Mediagazer: Publishing Platform Medium Keeps Iterating With New Photo, Layout Tools And Collection Controls (Jordan Crook/TechCrunch)

10:00 PM ET, December 4, 2013

Top News:

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Martin Bashir Resigns From MSNBC — Just over two weeks ago, MSNBC host Martin Bashir delivered a harsh piece of commentary that culminated in the suggestion that someone should “s-h-i-t” in former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's (R-AK) mouth. Bashir offered an abject apology on his next broadcast …

Alex Kantrowitz / AdAge:

Arguments Fly During FTC Workshop on Native Advertising — Ad Industry Mounts Vigorous Defense in D.C.; Detractors Including Bob Garfield Blast Practice — The advertising industry descended on Washington, D.C. today, mounting a vigorous defense of so-called “native” …

Discussion: Forbes and @petersontee

Diane Bartz / Reuters:
U.S. says online ads should be clearly marked, undeceptive

Discussion: @raju, @ftc, @elanazak, @raju, @raju, New York Times, @jeffjarvis and @rafat

IAB:
IAB Releases Native Advertising Playbook To Establish Common Industry Lexicon, Evaluation …

Discussion: AdAge, @michaelpilla, @raju and Audience Development

Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:

Publishing Platform Medium Keeps Iterating With New Photo, Layout Tools And Collection Controls — Medium, the blog publishing platform from Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, has today released new features and a few design changes. — Medium has sprouted from a seedling to a full-fledged media tool …

Discussion: Gigaom, Medium, Fast Company, @yurivictor, @designhawg, @saila, The Verge, @dangillmor and @evanatmedium

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:

Media Insiders Are Laughing About New Site ‘The Information,’ But Founder Jessica Lessin Will Laugh Last — Former WSJ tech reporter and editor Jessica Lessin officially launched a tech news site this morning. — It's called The Information. — According to a letter from the editor …

Discussion: @thestalwart, @realdanlyons, @bencasselman, @rafat, @amir and The Michael Report

Jessica E. Lessin / The Information:

Former Wall Street Journal reporter launches The Information, a tech news site with a $399 annual subscription — Letter From the Editor — Technology news needs a reboot. There are more stories and outlets than ever, but a troubling cycle is playing out:

Discussion: AllThingsD, @karaswisher, PandoDaily, Talking Biz News, @mathewi, @moorehn, Valleywag, @edmundlee, Silicon Valley Watcher and @benparr

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

News Corp. names Clinton White House vet as new communications chief — The new News Corp. is still getting its house in order, and has recruited a new executive to its senior team. — Jim Kennedy, a veteran of the Clinton White House, has been appointed chief communications officer …

Discussion: Gawker, New York Times, News Corp, The Wrap and Variety

Johana Bhuiyan / Capital New York:

Joel Johnson named Gawker editorial director — Joel Johnson, founding editor of Kotaku, Gizmodo and The Consumerist, has been named editorial director of Gawker, Nick Denton told staff in a memo Wednesday. — Johnson, currently an editor-at-large of Gawker and contributing editor at The Wirecutter, will report for duty in January.

Discussion: The New York Observer, Poynter and FishbowlNY

Abigail Edge / Journalism.co.uk:

BBC News to introduce ‘NewsLabs team’ to drive innovation — Managing editor James Harding told staff that BBC News will assemble a NewsLabs team to establish ‘new formats’ for telling and sharing stories — Credit: By Horia Varlan on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Discussion: bbc.co.uk and Guardian

BBC:
BBC must tackle diversity ‘problem’ says news director

Discussion: @sunny_hundal, @emmajtracey, @narco_sam and @t_mcconnell

CNN:

Media outlets cautious as Newtown 911 recordings released — (CNN) — Wednesday's release of audio recordings of the 911 calls from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings will force news organizations to make difficult — and probably unpopular — decisions about what to broadcast and what to hold back.

Discussion: New York Times, TVNewser, @thedailybeast, @brianstelter and Columbia Journalism Review

Dylan Byers / Politico:

CBS News chairman defends Lara Logan in staff meeting — CBS News chairman and ‘60 Minutes’ EP Jeff Fager held a meeting with CBS News staff on Tuesday and took questions about the fate of Lara Logan and Max McClellan, the journalists currently on a leave of absence in the wake …

Bloomberg:

Nine Entertainment Raises A$643 Million in Australian IPO Rush — Nine Entertainment Co. and its owners plan to raise about A$643 million ($582 million) in Australia's second-biggest initial public offering this year as first-time share sales in the country surge.

