Mediagazer: New Revelations Detail How The NSA Scans 75% Of The Internet Through Telco Partnerships (Alex Wilhelm/TechCrunch)

11:00 PM ET, August 20, 2013

Top News:

Steven Erlanger / New York Times:

British Newspaper Has Advantages in Battle With Government Over Secrets — LONDON — Alan Rusbridger, the mop-haired, soft-spoken editor of The Guardian newspaper, finds himself in a shadowy battle with the British government over purloined secrets that the government will have a hard time winning in the Internet age.

Discussion: @buzzfeedandrew, @stefanjbecket, @dangillmor and @ewenmacaskill

Julian Borger / Guardian:

NSA files: why the Guardian in London destroyed hard drives of leaked files — A threat of legal action by the government that could have stopped reporting on the files leaked by Edward Snowden led to a symbolic act at the Guardian's offices in London — Guardian editors on Tuesday revealed …

Jay Rosen / Pressthink:

Conspiracy to commit journalism — “If sunlight coalitions are to succeed, they won't succeed by outwitting surveillance. Not better technology, but greater legitimacy is their edge.” — The mood toughened just over a month ago, when I received a phone call from the centre of government telling me: “You've had your fun.

Discussion: msnbc.com, @evgenymorozov, Charlie Beckett, The Huffington Post, Guardian, @gsmaverick, Committee to Protect …, @dangillmor, @jeffjarvis, @jjn1, @jeremyduns, WebProNews, TIME and VentureBeat

Tim Ross / Telegraph:
David Cameron accused of sanctioning detention of Glenn Greenwald's partner David Miranda

Discussion: The Huffington Post, @willblackwriter and @davecameroon

Sarah Young / Reuters: British authorities say detention of reporter's partner ‘legally sound’

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
David Miranda's lawyers threaten legal action over ‘unlawful’ detention

Discussion: NBCNews, Guardian, @fleetstreetfox, @jlllow, BBC and @tomporteous

Joe Mullin / Ars Technica:
UK agents, seeking to stop leaks, destroyed The Guardian's hard drives

Discussion: BuzzMachine, The New Yorker Blog, Reuters, @dansabbagh, Guardian, @stevestreeting, TechCrunch, @chanders and @0xabad1dea

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Al Jazeera Makes Limited American Debut — There was ample attention in journalistic circles as Al Jazeera America had its premiere on Tuesday — particularly among those who could not watch. — The news channel — which replaced Current TV at 3 p.m. Eastern time — was expected to be carried …

Discussion: Politico, Reuters, Hollywood Reporter, @rafat, @brianstelter and Bloomberg

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:
Al Jazeera hints at new online programming for cord cutters and cable hold-outs

Discussion: The Wrap, USA Today, @riy, Deadline.com and Inside TV

Justin D. Martin / Quartz:
One thing Al Jazeera could do to gain credibility: hire an ombudsman

Discussion: @qz, PolicyMic and @digiphile

Jef Feeley / Bloomberg:
AT&T Sued Over Refusal to Carry Al Jazeera Cable Network

Discussion: @adamgellings, @rolandsmartin and @sherman4949

Alex / digiphile:
Al Jazeera America bets on an American audience for serious journalism

Discussion: Poynter and Al Jazeera English, Thanks:@digiphile

Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:

Top Roger Ailes Adviser Fired and Escorted From Fox News Building (Exclusive) — UPDATED: Brian Lewis, executive vp corporate communications, was ousted after an investigation found breach of contract and “issues relating to financial irregularities,” the network says in a statement.

Discussion: New York Magazine, New York Times, Politico, The Huffington Post, TVNewser, @mlcalderone, @thrmattbelloni, @romenesko and @buzzfeedben

Sara Morrison / The Wrap:

Fox Confirms Brian Lewis Fired for ‘Financial Irregularities’ (Updated) — Executive vice president of corporate communications and longtime employee suddenly leaves the company — Brian Lewis, senior advisor to Roger Ailes and Fox's executive vice president of corporate communications …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Broadcasting & Cable and Variety

Michael Kinsley / The New Republic:

A Q&A With Jill Abramson The Times' top editor on mean bosses, liberal biases, and the demise of the Washington Post — For generations, the publishers of the great American newspapers were accidents of birth—sons and daughters (and assorted other relatives) who inherited their positions atop the masthead.

Discussion: Poynter, JIMROMENESKO.COM, FishbowlDC, FishbowlNY, Mediaite, TheBlaze.com, NetNewsCheck Latest, @niemanlab, @noamscheiber, @charlie_savage and @rajunarisetti

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:
Who Gets to ‘Snow-Fall’ or ‘Jockey’ at The Times, and Why?

