Mediagazer: Telly gets $8M, buys Dubai-based Sha Sha to launch Middle East movie service (Janko Roettgers/Gigaom)

8:20 AM ET, December 19, 2013

Top News:

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

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: Associated Press and Wall Street Journal

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: The Huffington Post

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, Gigaom, Crave, Pocket-lint and Yahoo! News

Alexandra Steigrad / WWD:

John Koblin Named Styles Reporter at Times — John Koblin has been named The New York Times' new styles reporter, a position previously held by Eric Wilson, who left the paper to become InStyle Magazine's fashion news director, WWD has learned. — Koblin, a reporter for sports blog Deadspin …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, JIMROMENESKO.COM, @kurtsoller, @felixgillette, The New York Observer, FishbowlNY, @max_read, @richarddeitsch, @bennettmadison and @joepompeo

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Telly gets $8M, buys Dubai-based Sha Sha to launch Middle East movie service — Telly, the social video curation service formerly known as Twitvid, has secured a $8 million Series B round of financing, and it's using some of that money to embark on an unexpected new venture …

Discussion: VentureBeat and PR Newswire

Michael Rondon / Folio:

Magazine Closures Continue to Fall In 2013 — Launches outnumber closures 3 to 1. — The magazine market stabilized in 2013 as launches outnumbered closures by more than 3 to 1, according to a year-end report by MediaFinder. — With 185 new magazines in 2013, there were 18-percent fewer launches …

Discussion: BtoB Magazine and Canadian Magazines

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: @deanstarkman and @cjr

Matthew Weaver / Guardian:

Saudi Arabia using arrests and beatings ‘to scare online critics’ — Human Rights Watch report says government targets internet commentators and journalists to try and crush talk of reforms — Saudi Arabia is trying to silence calls for reform and criticism of its rulers by a campaign …

Discussion: BBC

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

Jay Yarow / Business Insider:

The New AllThingsD Has Hired Ken Li As Managing Editor — And now, for a little inside baseball... Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg have hired Kenneth Li, formerly of Reuters, to be managing editor at their new tech focused website. — Swisher and Mossberg are moving on from Dow Jones …

Discussion: Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day, @edmundlee, FishbowlNY, Talking Biz News, @ashleyshuston, @mccarthyryanj, @edgecliffe, @antderosa and @fmanjoo

John Eggerton / Multichannel News:

FCC unanimously supports plan to eliminate sports blackout rules — FCC Approves NPRM On Sports Blackout Rule — Leagues Can Still Make Them Part of Negotiated Agreements — The FCC has voted unanimously to support a proposal to eliminate the sports blackout rules.