Mediagazer: The TV Recappers: From ‘Breaking Bad’ to Honey Boo Boo (John Jurgensen/Wall Street Journal)

11:00 AM ET, August 18, 2013

Top News:

Expecting the Unexpected From Jeff Bezos — EARLY employees of Amazon still remember the day the company took away their aspirin. — It was late 1999. After years of heady excess, the Internet boom was beginning to falter. Amazon, among the most celebrated of the dot-coms, was burdened with debt and spiraling losses.

Discussion: @jfdulac, @mathewi, @jayrosen_nyu and @postbaron

Arianna Huffington / LinkedIn:

Bezos, Heraclitus and the Hybrid Future of Journalism — One of the first people who came to mind when I heard the news last week that Jeff Bezos was buying the Washington Post was a fellow countryman, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who around 2,500 years ago said, “No man ever steps in the same river twice.”

Discussion: GigaOM, @jason_kint and @ashrafengineer

Lucy A. Dalglish / City Desk:
The Transparent Trap: Will Jeff Bezos Continue the Graham Family's Fights for Open Government?

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, Gawker, @wcp and @mchertock

Steve Henn / NPR:

Switching To Gmail May Leave Reporters' Sources At Risk — In the digital world, almost everything you do to communicate leaves a trace. Often, emails are stored on servers even after they're deleted. Phone calls create logs detailing which numbers connected, when and for how long.

Discussion: @bradagreenberg, @dangillmor and @antderosa

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, Mediaite, Deadline.com, @peterjukes, @thomyorke, @therealpbarry, Reuters and The Huffington Post

Katherine Rushton / Telegraph:
News UK could face corporate charges in Britain

Discussion: @davidfolkenflik and @davidfolkenflik

John Jurgensen / Wall Street Journal:

The TV Recappers: From ‘Breaking Bad’ to Honey Boo Boo — The rise of a cottage industry, episode by episode — The biggest challenges facing most “Breaking Bad” fans during the crime drama's final weeks are coping with cliffhangers and nervously speculating about the show's conclusion.

Discussion: @sepinwall and @saramorrison

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 Verge and The Raw Story

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: NPR, Mediaite, TVNewser, FishbowlNY and Politico

Voice of OC:

OC Register Set to be Anaheim's Corporate Sponsorship Broker — Freedom Communications, owner of The Orange County Register, is poised to strike a highly unusual partnership with the city of Anaheim whereby the media company would be the city's broker as it pursues corporate sponsorships …

Discussion: @markjurkowitz

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.

Katherine Rosman / Wall Street Journal:

Weather Channel Now Also Forecasts What You'll Buy — Company's Data Helps Fine-Tune When and Where Advertisers Should Place Spots — The Weather Channel knows the chance for rain in St. Louis on Friday, what the heat index could reach in Santa Fe on Saturday and how humid Baltimore may get on Sunday.

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, @calebgarling, Gawker, New York Magazine and Business Insider

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: @brianstelter and Los Angeles Times