Mediagazer: In Bid to Placate Legacy Media, DOJ Moves Closer to Instituting Official Press (emptywheel)

4:45 PM ET, July 13, 2013

Top News:

In Bid to Placate Legacy Media, DOJ Moves Closer to Instituting Official Press — The First Amendment was written, in part, to eliminate the kind of official press that parrots only the King's sanctioned views. But with its revised “News Media Policies,” DOJ gets us closer to having just that, an official press.

Discussion: @jeffjarvis, Boing Boing and @dangillmor

Evan Perez / Wall Street Journal:

Justice Department Tightens Rules on Media-Leak Probes — New Guidelines Follow Controversy Raised by Investigation of Journalists' Records — WASHINGTON—The Justice Department issued new guidelines for prosecutors conducting leak investigations involving journalists …

Discussion: New York Times, rcfp.org, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Politico, @dylanbyers, @digiphile, RT, Los Angeles Times and USA Today

Nathan Olivarez-Giles / The Verge:

Hulu isn't being sold, but Time Warner Cable might still nab a stake — While Hulu's owners — 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal, and The Walt Disney Company — said Friday that they won't be selling the streaming video service after months of talks with suitors, they're reportedly …

Discussion: Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Bloomberg

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Hulu's New Plan: Compete With Netflix and Amazon. How Is Hulu Going to Pay for That? — So they're not selling. But what are Hulu's owners going to do with the video service now? — The immediate response to that question, via people who provide answers on behalf of Hulu's owners …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, PandoDaily, jessica lessin, Softpedia News, BuzzFeed, @jessicalessin and @seidman

Business Wire:
21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal and The Walt Disney Company to Maintain Ownership Positions in Hulu

Dean Starkman / Columbia Journalism Review:

A chat with Lionel Barber — The editor of the Financial Times on what it means to be “digital first” and other topics … Dean Starkman: The FT came up with a strategy called “digital first,” which in the U.S. actually has more than one meaning. In some circles, it's associated with free content …

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

KTVU-TV apologizes after incorrectly naming Asiana pilots, NTSB admits to wrongdoing — KTVU-TV in San Francisco issued an apology after incorrectly naming the pilots of Asiana Flight 214. Anchor Tori Campbell listed the offensive names, which you can see listed in this video:

Discussion: NTSB, KTVU-TV, New York Magazine, Gawker, CNN, The Desk, TVSpy, USA Today, Politico, Los Angeles Times and Deadline.com

Abraham Moussako / Columbia Journalism Review:

Who will bear witness? — Photojournalists share their experiences of covering the Iraq War — Wednesday night at the Brooklyn Brewery, Steve Hindy, former war correspondent for the Associated Press and founder of the microbrewery, looked back at the Iraq War and discussed the state …

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

Archie Comics makes digital comics available for free through new ad model — Archie Comics is becoming the first comic book publisher to make digital versions of its comics available for free through a new monetization model. The deal with mobile ad firm Tapjoy will allow comic book makers …

Robert Mackey / The Lede:

Parents Mourn Photographer Killed in Cairo — The parents of Ahmed Assem, a 26-year-old photographer for a Muslim Brotherhood newspaper who was killed on Monday in Cairo shortly after recording video of an army sniper, described their grief in an emotional interview broadcast by CNN on Friday.

Jim Romenesko:

Barry ('King of the A-heds') Newman retires from Wall Street Journal — Newman has written over 500 A-heds in his 43 years at the paper. (The page one Journal feature is called an A-hed.) His first ran on Dec. 3, 1970, and his most recent — a piece on apostrophes — was published in the print edition on May 16.

Discussion: @davidfolkenflik

David Bauder / Associated Press:

Jeff Zucker Defends CNN Coverage Of George Zimmerman Trial, Egyptian Coup — NEW YORK (AP) — CNN boss Jeff Zucker said Friday that criticism that his network underplayed the Egyptian coup in favor of the George Zimmerman murder trial is “a bunch of bunk.” — “I feel increasingly comfortable …

Discussion: Deadline.com and Politico

Sara Morrison / The Wrap:

OC Register Publisher Aaron Kushner: 'We're Still Actively Interested in Tribune' (Exclusive) — Though he suggested the company might not be worth as much after layoffs at the L.A. Times — Orange County Register publisher and greeting card tycoon Aaron Kushner is still interested …

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

NYT to launch “immersive digital magazine” and new food news product, led by Sam Sifton — The New York Times is rolling out a number of new digital initiatives, including a tablet magazine and a new dining news product. — In a letter to the newsroom Friday, New York Times executive …