Mediagazer: Hackers break into Washington Post servers (Craig Timberg/Washington Post)

10:30 AM ET, December 19, 2013

Top News:

Jonathan Kaiman / Guardian:

Beginning next year, Chinese reporters must pass ideology exam to retain press credentials — Chinese journalists face Marxist ideology exam — Exam to be based on 700-page manual that prohibits published reports from featuring comments that go against party line

Discussion: @raju

Reuters:

China renews press cards for Bloomberg, several New York Times reporters — (Reuters) - The Chinese government has renewed the press accreditations for journalists from Bloomberg News and several New York Times reporters, a journalists' group said on Thursday.

Discussion: Poynter, Washington Post, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press

Craig Timberg / Washington Post:

Hackers break into Washington Post servers — Hackers broke into The Washington Post's servers and gained access to employee user names and passwords, marking at least the third intrusion over the past three years, company officials said Wednesday. — The extent of the loss of company data …

Discussion: AllThingsD, The Huffington Post, @repmikerogers, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, The Wrap, darkREADING, The Verge, @digiphile, Mashable, CNET, TIME and Yahoo! News

Mike Deri Smith / BBC:

Porn filters block sex education websites — The new filters are designed to block sites unsuitable for children — Pornography filters used by major internet service providers are blocking websites offering sex education and advice on sexual health and porn addiction, the BBC has learned.

Discussion: The Independent, TechRadar.com, Telegraph, @codepo8, @refugecharity, @jackschofield, @hvklav, @dickmandrake, Crave, Yahoo! News, Pocket-lint and Gigaom

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Shows aren't in the future for Washington Post's PostTV — The Washington Post's PostTV video initiative will stop presenting information as shows and move to “easily digestible segments,” Washington Post spokesperson Kris Coratti tells Poynter in an email.

Om Malik / Gigaom:

In 12 years of blogging, the more things change, the more they stay the same — Last Friday was the 12th anniversary of day when I posted my first blog post on gigaom.com, and starting what would later (in June 2006) become a company. (Up until Dec. 13, 2001, GigaOM was nothing …

Discussion: @om, ZDNet and Om Malik

Rob Gillies / Associated Press:

Toronto Star Reporter Drops Lawsuit Against Rob Ford — TORONTO (AP) — A Toronto Star reporter dropped his defamation lawsuit against Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Wednesday after Ford issued a more expansive apology for suggesting the journalist is a pedophile.

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Movie-Dub App Startup MyLingo Raises $750,000, Adds UTA's Jeremy Zimmer as Adviser — MyLingo, a startup developing an app that plays back dubbed tracks for non-English-speaking moviegoers, has landed $750,000 in seed funding and singed up United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer to its advisory board.

Discussion: Forbes and Fast Company

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Prince William's messages for Kate Middleton were hacked, court told — Voicemails including one telling how prince ‘nearly got shot’ mark first time News of the World has been accused of hacking royals — The News of the World hacked voicemail messages from Prince William to Kate Middleton …

Discussion: Vanity Fair

Lauren Rabaino / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The year we contextualize the news — My prediction isn't particularly snazzy. It doesn't require drones or sensors or wearables. It gets back to common sense, highlighting our role as an industry in creating informed citizens. 2014 will be the year of contextualization.

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu

Erin Griffith / PandoDaily:

One snapshot of how the Forbes contributor network works, from a writer asked to be a source — The ouroboros is complete: Forbes outsourced contributor outsources journalism to actual journalists — A curious “interview request” arrived in my inbox today: A Forbes contributor …

Discussion: @ledbetreuters and Forbes

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Viki Strikes Deal With Baidu to Bring Crowd-Translated Programming to China — Viki, the innovative global video service that has been described as “Hulu for the rest of the world,” will partner with Chinese search giant Baidu for its first foray into that country.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, Fast Company, Variety and TechCrunch

Dean Starkman / Columbia Journalism Review:

Two paths for newspapers — As if newspapers didn't have enough problems, they also have investment bankers. — Joe Cahill brings some disturbing news about cynical practices at the parent of the Chicago Tribune, a company living up to Mike Royko's unofficial motto for the city: “Ube Est Mea — Where's mine?”

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, @deanstarkman and @cjr