Mediagazer: For Sale or in Flux, a Big Year Looms for Business Magazines (Michael Sebastian/AdAge)

3:05 AM ET, January 7, 2014

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

When a (Partial) Tweet Becomes an Ad, What Are the Rules? — The media world gets weirder every day, but this moment still stands out as something of a stunner - the kind of thing that merits a place on the eternal timeline of “How the Internet Flipped the Media World on Its Head.” — Picture it:

Discussion: The Wrap, Adweek, @markloundy, @davewiner, @mathewi, Boing Boing, @moorehn, @sulliview, @pkafka, @vosdscott, @elanazak, PSFK, Pressing Issues, Gothamist and Re/code

Emily Bell / Guardian:

Native advertising is the new paywall in media economics - but is it here to stay? — Many digital publishers have placed it at the heart of their business strategy - but there are concerns over transparency — In 1917, the American Federal Trade Commission settled a case with the Muensen Speciality Co. …

Discussion: @cantlin and mUmBRELLA

Brian Morrissey / Digiday:
The New York Times Embraces ‘Organic’ Ad Strategy

Discussion: Financial Times, The Atlantic Online, Kirk LaPointe's … and @rosepowell

Katie Roof / Fox Business:

Source: AOL Tried to Buy Business Insider for $100M+ — AOL Inc. (AOL) offered to purchase BusinessInsider.com, a popular business and technology news website, for more than $100 million but talks ultimately broke down when the two sides couldn't agree on price, the FOX Business Network has learned.

Kwame Opam / The Verge:

Samsung announces major 4K streaming partnership with Amazon, Netflix, and others — In addition to inking a deal with Technicolor's M-GO streaming service, Samsung today announced a major partnership with Netflix, Amazon, Comcast, and DirecTV to provide 4K streaming to consumers via their latest UHD TVs.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable

Carolyn Giardina / Hollywood Reporter:

CES: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Appears at Sony Press Conference to Drive 4K Message — The exec says 4K streaming is “very practical with HEVC compression.” — LAS VEGAS — With a 4K Video Unlimited library launched in 2013, and since populated by 140 titles such as Sony Pictures' Elysium …

Eliana Johnson / National Review:

Rachel Maddow influencing MSNBC's editorial decisions, leading to falling ratings, say sources — Rachel's Show — MSNBC, the left-leaning cable-news network, has settled on one solution to its recent problems. It now has an executive reviewing scripts before they go on the air.

Discussion: TVNewser, Inside Cable News, The Raw Story, @douthatnyt, @mlcalderone, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, @dorseyshaw, @stevekrak, @elianayjohnson, @richlowry, @huffpostmedia and TheBlaze.com

Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:
Rachel Maddow Calls National Review Profile ‘Categorically False’

Discussion: Erik Wemple

Jeremy Barr / Poynter:

FAA says any commercial use of drones including journalism is not allowed yet — FAA on drone recordings by journalists: ‘There is no gray area’ — Last Wednesday, The (Spokane, Wash.) Spokesman-Review published a minute-long, aerial video of a local event.

Discussion: @lt_vt, @emilybell, @fergle, @yelvington, @elisewho and Online NewsHour

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:

Mashable raises $13 million to launch expansion effort — Nearly a decade into its existence, the news Web site Mashable is taking on outside investors for the first time. — The site plans to announce on Monday that it has raised $13.3 million in an equity investment round led by Updata Partners.

Discussion: Mashable, Folio, TechCrunch, @mathewi, @buzzfeedben, @mashable, @cdirusso, @stacymartinet, @pkafka, @brianstelter, Capital New York, @adamostrow, @bahjournalist and @benparr

Stuart Elliott / New York Times:

Advertising Age to Print Every Other Week — Advertising Age, the trade publication introduced in 1930, announced Monday that it would publish its print edition every other week rather than weekly. — The magazine, the largest publication in the ad trade field, will publish 25 issues in 2014 …

Discussion: Folio, Advertising Age, mUmBRELLA and @sfiegerman

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Rep. Waxman puts pressure on Tribune Co. — Henry Waxman, representative of California's 33rd, sent a letter to the CEO of the embattled Tribune Co. on Monday asking for documents regarding their future plans for his local paper, The Los Angeles Times. — It's the second letter Waxman …

Discussion: @dylanbyers, @lachlan and The Breakdown

Theo Leggett / BBC:

Is niche internet television broadcasting the future? — December in Mallorca is a relatively quiet time. While the sun still glitters on the deep blue waters of Palma harbour, the tourists who throng the island's resorts in summer are nowhere to be seen.

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

For Sale or in Flux, a Big Year Looms for Business Magazines — Forbes Seeks Buyers, Fortune Builds a New Website and Competitors Keep Coming — With Forbes for sale, Fortune's website divorcing from CNNMoney.com and Bloomberg Businessweek getting assessed as part of a companywide strategic review …

Thanks:@msebastian

The Wrap:

How to Improve Hollywood in 2014: 9 Experts on the Future of Film and TV — From a distance, the Hollywood sign has never shone brighter. — The box office will hit record numbers this year and television continues to be a cash cow. Yet, a digital economy that roiled the industry continues to sweep away old business models.

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

News media challenges in 2014: ad oversupply, low real-time bidding prices, mobile revenue — Surviving 2014 — 2014 won't be an easy year for the digital news business. The good news is the list of mandatory actions is coming into sharper focus. Today, we look at key items.

Discussion: @lanticmedia, @yurivictor and @niemanlab

Tim Molloy / The Wrap:

NBC News Denies Report Ann Curry Is Leaving — NBC News says a report that Ann Curry's contract won't be renewed is “completely untrue.” — “It's completely untrue, and, as a matter of fact, she's going on a big assignment for NBC News this week,” a network spokeswoman told TheWrap.

Discussion: Mediaite and National Enquirer

Dan Kennedy / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Ezra Klein illustrates why news orgs should embrace the network — What should a 21st-century news organization look like? A single entity, run from the top, with a common set of values? Or a loose network of related projects, sharing a brand and to some extent a mission but operating semi-independently?

Discussion: Gigaom, @jayrosen_nyu, @paullewis, @niemanlab and The Huffington Post

Maureen Farrell / Wall Street Journal:

John Malone's Next Chess Move to Take Control of Time Warner Cable — Cable consolidator John Malone kept investment bankers busy in 2013, and it looks like 2014 will bring more of the same. — The first major announcement by Liberty Media, where Mr. Malone serves as chairman …

Discussion: MoneyBeat and Radio & Television …