Mediagazer: For the WSJ, access doesn't pay off (Ryan Chittum/Columbia Journalism Review)

10:20 AM ET, March 24, 2014

Top News:

Risks Abound as Reporters Play in Traffic — It is a dirty secret of the journalism profession that many reporters are bad at math. Many of us ended up typing our way to a living because we had an easier time making words dance than numbers. — But now that everything can be measured, we have to keep an eye on both.

Discussion: Digiday, @alecmacgillis, @jheil, @johnfhill2, @carr2n, @mathewi, @palafo, @peterlattman, @rickswagler, @jim_edwards, @leighpa, @journochat, @awitrado, @maura, @mdeziel, @jyarow and @mattgallowaycbc

Aaron Mesh / Willamette Week:

With Quotas and Incentive Pay, The Oregonian is Again Reshaping Its Experience for Readers — Close readers of The Oregonian have borne witness to dramatic changes in the past several months. — In October, the newspaper became a “digital first” media company, with news stories posted …

Discussion: @dangillmor

Leslie Kaufman / New York Times:

BuzzFeed teams up with ex-Gawker editor Neetzan Zimmerman and Whisper for access to its content — BuzzFeed Unites With an Alumnus of Gawker — Neetzan Zimmerman, an editor who rose to prominence at Gawker with an uncanny knack for posting popular news articles and videos …

Discussion: The New York Observer, @socarolinesays, @felixsalmon, @edmundlee, @peterlattman, @jarroddicker, @joshsternberg, @jason_kint, @jonsteinberg, @maura, Guardian, @petersterne, @clarajeffery, @pbump, thedrum.com, @alex, @nostrich and @hamishmckenzie

Leslie Kaufman / New York Times:

Slate to Introduce a Variation on the Paywall — In the hunt for revenue in the digital era, news publications have tried everything from putting up paywalls to soliciting donations. — The digital magazine Slate, nearly two decades old, plans to experiment with a strategy somewhere in between.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Poynter, @felixsalmon, @jayrosen_nyu, @raju and New York Magazine

Nitsuh Abebe / New York Magazine:

Watching Team Upworthy Work Is Enough to Make You a Cynic. Or Lose Your Cynicism. Or Both. Or Neither. — Rebecca Eisenberg, an editor for the viral website Upworthy, works from the back of her Jersey City apartment, surrounded by Star Trek posters, felt Muppet versions of herself …

Discussion: @kyliesobel, @thewayoftheid, @amy_lombard, @kevinroose, The Hairpin, @mattyglesias, @jayrosen_nyu, @ezraklein, @elipariser, @timoreilly, @defcon_5, @asmantz, @elanazak, @megsokay, @gabestein, @pkafka and @pkafka

Wall Street Journal:

Apple in Talks with Comcast About Streaming-TV Service — Companies Discuss Service That Would Try to Bypass Web Congestion — Apple Inc. is in talks with Comcast Corp. about teaming up for a streaming-television service that would use an Apple set-top box and get special treatment …

Glenn Greenwald / The Intercept:

Some Facts About How NSA Stories Are Reported — (updated below) — Several members of the august “US Journalists Against Transparency” club are outraged by revelations in yesterday's New York Times (jointly published by der Spiegel) that the NSA has been hacking the products …

Discussion: Lawfare, Softpedia News, Techdirt, @0xdeadbabe, The Next Web, Lawfare, VentureBeat, Spiegel Online, New York Times, Kirk LaPointe's …, Guardian, Mother Jones, Boing Boing, TheHill, CNET, Gigaom, The Verge and Mashable

Jason Abbruzzese / Mashable:

Bloomberg hires Inside.com CCO Gabriel Snyder and ex-AOL Live president Nathan Richardson — Bloomberg Media Makes First Moves Toward New Digital Products — Justin Smith has taken the first major steps in his revamp of Bloomberg Media with the hiring of former AOL Live president Nathan Richardson …

Bloomberg:

Murdoch-Backed Vice Media Weighs IPO With Gonzo Reports — Vice Media Inc., the company that combines punk culture with online journalism, is poised to double revenue to $1 billion by 2016 and may pursue an initial public offering, co-founder Shane Smith said.

Discussion: @buzzfeedben, @abeaujon and @rafat

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

TV news presenters join campaign to free jailed Al-Jazeera journalists — Imagine a world without press freedom. Imagine a world where reality is either distorted or ignored. Imagine a world in which journalists are prevented from being able to report. — Those are the messages …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and TVNewser

Patrick Kingsley / Guardian:
Al-Jazeera journalist jailed in Egypt loses full use of arm

Discussion: SunNewsNetwork.ca, HeraldSun, Full and LNR Journalism

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Nilay Patel, No Longer Managing Editor of The Verge, Moves to Vox.com — Nilay Patel, the well-known and highly regarded managing editor of The Verge, which he founded with editor-in-chief Josh Topolsky, has left that high-profile job, according to several sources.

Discussion: Poynter and @mathewi

Rowena Mason / Guardian:

Downloads of books, music and apps in the UK could face 20% value-added tax starting in 2015 — George Osborne closes tax loophole on music and book downloads — Chancellor announces new laws making sure internet downloads are taxed in the country where they are purchased