Mediagazer: Paywalls create opportunities for local news entrepreneurs (Howard Owens)

9:00 AM ET, March 26, 2012

Top News:

Mark Hughes / Telegraph:

BBC to make fresh claims of Rupert Murdoch firm law-breaking — Rupert Murdoch is braced for further damaging allegations against his News Corporation empire in a BBC documentary that alleges one of his companies broke the law to “bring down” a commercial rival.

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:
James Murdoch Resigns From Another Corporate Board

Discussion: Bloomberg, @jeffjarvis and Reuters

Donna Bowater / Telegraph:
Cash for access: Rupert Murdoch calls for independent inquiry into lobbying row

Discussion: @lisaocarroll and @dansabbagh

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Santorum ‘ready to take on the NY Times’ — My colleague Maggie Haberman reports late Sunday night: Rick Santorum's line earlier in his speech in Wisconsin tonight - about Mitt Romney being the “worst” Republican in the country to put up against President Obama - is a version he's used …

KBOI:

Reporter Says Santorum Yelled Curse at Him on Ropeline — (FRANKSVILLE, Wis.) — Rick Santorum reportedly grew heated Sunday evening and accused a New York Times reporter of distorting a statement he made in an earlier speech, even yelling “It's bulls-t” to him.

Discussion: @jeffzeleny, @jaketapper and @nytjim

Mike Daisey:

Some Thoughts After The Storm — Here is an excerpt from an interview I gave to Seattle radio host Luke Burbank about a year ago: … Thanks to Chris Hayes for finding this exchange. I'm putting it out here because I think it very succinctly sums up the rules I have for myself …

Discussion: @mdaisey, New York Magazine, Boing Boing, @jayrosen_nyu, @zinoman and @davidfolkenflik

Jim Romenesko:

Wisconsin journalists signed Gov. Walker recall petitions — It's “disheartening” that 25 news employees of Gannett newspapers in Wisconsin signed Gov. Scott Walker recall petitions, says Green Bay Press-Gazette publisher Kevin Corrado. “It has caused us to examine how this could have happened …

Discussion: greenbaypressgazette.com, fdlreporter.com, postcrescent.com, @romenesko, The Daily Caller, @stevebuttry, @mattderienzo and Gannett Blog

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Yahoo Appoints Three New Directors in a Smack to Activist Shareholder (Like I Said!) — Updated: 3:59 p.m. with comments from Third Point. — Yahoo said it had appointed three new directors today, a move that is a direct strike back at activist shareholder Dan Loeb of Third Point and his alternate slate of directors.

Discussion: Yahoo! Pressroom Home, MediaPost, Business Insider, TechCrunch, DealBook, CNET, Wall Street Journal and WebProNews

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

The “Sharing” Mirage — This week's most stunning statistic: In February, Facebook drove more traffic to the Guardian web site than Google did. This fact was proffered (I couldn't bring myself to write shared) at the Changing Medias Summit Conference by Tanya Corduroy …

Discussion: Guardian

Sarah Marshall / Journalism.co.uk:

Rusbridger: Guardian paywall ‘has not been ruled out’ — Part of a cartoon wall being created at the Guardian Open Weekend — Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian, today asked readers what they were prepared to give back to the news group in return for journalism: money, time or data.

Lauren Collins / New Yorker:

How the Daily Mail conquered England. — On Thursday, January 19th, the front page of the Daily Mail carried a story about Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland. During Goodwin's tenure, from 2000 to 2008, R.B.S. quadrupled its assets …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Howard Owens:

Paywalls create opportunities for local news entrepreneurs — It seems like paywalls are popping up all over the place these days. In recent months Lee, GateHouse and Gannett, for example, have all announced or are implementing paid subscriptions for digital content.

Discussion: Street Fight

Ben Fritz / Company Town:

Internet to surpass DVD in movie consumption, not revenue — Consumers will watch more movies online than on DVDs in 2012 for the first time, but will spend far less doing so, according to a new report. — The number of movies rented or bought online from outlets like Netflix and iTunes …

Discussion: PC Magazine

Ben Fritz / Los Angeles Times:

Daily Variety up for sale — Reed Elsevier is seeking a buyer after previously offering the trade publication in 2008. Industry observers say its status as a ‘trophy brand’ might boost its sales price. — Variety, Hollywood's oldest entertainment industry trade publication, has been put up for sale.