Mediagazer: Amazon's European Netflix Competitor, LOVEFiLM, Signs TV Series Streaming Deal With NBCU (Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch)

12:10 PM ET, January 16, 2013

Top News:

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 and Connecticut Newsroom

Sandra Guy / Chicago Sun Times:

Aaron Swartz was ‘killed by government,’ father says at funeral — At 26, Internet activist and visionary Aaron Swartz had long ago established himself as a hero and wise elder of people power through copyright reform and open access to online information. In a 2001 interview with WBEZ Radio …

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

Alexander Abad-Santos / The Atlantic Wire:

How Anonymous Got Westboro to Back Off Aaron Swartz's Funeral — Fresh off their most recent spat over the Newtown shootings, the reviled hate group protestors at Westboro Baptist Church and the do-gooder hacktivists from Anonymous faced off over the ongoing Aaron Swartz suicide controversy on Tuesday …

Discussion: Forbes, Fast Company, Adweek, CNET, Hillicon Valley, Guardian, ReadWrite and Softpedia 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

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

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

Dylan Byers / Politico:

CNN President Jeff Zucker backs Piers Morgan's gun control campaign — CNN president Jeff Zucker told CNN New York staff today that he supported Piers Morgan's decision to speak in favor of gun control, sources at the network tell POLITICO. — During a town-hall meeting with staff …

Discussion: TVWeek.com, Inside Cable News, Mediaite and Deadline.com

Jack Shafer:

When advertorial bites back — At about noon today, the Atlantic put on a very snug hair shirt, issuing a statement of apology and regret for having posted on its website Church of Scientology “Sponsor Content” yesterday. — The Scientology advertisement, composed by tone-deaf propagandists unable …

Discussion: CJR, The Daily Dish, Adweek, 10,000 Words, JIMROMENESKO.COM, TechCrunch and New York Magazine

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:
The Atlantic On That Scientology Advertorial: ‘We Screwed Up’

Discussion: The Onion, NetNewsCheck Latest, eMedia Vitals, Media Decoder, @jackmirkinson, Guardian and The Next Web

Chicago Tribune:

Tribune Buyout and Bankruptcy: Culture Shock — With the takeover complete, Sam Zell and his team of outsiders brought a new approach, but their ideas never took off and their style alienated employees — Tribune Tower was in crisis, and the illustrations of penguins installed …

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Layoffs at Star-Ledger, other Advance papers in N.J. — Thirty-four employees of the (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger, including 18 full- and part-timers in the newsroom, will be laid off Wednesday, the paper's Ted Sherman and Kelly Heyboer report. — Publisher Richard Vezza …

Discussion: New Jersey Online and NetNewsCheck Latest

Jeremy Greenfield / Digital Book World:

Inkling to Turn Google Into Storefront, Take Run at Amazon — The most trafficked ebook store in the world today is Amazon. Very soon, that might not be the case. — Illustrated ebook store and ebook production management start-up Inkling has found a way to make Google Search a storefront …

Discussion: paidContent

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: The Huffington Post and Pressing Issues

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

N.Y.'s tough new gun law also prohibits disclosure of gun owners' names — The New York state Assembly will vote Tuesday on gun legislation that would broaden the definition of assault weapons and require mental health professionals to report anyone they thought may become dangerous.