Mediagazer: The NSA surveillance story reinforces why an entity like WikiLeaks is so important (Mathew Ingram/GigaOM)

11:00 AM ET, June 7, 2013

Top News:

Blogger, With Focus on Surveillance, Is at Center of a Debate — After writing intensely, even obsessively, for years about government surveillance and the prosecution of journalists, Glenn Greenwald has suddenly put himself directly at the intersection of those two issues, and perhaps in the cross hairs of federal prosecutors.

Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:

On whistleblowers and government threats of investigation — No healthy democracy can endure when the most consequential acts of those in power remain secret and unaccountable — We followed Wednesday's story about the NSA's bulk telephone record-gathering with one yesterday …

Discussion: Forbes, ODNI Newsroom Feed, Quartz, New York Times, Gizmodo, The Hill, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post and BuzzFeed

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

The NSA surveillance story reinforces why an entity like WikiLeaks is so important — WikiLeaks, the secretive repository for government malfeasance, hasn't been in the news much lately except for occasional updates about founder Julian Assange, who remains in exile inside the Ecuadorian embassy in Britain.

Discussion: Washington Post, Uncrunched, Gizmodo, Guardian, ThinkProgress, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Online, ZDNet and @ggreenwald

Eliott C. McLaughlin / CNN:
Holder: Leaks probes target government officials, not reporters

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Mediaite

Cord Jefferson / Gawker:

The New York Times Quietly Softened Its Scathing Obama Editorial — When the Paper of Record published a blistering editorial on President Obama's overbearing national security precautions today, one line stood out from the dozens of others as being the most vicious: “The administration has now lost all credibility.”

Discussion: New York Times, The Next Web, Mediaite, Politico, National Review, Hit & Run, Slate, The Huffington Post, PolicyMic, @sulliview and Valleywag

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Why NY Times Tweaked Tough Obama Editorial — The New York Times' blistering editorial about privacy fears during the Obama years got significant pick-up when published late afternoon Thursday, prior to running in Friday's print edition. — The Times editorial board is often on the same page …

Discussion: Politico, CBS Boston, Hit & Run and The Daily Caller

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

Was Change in Obama Editorial a ‘Softening’ of The Times's Position? — The Times's editorial about President Obama's surveillance state was scathing. Some called it a “vivisection.” But a few hours after “President Obama's Dragnet” went online Thursday afternoon, one particularly notable sentence had been changed.

Discussion: Pressing Issues and New York Magazine

Associated Press:

Italian Journalist Missing in Syria Contacts Wife — Italy's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that a war reporter for the Turin daily La Stampa has been in touch with his family for the first time since disappearing in Syria in April. — La Stampa's editor-in-chief Mario Calabrese broke …

Discussion: Reuters, ansamed.info and HeraldSun

Jeff Elder / San Francisco Chronicle:

Mary's Meeker's misinformation has influence — The average smartphone user looks at his or her phone 150 times a day - did you see that headline last week? It seemed to be everywhere after a hugely influential investment guru presented it onstage at a major tech conference.

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

CBS Anchor Scott Pelley On The Surprising Renaissance Of The Evening News — That the evening news is a dinosaur headed for extinction has been a truism since long before people started getting their headlines from Twitter or the Huffington Post. But lately, in their steady march toward the tar pits …

Discussion: TVNewser

John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:

Amazon Demanded Same Terms From Publishers For Which Apple is Now On Trial — When Apple negotiated its e-book contracts with the five publishers with which it would ultimately launch iBooks, the company demanded a “most favored nation provision” that required publishers to match …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, GalleyCat, Softpedia News, GeekWire, The Verge and AppleInsider

Greg Sandoval / The Verge:
Apple tries putting Amazon on trial in ebooks antitrust case

Discussion: The Verge, paidContent, GeekWire and CNET

Eliza Kern / GigaOM:

What Digg's Google Reader replacement can teach us about the future of social news — Nothing rocked technology-oriented news junkies this year quite like the announcement that Google Reader will be shuttering its popular but apparently too-niche-to-continue product in July.

Discussion: Softpedia News and Wired

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Cable TV redoubling their investment in advanced set-tops boxes — To compete in a multiscreen world, MSOs are redoubling their investment in advanced set-tops — The set-top box may find living rooms increasingly crowded with other video-delivery devices, but as next week's annual industry confab …

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Time Warner Cable enables out-of-home streaming on Mac and PC — Time Warner Cable customers can now stream select live and on-demand content from outside of their homes, right within their desktop browser of choice. While TWC already allowed in-home streaming on the desktop …

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

Ex-FCC Chairman Reed Hundt wary of Koch brothers owning L.A. Times — A former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said rules limiting common ownership of newspapers and television stations in the same market should be gutted — even if it clears the way for media mogul Rupert Murdoch …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, Corporate Intelligence and The Huffington Post

Press Association:

Phone Hacking Trial Of Rebekah Brooks And Andy Coulson To Start In September — The trial of former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and fellow NI staff over allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World is to start in September. The trial of Mrs Brooks and eight …

Discussion: Guardian

Associated Press:

Hugo Chavez given Venezuela journalism prize — The late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been awarded the country's National Journalism Prize even though he was accused of persecuting the press during his 14 years in power. — The National Journalism Prize Foundation says in a Thursday statement …

Discussion: euronews, Latin Times, Jagran Post News and Big News Network.com

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Register launched to represent freelances who report on conflicts — The Frontline Club has launched the Frontline Freelance Register, a body that aims to represent freelance journalists who put themselves at risk to report on conflicts. — The FFR's core objective is to support the physical …

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

WBUR partners with Atavist to tell the story of Whitey Bulger and templatize feature presentation — There are stories, and then there's Whitey Bulger's story. A notorious Irish mobster whose criminal career in Boston inspired no shortage of books, movies, and rumor, Bulger now faces his day in court.

Discussion: Knight Foundation

Rachel Edidin / Wired:

Why Book Publishers Are Still Dragging Their Heels on Selling You E-Books — “Did you see anyone with bags?” My friend is looking around, increasingly frantic. “We need to find bags, right now.” — We've been at Book Expo America 2013 for an hour, and the stacks of books we're carrying are already beginning to overflow our arms.

Discussion: Statista, Kindle Review and GalleyCat