Mediagazer: U.S. FCC plans field study of local news sources; U.S. House Republicans want it stopped (Doug Halonen/TVNewsCheck.com)

8:20 AM ET, December 11, 2013

Top News:

John Herrman / BuzzFeed:

Why Twitter Just Joined The Backchannel Wars — Direct messages to the forefront, big photos in tow. Twitter knows: The service that controls messaging controls the world. — Another day, another new messaging app. The only difference: This one is already installed on your phone.

Discussion: The Twitter Blog, TechCrunch, The Atlantic Online, Digits, ReadWrite and Engadget

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Twitter's new head of news explains why she left NBC — Twitter may have been born out of San Francisco's fast-moving startup culture, but its latest leader comes from a place far from it. Vivian Schiller, who will start as Twitter's first news partnerships leader in January …

Discussion: LinkedIn Pulse

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Warner Takes Netflix-Style Service for Old Movies to iPads — Studio says Warner Instant Archive now supports closed captioning — Warner Bros. has launched an iPad tablet app for its subscription-streaming service for classic film and TV titles, a sign the premium-priced offering …

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Time Warner CEO Bewkes: Only Comcast and Verizon Do VOD Right

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, Deadline.com, Capital New York, The Wrap, AdAge and MediaPost

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Conservative consolidation: New ‘Twitchy’ owner in talks to buy RedState, Regnery — Salem Communications, the parent company of right-wing sites HotAir.com and Townhall.com, is considering a series of acquisitions that would consolidate several of the conservative blogosphere's …

Discussion: @johntabin

Benny Johnson / BuzzFeed:
Twitchy Sold To Owners Of Townhall And Hotair

Discussion: The Wire, @guypbenson, Mediaite, Townhall.com, @gatewaypundit, @katiepavlich and @seanagnew

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Vice Media Buys a Tech Company to Experiment With Content Distribution — ADVERTISING, journalism and technology continue to converge. The latest example: Vice Media's acquisition of Carrot Creative, a digital agency that creates apps, websites and games for media companies and brands.

Discussion: Capital New York, @rafat, @jamesnord and Wall Street Journal

Mike Isaac / AllThingsD:

Facebook Wants to Be a Newspaper. Facebook Users Have Their Own Ideas. — Most people think of Facebook in a similar way: It's a place to share photos of your kids. It's a way to keep up with friends and family members. It's a place to share a funny, viral story or LOLcat picture you've stumbled upon on the Web.

Discussion: Business Insider, metamedia, @jasonkincaid, @raju, Mashable, @jenny8lee, WebProNews, @nytimesbits, @qhardy, @bryfitz, Business Insider, @mattbuchanan and @jvitak

Guardian:

BBC to axe more than half of its management boards — Review of corporation's governance also includes appointment of two new non-executive directors and changes to trust's remit — The BBC will on Wednesday announce a series of changes to its system of governance and the appointment …

Discussion: Financial Times

Lenore Taylor / Guardian:

Australia's national public broadcaster, ABC, plans editorial audit after claims of bias — ABC to conduct external audit over bias claims — Process starts with analysis of all interviews with then prime minister and opposition leader in 2013 election campaign

Discussion: Crikey, @lenoretaylor and @jayrosen_nyu

Doug Halonen / TVNewsCheck.com:

U.S. FCC plans field study of local news sources; U.S. House Republicans want it stopped — House Republicans Want News Study Stopped — The members of Congress say a proposed study by the FCC seeking information about how all local news outlets — whether regulated by the FCC or not …

Discussion: Adweek and Broadcasting & Cable

Sandra Oshiro / Poynter:

Another journalist killed in India's Bijapur district — Local protests in India this week follow the killing last Friday of India journalist Sai Reddy in the Bijapur district in south Chhattisgarh, The Hindu reported. — The 51-year-old journalist was attacked at a weekly market.

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, Guardian and The Hindu

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

NYT CEO Mark Thompson aims to create global news brand, says international audiences are key — The global ‘New York Times’ — First The New York Times became the national paper of record for the United States. Now it is aiming to become a leading news brand globally.

John Cook / Gawker:

The New York Times' Media Columnist Sits in a Bloomberg Chair — New York Times media columnist David Carr has a lot of friends. I'm one of them. I would generally agree that, as the Wire put it this morning, he is “well-loved and respected,” and that his column is often …

Discussion: The Wire, @moorehn, @garymasonglobe, @silviakillings, Poynter, @mmckinnon, Talking Biz News, @jbenton and @jenniferpreston

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

Gannett to Add USA Today to Local Papers — Gannett Company, one of the nation's largest newspaper chains, will try to expand its advertising and circulation revenue by inserting parts of its flagship newspaper, USA Today, into its local newspapers. — The company is expected to announce …

Discussion: @susanpage

Kaylene Hong / The Next Web:

Twitter TV ratings heading to Japan next year in move to attract more advertisers — Twitter TV ratings are landing in Japan, the company announced today, as it seeks to provide further statistics that can persuade advertisers to place its money on the social networking service.

Discussion: Softpedia News

Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:

Discovery Mulling Bid for Owner of Food Network, HGTV (Exclusive) — Scripps Networks Interactive seen as prime acquistion target as cable consolidation heats up — Discovery Communications is mulling a bid for Scripps Networks Interactive, parent company of Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel and other lifestyle-oriented cablers.

Discussion: C21Media, Wall Street Journal, Deadline.com, @joshdlondon, @brianstelter and AllThingsD

Ian Sample / Guardian:

Nobel winner declares boycott of top science journals — Randy Schekman says his lab will no longer send papers to Nature, Cell and Science as they distort scientific process — Leading academic journals are distorting the scientific process and represent a “tyranny” that must be broken …

Discussion: eLife, TeleRead, Boing Boing and Bookseller news

Fred Prouser / Reuters:

Outerwall to cut 8.5 percent of workforce, Redbox chief leaves — (Reuters) - Outerwall Inc said the president of its Redbox video rental kiosks division had left the business after just over a year and that it would cut 8.5 percent of its workforce. — The company, giving no reason …

Discussion: Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, The Seattle Times, Fox Business and CNBC

Glyn Moody / Techdirt:

Norway To Digitize All Norwegian Books, Allowing Domestic IP Addresses To Read All Of Them, Irrespective Of Copyright Status — Here's a pretty amazing story from Norway: … Now, in any normal country — where “normal” means one in which copyright has reached the heights of monopolistic insanity …