Mediagazer: Chegg cozies up to Coursera to tap into MOOC movement (Ki Mae Heussner/paidContent)

9:45 AM ET, May 8, 2013

Top 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: @carr2n and @stevesilberman

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, TechCrunch, MarketWatch and Reuters

AllThingsD:

Yahoo's Mayer Has Met With Hulu Execs in a Preliminary Look-See at Premium Video Unit — According to numerous sources close to the situation, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer recently met with top execs at Hulu, the premium video service whose media company owners have been considering selling it for some months.

Discussion: Fast Company, CNET, DealBook, SocialTimes, Reuters, VatorNews, Home Media Magazine, The Verge, Pocket-lint, The Next Web, Mercury News, GigaOM, Softpedia News and Business Insider

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Government acts on health care costs, in part because of Time story — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will release a data file showing prices for inpatient services at U.S. hospitals, Steven Brill reports. Brian Cook at the department's Centers for Medicare …

Discussion: TIME

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Former News Corp. Top Executive Tom Mockridge to Become CEO of Virgin Media — He will run the company once John Malone's Liberty Global closes its acquisition of the U.K. cable operator. — John Malone's Liberty Global said Wednesday that it has picked former News Corp. top executive Tom Mockridge …

Discussion: Variety, Deadline.com, Telegraph, Guardian, The Register, Bloomberg, RTTNews, Reuters and Pocket-lint

Ki Mae Heussner / paidContent:

Chegg cozies up to Coursera to tap into MOOC movement — With roots that go back 10 years, you could say Chegg is an old hand when it comes to education technology. But the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company that made its name as a textbook rental site still wants a piece of the newest big thing.

Discussion: VentureBeat and The Next Web

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Maddow Rips Apart Politifact: ‘You Are Ruining’ Fact-Checking, ‘Truly Terrible’ — One of Rachel Maddow's favorite punching bags is the fact-checking site Politifact, for being self-appointed arbiters of truth who make rulings that appear to go against the very facts they lay out.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Politifact.com Truth …, @dylanbyers and Wonkette

Steve Ladurantaye / Globe and Mail:

Rogers determined to butt heads with Netflix — Canadian television providers are planning to cut their own cords, with several of the country's largest media companies developing subscription-based services to compete with online rivals such as Netflix Inc.

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Most YouTube Subscription Videos Will Have Ads — Love YouTube, but hate the ads? — Then you're not going to be any happier with most of the subscription videos the site is going to start selling. They're going to have ads, too, say people familiar with YouTube's long-awaited plans.

Discussion: Co.Create, The Week, VatorNews and Softpedia News

Kate Kaye / AdAge:

Time Warner Cable, Hearst, HBO and Verizon Fund NYC Media Lab — Time Warner Cable, Hearst, HBO and Verizon Fund Initiative to Encourage Research — Time Warner Cable, Hearst, HBO and Verizon are helping to fund the fledgling NYC Media Lab as part of a media-industry effort to encourage …

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes Says CNN's Jeff Zucker Is ‘Working Out Great’ — Ratings at Fox News are bigger because viewers have traditionally tuned into shorter CNN segments, says Bewkes. — Time Warner chairman and chief executive Jeff Bewkes gave an endorsement of Jeff Zucker, who was hired last November to lead CNN.

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Do You Still Trust Matt Lauer? ‘Today’ Anchor Rated Low In Reader's Digest Poll — After the year that Matt Lauer has had, you might call it a win that he managed to sneak into the list of the “100 Most Trusted People in America,” as determined by Reader's Digest magazine with the help of the Wagner Group, a market research firm.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, TVNewser, @curtwoodward and The Huffington Post