Mediagazer: Jeff Shell's promotion to run Universal Pictures surprises Hollywood (Los Angeles Times)

12:20 PM ET, September 11, 2013

Top News:

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

For Politico ‘High Traffic is Overrated’ — On Monday, Politico owner Robert Allbritton bought Capital New York, a New York-focused digital-only publication. Jim VandeHei, a Politico founding editor and former reporter at the Washington Post, has been tasked to serve as the new president of Capital New York.

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, Nxtblog and @digiday

David Bauder / Associated Press:

CBS News says it almost gave up on Assad interview — NEW YORK (AP) — CBS News had essentially given up its pursuit of Syrian President Bashar Assad for an interview because he would not agree to go on “60 Minutes,” until Charlie Rose suggested airing it on PBS.

Discussion: Poynter and Hollywood Reporter

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

That Apple TV Refresh Is Coming Next Week — Nope, Apple didn't show off new Apple TV hardware yesterday. — And Apple didn't talk about new software for its Web video box, either. But it's still coming. — People familiar with the company's plans say that Apple TV is scheduled …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Mashable, WebProNews, MacRumors, Yahoo! News, AppleInsider, Engadget, 9to5Mac, App Advice, Digits, Electronista and The Next Web

Ryan Jacobs / The Atlantic Online:

Israel and BuzzFeed: When Government PR Goes Viral — User-generated content isn't just for everyday people anymore. — Two weeks ago, Israel expanded its robust “public diplomacy” efforts, which include an active Twitter presence and a popular military Instagram, with a post written …

Discussion: @hamishmckenzie, @moneyries, @lisang and Big News Network.com

Sharon Terlep / Wall Street Journal:

Dish Director Quit Amid Flap — Director Was on Special Committee to Vet LightSquared Deal — A Dish Network Corp. director who resigned in recent weeks did so amid a disagreement over the company's handling of a bid for a telecommunications firm that could deliver hundreds of millions …

Discussion: Bloomberg and NASDAQ.com

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Ann Arbor News, or There and Back Again: Why the news world's first print edition of a website is coming to a close — Back in 2009, the news-about-news world was focused on Ann Arbor — and not because Michigan football was any good. That was when The Ann Arbor News …

Discussion: Street Fight

Bill Adair / Poynter:

Ebooks without enough ‘e’ offer lessons for news organizations — I did my vacation reading from pixels instead of paper. — I read ebook versions of “Bruce,” a Springsteen biography by Peter Ames Carlin, and Dan Brown's bestselling novel “Inferno.” Both had great potential for extra audio …

Discussion: @poynter and Kirk LaPointe's …

Nicole Perlroth / NYT Bits:

Government Announces Steps to Restore Confidence on Encryption Standards — SAN FRANCISCO — The federal agency charged with recommending cybersecurity standards said Tuesday that it would reopen the public vetting process for an encryption standard, after reports that the National Security Agency …

Discussion: Policy Blog, The National Institute …, The Verge, @matthew_d_green, @bobmcmillan, Softpedia News, Hillicon Valley, @jayrosen_nyu, @nicoleperlroth, Techdirt, Boing Boing, WebProNews, Slate, PandoDaily and Digits

Nate Anderson / Ars Technica:
University apologizes for censoring crypto prof over anti-NSA post

Discussion: Guardian, @jayrosen_nyu, Inside Higher Ed, The Raw Story, bizjournals, @natexanderson, Guardian, @fuzheado, The Switch, CNET, Techdirt and ProPublica

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

Google courts copyright holders with promotional anti-piracy brochure — As a giant of the online world, Google has faced its share of heat for allegedly promoting piracy. Even as it's fought against the RIAA and MPAA in Congress, though, it's attempted to reconcile with the film and music industries …

Discussion: Adweek, Mashable, TorrentFreak, Advanced Television, Music Ally, Digital Journal and Google Public Policy Blog

Larry Rohter / New York Times:

A Copyright Victory, 35 Years Later — In the lucrative world of music copyright, it may be something of a watershed moment: on Friday, after six years of legal wrangling and decades after he wrote the lyrics to the hit song “YMCA,” Victor Willis will gain control of his share of the copyright …

Discussion: @charlesleerhsen and @nytimes

Don Reisinger / CNET:

TiVo eyes the cloud with premiere of network PVR — The company says that its technology is only in prototype phase, and will be offered to television providers. — TiVo has announced a new, cloud-based television offering that could make its relationships with cable and satellite providers a bit stronger.

Discussion: Multichannel News and Broadcast

Andy Fixmer / Bloomberg:

Southeastern Asset Acquires 12% Voting Stake in News Corp. — Southeastern Asset Management Inc. (NWS:US), the investment firm that joined Carl Icahn in opposing Dell Inc. (DELL:US)'s buyout, acquired a 12 percent voting stake in News Corp., the largest holding behind Chairman Rupert Murdoch.

Discussion: Reuters, DealBook and USA Today

Stephen Shankland / CNET:

WordPress folds in Google+ for authentication, comments — Google's social-network technology is grafted onto the self-publishing system, adding new sharing options and and giving WordPress posts prominence in search results. — WordPress, the widely used blogging system …

Jack Shafer:

Kurtz moves from CNN to Fox with the same old song — After “Reliable Sources” host Howard Kurtz parted ways with CNN in June and announced the move of his Sunday morning TV act to Fox News Channel, he had a chance to retool the media-news-and-criticism formula he purveyed on the network for 15 years.

Discussion: TVNewser, FishbowlNY, @pkafka and @jackshafer

Merrill Knox / TVNewser:
‘MediaBuzz’ Debut Wins in Total Viewers, But ‘Reliable Sources’ Tops in the Demo

Discussion: FishbowlDC, Mediaite, Business Insider and Broadcasting & Cable

Joan E. Solsman / CNET:

Apple TV a no-show, in any respect, at iPhone event — Despite initial hopes for new hardware, and then tempered hopes for a software update, Apple continues to tread water on its set-top box. — A lot of big names showed up at Apple's event Tuesday — Al Gore, Marissa Mayer, Elvis Costello …