Mediagazer: HBO Extends Google Play Pact to U.K. (Leo Barraclough/Variety)

10:35 AM ET, December 4, 2013

Top News:

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

Newsweek plans return to print in Jan-Feb next year as a subscription based 64 page weekly — Newsweek Plans Return to Print — Newsweek, the struggling weekly magazine that ceased print publication last year, plans to turn the presses back on. — The magazine expects to begin …

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Newsweek's editor-in-chief says subscriber revenues will cover expenses, “ads will be icing” — Newsweek to bring print edition back from the dead — Newsweek's new owners think they can succeed at something its previous owners failed at: printing a weekly magazine in the United States.

Discussion: @justinjm1

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Editor Describes Pressure After Leaks by Snowden — The top editor of the British newspaper The Guardian told Parliament on Tuesday that since it had obtained documents on government surveillance from a former National Security Agency contractor, Edward J. Snowden, it had been subjected to measures …

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @genn4dy, @timobrien, @alicedreger, @monahol and mUmBRELLA

Guardian:

Guardian will not be intimidated over NSA leaks, Alan Rusbridger tells MPs — Editor tells parliamentary committee that stories revealing mass surveillance by UK and US have prompted global debate — The Guardian has come under concerted pressure and intimidation designed to stop …

Reuters:

Guardian Newspaper Staff May Face Charges For Assisting Terrorists — LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - British police are examining whether Guardian newspaper staff should be investigated for terrorism offences over their handling of data leaked by Edward Snowden, Britain's senior counter-terrorism officer said on Tuesday.

Discussion: Poynter, Guardian, VentureBeat, Gawker and Techdirt

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Dame Patricia Hodgson favourite to chair Ofcom — Ex-BBC executive selected by Department for Culture, Media and Sport as preferred candidate to succeed Colette Bowe — The government has selected Dame Patricia Hodgson, the former BBC executive and trustee, as its preferred candidate to be the next chairman of Ofcom.

Mark Sweney / Guardian:
Sky to open movie rental service to non-subscribers

Discussion: Variety

John Plunkett / Guardian: NUJ apologises to BBC human resources director over false accusation

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

YouTube's Music Subscription Service Won't Show Up This Year — Waiting for YouTube's subscription music service? You're going to have to be patient. — The video service, which is already the biggest free music service in the world, had planned on launching a paid service this year.

Discussion: @jherskowitz, CNET, Complete Music Update, PhoneArena, The Verge, Softpedia News, Mashable, Electronista and Engadget

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Beats Music Targeting January Launch

Discussion: Gigaom

Pierre Omidyar / The Huffington Post:

WikiLeaks, Press Freedom and Free Expression in the Digital Age — This week, fourteen people charged by the Department of Justice in connection with a coordinated denial of service attack on PayPal's services in 2010 will appear in Federal Court. The “PayPal 14,” as they have been dubbed …

Discussion: @pierre, @ggreenwald, @dymaxion, @carwinb, @astepanovich, @pierre, @wikileaks and Pressing Issues

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
A News Organization That Rejects the View From Nowhere

Discussion: @theatlantic, @raju, @acarvin, @tomgara and @jayrosen_nyu

David Folkenflik / NPR:

OMG, BuzzFeed Is Investing In Serious News Coverage! Is It FTW? … Anyone who has hankered for a list of 10 of the most life-affirming dog rescue stories ever can rely on the social media site BuzzFeed. — That list of 11 classic horror films that should never have been remade? That's from BuzzFeed too.

