Mediagazer: Mandiant, which rooted out Chinese hackers for the NYT, acquired by FireEye for nearly $1 billion (Brian Fung/The Switch)

3:20 AM ET, January 3, 2014

Top News:

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Ezra Klein Is Said to Plan to Leave Washington Post — Ezra Klein, an analyst, columnist and television commentator who runs The Washington Post's Wonkblog, is making plans to leave the newspaper after failing to win support for a new website he wanted to create within the company …

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

Weeks in the Making, an Editorial on Snowden May Go ‘Beyond What Is Realistic’ — Most newspaper editorials don't generate a great deal of heat. Even fewer can be considered newsworthy. — The exception was one in The Times on Thursday, calling for Edward J. Snowden to be offered clemency or a plea bargain.

Jack Shafer:

The Times advances the NSA's amnesty-for-Snowden trial balloon — Of course the New York Times editorial page wants clemency or, at the very least, a generous plea bargain for National Security Agency contractor turned super-leaker Edward Snowden! The news pages of the New York Times …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, VentureBeat, The Switch, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze.com

Guardian:
Snowden affair: the case for a pardon

Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:

How Netflix uses the 76,897 micro-genres it assigns to videos — How Netflix Reverse Engineered Hollywood — If you use Netflix, you've probably wondered about the specific genres that it suggests to you. Some of them just seem so specific that it's absurd. Emotional Fight-the-System Documentaries?

Discussion: Subtraction.com, /Film, @alexismadrigal, @alexismadrigal, @sriramk, @alexismadrigal, Deadline.com, @harrisj, WebProNews, The Verge and Gizmodo

Brody Mullins / Wall Street Journal:

End exclusive early media access for unemployment data, Labor Department panel says — Labor Department Panel Calls for Ending Lockup for Jobs Data — First Formal Charge to Alter Practice of Releasing Numbers to Media — WASHINGTON—A Labor Department panel has called …

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Disney's Iger talks about the need for tech disruptors like Dorsey on his board — Disruption “In Our Face” — Iger on Why Disney Needs Tech Heavies on Board More Than Ever — Just before the end of 2013, Disney named well-known Silicon Valley player Jack Dorsey — he of the perfect selfie - to the board of the entertainment giant.

Leslie Kaufman / New York Times:

New York Times to Unveil Redesigned Website Next Week — The New York Times said Thursday that it would launch its redesigned website on Jan. 8. — The new platform, which will allow for better integration of video and photography with text, among other features, had been previously announced.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, investors.nytco.com, Poynter, FishbowlNY, Capital New York, @jkestler, @raju, Mashable, @rosental, @sunny_hundal, @joshsternberg and @juddlegum

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Amazon Decides to Stop Hiding Its Web Video Service — Amazon has been spending time and money building up its Prime Instant online video service, but so far it hasn't spent much time telling people about it: It's very easy to invest a lot of time on Amazon.com without ever learning that the site …

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, BTIG Research, Business Insider, VatorNews and App Advice

Arti Patel / Folio:

Magazine shipping costs increase 6 percent — Magazine shipping costs increase 6 percent. — The United States Postal Service (USPS) delivered coal to magazine publishers to welcome the New Year. — The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) approved a two-year six-percent service rate increase …

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

FBI Denies Requests For ‘60 Minutes’ Benghazi Source's Interview Records — NEW YORK — The FBI has denied Freedom of Information Act requests for records related to federal officials' interviews with Dylan Davies, a security officer who claimed to have witnessed the Benghazi, Libya, attack in a now-discredited “60 Minutes” report.

Associated Press:

Reporter sues NY police over Occupy protest arrest — NEW YORK — A journalist says New York City police officers tackled him and unfairly arrested him while he was covering the anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests. — Chris Faraone says he was reporting for the Massachusetts …

Discussion: NY Daily News

Shahan Mufti / Columbia Journalism Review:

Malala Yousafzai's long and delicate dance with the press — In 2009, The New York Times posted a two-part documentary on its website about Pakistan's battle against Taliban militants. At the center of the documentary was an 11-year-old girl from the Swat region in northern Pakistan named Malala Yousafzai, and her father, Ziauddin.

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

Hearst's Swartz Eyes B2B Media, Entertainment, for Growth — Hearst Corp. had record revenue and profits in 2013, when it marked the fourth year in a row of growth on both fronts since the 2008 recession, Steven Swartz said in a New Year's letter to employees recapping the year he took over as chief executive.

Discussion: WWD Media Headlines, NetNewsCheck Latest and @lmoses

Brian Fung / The Switch:

Mandiant, which rooted out Chinese hackers for the NYT, acquired by FireEye for nearly $1 billion — Mandiant, which rooted out Chinese hackers for the NYT, is being snapped up for nearly $1 billion — The past year saw the dramatic rise of information security firms in the face …