Mediagazer: Layoffs at Wall Street Journal as Part of Newsroom Re-evaluation (Ravi Somaiya/New York Times)

6:40 PM ET, July 2, 2014

Top News:

James Ball / Guardian:

EU's right to be forgotten: Guardian articles have been hidden by Google — Publishers must fight back against this indirect challenge to press freedom, which allows articles to be ‘disappeared’. Editorial decisions belong with them, not Google — When you Google someone from within the EU …

Danny Sullivan / Marketing Land:

Thanks To “Right To Be Forgotten,” Google Now Censors The Press In The EU — The EU's Right To Be Forgotten removals have been happening for about a week on Google, and now news publications are discovering the fallout. For some searches, you can't find their news stories relating to certain people.

Discussion: BBC News, Salon, Daily Mail, @jimmy_wales, The Wire, Business Insider, Techdirt, Mother Jones, Search Engine Land and @freedomofpress

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

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Bloomberg set to launch digital multi-platform brands starting with a politics site Oct 6 — The new Bloomberg Media — Last weekend, Bloomberg L.P. held its annual company picnic, a seven-figure soirée on Randall's Island with the types of attractions you'd expect …

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

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

U.S.-Belgium game draws 21.6 million TV viewers — The World Cup knock-out game between the U.S. and Belgium Tuesday drew a combined 21.6 million TV viewers, making it the second most watched game in World Cup history. An additional 5.3 million viewers streamed the game online through ESPN and Univision's websites.

Discussion: New York Times, TVNewser, Reuters and Forbes

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:
Do you have a fair use right to publish World Cup goals? ESPN takedowns raise questions

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

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

What's Gained and Lost as The Times Ends Many Blogs — When The Times launched its India Ink blog in September 2011, it noted that this was the paper's “first-ever country-specific site for news, information, culture and conversation.” — Now it's gone. These days, that kind of specificity …

Discussion: Washington Post, @cdixon, @mlcalderone and The New York Observer

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

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

Senior Amazon executive defends company against criticism it bullies publishers, says fight with Hachette is for customers — Amazon Defends Its Stance Against Hachette — Executive Says Fight Is for Customers, Denies Retailer Has Too Much E-Book Clout — A senior Amazon.com Inc. executive …

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

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

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

Edward Keenan / Toronto Star:

Toronto Star's 3-year-old free magazine, The Grid, shutting down print and website; loss of 22 jobs — The Grid weekly magazine is closing — The award-winning newspaper, aimed at Toronto's young and vibrant downtown core, was unable to generate sufficient revenue despite a strong and loyal following.

Discussion: @thegridto, canada.com, @dylan_reid, @thekeenanwire, @thekeenanwire, Huffington Post Canada, SND, Canadian Magazines and Rehak/Stuebing Mostly Media

Jon Healey / Los Angeles Times:

Radical.FM tries a freemium business model without the premium — Technology Now — The business and culture of our digital lives

Discussion: The Next Web, BetaNews and hypebot, Thanks:@ianchaffee

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 …

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: @erinmillar, @clabrow and @sladurantaye