Mediagazer: Murdoch-backed music startup bankrupt before launch (Yinka Adegoke/Reuters)

Occupy Wall Street Journalist Arrests Cost U.S. Dearly In Latest Press Freedom Index — The targeting of journalists covering the Occupy Wall Street movement has caused the United States to drop precipitously in a leading survey of press freedom. Reporters Without Borders' latest Press Freedom Index …

Discussion: New York Magazine, @brianstelter and Jcstearns

Ashkan Karbasfrooshan / WatchMojo:

Is YouTube Spending $100 Million or North of $200 Million on Video Content? — Recently I moderated a panel at Streaming Media West. Panelists included Michael Schwalb (Tremor Media), Mark Suster (VC at GRP), Eric Anderson, (VP, Content and Product Solutions, Samsung Electronics America) and AJ McGowan (CTO at Unicorn Media).

Discussion: @msuster

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

‘Fake sheikh’ Mazher Mahmood: Bribe allegation ‘completely untrue’ — Former News of the World journalist Mazher Mahmood tells the Leveson inquiry allegations he attempted to bribe staff to alter copy when he previously worked for the Sunday Times are ‘completely untrue’

Discussion: Guardian and Guardian

Press Gazette:
Jefferies calls for inquiry over ‘police leaks’ to reporters

Discussion: Guardian

Andrew Pugh / Press Gazette:
Mahmood: 'I've had splashes from crack addicts'

Discussion: Guardian

Andrew Pugh / Press Gazette: The Times faces Leveson scrutiny over NightJack

BuzzFeed:

Next The Biggest Newspaper In The World Is ... The Daily Mail!? — The Daily Mail, an omniverous middle-market British tabloid, has quietly unseated the New York Times to become the newspaper with the biggest online reach in the world, according to figures from the online tracking service comScore.

Discussion: Guardian

Guardian:

BBC sexism allegations: Ed Vaizey to broker meeting with director general — Broadcasting minister to set up meeting with Mark Thompson to discuss under-representation of women both on and off air — The broadcasting minister, Ed Vaizey, has undertaken to set up a meeting between Nadine Dorries …

Discussion: Company Town and Guardian, more at Techmeme »

Press Association:

MP slams BBC ‘culture of sexism’ — The Government should withhold the licence fee payout to the BBC at the next round of negotiations unless the Corporation does more to tackle sexist discrimination against its women television and radio presenters, a Tory MP has said.

Dan Sabbagh / Guardian: Lord Patten's BBC director general ‘succession plan’ is a curious move

Miriam Elder / paidContent:

New Partner For Wikileaks' Assange: Russia's State-Run TV — It's the television channel that has given voice to a thousand anti-western conspiracy theories, while avoiding criticism of the hand that feeds it. Now state-run Russia Today, the Kremlin's English-language propaganda arm …

Discussion: Forbes, New York Magazine, TVNewser and Future of Journalism

Will Richmond / paidContent:

What To Expect From Netflix Today — Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) will report its Q4 '11 earnings later today, but whereas I've taken stands in past quarters about subscriber acquisition results, this time around I can only say your guess is as good as mine. Subsequent to last summer's Qwikster …

Discussion: AdAge, Forbes and mediabistro.com

Yinka Adegoke / Reuters:

Murdoch-backed music startup bankrupt before launch — (Reuters) - Beyond Oblivion, a digital music startup backed by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and investment bank Allen & Co Director Stanley Shuman has filed for bankruptcy protection after spending millions of dollars building a service that never saw the light of day.

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

E-Singles: 'Journalism's Extraordinary Challenges In An Entirely New Place' — Byliner recently announced that it has sold 100,000 original e-singles, and other publishers are finding similar success with the format: The Atavist sold over 100,000 copies of ten e-singles combined last year …

Discussion: GalleyCat and Future of Journalism

Discussion: mocoNews, Techdirt, eBookNewser and mocoNews, more at Techmeme »

Shani Hilton / City Desk:

Where Are The Women And Non-White Media Critics? — A hearty congratulations to City Paper alum Andrew Beaujon on accepting a gig at Poynter as the site's “new Romenesko.” There, he'll be writing a media blog edited by Julie Moos that will replace the work of Jim Romenesko, who left Poynter last year and launched his own blog.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM and College Media Matters

Nat Ives / AdAge:

Wenner Again Quits MPA, Magazines' Industry Association — ‘Power of Print’ Collaboration Is Largely Concluded — After a couple of years back in the fold, Wenner Media is withdrawing from the MPA for a second time. — The MPA is magazines' main industry trade association …

Discussion: MinOnline

Andrew Phelps / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Public Insight Network, now swimming in data, launches its own reporting unit — American Public Media's nine-year-old Public Insight Network now claims more than 130,000 sources — that is, ordinary folks across America (and as of November, South Africa) who contribute their personal experiences to PIN's massive database.

Discussion: American Public Media and Editors Weblog

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Foundation could ‘re-open the question’ of buying Baltimore Sun — Robert Embry Jr., who was reportedly part of an investors group thinking about buying the Sun in 2006, tells Gus Sentementes that the investors “would re-open the question” once the Tribune Co. exits bankruptcy.

Discussion: BaltTech

Alexandra Topping / Guardian:

Leveson must back ban on sexualised images in media, women's groups say — Explicit newspaper pictures censored in inquiry evidence but Leveson warned change would require ‘rock-solid legislation’ — When Lord Justice Leveson launched his inquiry into the ethics of the press …

Discussion: Forbes

Discussion: Press Gazette

Michael White / Bloomberg:

Ex-Yahoo Chief Terry Semel Invests in Digital Movie Distributor SnagFilms — Former Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) and Warner Bros. Chairman Terry Semel joined the board of SnagFilms Inc., adding Hollywood and Silicon Valley buzz to the startup distributor of movies online and to cable providers such as Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)

Richard Goldstein / New York Times:

Bill Mardo, Writer Who Pushed Baseball to Integrate, Dies at 88 — Bill Mardo, a sportswriter for the Communist Party newspaper The Daily Worker who fought major league baseball's color barrier in the 1940s when the mainstream American news media was largely silent on the subject, died Friday in Manhattan.