Mediagazer: Journalists jailed, fined for critical reporting in Somaliland (IFEX)

BBC:

BBC 3D programming ‘on hold’ indefinitely — The BBC is to suspend 3D programming for an indefinite period due to a “lack of public appetite” for the technology. — Kim Shillinglaw, the BBC's head of 3D, said it has “not taken off” with audiences who find it “quite hassly”.

Discussion: Radio Times, paidContent, Guardian, The Wrap, CNET, Guardian, Broadband TV News, The Next Web and Den of Geek

Eleanor Beardsley / Europe:

An Online Upstart Roils French Media, Politics … Every week, it seems, a new scandal is unearthed by the upstart, online newspaper Mediapart. The most recent bomb was that President Francois Hollande's budget minister was evading taxes when he was supposed to be cracking down on tax cheats.

Discussion: The Dish

Sara Morrison / The Wrap:

Al Jareeza America Still Has No Official Launch Date — News channel spokesperson says “the week of August 24,” but no set date yet — Despite media reports and employee tweets to the contrary, Al Jazeera America will not launch on Aug 20. An Al Jazeera spokesperson told TheWrap …

Discussion: TVNewser and The Huffington Post

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

As Competition Wanes, Amazon Cuts Back Discounts — Jim Hollock's first book, a true-crime tale set in Pennsylvania, got strong reviews and decent sales when it appeared in 2011. Now “Born to Lose” is losing momentum — yet Amazon, to the writer's intense frustration, has increased the price by nearly a third.

Discussion: Business Insider and GeekWire

IFEX:

Journalists jailed, fined for critical reporting in Somaliland — The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns the draconian sentences handed to two journalists by the Somaliland Court in Hargeisa. — Hassan Hussein Abdullahi, also known as Keefkeef, received a two-year jail term …

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, Kirk LaPointe's …, Newstime Africa, Guardian, Big News Network.com and Committee to Protect …

Josh Stearns / Mediashift:

3 Ways to Strengthen Press Freedom at the U.S. Justice Department — Want to stay current on media and technology from around the web? Get MediaShift's Daily Must Reads in your in-box! — One of the most troubling things about the politicians and pundits who are calling …

Discussion: Erik Wemple

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Silver Lake Abandons Hulu Purchase Effort, as Final Bidding Deadline Arrives Today — According to sources close to the situation, Silver Lake will not make a follow-on bid to buy the Hulu premium video service. The giant private equity firm had been allied in the effort …

Discussion: VentureBeat and Variety

William Turvill / Press Gazette:

Private Eye broke Murdoch recording three weeks ago, so why is it only hitting the headlines now? — Investigative journalism website Exaro and Channel 4 News claimed an impressive “exclusive” this week by releasing the tape recording of Rurpert Murdoch speaking to arrested Sun staff.

Discussion: Guardian, ExaroNews and Gawker

Discussion: Telegraph and Daily Mail

Wall Street Journal:

SoftBank Gets Green Light for Merger With Sprint, Clearwire — By - DANNY YADRON and - THOMAS GRYTA - — SoftBank Corp.'s three-way merger with Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. won final approval from U.S. regulators with the unanimous backing of the Federal Communications Commission, people familiar with the matter said.

Discussion: Reuters and AllThingsD

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Alexander Lebedev sentence is just - and a great relief for his journalists — So it is possible to get justice in modern Russia. Alexander Lebedev's sentence to 150 hours of community service for punching - or appearing to punch - a man during a television talkshow seems about right in the circumstances.

Stock Market Wire:

OFT clears British Telecom-ESPN Global deal — StockMarketWire.com - The Office of Fair Trading has cleared the anticipated acquisition by British Telecommunications of ESPN Global. — The OFT said it decided, on the information currently available, not to refer the merger …

Andy / TorrentFreak:

RIAA Hits 25 Million Google Takedowns, Web Blocking Making Things Worse — Back in May the RIAA reached a historic milestone in its quest to remove copyright-infringing links from the Internet. — The music industry group asked Google to remove the 20 millionth URL from its indexes …

Discussion: Softpedia News