Mediagazer: The Price For ReadWriteWeb Was Around $5 Million (Erick Schonfeld/TechCrunch)

6:30 PM ET, December 14, 2011

Top News:

Adrianne Jeffries / Betabeat:

ReadWriteWeb's Acquisition, as Seen By a Former Employee [UPDATED] — This morning AdWeek broke the news that ReadWriteWeb had been acquired by SAY Media (which also bought Dogster and Six Apart) and appointed Dan Frommer to the editor seat. The price was not disclosed.

Discussion: TechCrunch and Afterthoughts

Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:

The Price For ReadWriteWeb Was Around $5 Million — Tech blog ReadWriteWeb was acquired today by SAY Media, as was previously reported. I've found out a few more details. The price SAY paid out was under $5 million, after the assumption of ReadWriteWeb's liabilities, according to a source privy to the details.

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, The Wrap, VatorNews, Poynter, VentureBeat, Business Insider and Daring Fireball, more at Techmeme »

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:
Say Media Eyes IPO, Buys ReadWriteWeb

Discussion: Forbes, CNET News and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Joel Gunter / Journalism.co.uk:

Tom Crone denies knowing Webb was private investigator — Former News of the World legal manager claims he does not remember emails between himself and other executives referring to Webb as ‘silent shadow’ — Former News of the World legal manager Tom Crone has denied being aware that Derek Webb …

Discussion: Media Week, Press Gazette and Guardian

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk: Mail: Dowler question was ‘perfectly legitimate inquiry’

David Leigh / Guardian:
Leveson: Milly Dowler case is not the only reason for inquiry

Discussion: Press Gazette

BBC: Leveson Inquiry: Prosecute NoW criminality, ex editor says

David Carr / Media Decoder:
Is James Murdoch Running Out of Denials?

Discussion: CJR, Guardian and Bloomberg

Mark Sweney / Guardian:
What James Murdoch said about the ‘for Neville’ email

Discussion: Guardian and CNN

Andrew Pugh / Press Gazette:
Guardian faces Fleet Street backlash over changing story on Milly Dowler message deletions

Discussion: Daily Mail and The Sun

Aaron Gell / The New York Observer:

Peter Braunstein, WWD Writer Turned Tabloid Monster, Still Has Issues — One day in October 2010, Peter Braunstein's monthly subscription copy of W magazine arrived right on time. It was one of the first under the direction of a new editor, Stefano Tonchi, and the cover featured Ryan Gosling …

Discussion: Spiersblr

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

Chuck Todd: NBC's new politics site is for armchair viewers, political junkies — NBC has just launched a new politics site that provides readers with a place to track political news, dig deeper into polls and make their own predictions about the outcome of the 2012 elections.

Discussion: The Wrap, Mashable! and NetNewsCheck Latest

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Kristen Welker Named NBC White House Correspondent; Network Sets 2012 Politics Coverage — After several months of covering the beat, this morning NBC News has named Kristen Welker White House correspondent. The announcement comes as NBC announces their plans for covering the 2012 primaries …

Discussion: 10,000 Words, mediabistro.com, Broadcasting & Cable and FishbowlDC

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:
A web-first politics site for NBC News: Vivian Schiller on the launch of NBCPolitics.com

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

Huffington Post dominates Facebook's most-shared politics stories of 2011 — On Facebook's list of the 40 most-shared political articles of 2011, the most frequently appearing sources are The Huffington Post (10), CNN (7), MSNBC (6) and Fox News (5). The Washington Post had only one story on the list …

Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:
The Top Political Stories On Facebook In 2011 Were Sensationalized, Polarized And Mostly Mainstream

Discussion: VentureBeat and L.A. Times Tech Blog

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

$1.5M Knight grant to NPR will fund digital training at 70 local stations — The Knight Foundation is giving NPR $1.5 million to bolster the digital skills of local member stations and fulfill visions of a national-local collaborative news network. — The grant announced today builds upon …

Discussion: Editors Weblog, NetNewsCheck Latest, rbr.com and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Simon Owens / Nieman Journalism Lab:
NPR's StateImpact project explores regional topics through focused, data-driven journalism

Discussion: StateImpact Pennsylvania

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Outbrain Raises $35M In Series D Funding For Content Discovery Platform — Today, content discovery platform Outbrain is announcing it has secured $35 million in Series D funding in a round led by Index Ventures. Existing investors Carmel Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners also participated in the round.

Discussion: AllThingsD, Online Video News, Business Insider, GigaOM, Fast Company and paidContent

Felix Salmon: The value of finding content to link to

Caroline Davies / Guardian:

Judge tells reporters: tweet as you wish — Guidance from lord chief justice means journalists no longer have to make application to tweet, text or email from courts — Journalists no longer have to make an application to tweet, text or email from courts in England and Wales following guidance issued …

Bloomberg:

Hollywood Said to Court Amazon in Bid for Online Film Sales — Hollywood studios, working to spur purchases of films and TV shows, are in talks to bring Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) back into their online system called UltraViolet, people with knowledge of the situation said.

Discussion: Deadline.com

J. David Goodman / Media Decoder:

Times of London Cancels Comedy Podcast That Mocked Murdoch — BUGLE NEWS ALERT: The Bugle will be leaving Times Online in the near future. We will do everything we can to keep The Bugle going... The Bugle — hellobuglers — The Times of London, the British daily owned …

Discussion: New York Times

Lucas Shaw / The Wrap:

L.A. Times Rocked by More Turmoil: Top Editor Quits With Cuts Looming (Updated) — The Los Angeles Times was rocked by more turmoil Tuesday when editor Russ Stanton resigned in advance of another round of cutbacks. — Stanton, whose last day is Dec. 23, has presided over a tumultuous period …

Discussion: Big Journalism, Poynter, Editors Weblog, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, LA Observed, Media Decoder and Los Angeles Times

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

Media and Entertainment Companies Add Support to Proposed Antipiracy Legislation — Big media companies have ratcheted up the pressure on Washington to support legislation that would protect online content. — On Tuesday, dozens of entertainment, sports and media companies …

Discussion: New York Times, Home Media Magazine, Hillicon Valley, Techdirt, The Huffington Post, Techdirt and Multichannel, more at Techmeme »

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

What Louis CK knows that most media companies don't — Until recently, comedian Louis CK was known mostly for a hilarious clip about how “everything is amazing but no one is happy,” which lampooned our inability to recognize our own good fortune and led to a TV show.