Mediagazer: Big names back press regulation underpinned by royal charter (Roy Greenslade/Guardian)

5:50 PM ET, March 18, 2014

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

Introducing ‘AnonyWatch’: Tracking Nameless Quotations in The Times — This post is the inaugural edition of an effort to point out some of the more regrettable examples of anonymous quotations in The Times. I've written about this from time to time, as have my predecessors, to no little or no avail.

Discussion: Mediaite, FishbowlNY, Politico, @jayrosen_nyu, @emptywheel, @nickfoxnyt, @dangillmor, @antderosa and @mattbai

Andrew Beaujon / @abeaujon:

KING5 reporting it was “two of our colleagues at KOMO” who died in the crash. http://bit.ly/hE9w6u

Discussion: NWCN, Associated Press, KIRO-TV, Detroit Free Press and Gawker

Tim Kenneally / The Wrap:

ABC News Affiliate Helicopter Crash in Seattle Leaves 2 Dead — A crash involving a KOMO news helicopter in Seattle has left two dead and one in critical condition, the Seattle fire department said Tuesday morning. — The incident, which occurred near the Seattle Space Needle, also involved three car fires, the department added.

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Washington Post goes national by offering free digital access to readers of local newspapers — In 1980, The New York Times launched a daily national edition that, despite a significant upfront investment, turned into a position of strength; today, more than half of the Times' print subscribers are outside New York.

Discussion: Financial Times, Washington Post, Gigaom, @raju, PandoDaily, The Incidental Economist, The Verge, @mattdpearce, @dbrauer, @amzam, @losowsky, @jbenton, @caseymcdermott, @jayrosen_nyu, @heyfeifer, @postbaron and @eramshaw

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

What Viacom Has to Show for Seven Years of Pursuing YouTube (Analysis) — The content giant has spent millions of dollars to shape copyright law. — In a Manhattan courtroom on Monday, an attorney for one of the nation's biggest copyright holders delivered closing arguments in a trial meant …

Discussion: Plagiarism Today

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Google and Viacom Settle Copyright-Infringement Lawsuit over YouTube

Discussion: Re/code, The Wrap, Reuters, Lost Remote, Wall Street Journal, CNET, Techdirt, Gigaom, Hollywood Reporter and VentureBeat

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Amazon's Set Top Box Will Be A Dongle Like Chromecast, Could Feature OnLive-Style Streaming — Amazon is readying a game console/set top box of its own, and we've learned from multiple sources familiar with the device that the Lab126-produced gadget will have a form factor similar to the Chromecast …

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon to Ship Video-Streaming Device in April

Discussion: Ubergizmo, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, Business Insider, CNET, VG247 and The Verge

Guardian:

Guardian wins Scripps Howard Foundation award for NSA reporting — Organisation receives Roy W Howard award for public service reporting, while New York Times and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also win — The Guardian's revelations about the scale of surveillance on American citizens …

Discussion: Washington Post, TheHill, FishbowlNY, PandoDaily and GNM press office

Cal Borchers / BetaBoston:

Northeastern University receives $250K from Knight Foundation for new media innovation course — Who invited them? Innovation party crashers keep coming as Northeastern launches new journalism program — First the musicians, now the reporters. Sorry, tech types. There's another crasher at your innovation party.

Discussion: Knight Foundation, @niemanlab, @bostonabrams and @dangillmor

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Charged Sun journalist: ‘Alarming’ police crackdown has made reporters ‘fearful’ of contact with public officials — A Sun journalist facing trial for ‘conspiracy to cause misconduct in public office’ has highlighted the plight of the many UK journalists caught up in criminal investigations prompted by the hacking scandal.

Discussion: @domponsford, @neilwallis1 and @gazthejourno

Michael Holden / Reuters:
PM Cameron's ex-media chief agreed to fund hacking - court

Discussion: ITV, The Independent, BBC and Guardian

Ben Thompson / stratechery:

Average journalism gets crowded out as the internet eases delivery of the best journalism — FiveThirtyEight and the End of Average — Just a few minutes ago, Nate Silver's new FiveThirtyEight site launched. While it's not known how much ESPN is paying Silver, it's certainly a substantial amount …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Guardian, @edmundlee, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Gigaom, @karaswisher, NetNewsCheck Latest, USA Today, @mathewi, The New Republic, Kirk LaPointe's …, WordPress.com VIP, FishbowlDC, @franklinleonard, @jayrosen_nyu and @mclendaniel

Erik Wemple:

Los Angeles Times and its fired investigative reporter: A critical look — Jason Felch has spent the past 10 years working as an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He was a 2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist for highlighting mismanagement at the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Discussion: @kateaurthur and @erikwemple

L.A. Ross / The Wrap:

Scott Robson Out as Editor of Yahoo Entertainment (Exclusive) — Veteran editor is leaving after less than two years as head of website's entertainment division Scott Robson is out at Yahoo Entertainment after less than two years as editor in chief, two individuals with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Emily Bell / Columbia Journalism Review:

Diversity—or lack thereof—in journalism startups, cont. — Emily Bell weighs in on the response to her Guardian column from last week — Someone is wrong on the internet, and I wonder if it might be me. Last week I wrote a piece for the Guardian about what I saw as a disappointing trend …

Discussion: Zombie Journalism and PSFK

Bill Carter / New York Times:

CNN's Ratings Surge With Coverage of the Mystery of the Missing Airliner — On CNN, the plane rises from misty clouds accompanied by an eerie background score while anchors offer intriguing details — some new, some days old — of the disappearance of Flight 370.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Fox News, TVNewser, Erik Wemple, @mlcalderone, @grahamwjenkins, @mattbors, The Daily Caller, Los Angeles Times, Change of Subject, @wesleylowery, Inside Cable News, Deadline.com, Mediaite and New York Magazine

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Streaming Subscriptions Are Now a Billion-Dollar Business, but Music Sales Stall — Music subscription services have been around for a long time. Now they're finally a real business: Companies like Spotify, Deezer and even Google generated more than $1.1 billion in music subscription revenue last year.

Discussion: @jyarow

Tom Conrad / Pandora Blog:

Pandora CTO Tom Conrad stepping aside, transitioning to advisory role — On a personal note... Back in the early days of Pandora, I was frequently the person who would post to our blog with news about the latest product enhancements and company milestones.

Discussion: Pandora, @abatalion, @rsarver, Re/code, @eldon, @timwestergren, TechCrunch, @mbaratz, @om, @tedr, @tconrad, @mg, @hunterwalk, VatorNews and VentureBeat

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Big names back press regulation underpinned by royal charter — More than 200 - from JK Rowling to Rowan Williams - feature in Hacked Off ad supporting watchdog rejected by publishers — More than 200 leading figures from the arts and academia, including writers, film-makers, actors …

Discussion: Press Gazette and Guardian

Tara Conlan / Guardian:

Nearly 150 MPs supporting decriminalising non-payment of BBC license fee — Support grows for decriminalising non-payment of licence fee — Almost 150 MPs back amendment to deregulation bill, despite BBC saying it would cost up to £200m a year in lost revenue

Discussion: BBC and ConservativeHome

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Trinity Mirror to close weekly newspaper office in pilot experiment — Trinity Mirror has launched an experiment to test whether local newspaper journalists can report for their paper without an office. — Reporters working at the Crewe Chronicle have been told their office is to close, probably by the end of May.

Discussion: National Union of Journalists and @themediaisdying