Mediagazer: After Financing Hiccup, Maxim Sale Set to Close Friday (Lucia Moses/Adweek)

10:45 AM ET, December 5, 2013

Top News:

Christina Chaey / Fast Company:

With Medium 1.0, Ev Williams Tackles The Platform's Identity Crisis — “What is Medium?” — I'm far from the first to ask Ev Williams this question. Since he launched the blogging site with fellow Twitter cofounder Biz Stone a little more than a year ago, many others have wondered …

Discussion: @jeffjohnroberts, @jayrosen_nyu and The Verge

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

Discussion: Gigaom, Medium, @yurivictor, @designhawg, @saila, @dangillmor and @evanatmedium

John McDermott / Digiday:

The Information founder Jessica Lessin discusses subscription models, ads, and aggregation — Why New Tech Site The Information Spurns Ads for Subscriptions — The Information, former Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Lessin's new tech news site, debuted today with a seemingly …

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:
Media Insiders Are Laughing About New Site ‘The Information,’ But Founder Jessica Lessin Will Laugh Last

Discussion: Businessweek, @thestalwart, @amir, @realdanlyons, @bencasselman, @rafat 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

Discussion: AllThingsD, PandoDaily, NetNewsCheck Latest, Nieman Journalism Lab, @karaswisher, @benparr, @edmundlee, Talking Biz News, Silicon Valley Watcher, @moorehn, @mathewi and Valleywag

Felix Gillette / Businessweek:

Politico's Capital New York Expansion in Hands of CEO Jim VandeHei — Since its launch in 2007, Politico, the D.C. upstart covering national politics in print and on the Web, has hosted presidential debates, won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, established a distinctive …

Discussion: @pwgavin, @bw, @mlcalderone, @rafat and @jayrosen_nyu

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.

Discussion: Business Insider, SocialTimes, Telegraph, @aulia and AdExchanger

Mark Landler / New York Times:

Biden Faults China on Foreign Press Crackdown — BEIJING — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. sharply criticized the Chinese government's crackdown on the foreign press, telling an audience of American business people Thursday that the United States had “profound disagreements” with its “treatment of U.S. journalists.”

Discussion: @andrewjacobsnyt, @ericfish85, @kathrynschulz, @peterlattman, New York Magazine, @mrlv426, @dabeard, @scottbix, @greatfirechina, @comradewong and The Verge

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: Radio & Television …, Forbes, Business Insider, New York Times, @sulliview, @raju, @rafat, @raju, @carr2n, WWD Media Headlines, @raju, @raju, @ftc, @jeffjarvis, @rafat, @petersontee, @kantrowitz, @elanazak and Reuters

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Video on Demand Pushes TV Viewing Up — No one watches TV anymore. — You don't, and no one you know does, and it's just a matter of time before the TV Industrial Complex folds in on itself and disappears. — Except ... it turns out that people are. Still. Watching. TV.

Discussion: Fast Company and Business Insider

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 …

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

After Financing Hiccup, Maxim Sale Set to Close Friday — After a hiccup, the Maxim sale appears to be set to close Friday, and publishing vet Bob Guccione Jr. says he's set to take the reins as CEO. — Alpha Media sold the bawdy lad magazine to retired UPS exec Calvin Darden over the summer.

Discussion: bizjournals

Ivan Verstyuk / Columbia Journalism Review:

Ukraine's deep-rooted media problem — As the country is roiled by protest, a Kiev-based journalist looks at a long-standing problem in the media business, where fake, paid-for “news” stories are routine — KIEV—For Ukrainian journalists, “jeans” is not just a pair of denim pants …

Discussion: Forbes, ThinkProgress, New York Times and kyivpost.com

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:

People At CNBC Are Relieved That Maria Bartiromo Left — The entire financial TV industry is in a state of flux. — The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the dismal ratings at CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg. Bloomberg, meanwhile, is in the midst of some kind reassessment of its TV business …

Discussion: Capital New York and TheBlaze.com

Thomas Stackpole / Foreign Policy:

Here's How the British Government Is Planning to Come After the Guardian — Every day, the National Security Agency's massive surveillance apparatus hoovers up nearly 5 billion records drawn from the location data of cell phones around the world. That's according to the Washington Post's latest installment …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite and Guardian

Jill Lawless / Associated Press:
Guardian: We have published 1 pct of Snowden leak

Discussion: @sulliview and New York Times

Peter Jukes / The Daily Beast:

8 Lessons From the Murdoch Phone Hacking Trial — After a month of revelations at the phone hacking trial, a clear picture of the sex-obsessed, cut-throat world of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid journalists has been presented. — The first month of the phone hacking trial at the Old Bailey …

Discussion: @stevennott

Associated Press:

Sohu to stream Nickelodeon programs in China — You are here — Home » Viacom, Inc. » Sohu to stream Nickelodeon programs in China — BEIJING (AP) — “SpongeBob SquarePants” and other Nickelodeon children's programs will be dubbed into Mandarin and available to watch free online …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter and Campaign Asia

Stuart Kemp / Hollywood Reporter:

Yahoo Movies, U.K. Anti-Piracy Site Team Up — Findanyfilm.com strikes a deal with the online giant to help users find legitimate sites to view films and buy movie theater tickets for current releases. — LONDON - U.K. anti-piracy site Findanyfilm.com has partnered with Yahoo! …

Discussion: Variety

Janet Reitman / Rolling Stone:

Snowden and Greenwald: The Men Who Leaked the Secrets — How two alienated, angry geeks broke the story of the year — Early one morning last December, Glenn Greenwald opened his laptop, scanned through his e-mail, and made a decision that almost cost him the story of his life.

Discussion: @normative

Johana Bhuiyan / Capital New York:

White House taps PolicyMic to engage millennials on A.C.A. — The White House is participating in a project with local media company PolicyMic as part of its outreach effort to millennials, seen as a crucial element in the success or failure of the Affordable Care Act.

Discussion: Gigaom and The Hill

Darren Boyle / Press Gazette:

Parliament hears call for UK Bill of Rights to secure press freedom from Government intrusion — A leading Tory MP and former journalist has called for a UK Bill of Rights to secure press freedom to replace the Government's planned Royal Charter backed regulator.

Discussion: Guardian

Sophie Woodrooffe / Sparksheet:

Making Music Multiplatform: Q&A with Pitchfork's Chris Kaskie — Pitchfork began as a bootstrapped blog back in 1996. Now it's a bona fide, award-winning media outlet, complete with a video channel, music discovery app and festival. How do you define yourselves now?

Erik Gruenwedel / Home Media Magazine:

Study: Low Consumer Interest in Transactional VOD — Consumer demand for renting movies and TV shows on connected devices, including television, remains low despite home entertainment's transition to digital distribution, according to a new study. — Just 10% of 1,200 respondents …

Discussion: @milesmaker