Mediagazer: Bahrain arrests photographer Ahmed Al-Fardan (Committee to Protect Journalists)

8:35 PM ET, December 29, 2013

Top News:

An interview with the Washington Post publisher in the Post Bezos Era — Katharine Weymouth, seated beneath a photo of her famous grandmother, Katharine Graham (left), says she wished she had “understood earlier how critical technology is” to success in today's media world.

Jim Finkle / Reuters:

Exclusive: Hacker took over BBC server, tried to ‘sell’ access on Christmas Day — (Reuters) - A hacker secretly took over a computer server at the BBC, Britain's public broadcaster, and then launched a Christmas Day campaign to convince other cyber criminals to pay him for access to the system.

Discussion: SlashGear and Mashable

John Borland / Wired:

Glenn Greenwald: ‘A Lot’ More NSA Documents to Come — Nearly seven months after journalist and privacy activist Glenn Greenwald publicized Edward Snowden's first revelations of the vast scope of the NSA's digital surveillance, his life has changed absolutely. — Living in Brazil, he is advised not to travel.

Discussion: Laura Halminen, UPROXX, @glynmoody and @saramorrison

RT:
Greenwald: US and British media are servants of security apparatus

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Mediaite and The Register

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

New York Times Benghazi Investigation Confirms Paper's Early Reporting On Video's Role — NEW YORK — Following a months-long investigation, The New York Times reported Saturday that it had found no evidence that al-Qaeda, or any international terrorist group, was involved in the Sept. 11 …

Discussion: New York Times, Fox News, The Daily Caller, The Daily Caller, Post Politics and The Huffington Post

Committee to Protect Journalists:

Bahrain arrests photographer Ahmed Al-Fardan — Ahmed Al-Fardan, photographer for the NurPhoto agency, was arrested Thursday at his home in Bahrain, according to his agency, news reports, and human rights groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest.

Discussion: @nickkristof

Nathaniel Mott / PandoDaily:

Amazon's tablets had a 24x bump in activations on Christmas compared to other December days — Yuletide Kindle: Amazon's best sales catalog dominates Christmas — Flurry today reported that Christmas belonged to Amazon's tablets, which were activated 24-times more often during the holiday than they were on a typical December day.

Discussion: GeekWire and Flurry

Ernesto / TorrentFreak:

Google received 235 million DMCA takedown requests in 2013, discarded 9% — Google Discarded 21,000,000 Takedown Requests in 2013 — Since last year copyright holders have started to increase the number of DMCA takedown requests they send to Google. — In 2011 Google was asked …

Discussion: SlashGear, Softpedia News and BGR

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

Loyal Subscribers Keep Hobby Magazines Afloat — Lance Prucnal's family, like others in the digital age, has canceled most of its newspaper and magazine subscriptions. — Mr. Prucnal's wife dumped Family Circle, Taste of Home and Better Homes & Gardens because she no longer found enough interesting recipes.

Discussion: @buzzfeedben, @mlcalderone, @chaughney, @jmikelyons and @peterlattman

Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:

Vice teases Vice News channel with trailer for 2014 launch — WATCH: VICE Joining 24-Hour News Game in 2014 — VICE Media captured national attention in a big way this year when it orchestrated Dennis Rodman's fateful trip to North Korea for its HBO documentary series.

Discussion: @themediaisdying, @cheeky_geeky and @whatescapes

John Stanton / BuzzFeed:

Meet One Of The Most Badass Reporters In Mexico — Despite the murder of dozens of journalists and constant intimidation from the police and drug cartels, Ciudad Juarez's reporters aren't backing down. “We don't have time to put on a hero's T-shirt. We have to do our work each and every day …

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

DirecTV issues veiled threat in talks with Weather Channel — Satellite broadcaster DirecTV has begun distributing WeatherNation, a network with very little reach or viewership, just as its deal to carry the Weather Channel is set to expire. — Ratings for the Weather Channel …

Discussion: @jbflint and @bryandfischer

Dan Gillmor / Guardian:

Call me an optimist, but the future of journalism isn't bleak — Even as today's major journalistic institutions struggle to adapt, media startups and investigative outlets carry the torch — As we head into 2014, the 20th anniversary of the first popular web browser, we are awash in media.

Discussion: @davidc7, @raju, @dangillmor and @jayrosen_nyu

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Tribune closes $2.7B Local TV acquisition … Tribune Co. has closed on its $2.73 billion acquisition of Local TV, making it one of the country's largest television station owners, the company announced Friday. — The deal, which was approved by the Federal Communications Commission last week …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal and TVSpy