Mediagazer: Boston.com hires ‘ChartGirl’ Hilary Sargent (Jim Romenesko)

2:15 PM ET, December 13, 2013

Top News:

Mary Ann Milbourn / Orange County Register:

Register owner to launch daily L.A. newspaper — The co-owner and publisher of the Orange County Register announced Thursday that the company will move broadly into Los Angeles County early next year and publish a new, seven-day-a-week newspaper, the Los Angeles Register.

Discussion: LA Observed, The Wrap, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, FishbowlNY, @margotroosevelt, Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Business …, Poynter and The Newspaper Guild

Dylan Byers / Politico:

W.H.: CIA report ‘highly irresponsible’ — White House press secretary Jay Carney said Friday that it was “highly irresponsible” of the Associated Press to publish its report about the missing former FBI agent Robert Levinson's ties to the CIA. — The report “very likely puts that person in greater danger,” Carney said.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and @jeneps

Ed O'Keefe / Post Politics:
Sen. Bill Nelson: I told AP not to run Robert Levinson story

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, @lrozen and @mlcalderone

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
Associated Press Held CIA Scoop For 3 Years At The Government's Request

Discussion: Associated Press, Capital New York, Washington Post, @mightyobvious_ and Gawker

Paul Colford / The Definitive Source:
Why AP is publishing story about missing American tied to CIA

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Media Matters Declares Victory: ‘The War On Fox Is Over’ — WASHINGTON — Since its founding in 2004, the progressive watchdog group Media Matters for America has been a thorn in the side of Fox News. Its dozens of staffers monitor the network's leadership, hosts, guests and financial dealings incessantly …

Discussion: Politico, National Review, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze.com

Kelly McBride / Poynter:

Newtown's media blackout forces journalists to do their jobs — The one-year anniversary of a tragic event is a significant moment. But for journalists, such moments too often become opportunities for emotional exploitation rather than real journalism. — The citizens of Newtown, Conn. …

Discussion: Latest News & Headlines, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, @evanberland_ap, Columbia Journalism Review, Education and the Media, TIME, Jack Shafer and Boing Boing

Peter Elkind / Fortune:

Bloomberg News reaffirms ban on writing about Mike Bloomberg — The news organization owned by Bloomberg LP has an unusual, self-imposed policy preventing itself from writing about its founder. — FORTUNE — When Michael Bloomberg retires as New York's mayor in January after 12 years in office …

Discussion: @dangillmor, The Huffington Post, Hit & Run and Talking Biz News

Alex Sherman / Bloomberg:

Charter Said to Prepare Offer Letter for Time Warner Cable — Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) is preparing an offer letter to acquire Time Warner Cable Inc. for less than $140 a share, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. — Charter will send the so-called bear hug letter …

Discussion: AdAge, Variety, Radio & Television …, DealBook and The Verge

David Kravets / Wired:

AOL Tightens CrunchBase's Licensing to Block Competitors — AOL is legally locking down its crowdsourced CrunchBase database of tech companies, in response to a commercial iPhone app that used the database to compete with AOL. — The new CrunchBase license will continue to allow free use …

Discussion: Info @ CrunchBase and TechCrunch

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Q&A: Sarah Marshall on leaving Journalism.co.uk for the WSJ and the state of media across the pond — For three years, Sarah Marshall has held a job that's pretty similar to, well, my job. And I think she's pretty good at it! But Marshall is moving on, from Journalism.co.uk …

Discussion: @niemanlab and Talking Biz News

Tom Balmforth / Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

Out Of Ukrainian Protests, A New Media Outlet Is Born — KYIV — A wave of panic grips protesters as rumors spread that tanks are bearing down on Kyiv to quell the revolt against President Viktor Yanukovych. — Several news outlets ran reports and word spreads like wildfire on Twitter.

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

‘Invisible Child’: Behind the Scenes, Before and After — Andrea Elliott's moving and exhaustively reported five-part series, “Invisible Child,” was 15 months in the making. At 28,738 words, and accompanied by affecting images by Ruth Fremson, a staff photographer, this story of a homeless girl …

Discussion: @mattapuzzo, @patkiernan, @byronyork, @tedhartii, @bydanielvictor, @sulliview, @longreads, @palafo, @richarddeitsch and Politicker

Parker Higgins / Mediashift:

WordPress Goes to Court to Defend Censored Bloggers — The blogging platform WordPress.com has taken the unusual — and welcome — step of going to court to defend its users against bogus copyright claims aimed at silencing their speech on the platform. Automattic, WordPress's parent company …

Discussion: @timkarr and @pbsmediashift, Thanks:@mediatwit

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Amidst fierce competition, music streaming services fight for paying subscribers — A Stream of Music, Not Revenue — When Spotify, the digital music company of the moment, announced this week an exclusive deal with Led Zeppelin and free access on mobile devices, it also reported impressive numbers.

Discussion: @dada_drummer

Nellie Bowles / San Francisco Chronicle:

Jessica Lessin's startup courts high-powered audience for tech news — When former Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Lessin celebrated the launch of her journalism startup at a Pacific Heights mansion this week, the event attracted the tech A-list: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrived in a gray hoodie …

Discussion: Valleywag, TheHill, @julianhurrah, @mathewi and @jessicalessin

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

Toronto Star reporter serves Rob Ford with libel notice — “On Thursday I served Rob Ford with a libel notice, the first step in the process of pursuing a defamation lawsuit,” Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale wrote in an article Thursday, explaining why he'd chosen to take legal action against Toronto's controversial mayor.

Discussion: Torontoist, National Post, Huffington Post Canada, Globe and Mail and Rehak/Stuebing Mostly Media

Jim Romenesko:

Boston.com hires ‘ChartGirl’ Hilary Sargent — Hilary Sargent, who's known for tackling “complicated matters in easily digestible charts,” is joining Boston.com next month as a full-time staffer. Jack Shafer wrote earlier this year that “ChartGirl” Sargent “straddles the space between the two-dimensional …

Johana Bhuiyan / Capital New York:

Thrillist Media Group finds a home on the web — Thrillist Media Group is finally getting around to building a website for the digital media company to call home, Capital has learned. — The Lerer Ventures-backed company, which is reportedly on track to bring in anywhere between $80 …

Jim Edwards / Business Insider:

Facebook Video Pitch Deck Shows It Has Gone To War Against TV — Facebook believes its soon-to-be-launched video ad product will compete directly for TV ad dollars, and those going on YouTube, according to a leaked sales pitch deck obtained by Techcrunch. — Speaker notes alongside …

Discussion: TechCrunch

Brian Resnick / NationalJournal.com:

White House Blames Internet for Lack of Media Access, and the Press Cries Foul — Commotion erupts as the media debates access issues with press secretary Jay Carney. — The Obama White House has become notorious for its restrictions on media access. Few press photographers get to photograph …

Discussion: @stephieintexas, Poynter, The Huffington Post and Mediaite