Mediagazer: Why The Washington Post uses WordPress and empathetic design (Joshua Benton/Nieman Journalism Lab)

11:45 AM ET, August 21, 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: @leshinton, @arusbridger, @richards1052, @buzzfeedandrew, @stefanjbecket, @dangillmor and @ewenmacaskill

Nicholas Watt / Guardian:

Guardian told to destroy NSA files for national security, says Clegg — Clegg's spokesman confirms that Sir Jeremy Heywood made request on instructions of David Cameron — Nick Clegg has endorsed the government's decision to ask the Guardian to destroy leaked secret NSA documents …

Discussion: The Independent, Softpedia News, UK News and Opinion and @keepof4worlds

Christoph Scheuermann / Spiegel Online:
The Cozy Relationship between Britain and its Intelligence Apparatus

Discussion: BuzzMachine, @fatimamanji and @paulgrahamraven

Jay Rosen / Pressthink:
Conspiracy to commit journalism

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Guardian, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, @tom_watson, @franzkruger, Memex 1.1, Daily Mail, @evgenymorozov, The Technology Chronicles, msnbc.com, @gsmaverick and @jeremyduns

Gabriela Baczynska / Reuters: Russia criticizes Britain over pressure on Guardian

Nicholas Watt / Guardian:
David Cameron had advance warning of Miranda detention, No 10 confirms

Discussion: Reuters, Committee to Protect …, Telegraph, @telegraphworld, whistleblower.org, @telegraphnews, @steveplrose, Columbia Journalism Review and The Verge

Tom McCarthy / Guardian:

Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison - live updates — US soldier faces day of reckoning after more than three years of detention. Follow the latest from Fort Meade here — Sort by: — 9.20am ET — Not a huge show of support for Manning outside Fort Meade. Paul Lewis counted eight stalwarts:

Discussion: @guardianus, The Switch, GigaOM, ZDNet, USA Today, @martinmckee, @lailalalami, @labourchr, Techdirt, The Raw Story, Reuters, RT and BBC

Jesse Hicks / The Verge:

Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison for WikiLeaks disclosures — Bradley Manning's court-martial reached an end today, with Army Colonel Denise Lind sentencing him to 35 years in prison. She also ordered a reduction in rank to private, a forfeiture of all pay, and a dishonorable discharge.

ACLU:
ACLU Comment on Bradley Manning Sentence

Discussion: @trevortimm and @jaredbkeller

Bmaz / emptywheel: Bradley Manning's Sentence, Parole and Appeal Implications

Vindu Goel / New York Times:

Facebook Leads an Effort to Lower Barriers to Internet Access — MENLO PARK, Calif. — About one of every seven people in the world uses Facebook. Now, Mark Zuckerberg, its co-founder and chief executive, wants to make a play for the rest — including the four billion or so who lack Internet access.

Facebook Newsroom:
Mark Zuckerberg: Is Connectivity a Human Right?

Discussion: @margafret, @brandonbailey, Business Insider, @tcarmody, @evelynrusli and @thestalwart

William Launder / Wall Street Journal:

Review Chronicles Bloomberg Missteps on Data Use — An outside review of Bloomberg LP's data compliance and news reporting revealed that the financial data and news provider didn't curtail reporters' access to subscriber data two years ago, when concerns about the access first emerged, due to internal “misunderstandings.”

Discussion: Media & Entertainment, Press Room, DealBook, @asmitch, @mlcalderone and @wsjbreakingnews

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Bloomberg News review suggests standards editor, ombudsman

Discussion: FishbowlNY and Talking Biz News

Janko Roettgers / GigaOM:

Al Jazeera hints at new online programming for cord cutters and cable hold-outs — Al Jazeera launched its U.S. cable network Tuesday, but a significant part of its potential audience couldn't tune in: Viewers used to watching Al Jazeera's international channel online found themselves blocked …

Discussion: Washington Post, TVNewser, Media & Entertainment, The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, Deadline.com, USA Today, @riy, Television and Variety

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

Discussion: @adamgellings, @sherman4949 and @rolandsmartin

Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Al Jazeera Makes Limited American Debut

Discussion: MWD, Yahoo! News, Politico, TheBlaze.com, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, @rafat, FishbowlNY, Associated Press, @brianstelter and New York Magazine

Barb Darrow / GigaOM:

Huffington Post to end anonymous comments — The Huffington Post which has logged more than 260 million comments in its history will end anonymity in those comments, founder Arianna Huffington said Wednesday morning. — “Trolls are just getting more and more aggressive and uglier …

Discussion: @michaelroston, @jaredbkeller, @wideasleepnima, @stefanjbecket and @dangillmor

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Las Vegas Sun could disappear, editor says in suit — Las Vegas Sun Editor and Publisher Brian Greenspun filed a suit Tuesday “alleging his own family members conspired with Stephens Media, operator of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, to end a Joint Operating Agreement that has been in place …

Discussion: Las Vegas Review-Journal

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Is Google Ready to Buy Its Way Into TV With an NFL Deal? — Here's a fun combination to ponder: The world's most powerful media company and America's most popular sport. — That could happen if Google buys the rights to the NFL's Sunday Ticket package, the all-you-can-eat subscription-TV service currently owned by DirecTV.

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: FishbowlDC and Los Angeles Times

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Maker Studios Buys Blip, and a Home Outside of YouTube — Maker Studios, one of the biggest YouTube networks, is buying Blip, a video-maker and distributor. — Blip officials informed their staff of the deal this morning, and it is expected to close in early September.

Rachel Bartlett / Journalism.co.uk:

A look at Storyful's Open Newsroom verification project — A look at the first two months of the project, which involves a Google+ community working together to verify content shared online — A couple of months ago the team at social newswire Storyful took to Google+ with its Open Newsroom initiative …

Discussion: @grove and @niemanlab

Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:

Comcast asserts copyright over its court filing, is attempting to shut down news site that reproduced it — In an article published last week, TorrentFreak reproduced Comcast's response to a subpoena regarding the copyright troll Prenda Law. Since then, Comcast's agents Cyveillance have sent …

Discussion: TorrentFreak, VentureBeat, GigaOM, The Switch and @boothsweet

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:

New Revelations Detail How The NSA Scans 75% Of The Internet Through Telco Partnerships — Tuesday 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.

Jason Felch / Los Angeles Times:

O.C. Register owner Aaron Kushner bets heavily on print — As other publishers prepare for a digital-only future, Kushner adds staff and expands his newspaper. This week he launched the Long Beach Register. — Long Beach resident Antonio Romero reads the inaugural edition of the Long Beach Register in front of the Queen Mary.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals, @jasonfelch, @shelbygrad and @kenbensinger