Mediagazer: Thomson Reuters hires Economist Group chief to head news agency arm (Mark Sweney/Guardian)

2:00 PM ET, May 29, 2013

Top News:

Ted Johnson / Variety:

IAC Seeking Buyers for Newsweek (EXCLUSIVE) — Newsweek appears to be on the block — again. — According to sources who have been briefed, IAC is sending out inquiries to prospective buyers who may be interested in purchasing the 80-year-old title, which ended weekly publication …

Discussion: Politico, FishbowlNY, Reuters, Adweek, @felixsalmon, @daschles, @peterlauria3, @shirleybrady, @tunkuv, @sarahw, The Daily Caller, @grahamdavida, @jenzchang, @qhardy, @mattyglesias and @jayrosen_nyu

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Newsweek confirms it is eyeing sale — Newsweek CEO Baba Shetty and editor-in-chief Tina Brown have just sent the following memo to staff, confirming earlier reports that parent-company IAC is exploring a sale of the now online-only magazine: … Developing.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Mashable and National Review

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Barry Diller Is Shopping Newsweek. Here's Why. [Updated] — Most rational business people wouldn't go out of their way to deprecate the value of an asset a few weeks before they try to sell it. As he has made abundantly clear throughout his career, however, Barry Diller is not most people.

Discussion: paidContent, Capital New York and New York Magazine

RT:

Larry King joins RT with brand new politics show — Award-winning interviewer Larry King will host a mold-breaking political talk show on RT from next month, speaking to both leading establishment figures, and those who are not afraid to go against the grain.

Discussion: Politico, TVNewser, Gawker, Mediaite, Deadline.com, Broadcasting & Cable, Reuters, Daily Mail, BuzzFeed, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Wrap, BBC, Variety and The Huffington Post

Mike Isaac / AllThingsD:

Apple's Tim Cook Has a “Grand Vision” for Television — And Still Won't Talk About It — No surprises here — at our 11th D: All Things Digital technology conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook is still staying mum on the company's plans for a proper TV set. — However!

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Dara Kerr / CNET:
Apple CEO: We rejected DOJ settlement in e-book suit

Discussion: VentureBeat, GigaOM, AllThingsD and Softpedia News

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Thomson Reuters hires Economist Group chief to head news agency arm — Andrew Rashbass to leave publisher after 15 years, having led digital transformation from print to digital business — Andrew Rashbass, the chief executive of the Economist Group, is to join Thomson Reuters …

Discussion: Ad Week, New York Times and Globe and Mail

Thomson Reuters:
Thomson Reuters Announces Andrew Rashbass to Join in New Role Leading News and Media Business

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Matthew Cooper / NationalJournal.com:

Why a Media Shield Law Isn't Enough to Save Journalists — The only way journalists will be protected is if prosecutors stop being so quick to go after them. — I'm all for a shield law to protect journalists and their sources from government prosecutors. I hope Congress passes one.

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's …

Peter Sterne / The New York Observer:
Shield Law More Like a Cheap Umbrella

Discussion: Mediaite, Hit & Run, Broadcasting & Cable and New Yorker

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Eric Holder To Meet With Washington Bureau Chiefs Amid Leak Investigation Criticism — NEW YORK — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to meet this week with the Washington bureau chiefs of several major media outlets to discuss the Justice Department's guidelines for dealing with journalists in leak investigations.

Discussion: Guardian and TVNewser

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:
Attorney general signed off on Fox phone records subpoena

Discussion: The Daily Beast

PR Newswire:

Marco Arment Sells “The Magazine” to Its Editor, Glenn Fleishman — Instapaper founder and Tumblr's first employee sells popular electronic magazine — SEATTLE and HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, N.Y., May 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — The Magazine, a popular electronic magazine …

Discussion: Marco.org, @jswatz, The Next Web and Valleywag

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

TuneIn raises $25 million, nabs new CFO from Google to monetize radio streaming — Palo Alto, California-based TuneIn has raised a new $25 million round of funding, and it plans to put that money to good use. TuneIn CEO John Donham told me Tuesday that he intends to spend a big chunk …

Discussion: Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, CNET and Bloomberg

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Roku Raises a $60 Million Round, Led by Fidelity, to Fight for the Living Room — Tim Cook says Apple TV is still a side project. But bringing digital entertainment to your TV is all Roku does, and they're raising more money to do it. — Roku has raised a massive $60 million round …

Discussion: GigaOM

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Meeker says print advertising is down, but should publishers still be terrified? — Print media captures 6 percent of consumers' time but 23 percent of ad spending in 2012, venture capitalist Mary Meeker said in her much-anticipated 2013 Internet Trends report:

Discussion: kpcb.com, NetNewsCheck Latest and AllThingsD

Peter Lauria / BuzzFeed:

Deep Inside NBC Universal's Corporate Culture Makeover — Chief Executive Steve Burke has methodically dispatched with nearly every high level executive from the Jeff Zucker regime. Now it's “all business” — for better or for worse. — Roughly three years into Comcast's ownership of NBC Universal …

Discussion: The Corsair and Los Angeles Times

Bill Mickey / Folio:

Study: One-Quarter of Tablet Owners Prefer Digital Magazines Over Print — As device sales grow, that metric could balloon to 65 percent by 2020. — Digital publishing consultancy Mequoda Group released results of a recent survey that examined the usage and content consumption of tablet owners.

Discussion: Mequoda Daily

John Eggerton / Broadcasting & Cable:

SPJ Seeks Delay in Vote on Restricting Newtown Victims' Records — Says tragedy should not be used as an excuse to block access to public documents — The Society of Professional Journalists has asked the Connecticut state legislature to delay a vote on a bill to restrict outside access …

Discussion: SPJ News

Elias Biryabarema / Reuters:

Ugandan police fire tear gas at journalists protesting crackdown — (Reuters) - Ugandan police fired tear gas at journalists in the capital Kampala on Tuesday who were protesting against a media crackdown after press reports sparked a rare public debate on who will succeed aging President Yoweri Museveni.