Mediagazer: Day 5 of the Apple ebooks trial: Publishing execs testify; Rupert Murdoch's role (Laura Hazard Owen/paidContent)

8:55 AM ET, June 11, 2013

Top News:

Irin Carmon / Salon:

How we broke the NSA story — Exclusive: Laura Poitras tells Salon about getting contacted by Edward Snowden, and reveals more footage is coming — Shortly after Salon's biographical sketch on Laura Poitras went live, the award-winning documentary filmmaker agreed to a phone interview …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, Business Insider, Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Huffington Post, Computerworld, paidContent, Pressing Issues and Boing Boing

Washington Post:

Investigators looking into how Snowden gained access at NSA — Counterintelligence investigators are scrutinizing how a 29-year-old contractor who said he leaked top-secret National Security Agency documents was able to gain access to what should be highly compartmentalized information …

Discussion: National Review, Slate and NBC Universal

Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:

Russia Would Weigh Snowden Asylum Bid — MOSCOW—Russia would consider a request for asylum from Edward Snowden, the National Security Administration contractor who has admitted leaking details of top-secret government surveillance programs, the Kremlin's chief spokesman said Tuesday.

Discussion: New York Times

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Majority Views NSA Phone Tracking as Acceptable Anti-terror Tactic — Public Says Investigate Terrorism, Even If It Intrudes on Privacy — OVERVIEW — A majority of Americans - 56% - say the National Security Agency's (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions of Americans …

Discussion: Infowars, Softpedia News, Taking Note, Gizmodo and The Verge

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:
Inside the ‘Q Group,’ the Directorate Hunting Down Edward Snowden

Discussion: Mediaite, Daily Mail, New York Times, The Lede, CNET, Infowars, CNN, Softpedia News, Hit & Run and The Huffington Post

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

BBC accused of misleading parliament over ‘catastrophic’ digital media project — MPs say evidence given by senior management in 2011 'just wasn't true' as £98.4m cost of ‘embarrassing’ failure is revealed — The BBC has been accused by MPs of misleading parliament over its …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Ex-BBC chief recalled to face Commons questions over earlier DMI evidence — Mark Thompson told public accounts committee in 2011 that parts of content management system were ‘already working’ — Mark Thompson, the former BBC director general, has been recalled to parliament over evidence …

Anya Kamenetz / Fast Company:

How Upworthy Used Emotional Data To Become The Fastest Growing Media Site of All Time — If it makes an editor cry, it's Upworthy. — In a presentation on Thursday at the Personal Democracy Forum, a New York City gathering on the intersection of tech and politics, Upworthy editorial …

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Now websites can send push notifications — not just apps — In my writeup earlier of the elements of today's Apple announcements of interest to news app developers, I mentioned that there was a reference on Apple's site to the new ability of websites to send push notifications — websites, not just apps.

Discussion: @mg, Quartz, ReadWrite, The Verge and Big News Network.com

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Day 5 of the Apple ebooks trial: Publishing execs testify; Rupert Murdoch's role — At the Apple ebook trial on Monday, HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray and Macmillan CEO John Sargent offered testimony as witnesses for the government. Emails showed that News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch expressed the desire to “screw Amazon.”

Discussion: New York Post and Bookseller news

Hayley Tsukayama / Washington Post:

Apple introduces iTunes Radio, in bid for streaming market — Apple came out swinging Monday, using its annual developers' conference to defend its position in the digital music space with a new streaming service aimed at rivals such as Spotify, Pandora and Google.

Discussion: Guardian and The Verge

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

Conservatives as Defenders of the Media — A Justice Department inquiry of a Fox News reporter has given the press an unlikely ally in right-leaning radio and television hosts, who have taken to defending the First Amendment with a fire-and-brimstone zeal.

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Sprint Ends Talks About Sale to Dish Network, Supports Softbank Bid — Charlie Ergen's satellite TV giant, which has been looking to become a wireless player, had made an unsolicited $25.5 billion takeover proposal in April. — Wireless giant Sprint Nextel said late Monday night …

Discussion: Reuters