Mediagazer: Dollar-and-Cents Secrets of Music Streaming (Ethan Smith/Wall Street Journal)

7:30 AM ET, December 27, 2013

Top News:

ESPN received $260M in tax breaks and credits over 12 years to remain in Connecticut — For ESPN, Millions to Remain in Connecticut — BRISTOL, Conn. — The governor of Connecticut arrived at ESPN's expansive campus here to celebrate the groundbreaking of the sports media giant's 19th building …

Discussion: @richsandomir, @tomandersen, @pkafka, @davidfolkenflik, @romenesko, @dangillmor and @pkafka

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

It's official: CBS News correspondent John Miller joining NYPD — CBS News correspondent John Miller has made it official: he is re-joining the NYPD in a high-level counterterrorism role. Miller announced the move on WCBS shortly after 5:30 P.M. — “If you take the L.A. experience …

Discussion: CBS New York, TVNewser, Variety, Mediaite, @charliekayecbs, @alexweprin, Daily Mail, The Wire, @alexweprin, @brianstelter and @kbandersen

Paul Carr / PandoDaily:

Look Who's Gawking: Inside Nick Denton's phony, hypocritical class war against tech workers … Last Friday morning, a shuttle bus transporting Google workers from Oakland to Mountain View was surrounded by a mob. A banner was unfurled - “F**k off Google” — and several of the protesters began hurling rocks …

Discussion: Capital New York, @ansciath, @chuckglp, @joshsternberg, @realmattforney, @jason_pontin, @tolles, @paulcarr, @susie_c, @esten and @tomcoates

Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:

Greenwald Snarks at MSNBC: I Defend Snowden Like You Defend Obama ‘24 Hours a Day’ — Journalist Glenn Greenwald appeared on MSNBC Thursday, one day after Edward Snowden delivered a Christmas address to television viewers in the UK and around the world from Russia.

Discussion: TVNewser, @kgosztola, Business Insider, The Wrap, Mediaite, TheHill, Gawker and New York Magazine

Muhammad Saleem / VentureBeat:

Why ‘viral mills’ like Buzzfeed & Upworthy are content marketing at its worst — Original virus image via Peshkova/Shutterstock — Not a day goes by without another viral content mill popping up, or announcing how many millions of page views it has managed to accumulate within a short span of time.

Discussion: @smcdc

Ethan Smith / Wall Street Journal:

Dollar-and-Cents Secrets of Music Streaming — Staying Power Is More Important Than Bursting on the Scene — In the good old days of the CD boom, the music industry was all about the first week. Prime the pump with endless airplay on pop radio and MTV, blanket major markets with billboard ads …

Discussion: @billboardglenn and @alisternburg

Antony Loewenstein / Guardian:

Reporters have a choice: to either continue being regarded as untrustworthy, or to be seen as willing to hold the powerful into account. Here are my suggestions for better journalism — 2013 was the year of Edward Snowden. The former NSA contractor, voted the Guardian's person of the year …

Discussion: @ggreenwald and @antloewenstein

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

As New Services Track Habits, the E-Books Are Reading You — SAN FRANCISCO — Before the Internet, books were written — and published — blindly, hopefully. Sometimes they sold, usually they did not, but no one had a clue what readers did when they opened them up. Did they skip or skim?

Discussion: Mediashift, Slate and GalleyCat

Anna Nemtsova / Guardian:

Ukrainian activist-journalist Tetyana Chernovil in intensive care after beating — Protesters rally in Kiev holding photos of reporter, who says she was pulled from car after criticising minister's alleged corruption — The streets of Kiev were plastered with images of a young woman's bruised and swollen face on Thursday morning.

Discussion: CNN, CNN, @jayrosen_nyu and kyivpost.com

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

Decrypting TV's year-end executive memos — As 2013 comes to a close, the top executives at many TV channels are sending out notes to staff thanking them for their work this year, and previewing 2014 at their organizations. But they can be cryptic! So we've taken excerpts from these notes …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, TVNewser and The Huffington Post

Reuters:

UN urges Thailand to drop defamation and computer crimes charges against two journalists — UN rights boss urges Thailand to drop defamation charges — The top U.N. human rights official urged Thailand on Thursday to drop criminal charges against two journalists accused of defamation …

Discussion: United Nations and AAP

Sam Kirkland / Poynter:

Chicago startup Rivet News Radio echoes Zite and Pandora for audio news — Text-based journalism has Flipboard and Zite. Music has Pandora. Video has YouTube. Tapping into elements of all these services for a different form of media is Rivet News Radio, the first product …