Mediagazer: Obama's NSA Conference Could Be Subtitled ‘The Guardian Gets Results’ (Jack Mirkinson/The Huffington Post)

11:40 PM ET, August 9, 2013

Top News:

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Armstrong Confirms “Hundreds” Of Layoffs At Patch, 400 Sites Shuttered Or Partnered Off, And A New CEO — We reported yesterday that AOL's hyper-local news service would lose hundreds of employees today, and now we have confirmation from a well-placed Patcher privy to the call …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Forbes, The Epoch Times, AllThingsD, FishbowlNY, @talkingnewmedia, CNNMoney.com, TechCrunch, LA Observed, ZDNet, streetfightmag.com, Fast Company, @passantino, WebProNews, Adweek, Kirk LaPointe's … and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

No layoffs at Patch today — AOL CEO Tim Armstrong told Patch editors Friday there would be no “impacts,” or layoffs announced today. The “impacts” will arrive on a rolling basis over the next week, he said. — Armstrong said in an earnings call earlier this week that AOL would sell …

Discussion: Pressfolios Blog and @loislane79

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:

AOL CEO Reportedly Fired Someone for Taking His Picture During a Meeting About Layoffs — AOL's plan to close or outsource half of its 1,000 hyperlocal Patch sites will come with what CEO Tim Armstrong calls “impacts” — he means layoffs — but the ax will fall slowly over the next week or so.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Business Insider, VentureBeat, Businessweek, @lenzabel, Boing Boing, Valleywag, Betabeat, The Atlantic Online, Boing Boing, Mashable and The Wrap

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider: AOL Won't Deny The Rumor That Patch's CEO Is Out After Just Two Months On The Job

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

Obama's NSA Conference Could Be Subtitled ‘The Guardian Gets Results’ — President Obama's press conference on Friday was full of headline-making news about new proposals to reform the American surveillance system. But another headline could also be appropriate: “Journalism gets results.”

Brian Beutler / Salon:
Glenn Greenwald offered Brazilian protection from U.S.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Alex Ben Block / Hollywood Reporter:

CBS and Time Warner Cable Resume Negotiations — at a Distance — Meanwhile TWC subscribers in Wisconsin, where Journal Broadcasting stations are also blacked out, file a class action suit as the carriage dispute approaches its second week. — Even as the war of public war of words continues …

Discussion: AdAge, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, PC Advisor and Reuters

Mike Reynolds / Multichannel:

TWC Customers File Lawsuit over Retrans Disconnect with Milwaukee Station — Plaintiffs Seek Class-Action Status over Disconnect with Journal Broadcast's WTMJ — A trio of Time Warner Cable customers has filed a lawsuit against the cable operator over its retransmission-consent dispute with WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee.

Discussion: JSOnline, Inside TV, Radio & Television …, TMJ4 and FierceCable

Riva Gold / Digits:

Wikipedia Co-Founder Refuses to Comply With China's Censorship — Wikipedia Co-Founder Jimmy Wales said he would rather have no Wikipedia in China than comply with any form of censorship. — In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, Mr. Wales said the company will always refuse …

Discussion: Digits

Christy Choi / South China Morning Post:
Wikimedians should fix ‘broken journalism’, Jimmy Wales tells Hong Kong conference

Discussion: @kirstystyles1, @jchristychoi and @fabriceflorin

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

SpinMedia puts A.J. Daulerio in charge of its music and entertainment properties — A.J. Daulerio tells Jason Whitlock he will be an editorial director at SpinMedia. Among his charges, he says: Spin, Vibe, Celebuzz, The Frisky. — Daulerio tells Whitlock Spin and Vibe are …

Discussion: Fox Sports Radio

Sam Biddle / Valleywag:

Marc Andreessen (Probably) Blasts Don Graham as “Incompetent” — “I was minding my own business last night when I got the note below from a respected investor,” disgraced Wall Street analyst Henry Blodget recently wrote on his blog. That investor is almost certainly Silicon Valley titan Marc Andreessen …

Discussion: @pkafka and Business Insider

Greg Sandoval / The Verge:

Consumer watchdog says Apple did ‘considerable harm’ with ebook pricing, supports DOJ ruling — Eddy Cue, the Apple exec accused of orchestrating the price fixing (right), leaves court. — The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) said in papers filed in federal court that Apple caused considerable …

Laura Hazard Owen / GigaOM:
In ebook case, Apple wants a stay, and DOJ argues publishers are conspiring again

Discussion: AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, Electronista, MacRumors, Engadget, iClarified, Hillicon Valley and ZDNet

Reuters:

Murdoch Shakes Up News Corp.'s Australian Operation — CANBERRA — Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. appointed a new chief executive for its Australian operation Friday, a move that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd linked to mounting attacks on his government by Mr. Murdoch's local newspapers during a divisive election campaign.

Margaret Simons / Guardian:
Kim Williams departure a victory for Murdoch's Australian editors

Discussion: Guardian

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

BBC calls in auditors to widen search for improper executive payoffs — BBC director general Tony Hall appoints KPMG to investigate potentially improper payoffs to senior BBC executives — Tony Hall, the BBC director general, has called in external auditors KPMG to widen the search …

Discussion: Telegraph

Laura Hazard Owen / GigaOM:

Google rolls out digital textbooks, to buy and rent — but students should shop around — Google has launched a digital textbooks section of Books on Google Play in the U.S., as promised. The textbooks are available through the Play website, Android and iOS apps.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Softpedia News and Android Police

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Jack Dorsey on Twitter's turning point as a news entity: The day a plane landed in the Hudson — After seven years with Twitter as a part of the social-media ecosystem, we've become pretty accustomed by now to the idea that the service functions as a real-time news platform …

Discussion: @mathewi