Mediagazer: At crucial time, cable news fails on shutdown, Obamacare (David Zurawik/Baltimore Sun)

6:05 AM ET, October 5, 2013

Top News:

Vivian Schiller Is Lead Candidate for Twitter's Head of News Position — According to sources close to the situation, NBC News chief digital officer Vivian Schiller is currently the leading choice for Twitter's Head of News position, which the company hopes to name soon.

Discussion: @karaswisher, @johnekdahl, @agolis and @sachapfeiffer

AllThingsD:

Twitter Close to Picking High-Profile Head of News to Make Even Nicer With Media Types — Twitter, which made some sort of financial news yesterday, is close to tapping a person to become its head of news, according to sources close to the search. — Sources said that the San Francisco …

Discussion: Talking Biz News and @rubinafillion

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:
Twitter's ‘head of news’ position up in the air as company files to go public

Discussion: @taylorlorenz, Talking Biz News, @rajunarisetti and Wired

Peter Lauria / BuzzFeed:

How Twitter's Business Model Is Just Like Broadcast TV — Only Worse — In its IPO filing, Twitter describes itself as a “global platform for public self-expression and conversation in real time.” Casually, it is referred to as a microblogging service or an internet social-messaging network.

Discussion: @peterlauria3 and @zimbalist

Kate Kaye / AdAge:

Twitter's Overlooked Data Business Could Grow As Retailers Mine Chatter — It Won't Challenge Advertising, But More Businesses Will Rely On It — When thinking about Twitter's future, almost all the focus is on advertising. After all, 85% of its sales came from ads in the second quarter.

Quartz:
Twitter's average ad revenue per user was $0.55 in Q2 2013, compared to $1.41 for Facebook

Discussion: AllThingsD, GigaOM, @mindtwisterdean, Forbes, Wonkblog, Digits, CNNMoney.com and Tom Simonite

Pema Levy / Newsweek:

Profile: Marcy Wheeler, the expert behind the NSA-focused emptywheel blog — THE WOMAN WHO KNOWS THE NSA'S SECRETS — Trawling for needles in the data haystack

Discussion: @seanpaulkelley, @jayrosen_nyu, @straightedge, @kgosztola, @astepanovich, @jlllow, @nslayton, @medeabenjamin, @trevortimm, @ggreenwald, @mmasnick, @rsingel, @repjustinamash, @wizardkitten and @timkarr

Raymond Bonner / ProPublica:

Former NYT writer Raymond Bonner describes government investigation into his reporting — How a Telecom Helped the Government Spy on Me — Over the past several months, the Obama Administration has defended the government's far-reaching data collection efforts, arguing that only criminals and terrorists need worry.

Discussion: @propublica, @jasonleopold, @timkarr and Guardian

Trudy Lieberman / Columbia Journalism Review:

Reviewing Obamacare coverage: Week 1 — A look at the good, the not-so-good, the interesting, and the opportunities ahead — It's been overshadowed a little bit by the shutdown in Washington, but this week marked the rollout—at long last—of the Affordable Care Act, and with it came a wave of media attention.

Discussion: Forbes, The Raw Story and msnbc.com

Simon Rogers / Twitter blog:

Politicians, gov't agencies turn to Twitter amidst #Shutdown — The U.S. federal shutdown this week means that for many government departments and agencies Twitter accounts and websites are temporarily paused while negotiations continue. But others have not let the cessation stop them getting …

Discussion: @grossman

Leonard Downie Jr. / Washington Post:

In Obama's war on leaks, reporters fight back — Leonard Downie, a former executive editor of The Washington Post, is the Weil family professor of journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. This article is based on his report “The Obama Administration and the Press …

Discussion: Poynter, @cmcyclist, @postbaron, @dabeard, @sulliview, @billadairduke, @poynter, @jeremiahg and @jenvalentino

David Zurawik / Baltimore Sun:

At crucial time, cable news fails on shutdown, Obamacare — Lots of coverage on MSNBC, Fox and CNN, but few facts, little clarity — I did something foolish last week. I spent at least four hours a day with cable TV news, starting Tuesday. — I was hoping for some information and clarity …

Lisa Richwine / Reuters:

U.S. TV networks tout video on-demand for catch-up viewing — The morning after a new episode of the drama “Sleepy Hollow” airs on the Fox broadcast network, a message on the show's Facebook page encourages viewers to catch up with the show by clicking on their cable operator's video on demand service.

Economist:

What newspapers can learn from television — LAST November Mike Darcey, then a top executive at BSkyB, a British satellite-television company, received a phone call from Rupert Murdoch, the boss of News Corporation. Mr Murdoch wanted him to run News UK (formerly News International) …

Discussion: @rajunarisetti and @niemanlab

Ina Fried / AllThingsD:

Loom Gets $1.4 Million in Seed Funding From Google, Tencent to Build a Better Photo Library — Seeking to stand out in a crowded photo-storage space, Loom said on Friday that it has raised a $1.4 million seed round to fund its vision for syncing photos across multiple devices.

Discussion: VentureBeat and TechCrunch

Lacey Rose / Hollywood Reporter:

CBS Extends David Letterman Contract Through 2015 — The late night host will stay on at the network, as competitor NBC moves Jimmy Fallon into Jay Leno's desk. — David Letterman is staying put at CBS. — Despite long-gestating rumblings that the late night veteran was readying for retirement …

Discussion: New York Times, The Wrap, Mediaite, Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone

Jethro Nededog / The Wrap:

Fusion Names Univision's Isaac Lee as CEO — See press release below: — Fusion today announced that veteran journalist Isaac Lee will become Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. In this new role Mr. Lee, who will continue to serve as President of Univision News …

Discussion: Radio & Television …, TVNewser and Variety

Jim Romenesko:

Controversial Journal Inquirer editor: ‘If my opinion is so wacky, why bother with it?’ — Manchester (Conn.) Journal Inquirer managing editor Chris Powell was blasted earlier this week after he wrote that “newspapers cannot sell themselves to households headed by single women who have several children …

Discussion: The Huffington Post