Mediagazer: Has Jeff Zucker Made CNN Better? (Josef Adalian/New York Magazine)

10:30 AM ET, January 9, 2014

Top News:

Roger Ailes Fights Back: CNN ‘Out of News Business’; Megyn Kelly Critics ‘Jealous’; Dismisses New Book (Q&A) — Roger Ailes, like his Fox News Channel, is as divisive as he is successful. The chairman and CEO of the de facto victor in cable news' ratings war, whose colorful professional past includes …

Discussion: Capital New York, TVNewser and Gawker

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
Excerpt from the new biography of Fox News exec Roger Ailes, “The Loudest Voice in the Room”

Discussion: @longform, @stevesilberman, @reedfrich, @nymag, @juliebosman, Gawker and The Wrap

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Roger Ailes biographer Gabriel Sherman strikes back: The book is fact-checked

Discussion: TVNewser, Erik Wemple, @jackshafer, Mediaite, @joehagansays and New York Times

Julie Bosman / New York Times:

Barnes & Noble Reports Steep Drop in Holiday Sales — Barnes & Noble, the nation's last remaining major bookstore chain, experienced steep sales declines in its digital division during the nine-week holiday period, the company announced on Thursday. — Revenue in the Nook division …

Discussion: MarketWatch, Reuters and CNET

Jeremy Greenfield / Forbes:
Why Michael Huseby For Barnes & Noble CEO Job?

Discussion: Digital Book World, Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, USA Today, CNET and Los Angeles Times

Jason Abbruzzese / Mashable:

NYT redesign: an end to page breaks in articles and a focus on tablets and subscribers — ‘New York Times’ Website Redesign Goes Back to the Future — The New York Times has rolled out its largest website redesign in seven years, but readers familiar with the newspaper might feel like it's a step back in time

Discussion: Open, ZDNet, @ianadelman, @ianadelman, @jbenton, @nathan_ford, @dangillmor, @womenjournos, Slate, Poynter, SND, Fast Company and CNN Money

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:
Times Designers Are Monitoring Reaction to the Redesign, With Adjustments Possible

Discussion: New York Times, PandoDaily, Business Insider, Journalism.co.uk, Beet.TV and The Huffington Post

William Wan / Washington Post:

China renews Western journalists' visas after months-long standoff — BEIJING — Several Western journalists who faced expulsion from China were issued renewed visas by the Chinese government Thursday, ending a months-long standoff with the government. — But China is still on track …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Olzhas Auyezov / Reuters:

UAE frees American jailed for YouTube parody video — (Reuters) - An American citizen was released from jail in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday after serving nine months for posting a parody video on YouTube, his family said. — Shezanne Cassim, 29, was sentenced to a year in prison …

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press and NY Daily News

Michael O'Connell / Hollywood Reporter:

Nat Geo to Air Live Special From International Space Station (Exclusive) — The cable network, focusing more on event programming, has also ordered a second outing for “Inside Combat Rescue” and scheduled “Miracle Landing on the Hudson” for summer. — Nat Geo's Howard T. Owens

Discussion: Guardian, Digital Spy, Cult Hub, The Evening Times and mirror

Josef Adalian / New York Magazine:

Has Jeff Zucker Made CNN Better? … Travel Design Dates Weddings Real Estate Doctors NYC Tourist Guide Best Of New York Issue

Discussion: Barron's Online

Nic Hodges / Press Gazette:

Australia: Media buyer warns that if ‘clickbait’ replaces great stories - advertisers will move elsewhere — Head of innovation and technology at MediaCom Australia Nic Hodges looks at the rise of paywalls Down Under and explains why ‘clickbait’ tactics from publishers could be a turn-off for advertisers.

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Last pink Observer to be published in March — The New York Observer's radical redesign, first reported by Capital, is now scheduled to debut in late March. — The makeover was originally scheduled to debut next month, but sources familiar with the plans told us it's been pushed back.

Patrick Frater / Variety:

Warner Brothers and Lukup Media partner for Indian on-demand channel — Warner in Digital Link Up With India's Lukup — MUMBAI — Bangalore-based digital content platform Lukup Media has partnered with Warner Bros. Digital Distribution to launch an as-yet-unnamed on-demand channel in India.

Discussion: Rapid TV News and CIOL

Daniel D'Addario / Salon:

Post-Stelter, has the New York Times changed its tack on Lauer's “Today”? — “Presumed,” says very strange N.Y. Times piece — The New York Times, on Monday, published the most stunning piece of meta-journalism since Janet Malcolm met Joe McGinniss. And it's all about the newspaper's former punching bag Matt Lauer.

Darren Boyle / Press Gazette:

Glasgow's Herald trumpets success of metered paywall with more subscribers online than in print — Digital subscriptions for the Glasgow based Herald & Times group now outstrip those in print, the publisher has claimed. — The newspaper group began charging for access to the HeraldScotland website …

David S. Cohen / Variety:

FCC Chairman Voices Clear but Cautious Support for Net Neutrality — CES 2014: Tom Wheeler says commission will act if markets get out of balance — Speaking at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler offered cautious but clear support for net neutrality.

Bridie Jabour / Guardian:

Nauru to increase visa cost for journalists from $200 to $8,000 — The new fee, which is not refundable if an application is rejected, will come into force in the next few days — Journalists will be charged $8,000 to apply for a visa, even if it is rejected, to visit the island of Nauru …

Discussion: The Global Mail, The Stream, Al Jazeera America, Reuters, TIME, The Age, @rightnowinc, @kenroth, @ecre, GlobalPost, mUmBRELLA and ABC

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Ipso, the new press regulator, is just the PCC with extra bells and whistles — Ipso is a creature of the publishers in which they will continue to hold the strings - including the purse-strings — At last, the new press regulator is emerging from the shadows.

Discussion: @michaelwhite

Beth Healy / Boston Globe:

Globe publisher Christopher Mayer to step down — Boston Globe publisher Christopher Mayer said Wednesday that he plans to step down after nearly 30 years at the newspaper and four years at its helm, as part of a business transition under new owner John Henry.

Discussion: @emilyprocknal, bizjournals and Media Nation