Mediagazer: Al Jazeera weighs bid for $1 billion Turkish pay-TV firm Digiturk: sources (Reuters)

9:50 AM ET, December 18, 2013

Top News:

Second worst year on record for jailed journalists — For the second consecutive year, Turkey was the world's leading jailer of journalists, followed closely by Iran and China. The number of journalists in prison globally decreased from a year earlier but remains close to historical highs.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Poynter, ABC News, @radleybalko, @joelcpj, @mlcalderone, @nickcohen4, Guardian, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, The Times of Israel, India & World and @nervana_1

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

71 journalists killed in 2013 ‘in connection with their work’ — In 2013, 71 journalists were killed in connection with their work, some 20% fewer deaths than the year before, according to the Paris-based press freedom body, Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders and Columbia Journalism Review

Nina Ognianova / Committee to Protect Journalists:

Turkey—world's top press jailer once more — For the second year in a row, our prison census shows, Turkey jailed more journalists than any other country. The number of journalists behind bars is 40; down from the 61 reporters in October 2012, and less than the 49 we recorded on December 1, 2012.

Al Jazeera English:

Over 200 journalists still jailed worldwide — Turkey, Iran and China top list of world's worst jailers of journalists in 2013, with most held on anti-state charges. — Turkey, Iran, and China accounted for more than half of the over 200 journalists still imprisoned worldwide as of December 1 …

Discussion: @joelcpj

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Time Inc. out of Forbes race — Time Inc. Chief Content Officer Norm Pearlstine — Time Inc. is out of the running to buy Forbes, Media Ink has learned. — The publishing giant has been rumored to be a top contender. Forbes was recently put on the block and Deutsche Bank …

Discussion: AdAge

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

The best and worst media errors and corrections in 2013 — Error of the Year: ‘60 Minutes’ Benghazi report — As is often the case with Error of the Year, the award is given partly because of the mistake itself, and partly because of the mistake's fallout.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Pressing Issues, @mmfa, @brendannyhan and Gawker, Thanks:@craigsilverman

Brian Morrissey / Digiday:

Bloomberg Media Poaches GE Exec Paul Marcum — Newly installed Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith has made his first major hire in his tenure with the addition of GE marketing exec Paul Marcum. — Marcum, a three-year veteran of GE, will join Bloomberg on Jan. 13 as its head of global digital innovation …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Reuters:

Al Jazeera weighs bid for $1 billion Turkish pay-TV firm Digiturk: sources — (Reuters) - Television broadcaster Al Jazeera is considering a bid for a majority stake in Turkish digital pay-TV operator Digiturk, three banking sources aware of the plans said, in a move by the Qatar-backed broadcaster to further expand its footprint.

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

News of the World managing editor 'didn't know of Milly Dowler hacking' — Stuart Kuttner said he knew nothing of phone hacking before being shown an email he sent to Surrey police in 2002, jury told — The former managing editor of the News of the World said he had no recollection …

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Times publisher reports pre-tax losses of £24m — Times Newspapers Limited pays out £14m to departing directors, including chief executive Tom Mockridge — The publisher of the Times and the Sunday Times has reported a pre-tax loss of £24m, as payouts …

Hunter Walk:

$400 for The Information Is About What's Missing, Not What's There — What are we, less than two week's into Jessica Lessin's launch of The Information? As a subscriber I've read every article and enjoyed the majority. I applaud Jessica for staking out a high pricepoint …

Discussion: @jason_kint and @monkbent

Peter Osnos / The Atlantic:

Beijing and Moscow's media crackdown has deflected attention away from Washington's own shoddy treatment of journalists — Beijing and Moscow's media crackdown has deflected attention away from Washington's own shoddy treatment of journalists. — While much of the recent attention focused …

Jim Schachter / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Breaking audio out of radio's boundaries — What do I think 2014 will bring for the future of news? — You can detect the near-term future in what we can see with our own eyes right now. When I was an editor at The New York Times, I gradually watched the newspapers on my morning train commute give way to smartphones and tablets.

Discussion: @markstencel

Lisa Williams / Investigative News Network:

Rafat Ali to join Investigative News Network Board — Entrepreneur Rafat Ali is joining the board of the Investigative News Network. Ali, who is currently the CEO of Skift, a media startup that covers the travel & leisure industry, was also the founder of PaidContent …

Discussion: @vosdscott, @kljdavis, @raju, @rafat, @dangillmor and @vivianschiller

Rich McCormick / The Verge:

Walt Mossberg's final Wall Street Journal column looks back on two decades of tech — After 22 years of insightful and important commentary on consumer technology, Walt Mossberg has written his final column for The Wall Street Journal and its All Things D tech blog.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, @waltmossberg and Cult of Mac

Natasha Clark / Press Gazette:

Croydon Citizen launches print edition after hitting £2,000 crowdfunding target — Online news magazine The Croydon Citizen is launching its first print edition today after raising more than £2,000 via a crowdfunding website. — The free magazine will be handed out at train stations …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Lessons in the crowdsourced verification of news from Storyful and Reddit's Syria forum — One of the most powerful trends in media over the past year is the crowdsourced verification of news, whether it's the work of a blogger like Brown Moses or former NPR journalist Andy Carvin.

Thanks:@mathewi

Arjun Narayan / Guardian:

Despite rise of Android tablets, Google still isn't serving magazine publishers — Opinion: Google must do more to help magazine publishers if digital editions are to flourish on the Android platform — This year, Android-powered tablets began outselling Apple's iPads for the first time.

Thanks:@bhatnaturally

Angela Washeck / 10,000 Words:

Ebyline Launches Pitch Board to Better Connect Seasoned Freelancers and Publishers — It can be hard out there for a freelancer. The avalanche of emails, stiff competition, low pay and ignored invoices all make it a real challenge. — That's why Ebyline, a conduit between digital publishers and writers …

Discussion: FishbowlNY