Mediagazer: sad to say @neetzan is hanging up his viral guns for a start-up. if ur obsessed with winning the internet, plz inquire w/in. john at gawker. (John Cook/@johnjcook)

6:10 PM ET, January 3, 2014

Top News:

Neetzan Zimmerman to leave Gawker for social startup Whisper — Neetzan Zimmerman to leave Gawker — Gawker viral content mastermind Neetzan Zimmerman is leaving the company, according to editor John Cook who tweeted the news on Friday afternoon. — Reached by email …

Discussion: The New York Observer, New York Magazine, @jyarow, @fmanjoo, Business Insider, @sladehv, @tmcgev, @capitalnewyork, @craigsilverman, @paleofuture, @johnjcook, @fmanjoo, @thestalwart, @tmcgev, @mbradylynch and @sfiegerman

John Cook / @johnjcook:

sad to say @neetzan is hanging up his viral guns for a start-up. if ur obsessed with winning the internet, plz inquire w/in. john at gawker.

Discussion: Mashable

Kevin Gosztola / The Dissenter:

Dear New York Times Editors: If Snowden Is a Whistleblower, What Is Chelsea Manning? — The New York Times Editorial Board is to be highly praised for finally publishing a strong defense of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, one which not only urges clemency but also labels him a whistleblower.

Discussion: CNN, CNET, TheBlaze.com and The Public Editor's Journal

Jack Shafer:
The Times advances the NSA's amnesty-for-Snowden trial balloon

Discussion: Guy Fawkes' blog, The Dish, BuzzFeed, @saletan, Taking Note, WebProNews and The Huffington Post

Kalev Leetaru / Foreign Policy: King Snowden and the Fall of Wikileaks

Felix Salmon / Reuters:

Netflix's dumbed-down algorithms — Alexis Madrigal has a rollicking investigation into Netflix's movie genres — all 76,897 of them, from category #1 (African-American Crime Documentaries) to category #91,307 (Visually Striking Latin American Comedies). His story is titled …

Discussion: @caseynewton, @reuters, Mother Jones, @obsoletedogma, @bendwilliams and The FJP

Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:
How Netflix uses the 76,897 micro-genres it assigns to videos

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 …

Katie Roof / Fox Business:

Business Insider Turned Down $100M-Plus Buyout Offer: Source — BusinessInsider.com, an edgy financial and technology news website, may not technically be shopping itself, but that hasn't stopped potential suitors from calling, including one that recently offered more than $100 million …

Discussion: @stefanjbecket, @pablor0bles, @ckrewson and @cgasparino

Press Gazette:

Pakistani TV reporter becomes first journalist killed in 2014 — Pakistan journalist Shan Odhor has become the first media worker to die in 2014 because of his work, the International federation of Journalists (IFJ) said today. — The announcement came just days after the organisation reported …

Discussion: kuna.net.kw, The Express Tribune, IFJ.org, The Eastern Tribune and The Drum

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

DreamWorks is set to launch a tablet for children with original and exclusive programming — A Tablet for Children That Comes With Its Own Penguins — GLENDALE, Calif. — DreamWorks Animation first captivated children in movie theaters. Then it branched into TV, piping cartoons based on hits like …

Discussion: The Verge, VatorNews, AndroidHeadlines.com, TechnoBuffalo, SlashGear, @peterlattman, Softpedia News, Engadget, Cult of Mac, Geeky Gadgets, Gizmodo and Electronista

Dawn C. Chmielewski / Los Angeles Times:

Gracenote unveils new Internet radio technology — Gracenote unveiled a new Internet radio technology that will allow brands to create custom stations for customers. (Gracenote) — Gracenote, a Silicon Valley company whose name-that-tune technology is the backbone of some of the most …

Discussion: Gigaom, Music Ally, Speakeasy, The Next Web, PR Newswire, hypebot, Re/code and VentureBeat

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg:

Discovery CEO Stands to Make $110 Million in 2014 Compensation — Discovery Communications Inc. (DISCA) Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav stands to make more than $110 million in compensation in 2014, the first year of a new contract that keeps him at the cable-network giant through 2019.

Discussion: Adweek, bizjournals, PR Newswire, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Deadline.com, Broadcasting & Cable, Variety and @bloombergtech

Brian Solomon / Forbes:

John Malone's Liberty Media Wants To Absorb Rest Of Sirius XM — Billionaire John Malone's Liberty Media announced late Friday a proposal to turn Sirius XM Radio into a wholly-owned subsidiary by creating a third class of Liberty shares. Liberty already owns a controlling stake in Sirius XM …

Discussion: Bloomberg and Reuters

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Record Companies' Lawsuit Against Vimeo Heads Towards Appellate Showdown — If the 2nd Circuit agrees to hear this copyright dispute, it could impact how employees of UGC sites interact with videos and whether popular websites carry pre-1972 music. — Barry Diller

Discussion: Gigaom, Plagiarism Today and The Wrap

Peter Wilby / New Statesman:

Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain — He's the most successful and most feared newspaperman of his generation. But after a bad year in which he was forced to defend his methods, how much longer can Dacre survive as editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail?

Discussion: @ruskin147, @mrianleslie, @thebrowser and Boing Boing

Tamer El-Ghobashy / Middle East Real Time:

Cautious Campaign for Egypt Journalist's Release — The family and lawyer of an Al Jazeera English journalist detained on terrorism charges in Egypt have mounted a delicate media campaign for his release, underscoring the deep unpopularity of the news channel that is seen as sympathetic to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Discussion: @tamerelg and Kirk LaPointe's …