Mediagazer: Showbiz Lobby Puts Capitol Hill Pressure on Google to Take Action on Piracy (Ted Johnson/Variety)

6:55 AM ET, September 19, 2013

Top News:

Matthew Zeitlin / BuzzFeed:

Why Reuters Ditched Its Big Web Push — Reuters Wednesday decided that it cares more about its business than its brand, ending a big bet on becoming a major player in online news. In a memo sent to the company today, Reuters chief executive Andrew Rashbass announced that the company will end …

Discussion: @ryanchittum, @edmundlee, @dancow, @gabestein, @jayrosen_nyu, @carr2n, @jayrosen_nyu, @buzzfeedben, @mattzeitlin and @jaredbkeller

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:

Reuters Next Canceled — Reuters has decided to cancel Next, the consumer facing website that had been in the works for more than two years, Chief Executive Andrew Rashbass announced this morning in a staff email. — “Next is a long way from achieving either commercial viability or strategic success.

Jennifer Mizgata / Online News Association:

ONA working to ensure federal “shield law” truly protects journalists — As you probably have heard, last week the Senate Judiciary Committee passed S. 987, the Free Flow of Information Act (FFIA), with the support of the Online News Association and a coalition of media organizations.

Discussion: @janeona, @hatchjt, @jimbradysp and @niemanlab

Josh Stearns / Index on Censorship:
The US shield law's dangerous precedent - and how to fix it

Discussion: @jcstearns

Steven Nelson / US News: Holes in Media Shield Law Worry Opponents, and Even Some Supporters

Ted Johnson / Variety:

Showbiz Lobby Puts Capitol Hill Pressure on Google to Take Action on Piracy — The showbiz lobby and a number of lawmakers on Wednesday singled out Google and other search engines for being a gateway to pirated online content, unveiling a study that showed the “critical role” …

Discussion: Forbes, Digits, The Wrap, Plagiarism Today, Home Media Magazine, The Verge, WebProNews, Broadcasting & Cable, Hillicon Valley, Techdirt and TorrentFreak

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
NBC Universal Funded Study Shows, Yet Again, How Infringement Is Hollywood's Own Damn Fault

Discussion: Disruptive Competition Project, @kimdotcom, Softpedia News and TorrentFreak

Richard Verrier / Los Angeles Times:
Online piracy of entertainment content keeps soaring

Discussion: Search Engine Land, Kirk LaPointe's … and Plagiarism Today

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

The Finke-Penske feud shows the difficulties of linking brands and personalities — Brand Suffers Most From Spat Between Owner and Hollywood Blogger — LOS ANGELES — For her detractors, and there are many, the turnabout is delicious: Nikki Finke, the blogger who squeezed Hollywood …

Discussion: @bradmiska, @carr2n, @unclegrambo, @brianstelter, @ckrewson, @theplaylist and @andymacmiller

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:
Nikki Finke and Deadline owner Jay Penske still at odds

Discussion: @scottcollinslat and @jbflint

Alexis Sobel Fitts / Columbia Journalism Review:

#Oceanfall: The Seattle Times' glitzy new digital package unveils a substantial piece of reporting on our changing seas — The Seattle Times' glitzy new digital package unveils a substantial piece of reporting on our changing seas — Like most newspapers around the country …

John Cusack / Guardian:

Will Eric Holder guarantee NSA reporters' first amendment rights? — The US attorney general vows not to prosecute journalists, but his criminalisation of whistleblowers undermines that assurance — Another week and another wave of stories on the NSA and the unconstitutional …

Discussion: @cif_australia, Index on Censorship, @freedomofpress, @johncusack, @bitethedust, @abeaujon, Softpedia News, Boing Boing and Columbia Journalism Review

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

New Knight Community Information Challenge winners focus on supporting local news and opening up government data — Sharing news stories wasn't invented with the retweet button. Thanks to funding from the Knight Foundation, Tom McDonald will be expanding his news-sharing network across …

Discussion: @davidhulen, @knightfdn, @lauranorton, Knight Foundation and @niemanlab

Rem Rieder / USA Today:

Zuckerberg: No plans to get into news business — In Washington, D.C, to lobby for immigration reform, Facebook CEO participates in a wide-ranging interview at the Newseum. — CONNECT — While Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is buying The Washington Post, fellow digital icon Mark Zuckerberg …

Sara Morrison / The Wrap:

NYT's Howard Beck Leaves Grey Lady for the Bleacher Report — New York Times NBA beat reporter Howard Beck is leaving his longtime home for the Bleacher Report. — Beck, who began at NYT in 2004, tweeted his announcement Wednesday. — The Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Networks …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Rem Rieder / USA Today:

Rieder: Newspaper association chief optimistic — Being president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America is not a job for the fainthearted. Your mission includes lobbying for, speaking for and galvanizing an industry that, while it is the press, hasn't gotten very much good press, not for a long time.

Jason Lefkowitz / Just Well Mixed:

Native advertising: you can't rent your credibility, you can only sell it — You may have heard that lots of publications are having a hard time figuring out how to make money online. It's true; even though we've been at this Web thing now for twenty years, publishers still haven't figured …

Thanks:@jalefkowit

Bloomberg:

Activision Stock Sale Blocked by Judge Over Investor Vote — Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) can't proceed with a stock sale that investors contend would give control of the video-game maker to a group led by an Activision director and the company's top executive, a judge ruled.

Discussion: Reuters and Los Angeles Times