Mediagazer: 21st Century Fox takes stake in ‘gonzo’ Vice (Matthew Garrahan/Financial Times)

6:30 AM ET, August 17, 2013

Top News:

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

AOL Starts Patch Cuts, and Up to 500 People May Lose Their Jobs — AOL has begun making mass layoffs at its Patch unit. — By the time the cuts are over, AOL could end up reducing the local news network's 1,000-worker labor force by half, according to people familiar with the plans.

Tom Gara / Corporate Intelligence:

Anyone Want a Patch? Going Once, Going Twice... Hundreds will be laid off and many sites are set to be closed down, but AOL still seems to believe in the potential of Patch, its network of local news sites. Alongside its announcement of the job cuts today, it sent out figures saying …

Discussion: @tomgara and Xark!

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
New Media Pink Slips Cost Less Than Old Media Pink Slips

Discussion: @edmundlee

Steve Kovach / Business Insider:
Here's The Story Of How AOL Fired 350 Patch Employees Today

Discussion: @stevekovach

Matthew Garrahan / Financial Times:

21st Century Fox takes stake in ‘gonzo’ Vice — Twenty-First Century Fox has taken a 5 per cent stake in Vice Media, the digital media and publishing group that brought basketball player Dennis Rodman to North Korea, in a deal that values the company at $1.4bn.

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Al Jazeera America HQ Flooded Shortly After Studio Tour — Al Jazeera America's New York City headquarters was temporarily evacuated and staffers were blocked from entering this afternoon due to flooding in the building. The incident comes just four days before AJAM is scheduled to launch across the country.

Discussion: TVNewser, Politico, FishbowlNY, AdAge and UnBeige

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

Ahead of cable channel launch, Al Jazeera starts blocking videos on YouTube — When violence erupted in Cairo this week, Al Jazeera once again became the go-to source for on-the-ground news coverage. The network streamed live from Egypt's capital, and uploaded dozens of videos to its YouTube channel.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Tom Harper / The Independent:

Exclusive: Met investigating Rupert Murdoch firm News International as ‘corporate suspect’ over hacking and bribing offences — New twist in hacking scandal threatens global media empire as senior figures were questioned by officers at Scotland Yard — Scotland Yard is investigating News International …

Discussion: Guardian, @peterjukes, @thomyorke, @therealpbarry and The Huffington Post

Katherine Rushton / Telegraph:

News UK could face corporate charges in Britain — Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper business is being investigated over complicity with alleged phone-hacking and bribery of police and public officials by its journalists, raising the likelihood that it will face corporate charges in Britain.

Discussion: @davidfolkenflik and @davidfolkenflik

Richard Sandomir / New York Times:

ESPN Challenger Will Try to Punch Above Its Weight — On Saturday at 6 a.m. Eastern, Fox Sports 1 will spring into existence, propelled by a portfolio of major events purchased over the past few years, a gaggle of studio shows and plenty of hype about being the “fun” alternative to ESPN.

Discussion: New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Engadget

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

The Global Dominance of ESPN — Why hasn't anybody figured out how to beat “The Worldwide Leader in Sports”? — “This is the chart I was talking about. This is powerful.” — Artie Bulgrin, ESPN's director of research, is hunched over an iPad in a wood-paneled conference room …

Discussion: Fast Company and The Verge

Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:

Fox TV Studios Won't Produce NBC Hillary Clinton Miniseries (Exclusive) — The project has prompted the Republican National Committee to ban the network from hosting 2016 presidential debates. — The tantalizing spectacle of Fox Television Studios producing a Hillary Clinton miniseries …

Discussion: Deadline.com, @jbflint, New York Times, National Enquirer, Inside TV, Politico, @seanspicer, @hellion1111, @logandobson and The Huffington Post

Dylan Byers / Politico:

RNC's NBC, CNN boycott win for Univision — In a highly anticipated move, the Republican National Committee voted unanimously on Friday to deny NBC and CNN the rights to host or sponsor a Republican primary debate unless they cancel their respective Hillary Clinton film projects.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Week, The Huffington Post, @theplumlinegs and @thisisjorge

Zeke J Miller / TIME:
GOP Votes To Punish Networks Over Clinton Projects

Discussion: Mediaite, Reuters, The Huffington Post, Variety, TheBlaze.com, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine and @poniewozik

Caleb Garling / The Technology Chronicles:

Peter Shih storm puts Medium back on tightrope between publisher and platform — Medium, a new media start-up that publishes commissioned and volunteer stories and editorials, was thrust back in the spotlight this week on the wings of an offensive post. Peter Shih, a former Y Combinator participant …

Discussion: Guardian, Gawker, @calebgarling, New York Magazine, Valleywag and Business Insider

Kelly McBride / Poynter:

NPR ombud's latest report raises important questions, but it's not without flaws — The modern ombudsman has been a prominent fixture in a few of the largest American newsrooms since The New York Times instituted its public editor in the wake of the Jayson Blair debacle a decade ago.

Discussion: @poynter

Reuters:

Former Sun-Times owner ordered to pay $4.1 million — The Securities and Exchange Commission has banned former Sun-Times owner Conrad Black from acting as a director of a U.S. company and said he must pay $4.1 million in restitution in a settlement that ends a long-standing lawsuit …

Discussion: Guardian, GlobalPost and @kevglobal