Mediagazer: Aereo to launch in Baltimore, still a dozen cities short of goal (Joan E. Solsman/CNET)

10:30 AM ET, December 6, 2013

Top News:

A Settlement Between Fox News and a Former Top Executive? Perhaps — The Fox News Channel has long been described as insular and buttoned up, a reputation that has been reaffirmed in recent days over the question of whether it has reached a settlement with Brian Lewis …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and @tomgara

Matthew Lynch / Capital New York:

Gawker's Zimmerman gets his own corner — Gawker's editors are cooking up a plan to give Neetzan Zimmerman, Gawker's in-house savant of viral material, his own subvertical on the site. And when he does, his editor, John Cook, knows what he would like to name it.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, @carr2n and @mathewi

Upworthy Insider:

What Actually Makes Things Go Viral Will Blow Your Mind. (Hint: It's Not Headlines Like This.) — By now it's fairly well known that we care a lot about headlines here at Upworthy. We write at least 25 of them for each post. We test them rigorously. Sometimes, we even make up a word to catch your eye.

Discussion: PandoDaily, The Kernel, @pkafka, @clarajeffery, @newswhip, @davidbauer and @malexjohnson, Thanks:@joshluger

Jay Yarow / Business Insider:

The World's Most Controversial Viral Site Posted A Great Defense Of Itself — Upworthy, a site dedicated to viral content, has become the newest punching bag for reporters from both new and old media. — It's rare to see those two agree, but they do about Upworthy.

Hannah Karp / Wall Street Journal:

Spotify to Introduce Free Mobile Music Service — Free Version of Streaming Service Was Previously Only Available on Desktop and Laptops — Spotify AB is planning a free, ad-supported version of its streaming-music service on mobile devices, according to people familiar with the matter …

Discussion: Gigaom, TechCrunch, Telegraph, Business Insider, BGR, hypebot, Guardian, Mashable, SocialTimes, VatorNews, Gizmodo, @stuartkhall, The Next Web, App Advice, The Verge, SlashGear, Pocket-lint, The Drum, Engadget and Gizmodo UK

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

AOL editor-in-chief to exit — More turmoil seems to be engulfing AOL. — The latest is that AOL editor in chief Cyndi Stivers is said to be exiting. She only joined in May. — One source said it is a “slow fire” which suggests it won't go public until next year.

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:
Layoffs at AOL: 20 slips, mostly homepage editors, writers

Discussion: Capital New York and FishbowlNY

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Interview with Facebook News Feed Manager Over Content Changes — In 2011, Google changed the way it ranked websites, in an effort to punish spammers and “content farms” that showed up high in search results but delivered crummy pages. — Google's “Panda” changes had giant ripple effects throughout …

Discussion: @myurow and @pkafka

Gail Shister / TVNewser:

Brian Stelter: CNN's offer was ‘Irresistible’ — “I would not leave the Times for a television job” doesn't occupy the same pantheon as “Read my lips, no new taxes” or “I never had sex with that woman,” but it still presents a bit of sticky wicket for Brian Stelter, who debuts Sunday as host of CNN's ‘Reliable Sources.’

Discussion: FishbowlNY and SocialTimes

Wall Street Journal:

FCC Unlikely to Bless a Comcast-TWC Deal: Regulator — Commissioner Says Current Administration Taking Tough Antitrust Stance … Any effort by Comcast Corp. to acquire Time Warner Cable Inc. would face significant hurdles in Washington, according to a Federal Communications Commission official …

Discussion: @maureenmfarrell

Wall Street Journal: Pursuit of Time Warner Cable Takes a Toll on Its Bonds

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Rolling Stone Plans a Standalone Website to Cover Country Music — Magazine is Opening an Office in Nashville — Rolling Stone plans to introduce a new website called Rolling Stone Country in the second quarter of 2014. — The new standalone site's aim is to cover the country music scene …

Thanks:@msebastian

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Billionaire Mansueto is said to have interest in Forbes Media — Joe Mansueto, the mutli-billionaire founder of mutual-fund researcher Morningstar, is rumored to be looking at Forbes Media. — Reached via email, he declined to comment on Forbes. — He's no stranger to the publication …

Ted Sherman / New Jersey Online:

Advance Publications considering consolidation of New Jersey newspapers — Owners of Star-Ledger, NJ.com and sister newspapers studying possible consolidations — star-ledger-building-unions- closure.JPG — Advance Publications, owner of The Star-Ledger and NJ.com …

Discussion: Talking New Media

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

When White House Photos Are ‘Visual Press Releases’ — For Doug Mills - the longtime White House photographer for The Times - what happened on Veterans Day was more than annoying. It was wrong. — He and other Washington journalists had been hearing that the oldest World War II veteran alive …

Discussion: @sulliview

Jason Karaian / Reuters:

Twitter's new board member isn't the only one who rarely tweets — When Twitter announced the appointment of Marjorie Scardino as a board member, it did it, naturally, with a tweet. — But when the millions of people who follow Twitter's corporate account clicked through to Scardino's account …

Discussion: Marketing Pilgrim, @vindugoel, Los Angeles Times, VatorNews, Guardian, Jezebel, VentureBeat, Business Insider, Mashable, WebProNews, Gigaom and The Drum

John McDuling / Quartz:
Twitter's first female director is also the first “old media” executive on the board

Discussion: Quartz, NYT Bits, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, AllThingsD, @mathewi, Wired, Washington Post, ReadWrite, Digits, @jmcduling and @hamishmckenzie

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

The Sun attracts 117,000 paying subscribers to its Sun+ digital service — News UK's tabloid erected a paywall in August and analysts reckon it needs at least 250,000 subscribers to break even — The Sun has attracted 117,000 paying subscribers to its £2-a-week digital service Sun+ since erecting …

Tom Grubisich / Street Fight:

Buttry Sees Progress for Digital First's ‘New Model’ for Community News — Steve Buttry, the digital transformation editor at Digital First Media, began his career in community newspapers more than 40 years ago in Columbus, Ohio - as a teenage carrier. In the years since, he's been a reporter …

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Former Times legal chief suspended by tribunal after paper deceived High Court to expose Nightjack police blogger — Former legal manager of The Times Alastair Brett has been suspended as a solicitor for six months over the paper's handling of the Nightjack case.

Joan E. Solsman / CNET:

Aereo to launch in Baltimore, still a dozen cities short of goal — Aereo, the online TV service that streams and records over-the-air shows in some parts of the US, said Thursday that it will launch in Baltimore on Dec. 16. — The company aimed to expand from its New York home base …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable and FierceCable