Mediagazer: The NSA never takes “no” for an answer (Jack Shafer)

11:15 PM ET, September 6, 2013

Top News:

ProPublica's Jeff Larson on the NSA crypto story — Yesterday, ProPublica, the New York Times, and the Guardian collaboratively broke the story of the NSA's Bullrun program and its encryption-cracking capabilities. This afternoon, Erin Kissane sat down with ProPublica's Jeff Larson …

Discussion: @rachelblevinson, @blakehounshell, @mattwynn, @jimray, @harrisj, @source, @derekwillis, @samuelclay, @dansinker, @jaredbkeller, @ericuman and @opennews

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

Decision to Publish Against Government Request Was ‘Not a Particularly Anguished One’ — The New York Times has come under fire in the past for agreeing to government requests to hold back sensitive stories or information, but it bucked such requests in publishing a front-page article in Friday's paper.

Jack Shafer:

The NSA never takes “no” for an answer — At several recent junctures, the U.S. government has publicly sought to expand its power and control over the electronic privacy of its citizens. At each point, the government was roundly foiled by the public and the majority of the political class, which rebuked it.

Discussion: New York Times, ProPublica, Forbes, The Next Web, @davewiner, @zimbalist, @kirabind, @jackshafer, Mother Jones, @carr2n, VentureBeat, @_jimnelson_, Digits, BuzzFeed and Memex 1.1

Hadas Gold / Politico:
Activists call on N.Y. Times, ProPublica to release unredacted NSA information

Discussion: Committee to Protect … and Fast Company

Guardian:

Former BBC chairman contradicts Thompson in £1m payout row — Sir Michael Lyons says he was not fully briefed on Byford's severance terms, as five current trustees distance themselves from Thompson's claims that they were involved in the payout — Former BBC director general Mark Thompson …

Discussion: New York Times, @lisaocarroll, @edgecliffe and @matthewwells

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

BBC ordered to disclose names and details of payoffs to 150 managers — Corporation had fought to keep details secret, but public accounts committee has demanded deals are revealed — The BBC has been ordered to disclose the names and details of 150 senior managers who received severance payouts …

Discussion: Guardian

BBC: BBC pay-offs: Trust denies Mark Thompson claims

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Judge won't grant injunction in Las Vegas Sun editor's suit — U.S. District Court Judge James C. Mahan Friday dismissed a request by Las Vegas Sun Editor and Publisher Brian Greenspun to block a plan to end the Sun's joint operating agreement with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Howard Stutz reports.

Timothy Pratt / New York Times:
A Newspaper in Las Vegas, at Risk of Closing, Divides a Family

Discussion: Associated Press

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

CEO Mark Thompson gives a few glimpses into the near-term growth strategy of The New York Times — New York Times Company CEO Mark Thompson was back in his native U.K. today to give an address at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which is celebrating an anniversary of its fellowship program.

Discussion: @mattdpearce, @mathewi, @edgecliffe, @marklittlenews, @niemanlab and @jbenton

George Brock / The Conversation:

Spike the gloom - journalism has a bright future — Whenever more than two journalists gather together to discuss the future of their business, the dialogue is usually depressing. This prevailing pessimism must change: we need a new conversation about what's happening to news.

Discussion: paidContent, @hofrench, @sarah__bartlett, Kirk LaPointe's … and @queenchristina_

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Apple Will Appeal Final Court Order in E-Book Price Fixing Trial — Here's the last word, for now, on the punishment Apple will receive after losing its e-book price-fixing trial: It's not as bad as Apple first feared, but Apple still isn't happy. — You can see the order …

Discussion: GigaOM, @pkafka, Los Angeles Times, Media & Entertainment, TUAW, TechCrunch, Forbes, MacRumors, The Verge, VentureBeat, 9to5Mac, GalleyCat, @johnpaczkowski and Hillicon Valley

Nate Raymond / Reuters: Apple hit with injunction in e-books antitrust case

Gabe Rivera / Techmeme News:

Techmeme is now writing its own headlines — Right now there's a headline on Techmeme written by our news editors. Our more familiar readers know why this is noteworthy: from the time we launched in 2005 until yesterday, our content consisted entirely of quotes.

Discussion: paidContent, @ashleymayer, @nicolasvoisin, @pkafka, Rex Hammock's RexBlog.com, @parislemon, @davewiner, @rsingel, Business Insider, Poynter, @nerdtalker, @charlesarthur, @karaswisher, @zseward and @profjeffjarvis

Ryan Chittum / Columbia Journalism Review:

A weakened Washington Post, a serious ethical breach — Erik Wemple breaks a huge media-corruption story for the Washington Post, and unfortunately for his employer, it's about the Post itself. — This is just about as bad as it gets, and it's mitigated only slightly by the fact the Post allowed Wemple to publish his tough piece.

Discussion: @ryanchittum and Publishing Executive …

Globe and Mail:

Torstar to close its digital division — Torstar Corp. is shutting down its Torstar Digital division and shuffling its assets into different parts of its operations as part of a way to cut costs. — The company laid off about 10 senior managers at the digital operations as part of the plan.

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Press regulation: industry presses on with new watchdog despite reservations — Ipso expected to be running by early 2014 but Guardian, Independent and Financial Times still have concerns — The newspaper industry is pressing ahead with plans to launch a new watchdog and hopes …

Discussion: Press Gazette, HoldTheFrontPage and Jon Slattery

Alexander C. Kaufman / International Business Times:

Who Pays Interns? Few Media Firms Do, But This Tumblr Helps You Find Which Ones That Will — If you want to intern at a magazine, prepare to be unpaid. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri — Four years of Ivy League school. Three unpaid internships in the country's most expensive city to live in.

Alan D. Mutter / Reflections of a Newsosaur:

The five big decisions facing Bezos at WaPo — When Jeff Bezos takes control of The Washington Post in a few short weeks, the Amazon founder will face five enormous decisions that will shape the future of an iconic newspaper once so powerful that it drove President Richard M. Nixon from office.

Discussion: Home Page Feed and The Switch

Bloomberg:

Disney Armed With ESPN Cudgel in Next Pay-TV Fee Showdown — Now that CBS Corp. has prevailed in its monthlong dispute with Time Warner Cable Inc., it's Bob Iger's turn to see how much his Walt Disney Co. can squeeze from a pay-TV carrier. Disney, owner of the most-expensive pay-TV channel in ESPN …