Mediagazer: The best magazine on the Internet? (Hamish McKenzie/PandoDaily)

8:20 PM ET, September 18, 2013

Top News:

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.

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: @gabestein, @dancow, @jayrosen_nyu, @buzzfeedben, @mattzeitlin, @jaredbkeller and @edmundlee

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, @niemanlab and @jimbradysp

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, The Wrap, Home Media Magazine, WebProNews, The Verge, Digits, Techdirt, Broadcasting & Cable, TorrentFreak and Hillicon Valley

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

Discussion: Search Engine Land, Kirk LaPointe's …, Variety, Broadcasting & Cable and Plagiarism Today

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

Discussion: Disruptive Competition Project and Softpedia News

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

BBC presenter does live broadcast clutching stack of paper instead of iPad — Simon McCoy baffles viewers by presenting news item after accidentally picking up refill pack of A4 — BBC News presenter Simon McCoy mistook a ream of paper for a tablet computer while presenting a report, to the bafflement of viewers

Discussion: Gawker, @mattgarrahan, Erik Wemple, The Independent, @charlesarthur, The Next Web, The Huffington Post and @svaughanbrown

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Justin Smith on his new mission at Bloomberg — Justin Smith's “mission” as C.E.O. of the Bloomberg Media Group will be to “marry the incredible assets” the company's journalists have built over the past several decades with “emerging strategies for winning in the new global media landscape …

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

Jim Romenesko:

Star Tribune editor Nancy Barnes is named Houston Chronicle editor — Nancy Barnes, who has led the Star Tribune newsroom for six years, is heading to Houston to become editor of Hearst's Chronicle. The paper has been without an editor for a year. Managing editor Steve Proctor was put …

Discussion: Minneapolis Star Tribune, Houston Chronicle and The Blotter

Curt Woodward / Xconomy:

How Did Newspapers Blow It? Not Enough Engineers, NYT Publisher Says — It would be hard to single out just one mistake from the news industry's fumbled transition to the Internet era. But the most important newspaper publisher in America—Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. of the New York Times—says one stumble sticks out among the rest.

Discussion: @grady_booch, Thanks:@xconomy

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

BBC faces major review by MPs following recent scandals — Culture, media and sport select committee chairman John Whittingdale says payoffs row has given inquiry ‘more urgency’ — The BBC is facing a major review of its governance by MPs after a series of scandals that have beset the corporation in the past year.

Padraig Reidy / Index on Censorship:
Daily Mail backs the BBC Trust

Discussion: @batman101, @marshdavies, @paulreset, @marcashdown, @carlwaring and Daily Mail

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Shane Smith, Vice's $400 Million Man, Is New York's Newest Media Mogul — Who will be the next member of New York's media elite to join the FORBES 400, our list of the richest Americans? A few months ago, the obvious answer would have been David Karp, whose social blogging startup, Tumblr, was worth $800 million and rising.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Associated Press:

Azerbaijan journalist arrested 3 weeks before vote — BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — A journalist in Azerbaijan will be held in custody for two months after being charged with illegal possession of a pistol, three weeks before the presidential election. — Parviz Qashimli's lawyer says his client denies …

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Agence France-Presse and GlobalPost

John Koetsier / VentureBeat:

Spinlet, the iTunes of Africa, hits 650K subscribers — and is targeting 50M users by 2016 — Dec. 4 - 5, 2013 — A Canadian who worked for a company that owns half of China's Tencent is helping reinvent music in Africa via a company started by two Finns that was sold to a company in Nigeria.

Discussion: Digital Media Wire and CNET

Hamish McKenzie / PandoDaily:

The best magazine on the Internet? — If “slow media” needs a poster child, it can find one in Aeon Magazine, an online publication about culture and ideas that marks its first birthday tomorrow. In the space of a year, the magazine, started by a London-based Australian couple …

Discussion: @janefriedman

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

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

Nikki Finke and Deadline owner Jay Penske still at odds — How many Emmy Awards “House of Cards” and “Breaking Bad” will take home Sunday isn't the only thing Hollywood is wondering about. — There is also curiosity about whether one of the sharpest-tongued critics of awards shows …

Discussion: @scottcollinslat