Mediagazer: Do YouTubers like Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart hold the future of independent film? (Liz Shannon Miller/Gigaom)

9:30 AM ET, January 21, 2014

Top News:

Bill Simmons / Grantland:

Grantland editor apologizes for publishing “Dr. V's Magical Putter” — The Dr. V Story: A Letter From the Editor — How “Dr. V's Magical Putter” came to be published — “How could you guys run that?” — We started hearing that question on Friday afternoon, West Coast time …

Discussion: Poynter, Deadspin, ThinkProgress, Guardian, The Huffington Post, @transmediawatch, @jaketapper, @monteiro, @charsbooks, @lukefritz64, @riceid, @jayrosen_nyu, @parkermolloy, @jeffsharlet, @aemccarthy, @thetomasrios, @amandahess, @emilynussbaum, @jason_pontin, @jsnell, @petersterne, @joshsternberg, @melissagira, @rocza, @glennf, @add, @canice, @sarahljaffe, @petersterne, @docfreeride, @dandrezner, @rgay, @paulcarr, @jeffjohnroberts, @albertatrebla, The Big Lead, @robinjp, @mzhemingway, @zeynep, @buzzfeedandrew, @wccubbison, @carr2n, @katzish, @jonlovett, @sophiaphotos, @anildash, @gabydunn, @romenesko, @erinmdurkin, @themarkberman, @tabathasouthey, @rachelsklar, @shani_o, @ohheygreat, @chrisgeidner, @chrisgeidner, @sdkstl, @edgeofsports, @stevesilberman, @andytobo, @theferocity, @petersterne, @craigsj, @mattdpearce and @waxpancake

Christina Kahrl / Grantland:

What Grantland Got Wrong — Understanding the serious errors in “Dr. V's Magical Putter” — When you're a writer, you want something you create to have a long life, to be something that readers will remember and revisit for years to come. If such was Caleb Hannan's wish, it's been granted …

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:
Grantland and Dr. V: What happens when niche journalism meets the network effect

Discussion: Feministing, Kirk LaPointe's … and Boing Boing

Ryan Graff / Knight Lab:

How an intern created the NYT's dialect quiz, the site's most-visited content in 2013 — Behind the dialect map interactive: How an intern created The New York Times' most popular piece of content in 2013 — " generates a personalized dialect map based upon user responses compared …

Discussion: Mediaite, @jayrosen_nyu, @dylanmatt, @ar_shah, @journochat, @brianabelson, @knightlab and @jackseale

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Why Verizon is buying Intel Media: it's all about taking on Comcast — Verizon made it official on the day of its Q4 2013 earnings call: The company is indeed buying the assets of Intel Media, the Intel subsidiary that has been developing an internet TV service called OnCue.

Discussion: CNET, Home Media Magazine and Re/code

Aaron Souppouris / The Verge:
Verizon agrees to buy Intel's failed internet TV project

Discussion: Intel Newsroom, TechCrunch, Bright Side Of News* and The Next Web

Darren Boyle / Press Gazette:

Guardian set for £500m windfall after agreeing to sell stake in Trader Media Group — Guardian Media Group has agreed to sell its 50.1 per cent stake in the highly-profitable Trader Media Group, the company has announced. — No-one was available for comment this morning …

Discussion: Guardian

Michael Wolff / USA Today:

Can it be? A return to big and rich media? — A net neutrality ruling means more clout for those who control content distribution. — What if you could put the media business back to where it was a generation ago? — That was when a set of large companies controlled access to most content.

Discussion: @michaelwolffnyc, @paulxharris and @alansmurray

Todd Spangler / Variety:

As Netflix Rises, More People Are Canceling HBO and Showtime — U.S. households subscribing to premium cable channels dropped 6 percentage points over 18-month period, while Netflix and other SVOD services grew 4 points — Netflix may be putting a dent in premium cable subscriptions …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, BBC, @davidjmclare, @pmarca, Betabeat, Electronista, WebProNews, The Verge and Gigaom

Fred McConnell / Guardian:

Tony Gallagher exits as Daily Telegraph editor — Chris Evans, assistant editor (news), to take over Monday to Friday editions with immediate effect, publisher announces — Daily Telegraph editor Tony Gallagher is understood to have been fired after four years in charge of the UK's biggest selling quality paper.

Discussion: @mediaguardian, BuzzFeed, @sparky000, @steve_hawkes, @janemartinson, @lisaocarroll, @dansabbagh, @charlesarthur, @jimwaterson, @dansabbagh, @psmith, @chrisdeerin, @annemcelvoy, Guy Fawkes' blog, @raju and @flashboy

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Beats Will Shut Down MOG Music April 15; MOG Founder Joins Stealth Mobile Startup Chosen.fm — As Beats Music turns up the volume on its new streaming service (which is now live in the App Store), it is calling it a day on MOG, the streaming service its parent Beats Electronics acquired …

Discussion: Beats Music Support, Gigaom, USA Today, The Verge, Pocket-lint, Billboard, Engadget, Digital Journal, The Next Web, Geeky Gadgets, The Next Web and App Advice

Jessica Camille Aguirre / Columbia Journalism Review:

Der Spiegel scales back its English edition — The coverage has provided a non-US alternative for Wikileaks and NSA reporting — In late December, the German weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel published a story covering the latest slew of revelations about surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency.

Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:

Stealth marketing: Microsoft paying YouTubers for Xbox One mentions — Machinima campaign offered undisclosed money to videos promoting new console. — The line between traditional, paid advertising and organic editorial content on the Internet can sometimes be hazy.

Discussion: Computerworld, Consumerist, Wired.co.uk, SlashGear, Polygon, The Verge, VG247, Forbes, BGR and MetaFilter

Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:

Apple patents automatic ‘station tuning’ for broadcast and streaming audio, video content — Apple on Tuesday was awarded a patent for a system that analyzes on-board, broadcast or streamed audio and visual media content to create a custom tailored playlist that can switch between sources to deliver an optimal user experience.

Discussion: TechCrunch and @zseward

Liz Shannon Miller / Gigaom:

Do YouTubers like Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart hold the future of independent film? — When producer Michael Goldfine set out to make the feature film Camp Takota, which will be available for download on February 14th, the first thing he knew that the traditional independent film model wouldn't be the right approach.

Discussion: @brothersriedell