Mediagazer: How comics journalism brings stories to life (Rui Kaneya/Columbia Journalism Review)

8:00 PM ET, September 21, 2014

Top News:

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

Amazon has held a secret retreat for authors called “Campfire” for four years, but this weekend some Hachette supporters weren't invited — A Writerly Chill at Bezos' Fire — When Jeff Bezos tells writers to keep quiet, they obey. — Every fall, Mr. Bezos, the founder of Amazon …

Discussion: @arablit, @jimaley, @neil_irwin, @petersterne, @ivanthek, @david_connell and The Verge

Scott Stossel / Nieman Reports:

Atlantic editor Scott Stossel on keeping one of America's oldest print magazines relevant — Atlantic editor Scott Stossel on keeping one of America's oldest print magazines relevant … On getting to profitability — When David Bradley, a Washington guy who had built consulting companies …

Rui Kaneya / Columbia Journalism Review:

How comics journalism brings stories to life — Chicago's Illustrated Press is at the forefront of a burgeoning movement — CHICAGO, IL — For much of last year, Darryl Holliday worked the “crime and mayhem” beat at DNAinfo Chicago, documenting the consequences of violence on the city's South Side.

Michael Wolff / Town & Country:

Forbes Media adapted to a digital business model, but the company and the family paid the price of a damaged brand — Empire Falls — There was a time when practically every rich man wanted to be Malcolm Forbes. For 20 years he was our most famous plutocrat, living lavishly off …

Discussion: @thestalwart and @qhardy

Sam Kirkland / Poynter:

iOS 8 notification center widgets could spur news orgs to invest in native apps again — Can iPhone widgets make news apps cool again? — The Financial Times notably embraces HTML5 web apps — and print! — over mobile apps. Quartz, perhaps the most widely praised new media site of the last year or so, is similarly app-less.

Timothy B. Lee / Vox:

How Betaworks revived Digg, growing it from 1.5M to 8M monthly visitors over the last two years — Inside the company that rebuilt Digg — Before there was Reddit, there was Digg. Digg used to be one of Silicon Valley's hottest startups. Founded in late 2004, it became a sensation …

Discussion: @niemanlab

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

Al Jazeera America journalist: Being in the military and being a journalist aren't that different — The life of a journalist covering conflict and that of someone in the military aren't that different, said Al Jazeera America's Josh Rushing in a phone interview.

Catherine Mayer / TIME:

Bono says U2 and Apple working on new digital music format — Exclusive: U2 and Apple Have Another Surprise for You — The four members of the legendary Irish band tell TIME about another new album in the works—and its secret Apple project that might just save the music industry

Discussion: @fezzeeapps, Techdirt, Forbes, App Advice, Complete Music Update and Music Week

Susannah Nesmith / Columbia Journalism Review:

How the Online News Association and The Georgia News Lab are working to diversify journalism — How the Online News Association and The Georgia News Lab are working to diversify journalism — MIAMI, FL — Can an innovative college-professional news collaborative, with a $35,000 grant in hand …

Portada:

Aaron Kushner to evaluate whether the Los Angeles Register is viable as a daily — Aaron Kushner, CEO of Freedom Communications, said that he will evaluate “in the next few weeks” whether the Los Angeles Register has a viable future as a daily. The Los Angeles Register was launched in April …

Discussion: LA Weekly and LA Observed

Brian Fung / Washington Post:

Tim Berners-Lee: proposed FCC net neutrality rules would force firms to “effectively bribe” ISPs — World Wide Web inventor lashes out at Internet fast lanes: 'It's bribery.' — A quarter-century ago, Timothy Berners-Lee designed the world's first Web browser and server …

Andrea Peterson / Washington Post:

Online court archive PACER says it will restore access to missing records — The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (or AO) has a plan to restore online access to documents that were controversially removed in August from PACER, the online system for accessing public court records, a spokesperson said.

Discussion: @csoghoian, @marklemley, @sjschultze, Ars Technica, Techdirt and Gigaom

Elahe Izadi / Washington Post:

Iranian president offers no new details on detained Washington Post reporter — In a new interview with NBC's Ann Curry, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declined to offer details on the condition of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who was detained about two months ago on unspecified charges.