Discussion: The Age

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Twitter Is About To Officially Launch Retargeted Ads — Twitter is ready to roll out retargeted ads fueled by browser cookies, sources confirm. Twitter could make the announcement as soon as tomorrow, expanding retargeted ads beyond the “experimental” phase that started in July.

Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:

Analyst Says Unbundling Would Destroy TV Value — Needham & Co.'s Laura Martin says that TV unbundling would put $80 billion to $113 billion in consumer value at risk — With the price of pay TV rising, increasing consumer choice through replacing the current bundle of channels with an a la system becomes a more popular idea.

Discussion: MediaPost, BuzzFeed, Deadline.com and Los Angeles Times

Jim Romenesko:

Alt-weekly publisher: I hear Aaron Kushner is losing millions on the Orange County Register — Stephen Mindich, who closed the Boston Phoenix in March, said at a panel discussion on newspapers Tuesday that he hears Aaron Kushner's investment in the Orange County Register and other publications isn't paying off.

Discussion: CommonWealth Magazine

Jill Lawless / Associated Press:

Guardian: We have published 1 pct of Snowden leak — You are here — Home » Edward Snowden » Guardian: We have published 1 pct of Snowden leak … LONDON (AP) — The editor of the Guardian said Tuesday his newspaper has published just 1 percent of the material it received …

Discussion: USA Today, @sulliview, Associated Press, TheBlaze.com, New York Times, Guardian, Committee to Protect …, The Drum and TheHill

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Daily Download founder confirms site has ended publication — “Ashburn Media Company has decided to stop publishing Daily-download.com,” Lauren Ashburn tells Poynter in an emailed statement. … Andrew Kaczynski wrote about the site's apparent demise Tuesday.

Discussion: Erik Wemple, Gawker, FishbowlNY, Slate and BuzzFeed

Addis Ababa / Associated Press:

International rights group appeals for the release of Ethiopian reporter jailed for 18 years — ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - A rights group is making a global appeal for the release from prison of an award-winning journalist in Ethiopia. — Amnesty International this week is trying …

Discussion: afriquejet.com, ZegabiZegabi and allAfrica.com

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:

Yahoo Acquires Team Behind Dreamworks Animation Incubated Mobile Video App Ptch — Ptch, the DreamWorks Animation-incubated mobile video startup, has been acquired by Yahoo. The app was launched just over a year ago and will shut down on January 2, 2014. Until then, you'll be able …

Discussion: Ptch Blog, The Next Web, Digital Media Wire, bizjournals, VatorNews, App Advice, Engadget, Business Insider and AllThingsD

BuzzFeed:

Dueling Arafat Reports Divide Palestinians — And Al Jazeera — Was the late Palestinian leader poisoned? “This is going to look biased.” — A new French report has found that contrary to recent Swiss findings, Yasser Arafat was likely not killed by polonium poisoning …

Discussion: @joshmitnick, @sheeraf and @miriamelder

Todd Spangler / Variety:

DirecTV Invests in Two Digital Entertainment Startups — Satcaster takes stakes in second-screen app developer i.TV and video aggregator LiveClips — DirecTV announced that it has made strategic investments in two digital entertainment startups — video-aggregation provider LiveClips …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:

Disney Increases Annual Dividend by 15% to 86 Cents — Walt Disney Co. (DIS), the world's largest entertainment company, raised its annual dividend by 15 percent to 86 cents a share, the fourth straight yearly increase after posting record sales and profit.

Discussion: The Wrap, Deadline.com, Hollywood Reporter and @benfritz

Andrew Berg / Wireless Week:

New Rules Hasten FCC Approval of Verizon's Vodafone Buy — The FCC Wednesday approved Verizon's petition for a declaratory ruling on its acquistion of Vodafone's 45 percent stake in the Verizon Wireless joint venture. — The ruling, which involved the International Bureau …

Discussion: PR Newswire and @eggerton

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.