:: LNR Journalism ::

AOL threatens blogger with copyright infringement charge...

TechDirt :: There have been plenty of accusations made against AOL's the Huffington Post concerning its habit of "over aggregating" content from other sites. While, personally, I think people who accuse HuffPo of being just an aggregator are overreacting on two separate issues (one: HuffPo does a ton of actual reporting also and two: HuffPo's aggregating adds value in its own way), it would be pretty damn hypocritical for AOL to then threaten another blogger for doing exactly the same thing that HuffPo does, wouldn't it?

Enter, Maryland Juice.

Continue to read Mike Masnick, www.techdirt.com

AOL urges shareholder approval of its board nominees

Reuters :: AOL Inc, waging a proxy fight with activist hedge fund Starboard Value, said on Saturday its shareholders should approve all eight nominees for its board of directors after an advisory service recommended the approval of only six.

Continue to read Michael Hirtzer, www.reuters.com

Backstage: Tim Armstrong on the future of AOL and TechCrunch too

Note: AOL owns TechCrunch.

TechCrunch :: AOL’s chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong was in the house last week at TechCrunch’s Disrupt NYC conference, and while he got a good grilling on stage by my colleague Josh Constine, we still took advantage of the chance to pull him aside for a follow-up chat backstage for TechCrunch TV to ask a few more questions.

Continue to read Colleen Taylor, techcrunch.com

The case against AOL, in numbers: Starboard Value seeks to replace directors

Forbes :: Starboard Value, the activist hedge fund that seeks to replace three of AOL’s directors with its own nominees next month, has laid out its disagreements with the internet giant’s current management in a 96-page presentation to investors (PDF download link). Whether you agree with Starboard, which owns 5.3% of AOL, or have faith in chairman Tim Armstrong, the presentation makes for some hair-curling reading.

Continue to read Jeff Bercovici, www.forbes.com

AOL's Patch to 'trim' staff

Wall Street Journal :: AOL's Patch.com, the online local-news network whose high costs have made it a lightning rod for criticism of AOL's strategy, is laying off about 20 people as part of a broader restructuring. Patch will consolidate its four geographic zones into three by integrating the South and East zones

Continue to read [exclusive subscriber content] - Keach Hagey, online.wsj.com

AOL's Tim Armstrong blames activist hedge fund for some of ad slowdown

Forbes :: The hedge fund Starboard Value is fighting for a greater say in AOL’s strategy, arguing that Tim Armstrong’s focus on premium content and display advertising isn’t delivering results. That isn’t true, says Armstrong — but Starboard’s refusal to shut up about it might be making it just a little bit true.

Continue to read Jeff Bercovici, www.forbes.com

AOL beats Street, but revenue, display ads dipped

TechCrunch :: AOL reported first quarter earnings this morning, which saw it posting higher revenues than expected by analysts, with $529.4 million in revenue during the quarter, beating the $527 million consensus.

AOL's Q1 Earnings Report discussed here - Continue to read Sarah Perez, techcrunch.com

Sarah Lacy: Sources say AOL seeking buyers for Engadget and TechCrunch

PandoDaily :: We weren’t sure about this one at first, but now we have two independent sources confirming that AOL is exploring the sale of its cornerstone technology sites Engadget and TechCrunch. The two would likely be sold together as AOL Tech, possibly including smaller assets like TUAW and Joystiq.

Continue to read Sarah Lacy, pandodaily.com

Huffington's role 'shrinks' at AOL

Huffington Post :: Arianna Huffington acknowledged Thursday that her portfolio at AOL Inc. is being scaled back to include only the Huffington Post, undoing a structure put in place when her website was acquired by AOL last year.

HT: Mathew Ingram, here:

Arianna's role is reduced at AOL, but she says she doesn't want to leave and "all is good" with Armstrong: online.wsj.com/article/SB1000…

— Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) May 4, 2012

Continue to read [exclusive subscriber content] Keach Hagey, online.wsj.com

Neil Jones to take commercial VP role at AOL Advertising Group

MediaWeek :: Neil Jones, the former Carat managing director, is poised to take a full-time role as vice president of commercial at AOL Advertising Group, following a consultancy stint.

Continue to read Arif Durrani, mediaweek.co.uk