Mediagazer: Inside the Toronto Star's $10 million niche print business (Ken Doctor/Nieman Lab)

1:00 PM ET, September 6, 2014

Top News:

Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:

Inside the Toronto Star's $10 million niche print business — John Cruickshank, publisher of the Toronto Star, is the first to acknowledge that his strategy for the paper seems anachronistic. — Cruickshank talked the New York Times Syndicate into providing him a semi-custom weekly collection …

Alex Pareene / The Dish:

A Second Look At The Giant Garbage Pile That Is Online Media, 2014 — WARNING: This is a post, by a media professional, about the media. If you are a normal human being, you will not and definitely should not care, except inasmuch as it's part of a debate about whether or not we, the media, are failing you, the normal human being.

Discussion: @pareene, @markarms, @mathewi, @tomgara, @mariabustillos, @pkafka, @noahshachtman, @seanmcelwee, @ceodonovan, @malsaafin, @regan_hofmann, @chaykak and @poniewozik

Kurt Wagner / Re/code:

Global media VP Katie Jacobs Stanton: Twitter is the “operating system” of news, not a competitor to newsrooms — Twitter Media Boss Katie Jacobs Stanton Wants More Partners in More Countries — Twitter has had plenty of challenges. Convincing media companies to work with it hasn't been one of them.

Discussion: @antderosa, @digiphile, @vivian, @brie, @sdkstl, @sacca, @mathewi, @ralfonsi, @jayrosen_nyu and @sfiegerman

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Lab:

The L.A. Times will begin broadcasting original documentaries in mid-September — The L.A. Times made a move toward expanding its video strategy today — but not in digital video. The newspaper announced a broadcast deal with DIRECTV for a series of documentaries to be called Los Angeles Times Originals.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and LA Observed

Capital New York:

The 60-second interview: Elizabeth Spiers, editorial director, Flavorwire (and Gawker founding editor) — CAPITAL: You've recently returned to personal blogging, as has your fellow former Gawkerite Lockhart Steele. Do you think there's a broader trend here?

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Cable companies want to unbundle broadcast TV, and broadcasters are angry — À la carte pricing may not be a pipe dream, at least for local broadcast TV. — A Congressional proposal to let cable and satellite customers choose which broadcast TV channels they pay for has led …

Discussion: The Wrap, The Hill and Broadcasting & Cable

Hadas Gold / Politico:

The new Cosmo: Love, sex, politics? — Cosmopolitan's website is making room for something new to the the legendary women's glossy: the midterm elections. — The magazine known for its celebrity covers, fashion tips and relationship advice is diving into politics on Monday with its #CosmoVotes campaign …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Tim McGuire / McGuire on Media:

Advocacy and self-interested journalism are inevitable, but what are the consequences? — Just last week I told the students of my 21st Century Journalism class at least 30-40% of them would one day work for organizations that don't do journalism now. — I have been telling other classes …

Discussion: Guardian

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Netflix may add short-form content to increase mobile usage — Most people don't spend 90 minutes watching whole movies on their phones, which is why Netflix may soon serve them two-minute clips of the best scenes. — Netflix has always been all about TV shows and movies, but soon …

Discussion: Nieman Lab and Consumerist

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

Discovery takes Comcast-Time Warner Cable concerns public — Critics of the proposed Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal have largely been technology companies, and consumers fed up with their cable and Internet options. One group that has been largely silent on the merger is one that could be …

Discussion: BuzzFeed and DSLreports

John McCarthy / The Drum:

Reddit and Pornhub among website collective to stage ‘go slow’ protest of US internet speed priority plans — A collective of the world's largest websites are to stage a “go slow” protest day next week to fight US internet ‘fast-lane’ plans which could reshape the internet irreparably …

Discussion: Guardian, The Independent, DSLreports, Slate, Ars Technica, Silicon Republic, The Verge, ZDNet and Mashable

Tom Risen / US News: Larry Flynt, Video Games and the Potential Fallout of Net Neutrality

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:

The Guardian released a beta version of its new website to get reader feedback as it continues to tweak its design. — The complaints came rolling in shortly after The Guardian released a beta version of its new responsive website: The comments are too difficult to use. There isn't enough information on the homepage.

Discussion: @ajwshaughnessy, @gnm_press, @sarahmarshall and @niemanlab

NPPA:

Google and American Society of Media Photographers settle four-year-old case over Google Books — GOOGLE, PHOTOGRAPHERS SETTLE LITIGATION OVER BOOKS — A group of photographers, visual artists and affiliated associations have reached a settlement with Google in a lawsuit over copyrighted material in Google Books.

Discussion: @alisternburg