Mediagazer: Outerwall to cut 8.5 percent of workforce, Redbox chief leaves (Fred Prouser/Reuters)

3:30 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, Engadget, Digits, The Verge and The Atlantic Online

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

Benny Johnson / BuzzFeed:

Twitchy Sold To Owners Of Townhall And Hotair — “Media Matters types would like to paint conservatives as boring, old white guys. Twitchy ads more fun and humor to our platform,” Townhall's general manager says. — Twitchy, the conservative Twitter aggregation site …

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

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

William Launder / Wall Street Journal:

Vice Media Bulks Up News Division — Company With Knack for Reaching Young Adults Adds More Journalists — Vice Media Inc., known for its edgy, youth-oriented online and TV programming, is more than doubling the size of its news operations, the latest sign that digital-media outlets see growth potential in news.

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: @jamesnord

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: @moorehn, @silviakillings, @garymasonglobe and Talking Biz News

Marcella Bombardieri / The Boston Globe:
New York Times columnist David Carr to join Boston University faculty

Discussion: The Wire, Poynter, @natives, @bretteats, @mmckinnon, FishbowlNY, @jayrosen_nyu, @jbenton, @jenniferpreston, @melissaadan_, @jeffjarvis, @craigsilverman, @hblodget, @brianstelter, @dankennedy_nu, @cynthianeedham and Capital New York

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, MediaPost and CNET

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

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.

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 … and The Hindu

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

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

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

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

Jordan Chariton / Lost Remote:

The Washington Post Debuts Chromecast Integration — The Washington Post debuted their Chromecast integration today, becoming the first news organization to allow users to access their content through the growing second screen device. — Washingtonpost.com, PostTV.com, The Washington Post iPad app …

Discussion: International Business Times, GalleyCat, AppNewser and SocialTimes

Jose Pagliery / CNNMoney:

Snowden docs had NYTimes exec fearing for his life — Informing the American people about how their government spies on them can be risky business for journalists. — Rajiv Pant, chief technology officer at The New York Times ( NYT), thought he could be killed for it. — It was the IT help request from hell.

Discussion: @tbridis and @jesselynradack

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

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

China Foreign Press Crackdown Prompts Calls For Visa Retaliation — NEW YORK — When Vice President Joe Biden recently addressed China's crackdown on foreign press and the government's refusal to renew journalists' visas, he turned the spotlight on a challenge that news organizations have traditionally dealt with behind closed doors.

Discussion: The New Republic and Kirk LaPointe's<br …