Mediagazer: Channel 4 News editor Ben de Pear: ‘We are like an ant versus Goliath when it comes to the BBC’ (William Turvill/Press Gazette)

8:35 AM ET, May 15, 2014

Top News:

NYT's Abramson was fired after confronting “top brass” about being paid less than male predecessor — Why Jill Abramson Was Fired — At the annual City University Journalism School dinner, on Monday, Dean Baquet, the managing editor of the New York Times, was seated with Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., the paper's publisher.

New York Times:

Jill Abramson unexpectedly leaving as executive editor at NYT, to be replaced by Dean Baquet — Times Ousts Its Executive Editor, Elevating Second in Command — The New York Times dismissed Jill Abramson as executive editor on Wednesday, replacing her with Dean Baquet, the managing editor, in an abrupt change of leadership.

Discussion: The Guardian, @dgelles, Vox, Politico, FishbowlNY, Capital New York, Washington Post, Washington Post, Forbes, JIMROMENESKO.COM, investors.nytco.com, @brianstelter, @patcohennyt, Mashable, Vox, BuzzFeed, Adweek, Politico, @huffpostbiz, New York Times, @natesilver538, @lauriegnyt, @c_heller, Washington Post, CNNMoney.com, @moorehn, WWD, Businessweek, Vanity Fair, @nataliekitro, @nxthompson, @moorehn, @alexkoppelman, @antderosa, @joepompeo, @ezraklein, @jbenton, @gaberivera, @nytfridge, @jasoncherkis, @emilcdc, @matthewwells, @antderosa, @samir, NPR, @robedits, USA Today, Pressing Issues, @edmundlee, @gabrielsnyder, @tcarmody, The Huffington Post, FAIR Blog, Talking Points Memo, Poynter, Business Insider, Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day, Al Jazeera America, Wall Street Journal, The Root, Fortune, Columbia Journalism Review, Variety, New York Magazine, The Maynard Institute …, The Wrap, Mediaite, The Wire, Gawker, FishbowlDC, @mckaycoppins, @irastoll, @pogue, Cision, The Newspaper Guild and Gothamist

Chadwick Matlin / FiveThirtyEight:

Jill Abramson Wouldn't Be the Only Female Editor to Face a Pay Gap — On Wednesday afternoon, The New York Times replaced Jill Abramson as editor-in-chief. She had been on the job for less than three years, and the newsroom was caught off guard: … Among media wags, the question quickly became why Abramson was dismissed.

Discussion: Business Insider, @chadwickmatlin, @morninggloria, @itsjina, @connieschultz, @nytfridge, @mpoppel, @loyalelectron, @agolis, Forbes, BBC and Talking Points Memo

Kate Aurthur / BuzzFeed:

Jill Abramson's Firing And The New York Times' Chaotic Future — The abrupt dismissal of the executive editor portends a bumpy road ahead for her successor, Dean Baquet, and the rest of the newsroom. — Brad Barket / Getty Images for WIRED — When the news broke that Jill Abramson …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, @abarnardnyt, @stuartpstevens, @erinnthered, @thefix and @ajfriedenberger

Dylan Byers / Politico:

N.Y. Times: Abramson's compensation ‘was not less than’ Bill Keller's — The New York Times is pushing back against a report that Jill Abramson was fired in part because she complained that her salary was less than that of her male predecessor, Bill Keller.

Discussion: Poynter, Salon, @petersterne, Gawker, Forbes, Talking Points Memo, The New York Observer, MediaWire Daily, @neetzan, @dylanmatt, @thestalwart, Capital New York and Mediaite

Politico:

Why Jill Abramson's departure will ricochet — Brilliant journalist rockets to the top of a newsroom, then discovers that the traits that make a great reporter or writer are not the same — indeed, can sometimes be the very opposite — as the traits that make someone a capable newsroom leader.

Discussion: Vox, @dylanbyers, @nayantararai, @zbergson, @fmanjoo, @nickbilton and @nayantararai

Kelly McBride / Poynter:

The New York Times owes the audience an explanation — Jill Abramson's departure as the executive editor of The New York Times and Dean Baquet's appointment as her replacement was abrupt. — Times Company Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. told senior editors at a 2 p.m. meeting and the rest …

Discussion: SocialTimes, Capital New York, @lexinyt, @lexinyt, @drudge, @kellymcb, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and FishbowlNY

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:
Everything You Need to Know About Dean Baquet, the First Black Executive Editor of the New York Times

Discussion: New York Times, TIME, @juliadavisnews, @palafo and The Huffington Post

