Mediagazer: Why China is making a big play to control Africa's media (Geoffrey York/Globe and Mail)

5:00 AM ET, September 17, 2013

Top News:

Navy Yard shooting: CNN really, really cautious on ID'ing suspect — It was 3:54:15 p.m. CNN host Brooke Baldwin was talking with security expert Anthony Roman about how the authorities dealt with the suspect in today's Navy Yard shooting. She cut off her guest and announced some news …

Discussion: Washington Post, Gawker, Mashable, Mediaite and @carr2n

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

News outlets often stumble in quest for speed and accuracy — So much was misreported in the first few hours after the shooting rampage at Washington's Navy Yard. — Initial reports said that as many as three gunmen were involved. Then two. Then one. Then back to three. That four people were dead.

Discussion: @romenesko, USA Today, @mg_thereporter, @tanyavea and PandoDaily

Will Oremus / Slate:

NBC, CBS Remind Us You Don't Have to Be on Reddit or Twitter to Misidentify a Mass Killer — Lest we think that Redditors, tweeters, and bloggers have a monopoly on rushing to judgment when tragedies are unfolding, a pair of network news stations today provided a reminder that premature reports are as old as the news itself.

Discussion: The Switch, Politico, Mediaite, @timkarr, Mashable, USA Today and @willoremus

Desiree Everts DeNunzio / CNET:
Washington Post drops paywall in wake of DC shooting

Discussion: AllThingsD, This Just In, Mediaite, New Yorker, The New Yorker Blog, NetNewsCheck Latest and Poynter

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
The media's mistakes in covering Navy Yard shooting

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Gawker, @eelarson, @poynter and Mediaite

Thomas Erdbrink / New York Times:

Iranians Gain Access to Facebook and Twitter — TEHRAN — Internet users in Iran were surprised on Monday to find that they could access Facebook and Twitter without having to evade the government's firewall, which had blocked direct access to the Web sites for years.

Discussion: @mixedberry, @katrinanation, @zenjournalist and New York Magazine

Jason Rezaian / WorldViews:
Four years later, Twitter and Facebook flash back online in parts of Iran

Discussion: qz.com, @thomaserdbrink, AllThingsD, CNET, @ijournalista, @gordonmacmillan, @tsimonite, @rhodes44, The Verge, Digits and @bbcmonitoring

Lizzie Widdicombe / New Yorker:

Bryan Goldberg's adventures in women's publishing. — This spring, Jenny Hollander, a twenty-three-year-old Columbia Journalism School student, sent out her résumé for summer internships. “Where didn't I apply?” Hollander, who is from the U.K., said recently.

Discussion: Salon, The New Republic, Gawker, @tasneemraja, @monikabauerlein, @alexhern, @mbaratz, @tcarmody, Mashable, @nicknotned, @scalzi, @mbaratz, @whet, @newyorker, Betabeat and The Huffington Post

Barry Levine / CMSWire.com:

Adobe, Major Magazines Release New Industry-Standard for Digital Readership — As magazines go digital, how is readership measured? This week, Adobe, the Association of Magazine Media (MPA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) is answering that question with the announcement …

Discussion: Folio, NetNewsCheck.com and Talking New Media

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

Guardian Story on Israel and N.S.A. Is Not ‘Surprising’ Enough to Cover — Many Times readers have been writing to me for several days about a story The Guardian broke last week, describing how the United States routinely shares with Israel intelligence information that the National Security Agency gathers on American citizens.

Geoffrey York / Globe and Mail:

Why China is making a big play to control Africa's media — When one of South Africa's biggest newspaper chains was sold last month, an odd name was buried in the list of new owners: China International Television Corp. — A major stake in a South African newspaper group might seem …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab and @digitaldjeli

Greg Sandoval / The Verge:

Eclipsed by rivals, Rhapsody reduces staff and ousts key managers — Rhapsody's managers were right in predicting more than a decade ago that consumers would one day flock to subscription music services. The only problem is, Rhapsody isn't one of the services they're choosing.

Discussion: @jherskowitz, @pkafka, CNET, New York Times, PR Newswire and @sandonet

Mike Isaac / AllThingsD:

Twitter's Third Act: A New Design to Court the Mainstream — Twitter has lots of users. It wants a lot more. — That is, in part, why it is planning a massive overhaul of its mobile apps, designed to make the service more appealing to mainstream users.

Discussion: @pkafka, VatorNews, AppleInsider, @mercerccj, Fast Company, Yahoo! News, @vvbellur, @niemanlab, MacRumors, App Advice, @crowdbooster, VentureBeat, CNET, Pocket-lint, GigaOM and @miriamgottfried

Online News Association:

2013 Online Journalism Awards finalists announced — WASHINGTON, D.C. - Finalists for the 2013 Online Journalism Awards, many pushing the envelope of innovation and excellence in digital storytelling and distribution, were announced today by the Online News Association and its academic partner …

Discussion: @niemanlab and The Wrap

Katy Bachman / Adweek:

Nielsen's New Consumer App Is Really a Market Research Tool — Nielsen's new “topten” app seems harmless enough: offer consumers a quick and easy way to find out the most popular TV shows, books, songs, video games, movies and more. You know, the kind of rankings found in publications like Entertainment Weekly or the local newspaper.

Toronto Star:

Former journalists win Liberal, NDP nominations in Toronto Centre — Toronto, no stranger to newspaper wars, now has a whole new kind of media war looming in the Toronto Centre byelection — the battle of the former journalists. On Sunday afternoon, only blocks away from each other in downtown Toronto …

Discussion: Poynter

Zachary M. Seward / Quartz:

In a year, Netflix's competition shifted from Hulu to HBO to everything — Netflix recently updated its “long-term view,” the company's refreshingly candid assessment of its place within the internet video industry. Which means, if you care about Netflix, you should go read it now.

Discussion: @jeremyzilar, @jessicalessin and The Verge

Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer / FP Passport:

Is Al Jazeera America Simply CNN, Minus Wolf Blitzer? — It's been just under a month since Al Jazeera America first hit the airwaves, and what a month it's been — with the Syria story lurching from seemingly imminent U.S. strikes to a looming congressional vote to this weekend's chemical weapons deal.

Discussion: Journalism.org, USA Today, The Atlantic Wire, Los Angeles Times, Politico, TheBlaze.com, Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap and The Huffington Post

Jasper Jackson / TheMediaBriefing:

How does the music industry get people to pay for digital content? — Music and news are very different businesses, but the digital age presented them both with a very similar problem: how do you get someone to pay for something they can get for free? — It's a question the music industry …

Discussion: @rajunarisetti

Michael Malone / Broadcasting & Cable:

Nexstar to Acquire Citadel's Iowa Stations for $88 Million — Partner Mission Broadcasting swings deal to buy stations in Binghamton, N.Y. — Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Mission Broadcasting are teaming up to acquire five stations for a combined $103.25 million.

Discussion: Radio & Television …

Brian Anthony Hernandez / Mashable:

Netflix Wins Two Emmys for ‘House of Cards’ Over Major TV Dramas — The first barrage of winged-woman Emmy statuettes were handed out at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy on Sunday, and Netflix won the night's first one for House of Cards in the Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series category

Discussion: themusic.com.au, Hispanic Business Magazine and Deadline.com