Mediagazer: Meteor Videos Set Online Viewing Record (Brian Stelter/Media Decoder)

9:35 AM ET, February 20, 2013

Top News:

Tim O'Brien leaves the Huffington Post; editor was a driving force in the site's pursuit of ‘capital J’ journalism — Tim O'Brien, the executive editor of The Huffington Post and Arianna Huffington's main deputy in the newsroom, is leaving the site to work on his next book.

Discussion: Forbes, Media News, Politico, The Wrap, @joepompeo, @ryantate, @tmcgev, The New York Observer and Adweek

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:
The Huffington Post Has a ‘No Writing Books’ Rule

Discussion: Daily Download, @jackshafer and bookforum.com

Jasper Jackson / TheMediaBriefing:

Datawatch: Price vs volume and why newspapers should put their prices up faster — When it comes to media economics - which is more powerful? Price, or volume? Should sell more stuff or raise prices? — Both the Guardian and the Daily Mirror — put their cover prices up in January …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

David Carr / Media Decoder:

Does the ‘House of Cards’ All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Spoil Social Viewing? — For many viewers, one of the pleasures of watching the favorite-of-the-moment TV series is gathering around the digital water cooler to hash out the plot points, quibble with the details ("How could the truck not hear Matthew coming?

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, Quartz, TechCrunch and WebProNews

Greg Sandoval / The Verge:

Spotify pushing labels to lower costs, open up free service to phones — Streaming service seeks to edge into profitability by controlling content costs, growing subscriber base — Spotify, the popular music subscription service, is due to meet in the coming weeks with its major counterparts …

Discussion: Fast Company, Guardian, TNT Magazine, Music Ally, CMU and Gizmodo

Amar Toor / The Verge:

Yahoo unveils new ‘personal’ homepage with news feeds and social integration — Yahoo today began rolling out a redesigned homepage, as part of CEO Marissa Mayer's ongoing effort to revive the once-proud web company. Mayer announced the revamped site in a blog post published Wednesday …

Discussion: Yodel Anecdotal, Associated Press, TechCrunch, NYT Bits, Bloomberg, AllThingsD and Wired

Ian Burrell / The Independent:

Top BBC executive accused of bullying in Rose review — Several staff at the BBC are each the subject of multiple allegations in an official inquiry into bullying and sexual harassment, The Independent can disclose. — One senior BBC executive is the subject of more than 20 complaints …

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Demand Media Says It Wants to Split in Two — Spinning Off Domain Registrar Business From Media Unit — Demand Media said today that it planned to split its company in two parts, spinning off its domain business from its media one in a bid to better clarify the company to investors.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, TechCrunch, @sdkstl, Adweek and Forbes

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Meteor Videos Set Online Viewing Record — How did you watch the videos of the meteor that lit up the sky over Siberia last week? If you're like many people, you went straight to YouTube, where dozens of amateur videos were uploaded soon after the rare occurrence.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, Daily Download, Mashable! and The Visible Measures Blog

Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:

Condé Nast Reveals Investment In Jewellery Startup, As Media Scrambles For New Revenues — In yet another an indication that big media powerhouses are starting to refocus their businesses on driving new models like commerce, publishing giant Condé Nast has made what is understood …

Discussion: The Next Web

Ben Popper / The Verge:

Six seconds of horror: Adam Goldberg is Vine's first real auteur — The actor/director has found his medium crafting six-second micro movies on Twitter's new app — Adam Goldberg is best known for memorable roles in films like Saving Private Ryan and the TV sitcom Friends.

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Attention, Publishers: ‘Iconic’ Is Not A Business Model — Let's review what the year 2013 hath wrought so far in the media industry. — Reader's Digest, staggering under $1.2 billion in debt, has filed for bankruptcy for the second time in four years. Rolling Stone owner Jann Wenner managed …

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

The Future of Digital Publishing will be via HTML5, not Apps, MIT's Jason Pontin — While Apps have broad utility for media publishers, they are not needed as the associated development costs and complexities are unnecessary, says Jason Pontin, Editor and Publisher of MIT's Technology Review, in this interview with Beet.TV