Mediagazer: Amazon approves production on five original children's shows (Tom Cheredar/VentureBeat)

4:00 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.

AFP:

China: claims of hacking NY Times ‘groundless’ — Beijing - — China on Thursday dismissed accusations that it had hacked into the system of the New York Times, in a cyberattack the paper linked to its expose of the wealth amassed by the family of Premier Wen Jiabao.

Wall Street Journal:

Chinese Hackers Targeted Wall Street Journal Computers — The Wall Street Journal said Thursday that its computer systems had been infiltrated by Chinese hackers for the apparent purpose of monitoring the newspaper's China coverage. — The infiltration at the Journal …

Discussion: Poynter and MarketBeat

Dylan Byers / Politico:
China blacks out CNN International

Discussion: Twitchy

Adam Martin / New York Magazine:
Chinese Hackers Stole Every New York Times Employee's Password

Discussion: Quartz, Naked Security and The Huffington Post

Josh Halliday / Guardian:
News websites falling victim to online hackers

Discussion: ZDNet and New York Times

Tim Carmody / The Verge:

CNET loses CES awards following Dish Hopper controversy; DVR named ‘Best In Show’ — The Hopper with Sling will be named co-winner of ‘Best In Show’ alongside official CNET choice the Razer Edge — The Consumer Electronics Association has issued a press release awarding the Dish Hopper …

Discussion: cesweb.org, TechCrunch, AllThingsD, Broadcasting & Cable and CNET

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

CES severs ties with CBS over Dish Hopper coverage — The Consumer Electronics Association, which runs CES, is ditching CBS's tech news and reviews site CNET as its show partner. Earlier this month, CBS forced CNET to remove the Dish Hopper from consideration for its “Best in CES” awards …

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

“Washington Post” Civil War Breaks Into Public View — Conservative senator quotes conservative blogger. Old-school reporter fights back. … Senator Jim Inhofe cited a blog post by conservative Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin during the confirmation hearing for Secretary …

Discussion: @larryakey, @monicahesse, @monicahesse and @rajivwashpost

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, The Wrap, Speakeasy, TVNewser, Los Angeles Times, The Raw Story, The Huffington Post and The Week

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

Discussion: BuzzFeed

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

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

Alex Sherman / Bloomberg:

Time Warner Cable Falls as Forecast Misses Analysts' Estimates — Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC), the second- largest U.S. cable-television operator, fell the most in more than a year after its 2013 earnings forecast missed estimates. — Time Warner Cable said adjusted earnings per share …

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

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

Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:

Amazon approves production on five original children's shows — Amazon Studios, the arm of online retail giant Amazon responsible for creating original programming, has approved production on five new children's shows. — The move is part of Amazon's effort to make its Prime Instant Video service …

Discussion: Amazon.com, The Wrap, paidContent, TechCrunch and Home Media Magazine

Kate Holton / Reuters:

Sports and catch-up TV help BSkyB beat forecasts — (Reuters) - Pay-TV group BSkyB (BSY.L) added a better-than-expected 88,000 customers in the second quarter, drawing them in with a mix of good programming, sports and popular technology which helped the group to beat profit forecasts.

Discussion: Fox Business, Sky News, Agence France Presse, London Evening Standard, BBC, Reuters, The Next Web and Deadline.com

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
BSkyB to Offer Sky Sports Channels Online-Only for $15.80 Per Day

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

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: LA Observed, Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, Guardian and New York Magazine

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

New York Times departures continue — Since The New York Times finished its most recent round of buyouts and layoffs, emails to staffers have noted many of the people who've taken the deals and/or are leaving. Here's an updated list: — Reporter Elissa Gootman — Reporter Charles “Chip” McGrath

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Reshuffle at The Atlantic — The Atlantic has announced that David Graham, an associate editor, will take over for Garance Franke-Ruta as Politics editor on Atlantic.com. — Graham, who joined The Atlantic from Newsweek in 2011, will now oversee The Atlantic's stable of politics writers …