Mediagazer: Can the New Republic find its digital footing? (Ricardo Bilton/Digiday)

3:40 PM ET, May 22, 2014

Top News:

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Time Inc. Starts Selling Ads on Magazine Covers, Breaking Industry Taboo — First Up: Verizon on Time and Sports Illustrated — How to Integrate Social Media Into Your Marketing Strategy — Time Inc., the nation's largest magazine publisher, is running Verizon Wireless ads this week …

Discussion: magazine.org, The New York Observer, Mediaite, USA Today, MediaWire Daily, FishbowlNY, Poynter, @niemanlab, @colinmorrisonuk, @rogerblack, Mashable, Talking New Media, Capital New York and New York Magazine

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Newspapers are ‘hollowed out’ and ‘VICE is the savior of news,’ says guy from Facebook — Facebook's Mike Hudack published a rant “about the state of the media” on his page Thursday. Some choice moments: — CNN is “the network of kidnapped white girls.”

Discussion: Mike Hudack, Vox, PandoDaily, Forbes, The New York Observer, Gawker, @myersnews, Business Insider and Mashable

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

A challenge for free speech: Twitter's “country-withheld content” tool spreads to Pakistan — Twitter's selective censorship of tweets may be the best option, but it's still censorship — Twitter's ability to block certain tweets or users from being seen in specific countries …

Discussion: Techdirt, @jeffjohnroberts, @jilliancyork, @jamesvasile and Chilling Effects Clearinghouse

Jon Boone / Guardian:

Pakistan's Geo News becomes latest target in blasphemy accusation trend — Widespread calls for popular TV channel to be shut down after using Sufi song on broadcast of mock celebrity wedding — Young children, religious minorities and people with mental health problems have all been accused of the crime of blasphemy in Pakistan.

Discussion: Khaleej Times, Economist, The News International, DW.DE, The News International, The News International, presstv.ir, @rizmokal, @venkatananth, @ketan72 and Eurasia Review

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

Atria and UTA team up to create Keywords Press, a new imprint for books by YouTube stars — Media Companies Join to Extend the Brands of YouTube Stars — LOS ANGELES — Simon & Schuster is making a big bet on YouTube stars, an undertaking that could either open up a blockbuster …

Discussion: GalleyCat, Tubefilter, The Wrap, Publishers Lunch, @publisherswkly, @realjohngreen, FishbowlNY, @pkafka, @peterlattman, Wall Street Journal and Mashable

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Mail Online's soaring revenues offset publisher's print ad decline — Website's revenues up 45% to £28m in six months to end of March, as DMGT highlights reshaping of its media business — Mail Online: revenues up 45% to £28m in six months to end of March

Discussion: TheMediaBriefing, Guardian, RTTNews, Press Gazette and The Drum

Paul Linford / HoldTheFrontPage:
Local World makes £18m half-yearly profit says DMGT

Discussion: Life Style Extra and RTTNews

Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:

Can the New Republic find its digital footing? — It's been two years since Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes acquired the New Republic, the Washington insider mag once described as “the in-flight magazine of Air Force One.” Since then, Hughes has helped march the 100-year-old publication further …

Discussion: @lmoses, @stkonrath, @jess_goode and @niemanlab

Patrick Kingsley / Guardian:

Australian journalist accuses Egyptian prosecutors of unbelievable inefficiency — Peter Geste's outburst follows airing of phone footage, including pop video, in trial of three al-Jazeera journalists — The Australian al-Jazeera journalist on trial in Egypt, Peter Greste …

Discussion: canada.com, Al Jazeera English and The Huffington Post

Myles Tanzer / BuzzFeed:

NPR Staffers Worry About Diversity With End Of “Tell Me More” — “They want people of color in a very small box. They don't want to challenge that idea.” — Flickr: bereninga — On Tuesday morning NPR employees gathered in a conference room in front of the company's top brass …

Discussion: @heavenrants, @eddiesayago and @asmaam

Sharif Sakr / Engadget:

Samsung gives up on its homegrown Music and Book Hub services — Just like HTC with its doomed movie service, Samsung is apparently starting to realize that its in-house efforts can't compete with specialist alternatives. While Spotify has been busily publicizing its rapid growth …

Discussion: Gigaom, CNET and The Verge

Angela Haggerty / The Drum:

Financial Times kicks off trials to sell advertisers ‘blocks of time’ to tackle industry's viewability issue — The Financial Times is set to begin a new method of digital trading, selling blocks of time to advertisers in a bid to tackle the industry's ad viewability problem.

Discussion: @jason_kint, @jburnmurdoch and @chartbeat

Todd Spangler / Variety:

ScreenHits to Launch Free Internet Site to Let Consumers Watch ‘Broken’ TV Pilots (Exclusive) — Startup's Pilot Showcase partners include Fox International Channels, Hasbro, Lionsgate, Relativity and Telemundo — ScreenHits, a startup that runs an online marketplace for global buyers …

Discussion: Digital TV Europe, TBI Vision and Forbes

Gavin J. Blair / Hollywood Reporter:

Sony CEO Targets $300 Million in Film Unit Cost Cuts — Kaz Hirai once again said entertainment is a core business and emphasized the company's increasing focus on the growing TV production business, but didn't mention movie production during a presentation.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Wired, New York Times, Bloomberg and Fox Business

Jeremy Barr / Capital New York:

HuffPost M.E. Jimmy Soni transfers to India, Kate Palmer to succeed — The Huffington Post has reshuffled its masthead, replacing managing editor Jimmy Soni with national editor Kate Palmer. — Soni will leave the No. 3 editorial position and head to India, where The Huffington Post plans to launch a new edition.

Discussion: Poynter and FishbowlNY

Tara Conlan / Guardian:

BBC editor taken off election coverage after branding Ukip racist and sexist — Jasmine Lawrence quits Twitter as BBC launches investigation into tweet posted the day before local and European elections — Jasmine Lawrence, a channel editor at BBC News, has been removed from playing …

Discussion: @leewatersukip, UK - The Huffington Post, BBC and Daily Mail