Mediagazer: Older TV viewers driving audience growth, but it's a mixed blessing (Joe Flint/Los Angeles Times)

7:25 PM ET, June 19, 2013

Top News:

James Poniewozik / TIME:

Michael Hastings and Who Journalists Really Work For — I'm not the person to write a personal appreciation of Michael Hastings, the 33-year-old investigative journalist who died in a car crash in Los Angeles yesterday. I never met him; I don't know if he was a good guy, or a bad guy, or both in what ratio.

Discussion: New York Times, LAist, Boing Boing, Business Insider, FishbowlDC, msnbc.com and WorldViews

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

Missing Michael Hastings — One of the great reporters of his generation died Tuesday at 33. The stories he wrote, and the ones he didn't live to write. — Michael Hastings was really only interested in writing stories someone didn't want him to write — often his subjects; occasionally his editor.

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Sree Sreenivasan to leave chief digital officer post at Columbia University — Sree Sreenivasan, the journalism professor and social-media evangelist, is leaving his full-time job at Columbia University, where he's taught for two decades, sources tell Capital.

Discussion: @columbiaspec, @ryanbeckwith, @columuniversity, @fbonacci, @rubinafillion and @jasonchupick

Reuters:

Dish abandons Sprint bid for now to focus on Clearwire — (Reuters) - Dish Network Corp said it would not make a new offer to buy No. 3 U.S. wireless provider Sprint Nextel in time for a Tuesday deadline and will instead focus on its tender offer for Clearwire Corp.

Discussion: Multichannel.com, AllThingsD, VentureBeat, The Verge and Engadget

Kevin Fitchard / GigaOM:
With Dish (mostly) out of the way, the path is clear for Sprint-SoftBank deal

Discussion: Forbes and The Next Web

Thomas Beller / Page-Turner:

The Ongoing Story: Twitter and Writing — I was in the Time magazine archives recently, doing research for my biography of J. D. Salinger, when I pulled open a drawer and found a small box containing a bunch of discarded typewriter heads for the I.B.M. Selectric typewriter—the cutting-edge writing technology of my youth.

Discussion: @qhardy, @robinsloan and @robinsloan

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Wired Editor Michael Copeland Joins Andreessen Horowitz To Lead New ‘Content Strategy’ — Wired Senior Editor Michael Copeland is joining venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. We've confirmed with the VC firm that Copeland will be leading Andreessen's new ‘content strategy.’

Discussion: @mvc

Beth Healy / The Boston Globe:

At least 8 potential purchasers may give offers to Times Co. — At least eight potential buyers, ranging from former newspaper executives with local roots to private equity investors from the West Coast, are weighing bids for The Boston Globe as the June 27 deadline for submitting offers approaches …

Discussion: Poynter, The Huffington Post, Media Nation, FishbowlNY, NetNewsCheck Latest and Prof Chris Daly's Blog

Jason Deans / Guardian:

ITV buys US production company Thinkfactory Media — UK broadcaster continues US spree, paying £19m for 65% stake in producer behind Kevin Costner drama Hatfields & McCoys — ITV has made its third foray into the US TV production sector, paying $30m (£19m) …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, screendaily.com, men, Telegraph, Variety and C21Media

Adam Haigh / Bloomberg:

News Corp. Spinoff Falls in Sydney After Murdoch Split — News Corp. (NNC), the Wall Street Journal publisher spun off by Rupert Murdoch, fell in its Sydney debut as stock in the billionaire's newspaper assets started trading separately in a split from his entertainment businesses.

Discussion: Guardian, Hollywood Reporter, Insider Monkey, Business Spectator, TheAustralian, HeraldSun, Wall Street Journal and Guardian

Guardian:
Rupert Murdoch donates $50,000 in memory of late correspondent

Discussion: Guardian

Annie Machon / Using Our Intelligence:

Edward Snowden — the Globalisation of Whistleblowing — I have held back from writing about the Edward Snowden NSA whistleblowing case for the last week — partly because I was immersed in the resulting media interviews and talks, and partly because I wanted to watch how the story developed, both politically and in the old media.

Discussion: Washington Times, BetaNews, Jack Shafer and The Maddow Blog

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

Dan Abrams To Become ABC Nightline Anchor And Expands Role At Good Morning America — We've just learned that “The Bossman,” a.k.a., Mediaite's founder and publisher Dan Abrams is expanding his role with ABC News, becoming an anchor of Nightline and gaining the title of Chief Legal Affairs Anchor for ABC News.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, TVWeek.com, TVNewser, Deadline.com, Broadcasting & Cable, Hollywood Reporter, FishbowlNY, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times and The New York Observer

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Apple TV Finally Gets HBO GO And WatchESPN, iTunes Shoppers Now Buying 800K TV Shows Per Day — Apple has added two major new content sources to Apple TV today, via HBO GO and WatchESPN integration. The new streaming services adds a considerable selection of content to the company's streaming …

Discussion: Apple, AdAge, Variety, Bloomberg, The Next Web, GigaOM, AllThingsD, The Verge, CNET, Home Media Magazine, Newsy and Broadcasting & Cable

Dominic Ponsford / pressgazette.co.uk:

Guardian G8 spying revelations were in breach of DA-Notice guidance, but this doesn't explain lack of follow-up by other media — Detailed revelations about how British security services spied on foreign powers when the UK hosted the last G8 summit in 2009 were splashed across the first five pages of The Guardian on Monday.

Discussion: Guardian

Ben Woods / The Next Web:

BT chief steps down to take UK government role as Sky Sports battle intensifies — Ian Livingstone, the chief executive of BT is stepping down from his role at the head of the company to take up the position of Minister of State for Trade and Investment in the UK.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
U.K. Regulator Launches Review of BT Competition Complaint Against BSkyB

Discussion: Guardian and Reuters

Kevin Roderick / LA Observed:

Ex-LAT editor Sallie Hofmeister signs on with Sitrick — Sallie Hofmeister is the latest former entertainment editor and reporter at the Los Angeles Times to try her hand at crisis PR with Sitrick And Company. She was at the LAT for 17 years, first as a business reporter covering media and Hollywood.

Discussion: Deadline.com and The Wrap

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

Older TV viewers driving audience growth, but it's a mixed blessing — Call it the “Matlock” effect: TV viewing among older Americans is on the rise. (Los Angeles Times) — By 2015, almost half of all television viewing will be done by folks over the age of 50, says media analyst Todd Juenger …

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

How PBS Won at Digital — Millions of Americans can point to PBS as a third parent, as the network that helped raise them with programs like “Sesame Street” and “Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.” — But PBS is not immune to the transition from analog to digital and needs to continually reinvent itself.