Mediagazer: Chinese Web Giant Tencent Moves Into Online Games, Novels (Abid Rahman/Hollywood Reporter)

6:35 AM ET, August 1, 2014

Top News:

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Facebook and fewer stories behind rise in web traffic, says Telegraph chief — Telegraph Media Group editor-in-chief Jason Seiken says a change in focus helped drive up the paper's website traffic in June — The Telegraph website's 20% traffic boost in June has been attributed …

Discussion: @marksweney and @chrismoranuk

BBC:

Russia enacts ‘draconian’ law for bloggers and online media — A new law imposing restrictions on users of social media has come into effect in Russia. — It means bloggers with more than 3,000 daily readers must register with the mass media regulator, Roskomnadzor, and conform …

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Washington Post, rapsinews.com, VPN Creative and ITAR-TASS

Han Bingbin / CHINAdaily:

Quotas may limit more foreign TV shows online — China's top media authority is likely to impose quotas on the licensing of overseas programs by video websites, local media reports. — Since last October, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television is rumored …

Discussion: Deadline.com and Hollywood Reporter

Ann Friedman / Columbia Journalism Review:

Digital journalists aren't sellouts—they are aware of industry realities — Corey Pein seems to think that digitally savvy journalists have a collective case of Stockholm syndrome. “In their long and seemingly hopeless search for answers, journalists have internalized the abusive rhetoric …

Discussion: @sarahgrieco, @weinbergrrrrr, @tomciav and @annfriedman

Richard Prince / Richard Prince's Journal-isms:

Associations representing black and Hispanic journalists plan joint convention in 2016 — NABJ, NAHJ Approve Joint Convention — Meeting Could Assemble Most Journalists of Color Since '08 — The associations representing journalists from the nation's two largest groups of color …

Discussion: @joeruiz and @bonnie_gonzalez

Nicole Levy / Capital New York:

Meredith targeting ‘individual’ acquisitions — Meredith Corp., which stopped monthly production of Ladies' Home Journal last quarter, is now looking to make acquisitions, it said in its fourth quarter earnings report released this morning and on an earnings call with Wall Street analysts.

Discussion: AdAge, Meredith Corporation and Media News International

Abid Rahman / Hollywood Reporter:

Chinese Web Giant Tencent Moves Into Online Games, Novels — Tencent Literature pacts with Giant Interactive as Internet novels increasingly become go-to source of inspiration for game and film producers in China. — The Internet publishing business of Tencent, the world's fourth biggest Internet company …

Rachele Kanigel / Mediashift:

Matter's Corey Ford: Bring Project-Based Teamwork to Journalism Education — When Corey Ford was studying journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the late 1990s, he barely heard the word entrepreneurship. That was back in the day when journalists were told …

Discussion: @themediatwits and @pbsmediashift

Michael Malone / Broadcasting & Cable:

Scripps Plus Journal: Regional Strength, Going Deeper in Markets — ‘Screaming good opportunity’ to get scale, line up culturally similar outfits — While duopolies are hard to come by, especially with the FCC putting joint sales agreements under its microscope, regional synergies …

Discussion: Poynter

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:
Diversified media companies are hurrying to undiversify

Discussion: Poynter, Associated Press, @jayrosen_nyu and @niemanlab

David Meyer / Gigaom:

Facebook's Internet.org unveils free, limited web access — such opportunity, but at what cost? — For better or for worse, welcome to the world without net neutrality. More people will get online, but unless they have the money to pay their way into the free web, they'll effectively be in a walled garden.

Discussion: Wired, @brennannovak, Quartz, @ruskin147, Re/code, Forbes, Guardian, Softpedia News and Pocket-lint

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Wikipedia Revamps Its iOS App With Offline Access, Support For Editing While On The Go — Wikipedia has today made a significant update to its iOS application, which most noticeably features a cleaner, “distraction-free” design, as well as the ability to edit Wikipedia articles from your smartphone or tablet device.

Discussion: Softpedia News, Fast Company, Wikimedia blog, The Next Web and Engadget

Karishma Mehrotra / Wall Street Journal:

College radio stations are leasing frequencies and playing less indie and experimental music — College Radio Changes Frequency — Stations Like WRAS in Atlanta and WRVU at Vanderbilt Lease Frequencies to Public Radio, Shifting From Experimental Music — Georgia State University's radio station …

Jeremy Barr / Capital New York:

Marty Baron discusses hiring digital journalists, future of WaPo's blogs, and new ownership — The 60-second interview: Marty Baron, editor, The Washington Post — CAPITAL: Looking at some of the new hires that the Post has made over the last several months, we've noticed that some of them have come …

Discussion: @themarkberman, @michaelpaulson, @postbaron, @kenvogel, @carloslozadawp, @tmcgev, @caitlindewey and @mlcalderone

Alex Hayes / mUmBRELLA:

Huffington Post to be Australian ‘market leader’ in three to five years says general manager — The general manager overseeing the international growth of the Huffington Post has rejected suggestions it is entering the Australian market too late, insisting it intends to become the market leader Down Under within three to five years.

Discussion: @aerohaveno

Tanya Talaga / Toronto Star:

Jailed Al Jazeera journalist Fahmy still weighing appeal; has no faith in Egypt's courts — Jailed Canadian journalist denounces “draconian” verdict — Jailed Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy has not given up the fight against the “draconian verdict” against him, but he is unsure …

Chris Ip / Columbia Journalism Review:

As the BuzzFeed model proliferates, even legacy media like The Independent want a piece of the pie — As the BuzzFeed model proliferates, even legacy media like The Independent want a piece of the pie — i100 looks very familiar. The new website from UK newspaper The Independent has …

Discussion: BuzzFeed and Gigaom

Matthew Kassel / The New York Observer:

The Believer Bets on Bi-Monthly — The latest issue of The Believer. — The Believer, the San Francisco-based literary magazine founded in 2003, is gearing up for a bi-monthly relaunch this January, according to Casey Jarman, its managing editor. — While the new, less frequent publication schedule …

Discussion: LA Observed, @silvermanjacob and @kbsmoke

Bill Morris / The Daily Beast:

Local indie bookshops will survive and perhaps even thrive as community centers despite Amazon — Amazon Won't Kill the Indie Bookstore — It may seem like the e-book behemoth is taking over the publishing industry, but a trip to North Carolina proves that local bookshops have become indispensible players in community life.

Discussion: @clarehooperlup, @scuppernongbook and @jerirowenr

Harriet Walker / Guardian:

The album is dead, long live playlists — There's plenty to mourn with the passing of music albums, but the instant gratification of digital playlists is now king — The rise of digital music and streaming has many crimes to answer for. Like a hardened assassin, it does …

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

Shazam Brings Always-On Music and TV Recognition to Mac With Free Menu Bar App — Music recognition service Shazam, which was one of the early App Store hits and has continued to see good success on mobile platforms, is now bringing its services to the desktop in the form of the first music, TV show, and ad recognition app for Mac.

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Next Web, VentureBeat, Macworld, iTech Post, Lifehacker, Fast Company, TechRadar.com, App Advice, Mashable, Gizmodo, Gigaom and Engadget

Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:

The Daily Dot goes long and slow with relaunch of The Kernel — Count The Daily Dot as the latest digital publisher getting into the “magazine” business — not just the moniker, but the weekly schedule. — The site is putting the final touches on the relaunch of The Kernel …

Discussion: @lmoses, Talking New Media, @jbenton and @neilthackray