Mediagazer: Good news is good business, but not a cure-all for journalism (Lene Bech Sillesen/Columbia Journalism …)

8:30 PM ET, September 30, 2014

Top News:

Alexei Oreskovic / Reuters:

Google searches for right note in online music business — (Reuters) - Google Inc is planning new and revamped streaming-music services in coming weeks, searching for a way to stand out in an increasingly crowded field of rivals from Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc to Spotify.

Paul Sawers / The Next Web:
Spotify officially arrives for everyone in Canada

Discussion: 9to5Mac, WebProNews, Wall Street Journal, Financial Post, Toronto Star, CBC News, SlashGear, Global News, VentureBeat and RAIN News

Ernst-Jan Pfauth / Medium:

Out of De Correspondent's nearly 19K backers, 11K renewed their subscription after a year — Here's what happened to that world-record in journalism crowdfunding — In November 2013, GigaOm's Mathew Ingram reported on the Dutch journalism crowdfunding campaign which led to the founding of our publication, De Correspondent:

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @davidbauer and @kevglobal

Rem Rieder / USA Today:

Founder of “Syria Deeply” Lara Setrakian plans to launch “Ebola Deeply” in October — Rieder: A new website totally focused on Ebola — Lara Setrakian, the impresario behind the deeply immersive and critically acclaimed website Syria Deeply, is about to take the same approach to Ebola.

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

Amazon doesn't treat all Hachette authors equally when selling books; reasoning remains opaque — Amazon Is Not Holding Back on Paul Ryan — All Hachette authors are equal, but some are more equal than others. — Before Representative Paul Ryan's book “The Way Forward” was published by Twelve …

Discussion: @ryanchittum, @danielschulman, Washington Post, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, Talking New Media, Mediaite and EW.com

Matt Burns / TechCrunch:

Popcorn Time app for streaming video torrents arrives for jailbroken iPhones and iPads — Popcorn Time Finally Comes To iOS — Popcorn Time, the so-called Netflix for pirates, is now on iOS. It's never been easier to watch pirated movies and TV shows on the iPhone or Android device.

Discussion: TorrentFreak, International Business Times and BGR

Peter Sterne / Capital New York:

The Toast hires Roxane Gay to lead new sister site ‘The Butter’ — The Toast, the women's site co-founded by Mallory Ortberg and Nicole Cliffe, has hired author Roxane Gay to lead a new sister site called The Butter, Toast publisher Nick Pavich told Capital.

Lene Bech Sillesen / Columbia Journalism Review:

Good news is good business, but not a cure-all for journalism — Positive news sites are presented as the answer to news fatigue, but solutions journalism practitioners disagree — Most news consumers probably know that the news these days is mostly dire, and that the act of staying informed …

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Reddit raises $50M round led by Y Combinator president Sam Altman, investors plan to allocate 10% of the round's equity to Reddit users — Reddit Raises $50 Million, Plans to Share Stock With Community Members — Reddit, the Internet's favorite place to share links, has raised about $50 million in funding.

Discussion: reddit, Sam Altman, Gigaom, VentureBeat, Gawker, Forbes, @howardlindzon, @anildash, ReadWrite, International Business Times, TIME, @percival, @mashable, @anjiecast, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Mashable and @danielzarick

Steve Buttry / The Buttry Diary:

Amy O'Leary: Why the New York Times didn't publish its Innovation report — In a post earlier today, I asked the question I would have asked Friday at a panel on the New York Times Innovation report (I was at the microphone, next to speak, when time ran out). — My question:

Discussion: Poynter, @jayrosen_nyu and @ivanlajara

Nicole Levy / Capital New York:

Long-serving deputy Julia Turner takes the reins at Slate — “Continuity is the theme of editorial at Slate,” Gawker founder Nick Denton told Capital at a party feting the online magazine's new editor in chief, Julia Turner, on Tuesday night. — Turner said as much herself in a statement published …

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Piers Morgan joins Daily Mail Online as Editor-at-Large for the US — Piers Morgan joins Daily Mail Online — Piers Morgan, the former CNN anchor, has joined the UK-based Daily Mail Online as Editor-at-Large for the United States, where he will write commentary “several times each week” on major news stories.

Discussion: Daily Mail, Guardian, Washington Post, Press Gazette, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Independent, @kitlovelace, @dylanbyers, @abiwilks, @jonsteinberg, @thestalwart, @brianstelter and The Huffington Post

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Judge Modifies $48 Million Verdict Against ‘Manipulative’ MP3Tunes Founder — The new ruling comes after a trial in March against Michael Robertson — U.S. District Judge William Pauley, who since 2007 has presided over what might be the most complex copyright lawsuit of all time …

Discussion: Techdirt, Plagiarism Today and Reuters