Mediagazer: Is WikiLeaks Now An International Political Party? (Tom Watson/Forbes)

3:25 AM ET, July 2, 2013

Top News:

Edward Joseph Snowden / WikiLeaks:

Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow — One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will.

Discussion: WikiLeaks, @fmanjoo, Gawker, RT, Guardian, Softpedia News, Business Insider, Digital Spy, @megan, BBC, AMERICAblog, @jeffjarvis, The Next Web, @lrozen, WorldViews, @fmanjoo, Firedoglake, Techdirt, @chrislhayes, CNET, The Verge, Boing Boing, The Huffington Post, Mashable, New York Magazine, New York Times and Associated Press

Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times:
Edward Snowden asking 15 countries for asylum, Russian official says

Discussion: Mediaite, The Next Web, Wall Street Journal, @ggreenwald, Gawker, Guardian, @reuters, The Verge, Mashable, BBC, Softpedia News, Pressing Issues, New York Times, New York Magazine and Capital New York

Nitasha Tiku / Gawker:

New York Times Blogger Demanded Travel and Expenses from Companies — A blogger for The New York Times has been requesting thousands of dollars in “expenses” and travel airfare from a public relations firm trying to get its clients covered in the Times, according to emails obtained by Gawker.

Discussion: @lindsaygoldwert and @timamolloy

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

Tribune CEO says TV deal won't factor into decision on newspapers — Tribune CEO Peter Liguori (Fox Broadcasting) — Tribune Co.'s $2.73-billion purchase of 19 television stations Monday will have no impact on whether the company sells its newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Chief Executive Peter Liguori said.

Peter Lauria / BuzzFeed:
Why Every Company In TV Is Trying To Merge

Discussion: GigaOM, DealBook, @jbflint, multichannel.com/rss, @pkedrosky, 24/7 Wall St. and Businessweek

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
Tribune Co. buys 19 television stations in $2.7-billion deal

Discussion: DealBook, Poynter, Chicago Tribune, Variety, The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Bloomberg, Politico and StreetInsider.com

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

News Corp. Down, 21st Century Fox Up In First Day Of Trading After Split — Shareholders in the media conglomerate formerly known as News Corporation breathed an all but audible sigh of relief Monday as a split-up plan announced a year ago culminated in the first full day of trading for the stocks of the two offspring companies.

Discussion: Variety, Reuters and Los Angeles Times

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp reborn as publishing arm targets smartphones

Discussion: The Wrap, B&C, FishbowlNY, TVNewser, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Yahoo! News, Digital TV Europe, Hollywood Reporter, The Raw Story, CNET and The Huffington Post

Matt Brian / The Verge:

Twitter's new ‘embedded on these websites’ feature helps users discover the story behind a tweet — Twitter has begun trialling new features that give users a way to learn more about the tweets that they read. As noted by security expert Mikko Hypponen, Twitter has enabled a new …

Discussion: TechCrunch, CNET, @cschweitz, Engadget, Marketing Land and WebProNews

Richard Horgan / FishbowlNY:

Former Newsweek Editor: There Never Was a ‘Golden Age’ of Journalism — As we get ready to celebrate that rarest of American work week wrinkles (an officially sanctioned four-day weekend), FishbowlNY would like to do its civic holiday duty by passing on some feel-good news about journalism.

Discussion: PenBay Pilot

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

Data Journalism is improving — fast — The last Data Journalism Awards announced last week at the Global Editors Network News Summit in Paris established one important fact: The genre is getting better, wider in scope and gaining many creative players. — Data Journalism is thriving.

Andrew Sullivan / The Dish:

The Independent Dish: Six Months In — We promised to keep you up to date with the new independent Dish's progress - and six months seems like a good time to summarize. The current number of subscribers to the Dish now stands at 27,349. I don't think there's a purely online site …

Discussion: paidContent

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Why Associated Press is focusing on UGC standards and safety — Social media and UGC editor for international at AP Fergus Bell explains how the news agency is working to focus attention on the ‘standards with which we treat user-generated content’ — Copyright: By Das Fotoimaginarium on Flickr.

Bill Mickey / Folio:

TechMedia Network Buys Bestofmedia Group — Deal includes Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide and Tom's IT Pro. — TechMedia Network, a group of digital properties for technology and science enthusiasts and professionals, has acquired Bestofmedia Group, publisher of tech and gadget review sites Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide and Tom's IT Pro.

Discussion: Tech Media Network and VentureBeat

Tom Watson / Forbes:

Is WikiLeaks Now An International Political Party? — Earlier this month, Julian Assange marked a full year of living in political asylum within the compact confines of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. The flight from U.S. charges of of NSA leaker Edward Snowden, the Booz Allen contractor assisted …

Discussion: ZDNet, Firedoglake, Gawker and New York Times

Raphael Minder / New York Times:

Crusading Spanish Broadcaster Gives Voice to Ordinary Citizens — In early May, thousands of protesters gathered in Valencia, Spain's third-largest city, to demand a new investigation into a subway crash that killed 43 people in 2006. — The demonstration was inspired by an episode …

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:

Leela de Krester Is Leaving DNAinfo — Editorial director and publisher Leela de Krester is leaving DNAinfo.com, founder Joe Ricketts announced today in an email to staff. — “I wanted to let you know about a change at DNAinfo.com. After 4 years of dedicated work helping to establish the company …

Discussion: Capital New York

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

With 30M Uniques Under Its Belt, Upworthy Is Ready To Monetize — The fastest growing news site ever is ready to start making money. — Coming off its biggest month of traffic yet, Upworthy, the social news aggregator that pairs progressive politics with viral marketing savvy …

Discussion: PandoDaily, VentureBeat and TechCrunch

Rebecca Grant / VentureBeat:

Yahoo bets big on fantasy sports, acquires one-man startup Bignoggins — Yahoo has acquired mobile fantasy sports startup Bignoggins. — Bignoggins is the production company behind Fantasy Monster and Draft Monster. Fantasy Monster manages multiple fantasy sports teams from one app.

Discussion: Bignoggins, TechCrunch, AllThingsD, The Verge and The Next Web

Dylan Byers / Politico:

CNN airs Zimmerman's SSN, phone number — CNN appears to have broadcast the social security number and telephone number for George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who is suspected of having killed Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., last February. — On Monday at 12:16 p.m. ET …

Discussion: Mediaite

Associated Press:

Prosecution wrapping up its case against Army private who gave classified info to WikiLeaks — Associated Press - FILE - In this Friday, June 28, 2013 file photo, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is escorted out of a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., after another day of his court-martial …

Discussion: The Huffington Post