Discussion: @moorehn, @mcely, @jsablichnyt, @rubinafillion and @kimjnews

Marc Tracy / The New Republic:
How to Build a Smarter Times, According to the Times' Own Journalists

Discussion: Gawker, @jessicalessin, GigaOM and The New Republic

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:

New Revelations Detail How The NSA Scans 75% Of The Internet Through Telco Partnerships — Today the Wall Street Journal reported the existence of several NSA programs that were either previously unknown, or little was known about. Meet Blarney, Fairview, Oakstar, Lithium and Stormbrew.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, RT, @astepanovich, @er0tikka, Wall Street Journal, @emptywheel, @rt_america, Techdirt, @ninatypewriter, @emptywheel, @blakehounshell, @janehamsher, @jeepersmedia, Engadget, @buzzfeedandrew, Hillicon Valley and Hit & Run

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Washington Post considered using robot sportswriters — Last year, The Washington Post considered using automated writing to cover the region's many high-school sports, Brook Silva-Braga reports. Currently, the paper has four reporters on that beat, and deputy high school sports editor …

Discussion: @howardkurtz, @nprrussell, @leongettler and @niemanlab

Andrew Blankstein / Los Angeles Times:

Coroner, family link Michael Hastings to drug use at time of death — An LAPD officer investigates the scene of a firey crash that killed journalist Michael Hastings. Hastings died when his vehicle crashed into a tree and caught fire in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles in June.

Discussion: All documents, Speakeasy, Hollywood Reporter, @kimzetter, @anblanx, @lauraelizdavis, Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story, LA Observed, The Informer, Gawker and @jameshohmann

Jennifer Saba / Reuters:

Exclusive : Conde Nast launches new subscriber service with Amazon — (Reuters) - Magazine publisher Conde Nast announced a major partnership with Amazon on Tuesday in which the Internet retailer will handle print and digital subscriptions for its stable of glossy publications like Vogue, Wired and Vanity Fair.

Discussion: The New Yorker Blog, Condé Nast, CNET, FishbowlNY, Guardian, AdAge, @tcarmody, Mashable, @sdkstl, Fast Company, Reuters, eMedia Vitals, Canadian Magazines and @rajunarisetti

Kevin Roderick / LA Observed:

LA Times to hire bloggers, names Seattle bureau chief — The Los Angeles Times has zigged and zagged with blogs in the past — at one time I think there were more than 40, then most were killed or consolidated. Now it sounds like the plan is to go big into staffing up “exciting new blogs” …

Erik Maza / WWD:

Hearst Hires Buzzfeed, Fashionista Editors — HEARST HIRES BUZZFEED, FASHIONISTA EDITORS: Early on Tuesday, it seemed as though a housecleaning was underway at Hearst Magazines. — Amina Akhtar, the executive editor of Elle.com, tweeted she'd been laid off, and it was later confirmed Abby Gardner …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, @tedr, @amyodell, @erik_maza, Hearst Corporation, @hearstcorp, @mcbride_caitlin and @womensweardaily

Lauren Indvik / Mashable:
Hearst Replaces Top Digital Editors

Discussion: Folio, Adweek, FishbowlNY, The Inquisitr, @laureni and @nbj914

John McDermott / AdAge:

iTunes Radio to Debut in September With McDonald's, Nissan, P&G, Pepsi — Launch Partners Sign 12-Month Deals Worth Tens of Millions of Dollars — iTunes Radio, Apple's answer to Pandora, is set to debut next month with a handful of high-profile brand partners including McDonald's, Nissan …

Discussion: GigaOM, @davidfieldetm, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, The Next Web, @jherskowitz, The Inquisitr, VentureBeat, @pkafka, Pocket-lint, AppleInsider, @learmonth, App Advice, Engadget and ParisLemon

Groklaw:

Forced Exposure — The owner of Lavabit tells us that he's stopped using email and if we knew what he knew, we'd stop too. — There is no way to do Groklaw without email. Therein lies the conundrum. — What to do? — What to do? I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to figure it out.

Discussion: TechCrunch, GigaOM, RT, Gizmodo, ZDNet, PandoDaily, Daily Dot, @jayrosen_nyu, BBC, VentureBeat, Electronista, Fast Company, @rsingel, @cykod, The Verge, Memex 1.1, @thomas_drake1, @calebgarling, @evacide, Slashdot, WebProNews, ReadWrite and @textfiles

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
More NSA Spying Fallout: Groklaw Shutting Down

Discussion: TechCrunch, Engadget and TechCrunch

Laura Hazard Owen / GigaOM:

Bad earnings for Barnes & Noble: Nook revenues plunge 20%; Riggio won't take stores private — In the past quarter, Barnes & Noble's CEO resigned, and the company announced it would stop manufacturing tablets in-house as a way to cut heavy losses in the Nook division.