Mediagazer: Why the New York Times witheld the Robert Levinson story for six years (Margaret Sullivan/New York Times)

6:20 PM ET, December 22, 2013

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

Why the New York Times witheld the Robert Levinson story for six years — A Missing Spy and the Right to Know — NEW YORK TIMES readers expect, reasonably enough, that their newspaper will publish what it digs up in the way of news, especially news about the clandestine activities of the federal government.

Discussion: @abumuqawama, @petersterne and @dancow

Claire Atkinson / New York Post:

DC staff irked as NBC News eyes cuts — David Gregory, host of NBC's 'Meet the Press Inset: NBC News boss Deborah Turness — NBC News boss Deborah Turness is spending the last few days of the year eyeing cuts — moves that could include axing some senior on-air talent, The Post has learned.

Discussion: Mediaite, @mlcalderone, @jonahnro and Inside Cable News

Robinson Meyer / The Atlantic Online:

Glenn Greenwald's New Media Company Is a Bespoke Firm — And we may be about to see a lot more like it. — In October, American media received a gift: The birth of a new, major publication that wouldn't be predicated on listicles or emotional headlines. Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay …

Discussion: PandoDaily, Media Nation and Kirk LaPointe's …

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

BBC Trust chief accused of ‘obstruction and secrecy’ — Lord Patten criticised by MPs for blocking publication of documents relating to corporation's failed £100m IT project — MPs have accused the BBC Trust chairman, Lord Patten, of “obstruction and secrecy” for stopping …

Brian Braiker / Digiday:

Michael Wolff on Digital Media in 2014: ‘Pretty Damn Bleak’ — Author, essayist and media iconoclast Michael Wolff does not suffer foolishness quietly. In recent columns for the Guardian, he outlined how Forbes manipulated the New York Times to help create an illusion of success and described the long decline of “60 Minutes.”

Discussion: @ericscherer and @mike_orcutt, Thanks:@bmorrissey

Henry Blodget / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Appreciating the digital difference — The emerging field of digital journalism has been subjected to intense scrutiny over the past decade. This scrutiny has often focused on the ways in which digital is different than print and broadcast journalism — with the differences usually portrayed as shortcomings.

Discussion: @zimbalist, @hblodget and Kirk LaPointe's …

Reuters:

Syrian photographer killed in Aleppo — (Reuters) - A Syrian photographer who took pictures for Reuters on a freelance basis has been killed while covering fighting in Aleppo, activists said. — Molhem Barakat died on Friday as he took photographs of a battle over a hospital between rebels …

Discussion: duckrabbit blog, TwitLonger, @randahabib, Corey Pein, Stuff from my notebook, ASHARQ AL-AWSAT, @webertom1, @andrewburton, @libyanbentbladi, Gulf News and Associated Press

Jenna Wortham / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The future of news is... Sasha Fierce — In 2014, the future of journalism is Beyoncé. — Stay with me for a minute. — The pop star announced the arrival of her next, highly anticipated album with a video on Instagram at midnight on a school night.

Discussion: @zimbalist, NYT Bits and ArtsBeat

Caroline Porter / Wall Street Journal:

A Montana Newspaper Turns Its Police Blotter Into a Local Best Seller — In Bozeman, Mont. the local police blotter has been turned into a funny, best-selling book that has readers snatching it off the shelves. WSJ's Caroline Porter reports. — BOZEMAN, Mont.—A man reported that someone got …

Matthew Hendley / Valley Fever:

Joe Arpaio Loses: New Times Co-Founders Win $3.75 Million Settlement for 2007 False Arrests — The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors this afternoon voted unanimously to approve a $3.75 million settlement for New Times' co-founders, whose false arrests in 2007 were orchestrated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Discussion: @trevortimm, @clarajeffery and The Raw Story

Reuters:

Analysis: Time Warner Cable's missed chances begin slide to takeover buzz — (Reuters) - By some measures, it seems hard to find fault with how Time Warner Cable (TWC.N) has been run since it was spun off from its parent company, Time Warner Inc (TWX.N), in 2009.

Discussion: @tedataca and Reuters

Tom Gara / Corporate Intelligence:

Details of the ‘Mega Conspiracy’ Behind Megaupload … Some lively new details arrived today in the long saga of Megaupload, the file-sharing site whose founder, Kim Dotcom, is currently suing the New Zealand police while the U.S. government attempts to extradite him to face charges of criminal conspiracy.

Discussion: @bgurley, The Verge, Wired and Variety