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.
Discussion:
New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review, @acarvin, @howardlindzon, @nycjim, Reuters, FishbowlNY, @kylestanding, @stefanjbecket, @jbenton, @justinnxt, @dancow, @poynter, @hblodget, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, @niemanlab, @ryanchittum, @felixsalmon, @jayrosen_nyu, @henryjfoy, @jwherrman and Talking Biz News
RELATED:
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:
@carr2n, @gabestein, @dancow, @jayrosen_nyu, @mattzeitlin, @edmundlee, @jaredbkeller and @buzzfeedben
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
RELATED:
Josh Stearns / Index on Censorship:
The US shield law's dangerous precedent - and how to fix it
The US shield law's dangerous precedent - and how to fix it
Discussion:
@jcstearns
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, WebProNews, The Verge, Techdirt, Home Media Magazine, Broadcasting & Cable, Hillicon Valley and TorrentFreak
RELATED:
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
NBC Universal Funded Study Shows, Yet Again, How Infringement Is Hollywood's Own Damn Fault
NBC Universal Funded Study Shows, Yet Again, How Infringement Is Hollywood's Own Damn Fault
Discussion:
@kimdotcom, Disruptive Competition Project, Softpedia News and TorrentFreak
Richard Verrier / Los Angeles Times:
Online piracy of entertainment content keeps soaring
Online piracy of entertainment content keeps soaring
Discussion:
Search Engine Land, Kirk LaPointe's …, Variety, Broadcasting & Cable and Plagiarism Today
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
John Cusack / Guardian:
Will Holder guarantee NSA reporters' 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 out-of-control surveillance state hit …
Discussion:
@bitethedust, @cif_australia, @johncusack, @abeaujon, @freedomofpress, Softpedia News, Boing Boing and Columbia Journalism Review
RELATED:
Gavriel Hollander / Press Gazette:
Leveson has been ‘disastrous’ says Guardian legal chief
Leveson has been ‘disastrous’ says Guardian legal chief
Discussion:
@neilwallis1, @kenanmalik, @jackofkent, @iburrell and @obligateme
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 …
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, The Independent, @mattgarrahan, @charlesarthur, Erik Wemple, The Next Web, The Huffington Post and @svaughanbrown
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
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:
Los Angeles Times and Reuters
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
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, CNET and Fast Company
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
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.
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.
RELATED:
Padraig Reidy / Index on Censorship:
Daily Mail backs the BBC Trust
Daily Mail backs the BBC Trust
Discussion:
@batman101, @marshdavies, @paulreset, @marcashdown, @carlwaring and Daily Mail