Mediagazer: Why Is CNN Devoting Airtime To Ridiculous Conspiracy Theorists? (Josh Feldman/Mediaite)

5:10 PM ET, January 16, 2013

Top News:

Darrell Issa Probing Prosecution Of Aaron Swartz, Internet Pioneer Who Killed Himself — WASHINGTON — House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is investigating the Justice Department's prosecution of Aaron Swartz, the Internet activist who committed suicide on Friday …

Discussion: Guardian, Techdirt, TIME, TechPresident, Associated Press, Hillicon Valley, The Daily Beast, CNET and Quartz

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:

Congresswoman Proposes 'Aaron's Law' Directly to Reddit After Aaron Swartz Suicide — Riding an impressive wave of momentum for Internet activism in the wake of Aaron Swartz's suicide, California Representative Zoe Lofgren has drafted a bill to update the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.

Discussion: Hillicon Valley and Mashable!

Alexander Abad-Santos / The Atlantic Wire:
How Anonymous Got Westboro to Back Off Aaron Swartz's Funeral

Discussion: Fast Company, CNET, Forbes, Adweek, ReadWrite, Guardian, Softpedia News and WebProNews

Sandra Guy / Chicago Sun Times:
Aaron Swartz was ‘killed by government,’ father says at funeral

Discussion: CNET, Media Nation, ABCNEWS, The Daily Beast, BuzzFeed News, Stanford CIS Blog and The Huffington Post

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

News companies must pay for swiping Twitter pics (but our photo laws are still a mess) — News agencies can't simply help themselves to the photos they find on Twitter. That's the upshot of a closely watched court case involving a freelance photographer who sued the Washington Post …

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Twitter pictures put in spotlight following London helicopter crash — Issue of image copyright highlighted as major media outlets use photos taken by Twitter account holders and posted on site — The fatal helicopter crash in London on Wednesday morning once again put Twitter in the spotlight …

Discussion: The Verge, Daily Dot, WebProNews, CNET, Business Insider and Media News

John Herrman / BuzzFeed:
Want To Publish A Twitter Image Legally? Just Embed It.

Discussion: @tone_def, VentureBeat and Plagiarism Today

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Digital First newspaper to reduce print frequency — The Oneida (N.Y.) Daily Dispatch will print three days a week beginning next month, owner Digital First Media announced Wednesday. — As is customary with such announcements, DFM promises “expanded online, mobile and electronic offerings” for Daily Dispatch readers.

Discussion: Digital First Media, NetNewsCheck Latest and Connecticut Newsroom

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Weekly World News erects paywall, ending debate forever — The Weekly World News will move its website behind a paywall, the company announced Wednesday. Listen up, information-needs-to-be-free types: When Bat Boy goes behind a paywall, there's nothing left to discuss.

Discussion: Weekly World News

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

News Corp. may convert Fox Soccer into entertainment network — Fox Soccer may become an entertainment network. (Fox Sports ) — News Corp. is considering revamping its Fox Soccer cable channel into a general entertainment network, according to people briefed on the matter.

Discussion: EPL Talk

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

Washington Post clarifies practices and standards for corrections — In an email to staff this morning, The Washington Post clarified its practices and standards for online corrections. The email was signed by three top editors, including Executive Editor Marty Baron …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Joel Mathis / The Philly Post:

No One is Coming to Save Philadelphia Newspapers — These owners and these journalists will decide the fate of the Inky and Daily News. First they need a plan. Any plan at all. — Well, now we know: There will be no white knight to save Philadelphia's two major daily newspapers.

Discussion: Philly.com, Cision and Poynter

Dean Starkman / CJR:

Native ads' existential problem — L'affaire Atlantic/Scientology points up the format's built-in problems for news — The Atlantic's big mistake in the Scientololgy “debacle” has been variously described as: — 1. Running an ad in the first place for a strange and predatory money-obsessed cult …

Discussion: paidContent, The Daily Dish, Adweek and New York Magazine

Jack Shafer:
When advertorial bites back — At about noon today …

Discussion: Guardian, 10,000 Words, JIMROMENESKO.COM, The New Republic, PandoDaily, TechCrunch, Business Week and Daily Dot

Lisa Campbell / The Bookseller:

Kobo claims 20% of global e-reading market — Kobo increased its global e-ink device sales by 150% in December, making it the “biggest month” for the company so far. — The Canada-based retailer said that contrary to suggestions that e-ink devices would decline in popularity over Christmas …

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Why Is CNN Devoting Airtime To Ridiculous Conspiracy Theorists? — In the past week, Anderson Cooper has twice spent an entire segment of his show on the horrifying, outlandish conspiracy theories over the Sandy Hook shooting. Cooper repeatedly clarified that he wouldn't normally bring …

Discussion: TVNewser, The Huffington Post and Pressing Issues

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Amazon's European Netflix Competitor, LOVEFiLM, Signs TV Series Streaming Deal With NBCU — Another day, another content licensing agreement in the online streaming space. Amazon-owned LOVEFiLM, a European Netflix competitor, has signed a new streaming deal with NBCUniversal International TV Distribution …

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, Media Week, SlashGear, The Next Web, Pocket-lint and GeekWire