Discussion: @wbur, @emilybell and @sheeraf

David Carr / New York Times:

At Peter Kaplan's Funeral, Mourning the Master of the Masters — LARCHMONT, N.Y. — Manhattan publishing took a very sad holiday on Tuesday. Many of its better-known practitioners traveled by train, car and, in some cases, chartered bus, to Larchmont Temple in Westchester County to say farewell …

Discussion: Capital New York, @peterlattman and The New York Observer

IAB:

IAB Releases Native Advertising Playbook To Establish Common Industry Lexicon, Evaluation Framework & Disclosure Principles — Provides Guidance for Publishers, Agencies & Marketers on Successfully Leveraging Native Advertising in Campaigns — Native has become a hot topic in the advertising marketplace …

Discussion: AdAge

A. H. Belo Corporation:

A. H. Belo Corporation Announces Exploration of Sale of Providence Newspaper, Updated Guidance and New Printing Contract — A. H. Belo Corporation (NYSE: AHC) today announces that the Company has engaged Stephens Inc. to explore a potential sale of The Providence Journal.

Discussion: Providence Journal, Rhode Island Public Radio, Biz Beat Blog, Bloomberg and Talking New Media

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

New York Times to Expand Syndication for Videos as Monthly Views Double to 12 Million — Videos on The New York Times have been watched a record 12 million times by some three million “unique” viewers in October, according to data provided to Beet.TV by comScore, denoting a 12 month rise of nearly 100 percent.

Discussion: @niemanlab, Thanks:@beet_tv

Reuters:

Disney in China digital entertainment venture with BesTV — Walt Disney Co and BesTV New Media are to form a digital joint venture in China as the U.S. company aims for a share of the country's fast-growing entertainment business. — The venture, which will have a registered capital of $4 million …

Discussion: Variety and PR Newswire

John McDermott / Digiday:

Does Web Publishing Have a Looming DVR Problem? — Publishers like to hear that their stories are being read. But at the expense of advertising dollars? Not so fast. — Increasingly popular apps like Pocket, Instapaper and Evernote's Web Clipper have been billed as a way to help publishers combat fragmentation.

Leo Barraclough / Variety:

HBO Extends Google Play Pact to U.K. — Shows in deal include ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ ‘True Blood’ — LONDON — Google has inked a deal with HBO to make several shows available on its TV service, Google Play, in the U.K., extending a pact in the U.S. announced in October.

Discussion: Guardian, HEXUS.net Consumer …, WorldScreen.com, Digital Spy and Broadband TV News

Michael Weinberg / Policy Blog:

Did the FCC Chairman Just Endorse a Pay-for-Play Internet Fast Lane? — Chairman Wheeler endorsed both two-sided markets and net neutrality. There seems to be a conflict. — Yesterday, new FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler delivered his first formal public address.

Discussion: TheHill, Free Press Blog, Fortune, Light Reading, DSLreports, FCC.gov and PC World

Maria Konnikova / The New Yorker Blog:

A List of Reasons Why Our Brains Love Lists — These are just some of the lists that the comic strip “XKCD” recently joked would result from retrofitting the twentieth century's most newsworthy events with modern, Internet-style headlines. Despite the growing derision of listicles exemplified by the comic …

The Independent:

UK Attorney General adapts contempt laws for social media, will publish court advisory notes — Twitter and Facebook users threaten justice system, warns Attorney General — After a spate of scandals where careless users have threatened fair trials and jeopardised anonymity orders …

Discussion: Guardian, GOV.UK, Bloomberg, Metro.co.uk, Sky News, dna, GOV.UK and National Updates

Erik Wemple:

Media sidelined in coverage of Newtown football squad — Hartford Courant sports reporter Tom Yantz turned in something of a scoop last month. He covers high-school sports in Connecticut and wrote up a profile of the undefeated football team at Newtown High School.

Discussion: Poynter, Christian Science Monitor, Hartford Courant and Associated Press

Dan Kennedy / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The New Haven Independent seeks to expand its hyperlocal mission to low-power radio — The New Haven Independent, which launched eight years ago amid the first wave of online-only community news sites, may soon expand into radio. — The nonprofit Independent is one of three groups asking …

Discussion: Street Fight

John Plunkett / Guardian:

Should Twitter play a part in deciding TV shows' future? — After claims that social media are ‘crucifying’ new series, BBC1 controller says it is ‘just one element’ of the feedback it gets — Twitter's increasingly hand-in-glove relationship with TV was highlighted again on Sunday night …

Discussion: @kirstinestewart and Wired