Mediagazer: PR Giant Edelman Calls For Ethics In Sponsored Content (Jeff Bercovici/Forbes)

12:40 PM ET, July 16, 2013

Top News:

John Plunkett / Guardian:

BBC's Lord Patten plans to step down in 2015 — Former cabinet minister, who has been criticised over payoffs, confirms he expects to serve one four-year term as chairman — Lord Patten, the embattled chairman of the BBC Trust, has confirmed he plans to step down from the role in 2015 despite admitting the timing was “not ideal”.

Discussion: Variety and Hollywood Reporter

Guardian:

BBC payments to senior managers rise by more than 60% — Payoffs to departing executives nearly £1.5m, with total remuneration coming to £4.13m in year to end of March — The BBC's remuneration payments to top managers leapt by more than 60% to just over £4m in the year …

Discussion: Deadline.com, Telegraph and London Evening Standard

Press Gazette:

BBC spent £5m investigating Savile scandal - including £101k on Helen Boaden's legal costs — The BBC has spent around £5 million investigating the Jimmy Savile sex scandal and its aftermath. — Its annual report and accounts reveal the Pollard Review …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Sky News, Telegraph, broadcastnow.co.uk, London News, National Updates, The Drum, itn.co.uk, BBC and Guardian

Associated Press:

Snowden submits request for asylum in Russia — MOSCOW (AP) — National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden on Tuesday submitted a request for temporary asylum in Russia, his lawyer said. — Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer who is a member of the Public Chamber, a Kremlin advisory body …

Discussion: @skynewsbreak, New York Magazine, Kirk LaPointe's …, msnbc.com and Yahoo! News

Jillian C. York / Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Media Continues to Focus on Snowden Rather Than the Information He's Revealed

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Spiegel Online, @saletan, @jeffjarvis, @gcraig1, @themediaisdying, @sulliview and @jilliancyork

Al Tompkins / Poynter:

What KTVU-TV did right after its slip-up — It has been great sport all weekend for media critics to excoriate KTVU-TV in San Francisco. There's no denying that KTVU made a big mistake. But when it sorted the mistakes out, the station did a lot that journalists should replicate.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, TVSpy, Media Law Prof Blog, The Wrap, The Snitch, msnbc.com, Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, GigaOM, BuzzFeed and WWNO

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:

Newyorker.com Hires Business Editor — Newyorker.com hired Vauhini Vara to be the site's new business editor and expand the business coverage, editor Nicholas Thompson announced this morning. — “Vauhini is everything we want in a business reporter: she breaks news, files F.O.I.A. requests …

Discussion: FishbowlNY and Talking Biz News

Jessica Lessin:

Exclusive: Apple Pitches Ad-Skipping for New TV Service — Apple has a new trick up its sleeve as it tries to launch a long-awaited television service: technology that allows viewers to skip commercials and that pays media companies for the skipped views. — For more than a year …

Discussion: Fast Company, Los Angeles Times, CNET, UPROXX, VentureBeat, Softpedia News, SlashGear, Electronista, Variety, App Advice, Digital Spy, SiliconBeat, GigaOM, Pocket-lint, Engadget, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, The Verge, MacRumors, @brianstelter and Business Insider

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

PR Giant Edelman Calls For Ethics In Sponsored Content — The Atlantic's brief and ill-fated business relationship with the Church of Scientology awakened news publishers to the need for clear principles around the handling of paid for and produced by marketers.

Discussion: Edelman and PRWeek US

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

Exclusive: How Ukraine Wooed Conservative Websites — Passion or payola? A source describes being offered $500 for an article, and a consultant doesn't deny payments. — WASHINGTON — Several conservative bloggers repeated talking points given to them by a proxy group for the Ukrainian government …

Discussion: The Dish

Lauren Indvik / Mashable:

Atlantic Media Launches Digital Publication, ‘Defense One’ — The Atlantic Media Company unveiled the latest addition to its digital portfolio Tuesday morning with the launch of Defense One, a web publication dedicated to national security coverage. — Under the direction …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab and FishbowlNY

Don Jeffrey / Bloomberg:

Appeals Court Denies TV Network Bid to Re-Hear Aereo Case — The broadcast television networks, which failed to persuade a panel of federal appeals judges to shut down the Barry Diller-backed online TV service Aereo Inc., lost a bid to have the case reheard by the full appellate court.

Discussion: AllThingsD and GigaOM

Christopher Williams / Telegraph:

Guardian publisher loses £31m — Guardian News & Media, the publisher of The Guardian and the Observer, lost more than half a million pounds a week last year despite a round of redundancies in its newsroom. — The Guardian and The Observer are grappling with the shift to digital from print

Discussion: Guardian, Guardian Media Group, Media Week, pressgazette.co.uk, @charliebeckett, London News and The Drum

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

CNN, ABC Veteran David Doss in Talks with Al Jazeera America (EXCLUSIVE) — Producer negotiating a senior editorial role but not the top CEO post — Veteran news producer David Doss is in talks for a senior editorial position with Al Jazeera America. — Doss is not a contender for the cabler's top job of president-CEO.