Mediagazer: Why sports media have always been newsroom innovators (Sara Morrison/Columbia Journalism Review)

3:00 PM ET, July 2, 2014

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Discussion: Politico, Capital New York, FishbowlNY, @mlcalderone, @reidpillifant, @joepompeo, Talking Biz News and American Press Institute

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Layoffs at Wall Street Journal as Part of Newsroom Re-evaluation — The Wall Street Journal has cut between 20 and 40 staff members in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, as part of a re-evaluation of its newsroom that came at the end of its financial year.

Discussion: Capital New York, @ajjaffe, FishbowlNY, @davidwchen, @jbenton and @romenesko

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Source: Google paid more than $39M for Songza — Google in Deal for Songza, a Music Playlist Service — In a sign of growing consolidation in the digital music business, Google announced on Tuesday that it had bought Songza, a three-year-old app that competes with Pandora and others …

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Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
Google acquires music streaming service Songza for undisclosed amount; product intact for now

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James Ball / Guardian:

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Alex Sherman / Bloomberg:

World Cup Mania Shows How Sports Driving Biggest Mergers — More Americans have watched the U.S. soccer team in this World Cup than ever before. The two biggest announced acquisitions in the world this year are for U.S. pay-TV operators. Yes, there is a connection.

Discussion: @larryreibstein

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

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Discussion: PandoDaily, USA Today, The Awl, Book News & Features, TheAustralian, Gigaom, Washington Post, Business Insider, @davidmwessel, @sarahw, Bookseller news, GeekWire, @dkberman and @jackshafer

Sara Morrison / Columbia Journalism Review:

Why sports media have always been newsroom innovators — The toy department shall lead us — Why sports media have always been newsroom innovators — Birth of an icon George Grande, left, and Bob Ley, right, on the SportsCenter set at the ESPN studios in 1980.

Discussion: @clockwerks, @jimbradysp, @morisy, @noahchestnut, @alexmcdaniel and @mattderienzo

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

Do you have a fair use right to publish World Cup goals? ESPN takedowns raise questions — Bang! A beautiful cross and a header into the top corner of the net — it's the sort of moment that's perfect for World Cup fans to share on social media. Until, that is, the video disappears.

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Variety, @xdamman, @xdamman, @fieldproducer, @xdamman, @corybe, @kevinablue and Techdirt

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Gawker editor Max Read pushes internal staff chatter to a public channel at Disputations — Never go another day without knowing what Gawker's staff is eating for lunch — Once upon a time, I visited the Gawker offices in Manhattan, and I was struck first and foremost by the silence.

Discussion: @max_read, @kevinmarks, @morisy, @ceodonovan, @jackshafer, @tylercoates, @hamiltonnolan, @michelledean and @davidfolkenflik

Cara Buckley / New York Times:

Ira Glass's ‘This American Life’ Leaves PRI — Ira Glass had lost his voice. That gentle, reliably nasal, public radio staple of a voice had been worked hoarse. On any given day, this would be an issue for Mr. Glass, 55, whose award-winning show, “This American Life …

Discussion: @heyfeifer, @transom_org, @ethanz, This American Life Updates, Current.org and The Verge

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

Tech journo Steven Levy on his move to Medium — With the news of his move to Medium, Wired's Steven Levy became the latest journalist to leave the security of the media establishment for an online startup. Medium is a blogging platform started by Twitter founder Ev Williams …

John Otis / Committee to Protect Journalists:

Ecuador newspaper shutters its presses, citing government pressure — Blaming government harassment and a related advertising slowdown, the daily newspaper Hoy ceased its Quito-based print edition Monday, and said it would transform into an online-only newspaper.

Discussion: Poynter

William Turvill / Press Gazette:

Stuff magazine drops pics of scantily-dressed women from the front page after research shows they harm sales — Gadget magazine Stuff is axing scantily-dressed women from its cover 18 years after launching. — The Haymarket-owned title, which recorded a monthly circulation of 62,391 …

Discussion: Guardian, @laureni, BBC, @katebussmann, @justinnxt, Telegraph, The Drum and The Independent

Claire Brownell / Financial Post:

Globe and Mail reporters appear to be preparing competing publication as possible strike looms — On the eve of a contract vote which could lead to a strike or a lockout at the Globe and Mail newspaper, unionized reporters appear to be preparing to launch a competing publication to add leverage to their standoff with management.

Discussion: @clabrow and @sladurantaye

Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:

Most Major Media Conglomerates Underperforming at Half-Year Mark — Disney outperforms the broader markets, and Time Warner keeps pace. Video games are a hit while new media is a mixed bag. — At the halfway mark of 2014, the major media-entertainment conglomerates are underperforming …