Mediagazer: Netflix's Ted Sarandos: the ‘evil genius’ behind a TV revolution (Stuart Jeffries/Guardian)

5:55 AM ET, January 1, 2014

Top News:

Mossberg and Swisher reflect on AllThingsD history, tease new company launching Jan. 2 — You Say Goodbye and We Say Hello — This is the last day of the All Things Digital site, which began life in April of 2007 as a year-round extension of the D conference we launched in 2003.

Discussion: @benparr, @jeffjohnroberts, @karaswisher, @ryan, @engadget, @waltmossberg, @delrey, @chernowa, @jsnell, @startupljackson, @rosenthal, @scottcowley, @allthingsd and @caseynewton

Capital:

Mossberg and Swisher relaunch as Re/Code — It's styled as and in a message to the anxiously awaiting crowds who wanted to see what Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher did with AllThingsD when they migrated the franchise from The Wall Street Journal to NBC, they tell us: “While we think tech news is important …

Discussion: @allthingsd, @karaswisher, @waltmossberg, @joshelman, @recode, @mikeisaac, @hunterwalk, @waltmossberg, @kenli729, @karaswisher, @karaswisher and @hunterwalk

Samer Al-Atrush / Agence France Presse:

Egypt holds Jazeera crew on ‘terror’ accusations — Cairo (AFP) - Egypt has accused detained journalists from the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera television network of belonging to a “terrorist” group, saying they had ties with the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood, the prosecution said Tuesday.

Discussion: New York Times, @sameralatrush, Sydney Morning Herald, @sameralatrush, @sameralatrush, BBC and Al Jazeera English

Hugh Miles / BBC:
Why is Egypt's government targeting Al-Jazeera?

Discussion: @mlcalderone, @ambassadorpower and BuzzFeed

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:

Rethinking TV news, Part I: What's broken, what's possible — Most TV news sucks. But I don't want to dwell on that. — I'd like to see TV news be reinvented, yet I'm astounded so little innovation is occurring in the medium. That could be because TV news is still in better financial shape than print.

Paul Vitello / New York Times:

John Dominis, a Star Life Magazine Photographer, Dies at 92 — John Dominis, a Life magazine photographer who was known for capturing celebrities, wild animals and presidents at their unguarded best, and who was caught off guard himself while taking his most famous picture …

Discussion: @ptypk, @hofrench, @joemcnallyphoto, LA Observed and Gothamist

Susan Stellin / New York Times:

District Judge Upholds Government's Right to Search Electronics at Border — The government's right to search travelers' electronic devices at the border was upheld in a ruling released by a federal judge on Tuesday, which dismissed a lawsuit challenging this policy.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Associated Press, @drrimmer, NPPA, Techdirt, RT, @nppalawyer, @donaldrwinslow and Wired

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Starting January 6 only Hulu Plus and cable subs will have next-day online access to ABC shows — Bad news for cord cutters: ABC starts restricting access to full TV show episodes — Fans of Modern Family, Scandal, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Revenge just got another item to add to their list …

Discussion: Variety, @alexweprin, TVbytheNumbers, Broadcasting & Cable and Electronista

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Baker lays out 2014 plans for Wall Street Journal — As the clock ticks down on 2013, The Wall Street Journal is gearing up for a New Year that will bring a new platform for technology coverage, a new iPad edition, a revamp of its website and additional newsroom hires.

Discussion: Forbes, @raju and @joepompeo

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

UK entertainment spending rises with surge in film and music streaming — Value of film and TV downloads, streams and subscriptions rises to £621m, and number of tracks streamed doubles to 7.4bn — After five years of decline, sales of entertainment products such as music …

Discussion: Music Ally

Jonathan Krim / Wall Street Journal:

Introducing WSJD — Welcome to WSJD, The Wall Street Journal's new home for technology news, analysis, commentary, daily buzz and consumer-product reviews. — This new section is the latest example of our expansion of technology coverage around the world, with a growing team …

Discussion: Mashable, @wsjd, @nateog, @raju, @allthingsd, @edwardroussel and @joannastern

Stuart Jeffries / Guardian:

Netflix's Ted Sarandos: the ‘evil genius’ behind a TV revolution — Allowing subscribers to binge on TV series has made Netflix into a global brand. But company boss Ted Sarandos isn't stopping there: by moving into making shows, he wants to change what we watch as well as how we watch it

Adam Platt / New York Magazine:

Adam Platt, restaurant critic for New York magazine, gives up charade of anonymity — Hi, I'm Adam Platt, Your Restaurant Critic — Why am I abandoning my disguise? — Years ago, at the dawn of my accidental career as a professional glutton, this magazine's prominent …

Discussion: @michaelroston, @jayrayner1, @marinaoloughlin and Grub Street New York