Mediagazer: Exclusive: News Corp, popular tech blog contemplate split

8:40 PM ET, February 15, 2013

Top News:

Douglas Quenqua / New York Times:

The Boy Wonder of Buzzfeed — “BenSmithing is now an official term!” shouted Michael Hastings, a Buzzfeed reporter and author, at his book release party in Chelsea on a subfreezing night in January. The roomful of young reporters, ad salesmen and b-list political gadflies (Meghan McCain turned heads all night) hooted in approval.

Discussion: @max_read, @buzzfeedandrew and @justinnxt

Betsy Rothstein / FishbowlDC:

Valentine's Day Bloodbath: WaPo Lays Off Workers in Hush-Hush Manner — On Thursday, Valentine's Day, WaPo officially discussed the circumstances surrounding the layoffs of employees, FishbowlDC sources have learned. Internal sources appropriately place the number at 54, though a publicist hasn't confirmed the exact number.

Discussion: Politico, mediabistro.com, City Desk, The Huffington Post, Poynter, Capital New York, @escarry, Digital Media Wire and NetNewsCheck Latest

Reuters:

Exclusive: News Corp, popular tech blog contemplate split - sources — (Reuters) - AllThingsD, the widely read technology blog run by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, has begun discussions with owner News Corp about extending or ending their partnership, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Discussion: The Wrap, Deadline.com, paidContent, Business Insider, @bobbymacreports, @mathewi, @johnpaczkowski, @megan, @rafat, @pkafka, @sbermo, The Next Web, @rafat, @sdkstl, @edmundlee and @lucas_shaw

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Did Time Warner Really Try to Buy China's Help Fighting Piracy With Free Movies? — Rampant copyright piracy in Asia, especially in China, is a massive and intractable problem for the software, entertainment and luxury industries. Western countries simply don't have enough leverage to compel …

Discussion: Businessweek and Beet.TV

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

You Are Watching More Web Video Ads Than Ever — The fate of the TV ad may or may not be in jeopardy. But in Web videoland, ads are thriving: Distributors keep adding more of them, and they are bumping up their length, too. And the people who watch Web videos seem okay with that.

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

CNN shoots down ‘New York Times’ by taking Tesla road trip: 'It wasn't that hard' — CNN took on The New York Times' scathing review of Tesla's Model S by driving the same route with no problems and determining that the trip “wasn't that hard.” — Electric car manufacturer Tesla …

Discussion: CNNMoney.com, The Next Web, paidContent, CNET, @barterpaul, @hunterwalk, @elonmusk, @hblodget, Examiner, @toddbarnard, @bobbyllew, @elonmusk, @katiefehren, Guardian and New York Times

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

Judge allows case over HuffPo ownership to go forward, adds fraud claim — In a major development in the bitter court fight over the founding of the Huffington Post, a New York judge has for the second time refused the request of media moguls Arianna Huffington and Ken Lerer to dismiss the case.

Discussion: Poynter, FishbowlNY, Beet.TV and NetNewsCheck Latest

Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:

Posterous shuttering for good on April 30th to focus on Twitter, offering Spaces downloads until then — Blogging platform Posterous has announced via its company blog that it will be shutting down as of April 30th. The company was acquired by Twitter just under a year ago.

Discussion: TechCrunch, VentureBeat, The Official Posterous Space, AllThingsD, @jon_alper, @marcoarment, The Next Web, @palafo, @amyhoy, @grabcocque and @danielpunkass

Ben Dowell / Guardian:

BBC to advertise TV and radio top jobs — New director general seeks to complete team, with Roger Mosey, Danny Cohen and Peter Salmon among those in the running — The BBC will formally advertise for directors of TV and news next weekend, as incoming director general Lord Hall continues to assemble his senior executive team.

Guardian:

London police commander arrested in Operation Elveden — Chief superintendent Andy Rowell held over allegations he passed information to a News International journalist — One of the most senior police officers to be targeted by Operation Elveden has been arrested over allegations …

Discussion: Sky News, standard.co.uk, BBC and EalingToday

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

Can The Guardian Become a Big U.S. Force? — The Guardian waited 190 years before taking its left-leaning brand of journalism to the U.S. And it decided to make its splash in a very modern way: through an online-only operation. — The Guardian is presenting its premium content in a crowded marketplace.

Marina Hyde / Guardian:

Reeva Steenkamp's corpse was in the morgue, her body was on the Sun's front page — The Oscar Pistorius case has been called a tragedy for South Africa, for sport, for disability rights ... but what about the victim and her family? To parts of the media, she is just hot