik, @ravisomaiya, Business Insider, Junkee and mUmBRELLA

New York Times:

If a Story Is Viral, Truth May Be Taking a Beating — Truth has never been an essential ingredient of viral content on the Internet. But in the stepped-up competition for readers, digital news sites are increasingly blurring the line between fact and fiction, and saying that it is all part …

Discussion: Gigaom, @allisonkilkenny, @adriennelaf, @kevglobal, @flemingsean, @marcsettle, @rga, @nytonit, @anttiisokangas, @juliewestfall, @rzgreenfield, @magicofpi, @saramorrison, @jswatz and @pkafka

Tim Kenneally / The Wrap:

Brian Stelter's CNN Debut Gets Bumpy Ratings Start — Stelter's premiere as “Reliable Sources” host drops sharply from most recent airing — Brian Stelter's debut as the new host of CNN's “Reliable Sources” drew less than stellar numbers on Sunday, drawing an underwhelming 400,000 total viewers …

Discussion: TVNewser, Deadline.com, Mediaite and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Lyra McKee / The Muckraker:

Matter had over 10K paying readers but paywall wasn't right model, says co-founder — In 2012, tech journalists Bobbie Johnson and Jim Giles raised over $140,000 on crowdfunding site Kickstarter for their new publication, Matter. The idea was simple: a digital publishing house that produced in-depth …

Discussion: @niemanlab and @jayrosen_nyu

Andrew Albanese / PublishersWeekly.com:

Judge Tosses Booksellers' Suit Against Publishers, Amazon — Federal Judge Jed Rakoff has dismissed a lawsuit filed by independent booksellers against Amazon and the big six publishers that alleged a murky conspiracy to restrain trade via Amazon's use of proprietary DRM in its Kindle e-reading platform.

Discussion: Gigaom, TeleRead and Publishers Lunch

J.K. Trotter / Gawker:

Fox News Paid Fired Executive $8 Million to Keep Quiet — Roger Ailes' secrets command a heavy price. Last week, the New York Times reported that Fox News had reached an out-of-court settlement with Brian Lewis, the former Roger Ailes aide who was abruptly fired in late July.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Los Angeles Times, Capital New York, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, Erik Wemple, @will_bunch, Variety, @gabrielsnyder, @stevesilberman, PRNewser, @dangillmor, @dylanbyers and The Huffington Post

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

The persecution of Apple: is the ebook investigation out of control? — Fresh controversy over Apple's role in an alleged ebook conspiracy raises questions about the judge's handling of the case, and even led the Wall Street Journal to say she is a “disgrace” and call for her removal.

Discussion: Melville House Books

Guardian:

International bill of digital rights: call from 500 writers around the world — In a petition to the United Nations, a group of authors agree that democratic rights must apply in virtual as in real space — • State surveillance of personal data is theft, say world's leading authors

Discussion: BBC, The Week UK, The Australian, The Irish Times, presstv.ir, Bookseller news, The Dawn News, @poetryarchive, The Huffington Post and Guardian

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Patch co-founder and AOL exec Jon Brod to leave company — Longtime AOL Exec Jon Brod Headed Out — AOL executive Jon Brod, who has had multiple roles in the company and was most recently in charge of its venture arm, is leaving AOL. — The news isn't a huge shock …

Discussion: Poynter, Business Insider and @vouchey

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Tribune files plan with SEC ahead of publishing unit spinoff — Tribune Co. took a key step in the planned spinoff of its publishing business on Monday, filing a Form 10 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The initial filing contains financial statements …

Discussion: Poynter, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun Times, Seeking Alpha and Chicago Business

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Dailymotion Buys SublimeVideo Developer Jilion To Build Out Video Producing And Customizing Capabilities — With a Yahoo purchase very much off the table, France's Dailymotion is making an acquisition of its own: it is buying Jilion, the developer behind the SublimeVideo platform for distributing web videos with customized features.

Discussion: CNET, ReelSEO Video Marketing, Broadband TV News, The Next Web and The Drum

Darren Boyle / Press Gazette:

Linux Voice secures £90,000 crowdfunded launch target — The editorial team behind a new computer magazine are busily working on the first edition having secured £90,000 investment on the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform. — Linux Voice is being launched by the former editorial team …

Rachel Bartlett / Journalism.co.uk:

After first year online, Tech City News launches print magazine — Tech City News outlined print plans when it launched as a website at the start of the year, and has remained committed to that as it publishes new magazine — Credit: Image by Jinx! on Flickr. Some rights reserved

Discussion: Guardian and @beckygolland

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Scripps Buys Newsy For $35M To Expand From TV And Newspapers To Digital Video — Another exit for a new media startup into the arms of the old media industry: E.W. Scripps, the storied owner of 19 local television stations and daily newspapers in 13 markets across the U.S. …

Discussion: The E.W. Scripps Company, Folio, Gigaom, Variety, @davidherzog, @newsyvideos, @stlarchangels, Lost Remote, StartupBook, MediaPost, @michaelroston, Poynter, @laurenzima, @zachtoombs, NetNewsCheck Latest, The Commercial Appeal, TVSpy and @wadefoster, Thanks:@steverubel

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Experiments in viral journalism: Trinity Mirror launches Ampp3d for sharing data-driven stories — As we pointed out recently, everyone seems to be trying to come up with an Upworthy or BuzzFeed-style portal that does “viral” content, and that includes media outlets like the Washington Post, with its Know More project.

Discussion: @greenwellys