Some media stories of note for Thursday, May 30, 2013:

A day-later catch-up on the release of the annual Internet trends report from respected media analyst Mary Meeker (embedded below), who issued a lengthy slideshow at the D11 conference. Among her more notable observations: people pick up their smartphones 150 times a day and there is a huge opportunity in monetizing advertising in mobile as a result. Liz Gannes of AllThingsDigital notes there is a steep growth in tablets and a steady growth in mobile as a portion of Internet use, and Andrew Beaujon of Poynter suggests that the erosion of print as a portion of the advertising pie should not be so worrisome (in that the declines are slight).

Bloomberg reports that Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer for Facebook, is acknowledging that the platform is facing formidable competition for teens now with Tumblr and Twitter. But she says we are a long way off from a zero-sum game and that Facebook still is growing among that demographic.

Regional and local British newspapers are accusing the BBC of being a "thug at the end of the street" in dealings with them. The Guardian reports their representatives told a conference that BBC does not credit stories it follows and that they are treated as competitors instead of potentially constructive allies. The effect is to undermine their businesses, they insist. They oppose recent BBC Trust suggestions that the broadcaster invest more heavily in online local coverage. 

Some media stories of note for Tuesday, May 21, 2013: 

Taylor Miller Thomas, writing for Poynter, looks at how news organizations use Tumblr, the platform purchased by Yahoo this week for $1.1 billion.  Thomas identifies the techniques of media and Tumblr to connect and interact with audiences, in particular to answer questions.

Jack Shafer, writing for Reuters, argues that the problems James Rosen of FOX News (accused in a Justice Department affidavit as a "co-conspirator" in breaching government secrecy) have encountered are in part of his own making. Namely, Shafer suggests that Rosen wasn't all that intrepid in covering his tracks and ensuring his source could do the same. It's a contrarian take on what has largely been journalism concerned with the plight of the craft under surveillance.

AdWeek examines how The New York Times is applying its ingenuity to rework the online banner ad. The innovation largely associated with its editorial department is alive in its R & D Lab to generate advertising campaigns that are more interactive and effective. It has potential applications elsewhere with news organizations looking for more avid use of its online advertising.

Media stories for Friday:

Earlier this week Huffington Post featured a piece on videogame arcades from The Verge, snipping its opening passage (more than 200 words, a clip it later reduced) and sending traffic to that site through its own. The move prompted a complaint from The Verge that the procedure sapped some of the search engine recognition from its story and sent it to Huffington Post. Andrew Beaujon writes for The Poynter Institute that this dispute has important implications for publishers in an era of linked journalism and traffic-based metrics of success.

There have been two significant developments involving successful social media platforms that are aiming to broaden their appeal.  Twitter has introduced a six-second video application, Vine, that Reuters suggests is an indication that video is a large part of Twitter's future. And Tumblr has unfurled changes that TechCrunch asserts render it more like a fully-featured Twitter than a blogging platform. Each development also has implications for journalism.

There is increased interest in newsrooms I know in how to encourage something larger than Twitter but smaller than Wordpress --- pithy information that serves a role.

Which is why Tumblr seems to be getting more attention in recent weeks. It's an easy-to-use platform and it serves a good niche as a format. Alex Madrigal, a senior online presence at TheAtlantic.com, identifies the new ProPublica Tumblr concept --- Officials Say The Darndest Things --- as a great example of how newsrooms could use it.

Madrigal notes five key attributes: it's not duplicative (ProPublica's focus is on other forms), it's in keeping with the platform (it's not super-serious, but has a purpose), it's low-maintenance (the platform is easy to launch), it's interactive (users can submit), and it's viral (sharing is simple).

It's a good role model for others trying to find the right way to deliver such information.