Mediagazer: Campaigns Take Ad War to TV After Months of Holding Fire (Jeremy W. Peters/New York Times)

4:10 AM ET, December 7, 2011

Top News:

Exclusive: Verizon to take on Netflix with Web service — (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc plans to launch a standalone service allowing customers to stream movies and television shows over the Web, in a fresh challenge to Netflix Inc and the traditional cable TV business, according to several people briefed on the plan.

Curtis Cartier / The Daily Weekly:

Crystal Cox, Oregon Blogger, Isn't a Journalist, Concludes U.S. Court—Imposes $2.5 Million Judgement on Her — A U.S. District Court judge in Portland has drawn a line in the sand between “journalist” and “blogger.” And for Crystal Cox, a woman on the latter end of that comparison, the distinction has cost her $2.5 million.

Discussion: Future of Journalism, Betabeat, Street Fight, @jayrosen_nyu, @cshirky, @digiphile, @jayrosen_nyu, SEO Book.com and ShortFormBlog

Brent Lang / The Wrap:

Broadcasters Press Supreme Court to Overturn TV, Radio and Newspaper Ownership Rules — Broadcasters are urging the Supreme Court to loosen restrictions that prevent companies from owning newspapers, radio stations and television stations in the same market.

Discussion: Hillicon Valley, Multichannel, Broadcasting & Cable and Adweek

Gautham Nagesh / The Hill:
Copps submits notice to resign from FCC

Discussion: rbr.com

James Rainey / LA Times:

NBC stations will use content from nonprofit news outlets — Ten NBC-owned television stations across the nation will team with nonprofit news outlets in an attempt to beef up their enterprise and analytical reporting, the network announced Monday. — NBC affiliates in Los Angeles …

Discussion: Media & Entertainment, NetNewsCheck Latest, TVWeek.com and AllAccess.com

Brian Stelter / New York Times:
For Local NBC Stations, Collaborative Journalism

Discussion: Chickaboomer, LA Observed, Broadcasting & Cable and Deadline.com

David Roeder / Chicago Sun Times:

Sun-Times Media online sites to begin metered pay plan — The Chicago Sun-Times and its sister publications in the suburbs will start charging for online access, joining the ranks of newspapers looking for new online revenue sources. — Access to web sites controlled by Sun-Times Media LLC …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Huffington Post, JIMROMENESKO.COM and The Wrap

David Carr / Media Decoder:

At News Foo, Imagining the End of the World, and How to Cover It — Let's say, just for giggles, that the word was ending. Could be an alien invasion, a pandemic or nuclear annihilation. If one of those scenarios became a news event, how would it be covered?

Thanks:megan

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

T.J. Holmes Leaving CNN — CNN weekend anchor T.J. Holmes is leaving the cable channel at the end of the year, TVNewser has confirmed. Richard Prince first reported the move in his daily media column. — Holmes began his career as a producer for KSNF in Joplin, Missouri …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Mediaite, All Things CNN and The Maynard Institute

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Angry About Your Cable Bill? Blame the Cable Industry, Not the NFL — Have you heard yet about how your favorite team is trying to screw you over? Don't worry. You will soon. — Trapped in a headlock of a negotiation with the NFL over broadcasting rights, the television industry …

Discussion: New York Post

Wall Street Journal:
Cable-TV Honchos Cry Foul Over Soaring Cost of ESPN

Discussion: Company Town and Deadline.com

Matthew Futterman / Wall Street Journal:
NFL Near Major Media Deals

Discussion: Forbes

Sean Ludwig / VentureBeat:

Flipboard launches sleek iPhone app with new ‘Cover Stories’ section — Popular iPad news reading application Flipboard has made the move to the iPhone and while it retains its smart and simple design, it also has added a new Cover Stories section to boot. — Flipboard's application …

Discussion: AllThingsD, Forbes, paidContent:UK, CNET News, Inside Flipboard, ZDNet, Bits, USA Today, ReadWriteWeb and GigaOM, more at Techmeme »

Paul Roderick Gregory / Forbes:

A Blogger Could Start Russia's Arab Spring — The new face of the Russian opposition is a young whistle-blowing, shareholder activist, muckraking blogger by the name of Alexei Navalny. At 2:15 p.m. on Monday, he called his huge internet following to a 7 p.m. demonstration at the Chistye Prudy park …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

It's online! Zombie ‘New York Press’ looks for recruits; owner wants it to be Bloomberg's ‘homepage’ — Three months after shutting down the 23-year-old newspaper New York Press, the paper's publisher, Manhattan Media, is gearing up for a relaunch of the late alternative weekly's website.

Discussion: Gawker

David Brauer / MinnPost:

Boogaard's brain: How the New York Times got that story — Minnesota Wild forward Derek Boogaard, right, punching Calgary Flames forward Brian McGrattan in their fight during a December 2009 game. — John Branch isn't completely sure, but he thinks “Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer” …

Discussion: Poynter

Caitlin Johnston / American Journalism Review:

The Naked Retweet Dilemma — If journalists retweet information and links without providing any lead-in or context, does that suggest that they endorse it? — Caitlin Johnston (cljohnst@gmail.com) is a graduate student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

Discussion: Poynter, @omars81 and Future of Journalism

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Kids On Kindle: Amazon Starts Publishing Children's Books — With the release of its color-screened, picture-book-friendly Kindle Fire, Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) is expanding into publishing books for a new audience: Kids. To start, the company's publishing division is acquiring …

Discussion: MarketWatch, Media Decoder, VatorNews, The New York Observer, ZDNet and GalleyCat, more at Techmeme »

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

MediaNews Group's ‘Digital-First’ Mondays Bring Some Paywalls Down — In the hopes of saving money while avoiding consolidation, MediaNews Group is introducing “digital-first Mondays” at six of its California newspapers. Of those papers, the three that have paywalls will make all web content free …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, NetNewsCheck Latest and Poynter

Buzz Bissinger / The Daily Beast:

How Jerry Sandusky Played The New York Times in His Interview — The New York Times gave the ex-Penn State coach free rein to mount a pathetic defense against sexual abuse charges. Buzz Bissinger on how the paper royally botched the story—which should never have been printed. — Why did Joe Amendola do it?

Discussion: Slate, newsfeed.time.com, msnbc.com and The Week

Bloomberg:

Apple, E-Book Publishers Probed by EU Agency — Apple Inc. (AAPL), the world's biggest technology company, and five e-book publishers are being investigated by European Union antitrust regulators over deals that may restrict sales across the region. — The probe targets the iPad-maker's deals …

Discussion: BGR, Jacket Copy, Future of Journalism and MacRumors

Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Why Europe's trustbusters targeted Apple's e-book ‘cartel’

Discussion: Associated Press, Mashable!, WebProNews, ZDNet, AllThingsD, Electronista, VentureBeat, 9to5Mac and TechCrunch

Robert Andrews / paidContent:
Europe Probing Apple And Publishers For E-book Price ‘Cartel’

Discussion: L.A. Times Tech Blog, GigaOM, VatorNews, TUAW, Fast Company, CNET News and Digits

James Robinson / Guardian:

Guardian journalist justifies hacking if in the public interest — Guardian investigations editor David Leigh says a ‘certain amount of guile’ can be needed to find evidence of corruption — The Guardian's investigations editor, David Leigh, has told the Leveson inquiry into press standards …