Mediagazer: Time Warner Cable chief defends pricey sports deals (Joe Flint/Los Angeles Times)

12:30 PM ET, January 31, 2013

Top News:

Nicole Perlroth / New York Times:

Hackers in China Attacked The Times for Last 4 Months — SAN FRANCISCO — For the last four months, Chinese hackers have persistently attacked The New York Times, infiltrating its computer systems and getting passwords for its reporters and other employees.

Adam Martin / New York Magazine:

Chinese Hackers Stole Every New York Times Employee's Password — On Wednesday night, after enduring four months of hacking, the New York Times finally reported its computer network had been infiltrated and that it had ousted its attackers, who it linked to the Chinese military.

Discussion: Quartz, Naked Security and ZDNet

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

See Al Squirm: Gore Faces Tough Questions on Al Jazeera Deal — Word to the wise: If you're going to strike a deal that you're maybe not entirely proud of, wait until after your book tour to announce it. — Al Gore did things the other way around and all this week he's been paying the price for it …

Discussion: Mediaite, Speakeasy, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, The Raw Story and The Week

Nikolas Kozloff / The Huffington Post: Al Jazeera America: Time for a New Cable Model?

BuzzFeed: Al Jazeera America Has Received More Than 8,000 Applications

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Philadelphia group launches campaign to save newspapers — A group called Save Philadelphia Newspapers has launched a petition drive “in support of the papers and the journalists and other workers who produce it,” a notice from the group on the Philly Guild page says.

Discussion: mediabistro.com, The Newspaper Guild …, Philly.com and Save the Philadelphia …

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Satellite TV Provider DirecTV Makes Strategic Investment In Video Ad Startup FreeWheel — Video ad company FreeWheel is announcing this morning a big new client, which is also making a strategic investment in the firm. Satellite TV provider DirecTV has chosen the startup to improve monetization …

Discussion: AllThingsD and AdAge

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

BSkyB to Offer Sky Sports Channels Online-Only for $15.80 Per Day — CEO Jeremy Darroch says that the planned offer targets people who don't subscribe to the company's pay TV service and is priced to avoid cord cutting. — LONDON - U.K. pay TV giant BSkyB said Thursday …

Discussion: Guardian, Daily Mail, Huffington Post UK and Telegraph

Alexander C. Kaufman / The Wrap:

Boston Globe's Glen Johnson Leaving to Become John Kerry Adviser — Glen Johnson, the Boston Globe's star political reporter, is leaving the paper to become an adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry. — The former Associated Press reporter joined the Globe two years ago to become …

Discussion: Poynter and The Boston Globe

Shelby Grad / L.A. NOW:

Ring accused of burglarizing the homes of Times subscribers — Three men have been arrested on suspicion of burglarizing the homes of Los Angeles Times newspaper subscribers while they were on vacation, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Discussion: Guardian

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Warren Buffett buys Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record — Warren Buffett's BH Media Group has purchased the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record from Landmark Media Enterprises, Steve Jordon reports. … The parties didn't disclose the terms of the sale, Jordon writes.

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

Time Warner Cable chief defends pricey sports deals — Time Warner Cable satellite dishes (Dan Krauss / Los Angeles Times) — Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Glenn Britt, who has been very public about his concerns over rising programming costs, Thursday defended the company's expensive TV deals for the Lakers and Dodgers.

Discussion: Multichannel News, LA Biz Observed, Reuters, Bloomberg, Reuters, FierceCable, Wall Street Journal and Forbes

Kim Zetter / Wired:

Activists Flood Government Agencies With FOIA Requests in Tribute to Aaron Swartz — In honor of the transparency fights that coder and internet activist Aaron Swartz led while alive, an online records processing service has submitted more than 100 public records requests on behalf of members of the public.

Felix Salmon:

The SEC's weird newswire investigation — A couple of weeks ago, the WSJ's Brody Mullins had a big story about the fact that the SEC was investigating a political-intelligence consultancy named Marwood. Marwood doesn't seem to have done anything wrong, but the very fact that it was being investigated was …

AFP:

French-Australian journalist Nadir Dendoune in Iraqi jail — IRAQI police arrested a French-Australian journalist last week for taking photos without permission in Baghdad, but have held him without charge. — Nadir Dendoune came to Iraq to compile a series of stories on the upcoming 10th anniversary …

Discussion: Guardian, Associated Press and Committee to Protect …