Some media stories of note for Tuesday, May 28, 2013:

Meena Thiruvengadam, writing for Poynter, looks at the increasing value and presence of Instagram as a tool for newsrooms in engaging audiences, generating and curating content, and reporting. She looks at the work at the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and NBC News in developing new paths to markets using the instant photo delivery platform.

Financial Times reports (registration required for link) on a British study that suggests Britons are increasingly prepared to pay for digital content. It also finds declines in television viewing, social media use, and reading books. The study for KPMG's annual entertainment and media survey indicates online gaming and ebooks are the top sellers, driven by smartphone and tablet applications. On a related matter, early data from The Telegraph suggest a strong continuation of audience support for its metered paywall. 

Gawker has reached its $200,000 crowdfunding goal to purchase a video allegedly depicting drug use by Toronto's mayor. The Globe and Mail notes the effort has stirred questions about the ethics of purchasing content, particularly from those allegedly involved in drug dealing. Naturally, all might be for naught, in that the source of the video (which Gawker and reporters from the Toronto Star have seen) has not been in contact for many days. Meantime, the Globe's public editor has weighed in on the paper's recent investigative story on the mayor's family's background, particularly its use of anonymous sources.

Media notes for Thursday, April 25, 2013:

Most national British newspapers have rejected a government royal charter plan to regulate the press and have proposed an alternative plan that avoids state-sponsored regulation they say would reduce press freedom. BBC reports the move, supported so far by nine of 11 national titles, has thrown open the debate once more on how to regulate the press following the Leveson inquiry's efforts to identify a new process in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

The New York TImes, which Bloomberg notes missed analysts' revenue expectations in its first-quarter results, has revealed a new digital strategy. Forbes.com reports the plan includes tiered pricing that would permit access to "important and interesting" stories only at a lower rate (a plan now termed NYT Junior, aimed at younger readers), an expansion of its live events, and even an initiative to introduce games.

Not so long ago it was considered beneficial to be included on Twitter lists because it spread your content and associated you with particular expertise. But Nina Diamond, writing for Poynter, suggests journalists reexamine which Twitter lists they are on and consider removing themselves from ones that do not help their brands, make you uncomfortable or are inappropriate.

It makes intuitive sense and feels comfortable anecdotally, but a new report provides empirical data on the fact we are losing teenagers to their media.

In the last five years alone, teen media consumption has grown more than two hours daily on average to 7.5 hours daily, roughly half their awake time.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation report, an update on an earlier look at teen media patterns, is bound in the days ahead to be challenged for its accuracy --- so astonishing do the figures feel at first blush.

Television, music and the Internet rank one through three in terms of consumption, but gaming wasn't far behind.

The report authors suggest the findings have enormous implications for learning --- the distractions are substantial --- and overall creativity.