Mediagazer: CNN Films adds an acquisition unit (Joe Flint/Los Angeles Times)

1:30 PM ET, December 17, 2013

Top News:

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

Snowden Not Renewing Request For Asylum In Brazil, Greenwald Says — Brazil has been one of the most outspoken opponents of NSA spying. Glenn Greenwald says Edward Snowden's letter to the people of Brazil has been “wildly misreported.” — WASHINGTON — Glenn Greenwald says Edward Snowden's letter …

Discussion: Gawker, @ggreenwald, NBCNews, The Daily Caller, @rosiegray, TheHill and WorldViews

Darren Boyle / Press Gazette:

Guardian whistle-blower Edward Snowden offers to help Brazil investigate US spying in return for asylum — Guardian whistle-blower Edward Snowden has offered to help the Brazilian government investigate claims of US spying on their citizens if the South American country offers him political asylum.

Discussion: folha.uol.com.br, USA Today, TechCrunch, Latest News & Headlines, CNET, ZDNet, Reuters, Telegraph, Techdirt, The Verge, Guardian, @ggreenwald and Softpedia News

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Federal Judge Rules Against N.S.A. Phone Data Program

Guardian:
Edward Snowden says judge's ruling vindicates NSA surveillance disclosures

Discussion: Mediaite, The Week, TechCrunch, @tnyjohncassidy, TIME, The Huffington Post, @miriamelder and @ggreenwald

Anneta Konstantinides / ABC News:

Mike Huckabee to Launch ‘Huckabee Post’ — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will launch a news publication “Huckabee Post” in January 2014, ABC News has learned. — The site will cover a range of topics from news and politics to sports and pop culture, according to the former governor's son, David Huckabee.

Discussion: Fox News, Mediaite, TVNewser, TVNewser, FishbowlNY, Politico, TruthRevolt.org, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, @mckaycoppins, The Epoch Times, TheBlaze.com, @gma, @samsteinhp, @abbydphillip and Talking Points Memo

Tom Phillips / BuzzFeed:

How The Media Will Report The Apocalypse — It's the end of the world as we know it. In early 2014, a series of devastating catastrophes bring about Armageddon. Papers of record like the New York Times soberly report this news. The Guardian tries to provide comprehensive live coverage of the end of days.

Discussion: @louispeitzman, @dollyalderton, @laurakeeney, @bruce_arthur and @finsjesse

John Paton / Digital First:

MediaNews Group and 21st Century Media to merge under Digital First Media — The First Step On The Rest of the Journey — Sometimes a press release just isn't enough to say what has happened. — Or can do justice on how important this new development truly is to our company.

Discussion: Digital First Media, JIMROMENESKO.COM and @jeffjarvis

Alastair Reid / Journalism.co.uk:

Brown Moses to launch site for open investigative journalism — The Syrian conflict blogger and munitions investigator Eliot Higgins, better known as Brown Moses, is set to launch a new website as a platform and resource for open, investigative journalism in early 2014.

Discussion: @brown_moses and @azmatzahra

Michael Wolff / Guardian:

If Time Inc wants to survive, it should create its own ad agency — In the Darwinian battle between media, an in-house, clever advertising agency could save the flailing business — I keep thinking about the existential predicament of working for Time Inc in 2014, as it gets ready to spin …

Discussion: @jeffjohnroberts, @cotton, @guardianus, @zimbalist and mUmBRELLA

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

CNN Films adds an acquisition unit — CNN is making a further push into the documentary film business with the creation of an acquisition unit. The cable news channel, which last year launched CNN Films to make and finance documentaries, will now also buy older documentaries for the network through …

Discussion: TVNewser, Broadcasting & Cable, Capital New York, FishbowlDC, Deadline.com, CNN and Realscreen

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

Documentary on the downfall of Philadelphia's newspapers to air on Wednesday night — How the Newspaper Business Became a ‘F**king Disgrace’ — A new documentary chronicles the long, slow death of the American newspaper. It all begins with a testicle.

Michele McLellan / Knight Digital Media Center:

Patch: Learning the hard way in local news — If the latest from David Carr doesn't mark the final nail in the coffin of Patch, it's pretty darn close. Carr quotes AOL CEO Tim Armstrong acknowledging that AOL cannot continue “to go it alone in what has been a futile attempt to guide Patch to profitability.”

Discussion: Gigaom, Wired, Talking Biz News, The Switch, @jcstearns, @michelemclellan, Columbia Journalism Review, American Press Institute and New York Times

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Sun publisher posts £75m pre-tax loss — News Group Newspapers took charges related to the phone-hacking scandal of almost £90m in the year to 30 June — The parent company of the Sun and Sun on Sunday has reported a pre-tax loss of £75m in the year to 30 June …

Discussion: @tom_watson

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

Exclusive: Twitter working on “edit” feature for tweets — Twitter is working on a new feature that would allow users to edit tweets once they are published, three sources close to the project have confirmed to The Desk. — Those sources, who asked to be identified only as Twitter employees …

Discussion: Gigaom, CNET, Softpedia News, Business Insider, @mat, @kashhill, Marketing Pilgrim, VatorNews, @ksablan, @politwoops, @craigsilverman, @stevebuttry and The Next Web

Gautham Nagesh / Wall Street Journal:

FCC Withdraws Proposal to Relax Media-Ownership Rules — Proposal Would Have Relaxed Ban on Owning Multiple Media Outlets in Same Market … The Federal Communications Commission said it has withdrawn a proposal to relax the long-standing ban on owning multiple media outlets in the same market.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, NetNewsCheck Latest and Adweek

Hadas Gold / Politico:

USA Today plans countrywide expansion — USA Today is planning to expand its coverage across the country, placing reporters in Miami, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas and out in the Mountain West, editor-in-chief David Callaway wrote in an email to staff on Monday afternoon.

Discussion: Poynter

Eddie Vassallo / Gigaom:

The tablet magazine ship is sinking. Fast. — Last month I published a post on my company blog that caused some (shall we say) interesting feedback from both our publisher clients as well as the broader media community. While I was certainly not the first to proclaim the death of the tablet magazine …

Discussion: @zimbalist, @newmanology, @psmith, @clarajeffery and Anna Wahrman