Hannah Karp / Wall Street Journal:

Warner, Universal, Sony Buy Stakes in Music App Shazam — Shazam Entertainment, the music-identification app, landed small investments from the world's biggest record companies, according to people familiar with the matter. — Warner Music Group owner Access Industries …

Discussion: hypebot, Billboard, @chriswelch, Reuters and Digital Media Wire

Todd Spangler / Variety:
NCM to Bring Disney's Maker, Twitter, Shazam and Grammys to In-Theater Ad Network

Discussion: TechCrunch

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Apple's Beats Deal May Not Be Finalized Until Next Week — More time for people to speculate about what it all means: Apple's planned deal to buy Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion may not be finalized until next week, according to people familiar with the transaction.

Discussion: Cult of Mac, Business Insider, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, MacRumors and App Advice

S.P. / Economist:

French newspapers: Blood on the cutting room floor — IS THERE a curse on French newspaper editors? This morning, after a turbulent few weeks, Natalie Nougayrède announced her resignation as editor of Le Monde. She had been in the job for just 14 months and is the fifth editor at the paper in seven years.

Discussion: Reuters

John Plunkett / Guardian:

BBC pay offer of 1% ‘completely unacceptable’ say trade unions — Rise only applies to those on less than £50,000 as Tony Hall calls for continued austerity in run-up to charter renewal — Trade unions have branded as “completely unacceptable” a BBC pay offer of 1% to staff earning less than £50,000.

Discussion: National Union of Journalists and Press Gazette

William Turvill / Press Gazette:

Channel 4 News editor Ben de Pear: ‘We are like an ant versus Goliath when it comes to the BBC’ — Channel 4 News editor Ben de Pear has mixed feelings about the BBC. He sees Newsnight as his main rival and variously describes the corporation as “stifling”, “crippling” and “a monster”.

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

James Risen Recalls ‘Game Of Chicken’ With New York Times Editors To Reveal NSA Spying — NEW YORK — In the fall of 2005, New York Times reporter James Risen invited a colleague, Eric Lichtblau, to his house to read a chapter from his forthcoming book, State of War.

Discussion: Washington Post, Pressing Issues, RT and WGBH News

Owen Bowcott / Guardian:

David Miranda allowed to appeal against ruling on Heathrow detention — Partner of former Guardian reporter to challenge high court ruling on legality of his detention under counter-terrorism powers — David Miranda, partner of the former Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald …

Discussion: The Voice of Russia, News

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Contextly Launches Its Editorial Tools To Find “Related Content” That's Actually Related — If you're tired of seeing “related content” widgets that are full of links that are, at best, kinda, sorta related, a startup called Contextly is trying to make things better.

Discussion: Context

Mary Ann Badavi / The Atlantic Online:

Choire Sicha, co-founder of The Awl, shares his concerns about how we digest information online — Choire Sicha, co-founder of The Awl, shares his concerns about how we digest information online. — “You want [writers] to flower into their floweriness,” said Choire Sicha, smiling slyly at the audience at last week's New York Ideas.

Discussion: @mthomps, @kashhill and @niemanlab

Nathalie Tadena / Wall Street Journal:

NYT Readers Spend Same Amount of Time on Paid Posts as News Stories — Readers of the New York Times are spending roughly the same amount of time on advertiser-sponsored posts as on news stories, according to Meredith Levien, the executive vice president of advertising for The Times.

Discussion: PandoDaily

Jack Shafer:

The (misguided) passion of Glenn Greenwald — It's not that journalists have thin skins — it's that they have no skins. — This adage gets trotted out once a month or more in better newsrooms to provide context for the overreaction of a reporter or editor who has found himself …

Discussion: Mediaite, @fieldproducer, @gammonator, @jackshafer, @dominicumile, @froomkin, @sauravdatta29, @leftleaningec, @joanneleon and The New York Observer

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Walmart's Vudu Now Allows UltraViolet Users To Share Their Movies With Up To Five Friends — Walmart's Vudu announced that it will introduce a Share My Movie feature that will allow its customers to share their UltraViolet collections with up to five friends or family.

Discussion: Walmart Labs, Deadline.com, VentureBeat and Variety

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Journalism Lab:

NowThis News, a leader in mobile/social/video, shifts its strategy and its personnel — So what's going on with NowThis News? — Less than two years old, NowThis News immediately grabbed attention for what seems like a bold new proposition for news: short digital video that was built for mobile devices and social media.

Discussion: @sarahmarshall, @niemanlab and CNN