Mediagazer: Spencer Ackerman joins the Guardian as National Security Editor (Guardian)

3:35 PM ET, May 8, 2013

Top News:

Pink slips for a dozen-plus ‘Daily News’ staffers; vets Joanna Molloy and Albor Ruiz among them — The Daily News is now undergoing what employees of the tabloid have been fearing for weeks: Multiple insiders tell Capital that layoffs have hit the newsroom today.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

NowThisNews Raises a New Round to Help Bring Pregnant Panda Videos to Your Phone — NowThisNews, the startup that's trying to create a video news service for the iPhone generation, has raised another $4.8 million. — In addition to earlier investors, who include Lerer Ventures …

Discussion: VentureBeat

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

AOL's Earnings Are Light, but Revenue and Ad Sales Are on Track — This looks like a pretty good performance from AOL: Tim Armstrong's Internet company came in a couple pennies light on earnings in its Q1, but hit its revenue marks. — As important: Its underlying numbers look pretty good.

Discussion: paidContent, Forbes, mediabistro.com, Street Fight, New York Times, @jeffjohnroberts, Reuters, MarketWatch, TechCrunch, FishbowlNY and Softpedia News

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Obama May Back F.B.I. Plan to Wiretap Web Users — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, resolving years of internal debate, is on the verge of backing a Federal Bureau of Investigation plan for a sweeping overhaul of surveillance laws that would make it easier to wiretap people …

Discussion: CNET, The Raw Story, @stevesilberman and @carr2n

Shara Tibken / CNET:

Google, authors wrangle in court again over digital books — The authors are asking for $3 billion in damages related to Google's digital books project, while Google is asking for class action status to be revoked. — Google and the Authors Guild are wrangling in court again …

Discussion: PublishersWeekly.com and @bloombergnews

Jim Romenesko:

Philadelphia Inquirer returns to newsstands on Saturdays — Philadelphia Inquirer staffers got this memo on Wednesday afternoon. The person who passed in on writes: “Combine this with the TP [Times-Picayune] news [about news street tabloids] and one would surmise print's the new news delivery system these days!

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

Confessions of a Newspaper Ad Exec — The woes of the newspaper world in digital media are well known: a decimated subscription base, lower ad revenue and declining relevance. — Newspapers are continuing the long process of change, but the road is bumpy.

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's …, Thanks:@haniyarae

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

Get your cat on: BuzzFeed creates new section where readers can publish — Users will now get their own vertical on BuzzFeed, where they can submit according to their “Cat Power.” — Viral site BuzzFeed launched a new content vertical on Wednesday called “Community” that consists entirely of user-submitted content.

Discussion: BuzzFeed

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Advocate owner says he ‘tried to buy’ Times-Picayune — In a May 2 interview, WWL-TV anchor Melanie Hebert passed on a viewer question to John Georges, the new owner of the Baton Rouge, La.-based Advocate: Would he be interested in buying the Times-Picayune of New Orleans, with which his paper is engaged in a growing newspaper war?

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Baton Rouge news … and New Orleans Times-Picayune

Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:

Piers Morgan to Exec Produce Tabloid Journalism Drama for Starz — The 1970s entry “Fleet Street” hails from Lionsgate TV and Richard Branson's Virgin Produced. — Starz is turning its lens on tabloid journalism. — The cable network home to DaVinci's Demons and the upcoming Black Sails …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Guardian:

Spencer Ackerman joins the Guardian as National Security Editor — Hire Reflects the Guardian's commitment to transparency and accountability — New York, May 8, 2013 — The Guardian announced today that it has hired Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) as National Security Editor …

Discussion: @attackerman