Mediagazer: Insider: Variety acquisition cost will far exceed a $40M price tag (Daniel Frankel/paidContent)

8:40 PM ET, July 12, 2012

Top News:

Betaworks to Pay $500,000 for Fallen Social Media Star Digg — New York technology development firm Betaworks has agreed to buy news-sharing website Digg, in an attempt to revive a company that was early to social media but outmaneuvered by rivals like Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc.

Liz Gannes / AllThingsD:

Betaworks Buys Digg Assets and John Borthwick Becomes CEO — The remaining assets of social news aggregator Digg — its site and brand — are being sold to Betaworks, the New York-based technology studio. Betaworks CEO John Borthwick will become CEO of the new Digg. — Outgoing Digg CEO Matt Williams

Discussion: BBC, msnbc.com, The Next Web and Engadget

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Updated: Betaworks Acquires Digg (For Significantly More Than $500K) — Betaworks, the company behind bit.ly, news.me, Chartbeat and a number of other successful products, has acquired the social news site Digg.com for an undisclosed amount. Betaworks' founder John Borthwick will become the new CEO of Digg.

Discussion: Betabeat, Digg Blog, Bits, Business Insider, ReadWriteWeb and The Loop

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Romney camp: Globe story ‘inaccurate’ — The Mitt Romney campaign is pushing back against today's Boston Globe report which found that, according to SEC filings, Romney served as CEO at Bain Capital until 2002, despite saying that he left in 1999. — “The article is not accurate,” …

Discussion: The Boston Globe, Business Insider, CNN, Mother Jones, The Caucus, msnbc.com, CJR, The New Yorker Blog, The New Republic, Washington Post, The Daily Dish, ABCNEWS, Pressthink, Guardian, @erikwemple and The Raw Story

Erik Wemple:
Globe to credit TPM, Mother Jones in Bain-Romney story

Discussion: Fortune, Politico, Mother Jones, Jezebel, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite and Quote and Comment

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Globe denies Romney campaign correction request

Discussion: Politico, Erik Wemple, Mother Jones and emptywheel

Erik Wemple:
Romney campaign will ask Boston Globe for correction of Bain story, aide says [Updated]

Discussion: Business Insider, Politico, CNN, The Atlantic Wire and Politico

Annika McGinnis / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Congress considers prosecutions of reporters over leaked information — WASHINGTON — In response to New York Times stories that relied on leaks of sensitive national-security information, a House of Representatives panel on Wednesday discussed legislation that could allow journalists to be prosecuted for disclosing such information.

Discussion: Capital New York and The Raw Story

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
Congressman Trey Gowdy On Leaks: ‘I Thought All Reporters Aspire’ To Go To Jail

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Ross Still Not the Boss (Yet): Yahoo CEO Selection Now Likely to Take Longer Than Many Expect — According to multiple sources close to the situation, the selection of a CEO of Yahoo will not be announced today at its annual meeting, as many anticipate. In fact, sources said …

Discussion: paidContent, TechCrunch, Search Engine Land and CNET

Los Angeles Times:
Yahoo expected to name Ross Levinsohn as its new chief executive

Discussion: VentureBeat and Business Insider

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

Barry Diller making trouble for broadcasters — Barry Diller has reason to smile. — Barry Diller still likes to play the role of disruptor. — From his early days as a pioneering programmer who struck gold making movies for television to being the architect of the Fox network …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Patrick Smith / TheMediaBriefing:

Interview: Wall Street Journal digital chief Raju Narisetti on innovation, mistakes and opportunities — Forget the idea that newspapers have too much innovation to cope with - they're not moving nearly fast enough, according to the managing editor of Wall Street Journal's digital network.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Poynter and @mathewi

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Howard Kurtz Breaks MSNBC.com Exclusive, That AdWeek and TVNewser Broke Two Months Ago — Newsweek columnist and CNN “Reliable Sources” host Howard Kurtz had a big “EXCLUSIVE” today about NBC News and MSNBC.com: … There is just one little problem: news of the buyback was broken by AdWeek's Mike Shields …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Week, Mediaite and Politico

Associated Press:

Lawyer: WikiLeaks wins Icelandic court victory in financial fight against Visa, MasterCard — LONDON — WikiLeaks declared victory Thursday in the first round of its campaign against the U.S. financial blockade imposed by Visa and MasterCard after an Icelandic court ordered a local company …

Discussion: TwitLonger, Mashable!, Wired and The Next Web

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

DOJ says it received over 800 comments on ebook pricing case, needs more time to publish them — In response to a letter from attorney Bob Kohn regarding the delayed publication of all the comments received on the proposed ebook pricing settlement, the Department of Justice says it received …

Discussion: GalleyCat and Digital Book World

Daniel Frankel / paidContent:

Insider: Variety acquisition cost will far exceed a $40M price tag — As the field of buyers for Variety narrows, we're getting a clearer picture as to what it will take to make a deal — and to remake Hollywood's signature trade publication. — Forget any notion of a $1 fire sale.

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes Real Time:

Viacom and DirecTV Are Both Right, But DirecTV Is Righter — The fee dispute between Viacom and DirecTV that has seen the satellite service's 20 million subscribers lose access to MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and other channels has the makings of a long standoff, one in which each side …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Multichannel News