Mediagazer: Blogger gets same speech protections as traditional press-U.S. court (Dan Levine/Reuters)

11:05 PM ET, January 17, 2014

Top News:

Katie Roof / Fox Business:

AOL's Patch May Be Dismantled: Source — AOL (AOL) shopped its Patch news service for more than a year to various media companies before reaching a deal with private equity firm Hale Global for what's been described as a low-ball bid for the money-losing venture, the FOX Business Network has learned.

Discussion: @katie_roof

Steven Jacobs / Street Fight:

The Patch Saga, and Its Implications for Local Media — Aol's decision to unload its struggling hyperlocal network Patch earlier this week may not have been unexpected, but the distressed property's fire sale does carry with it some broader implications, even as many local media companies …

Discussion: Gigaom, Business Insider and Talking Biz News

Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:

Bloomberg Refocuses on News — At editorial meetings in Bloomberg L.P.'s headquarters this week, Michael R. Bloomberg gave clear signs that he would not be taking a hands-off approach as he returned to his old company. — Just two week's removed from City Hall, and in his first days …

Discussion: @daschles, @nathanielpopper and @shirleybrady

Jonathan Stray / The Overview Project:

Algorithms are not enough: lessons bringing computer science to journalism — There are some amazing algorithms coming out the computer science community which promise to revolutionize how journalists deal with large quantities of information. But building a tool that journalists can use …

Discussion: @ganley, @ahseeder, @maxj_k, @skyedoherty and @joegermuska

Ernesto / TorrentFreak:

And The Most Downloaded Torrent of 2013 is.... Completely Legal — Earlier today we published a list of the top 20 most-pirated artists. With well over 5 million downloads this chart was topped by Bruno Mars. Interestingly enough, the honor of the most-downloaded artist on BitTorrent goes to a legal download.

Discussion: Plagiarism Today, Business Insider and Softpedia News

Rebecca Grant / VentureBeat:
With 60M downloads, BitTorrent's Bundle experiment is paying off

Discussion: Techdirt, TechHive, TechCrunch and The Official BitTorrent Blog

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

Time Inc. CEO Ripp Said to be Uninvolved in Son's Promotion — A company spokesman said Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp wasn't involved in his son Brendan Ripp's promotion to publisher of Sports Illustrated. — “The decision to promote Brendan was made by Todd Larsen in consultation with Mark Ford,” the rep emailed.

Discussion: New York Post

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Eight Percent of DirecTV Subscribers Would Switch Over Weather Channel Dispute — Fresh data in the ongoing DirecTV, Weather Channel carriage dispute reveals a third of DirecTV subscribers would switch, or consider switching, if The Weather Channel were no longer available on the satellite service.

Discussion: Inside Cable News

Dan Levine / Reuters:

Blogger gets same speech protections as traditional press-U.S. court — (Reuters) - A blogger is entitled to the same free speech protections as a traditional journalist and cannot be liable for defamation unless she acted negligently, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday.

Discussion: Technology & …, E Pluribus Unum, The Volokh Conspiracy, Law Blog, Politico, @freedomofpress, @monicafoster, Hollywood Reporter, @mathewi, @mathewi, @mathewi and @adamclarkestes, Thanks:@jaredbkeller

Andrew Adam Newman / New York Times:

Promoting Its Own Products, a Magazine Labels an Ad as News — CONTENT from advertisers that resembles editorial coverage, commonly called native advertising, is drawing heightened scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, which wants to establish guidelines for labeling it clearly.

Discussion: @niemanlab, @cspi, Capital New York, FishbowlNY, @nytimesbusiness, Mediawire Daily and @_mediaspace

Associated Press:

Egyptian Police Release AP Cameraman on Bail — CAIRO (AP) — A freelance Egyptian TV cameraman who was detained while covering the country's constitutional referendum for The Associated Press was released on bail Friday, but the case remains open, authorities said.

Discussion: CNN, CBC News and Associated Press

Ryan Chittum / Columbia Journalism Review:

The OC Register's expansion reverses — Trouble for Aaron Kushner's contrarian bet in Southern California — The Orange County Register, the rebuilt Chevelle SS of the newspaper industry, has blue smoke coming from the tailpipe. — On Thursday, owner Freedom Communications laid off …

Discussion: Navel Gazing, @mathewi, @antonprtweets, JIMROMENESKO.COM and OC Weekly

Trevor Timm / Freedom of the Press Foundation:

Freedom of the Press Foundation's Response to Obama's NSA Speech — President Obama addressed NSA reform in a forty minute speech this morning in which he proposed a few welcome reforms and many which could normalize some of the NSA's most dangerous practices.

Discussion: Washington Post, Slate, Politico, The New Yorker Blog, @janinegibson and @trevortimm

Richard Verrier / Los Angeles Times:

End of film: Paramount first studio to stop distributing celluloid — Paramount's “The Wolf of Wall Street” is the first major Hollywood movie to be distributed entirely in digital format — without the use of film or film reels on which the industry has depended since it began.

Discussion: Variety

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Phone hacking: Wall Street Journal wins ruling on reporting restrictions — US-based newspaper will be able to report fully report on the trial of Rebekah Brooks and others without signing written agreement — The Wall Street Journal has won a ruling allowing it to fully report …

Discussion: Talking Biz News, The Drum, @paullewis, @jackofkent and @lisaocarroll

Associated Press:

Gunmen kill 3 TV station employees in Pakistan — KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Police in Pakistan say gunmen have killed three employees of a television news channel. — Police official Javed Odho said the driver, a technician and a security staffer for the private Express News channel …

Discussion: The Express Tribune, @faizanlakhani, Committee to Protect … and The Express Tribune

Arif Durrani / Media Week:

London Evening Standard profits double in 2013 — The London Evening Standard has more than doubled its profits in the year to September 2013, to around £2.5 million, while the embattled Independent slashed its losses by 50% in the same period, according to sources. inShare 1 London Evening Standard …

Discussion: @geofinns

Mark Sweney / Guardian:
Alexander Lebedev sounding out buyers for Independent titles

Discussion: Telegraph, Financial Times, MediaTel, Telegraph, Guardian and @david_hewson

Paul Mozur / Wall Street Journal:

Chinese Microblog Use Fell 9% In 2013, Government Says — The Reduction in Weibo Users Likely Reflects Censorship, Mobile-Messaging Options — BEIJING—The number of Chinese using Twitter -like microblogs fell 9% in 2013 from 2012, according to a new government report …

Discussion: @crtejada