Top News:
Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Washington Post announces plans to hire bloggers, redesign site — A memo to staffers from Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron outlines some of the paper's plans for the next year. — The news organization plans to hire “writers to author ‘verticals’ on a wide array of subjects,” Baron writes.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Capital New York and FishbowlDC
RELATED:
Harry Jaffe / Washingtonian:
Katharine Weymouth Defends Decision Not to Fund Ezra Klein's New Venture — “It just didn't make sense for us,” the Post publisher says of Klein's proposed website. — Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has absorbed the responsibility—much of it critical—for not keeping Ezra Klein …
Discussion:
JIMROMENESKO.COM, @harryjaffe, @mlcalderone, @raju and @sophiegg
David Carr / New York Times:
As I Was Saying About Web Journalism ... a Bubble, or a Lasting Business? — Last week, it occurred to me that the departure of Ezra Klein, the creator of The Washington Post's influential Wonkblog, to join the young company Vox Media was a bit of a moment — an inflection point in the emergence of a news economy online.
Discussion:
@viceukmedia, @suzykhimm, @dananorak, @dangillmor, @carr2n, @cappiwill, @jonathanwald, @azi, @peterlattman and Gigaom
Sarah Wheaton / New York Times:
Rep. Michael Grimm Threatens an NY1 Reporter — The Staten Island lawmaker can be heard telling Michael Scotto, a reporter for NY1, “I'll break you in half” in footage broadcast by the network.
Discussion:
NY1, Poynter, Mediaite, The Awl, Politico, Capital New York, The Huffington Post, @thestustein, @connellyal, @jenniferpreston, @badler, @popehat, Gawker, @tim_eastman, @dylanbyers, @jswatz, @ryanjreilly, @errollouis, The Week, @reformedbroker, @kagrox, @burgessev, Capital New York, @zogblog, Post Politics, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Business Insider, Politicker and Mediaite
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Azi Paybarah / Capital New York:
Grimm offers a ‘friendly’ apology to NY1 reporter — Rep. Michael Grimm apologized in a phone call to the NY1 reporter who he threatened after an on-air interview in Washington last night. — NY1 reporter Michael Scotto, appearing on air this morning, said Grimm “called to apologize” and “said it was really not him.”
Discussion:
@mikescotto, New York Times, Latest News & Headlines and Talking Points Memo
Jim Romenesko:
Report: Hundreds of Patch employees laid off — I'm told that hundreds — two tipsters claim two-thirds of the editorial staff — have been laid off by Patch's new owner, Hale Global. I have asked the company for confirmation. (It bought Patch from AOL on January 15.)
Discussion:
Business Insider, TechCrunch, FishbowlNY, SoundCloud, @terry_casey, @pottsmark, @russellblairct, @kiragoldenberg, @raju and @romenesko
Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:
The O.C. Register's supremely ghoulish financial strategy — The Orange County Register building in Santa Ana is shown. The company is seeking to buy life insurance on its employees, not to benefit the employees' families, but to benefit the company's pension plan. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Discussion:
@jimmyorr, @froomkin, @bgrueskin and @romenesko
RELATED:
Jim Romenesko:
Orange County Register owner blasts Los Angeles Times' story on his ‘ghoulish strategy’ — Orange County Register owner Aaron Kushner, who is buying life insurance policies on some of his employees, advises his staff to print out yesterday's Los Angeles Times story — headlined …
Discussion:
The Newspaper Guild
Katerina Eva Matsa / Pew Research Center:
Local TV audiences bounce back — Bucking a long-range trend of declining viewership, the audience for local TV news grew in all three major time slots in 2013. Viewership climbed 6% in the morning (5 to 7 a.m.) and 3% in the early evening (5 to 7 p.m.) newscasts, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @tv_agent, @pewjournalism, @asmitch, @danharland, @halliejackson, Erik Wemple, Advancing the Story, TVSpy, Poynter and The Huffington Post
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
CNN And Twitter Partner With Dataminr To Create News Tool For Journalists — CNN is hosting a press event today to announce a partnership with Twitter and social analytics company Dataminr to launch a new tool called Dataminr For News. — Dataminr CEO Ted Bailey said the goal is to …
Discussion:
The Verge, @willoremus and @jweb
Alexei Oreskovic / Reuters:
Facebook teams up with Fox on Super Bowl — (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is collaborating with Fox Sports for Sunday's Super Bowl broadcast, the social network's latest move to increase its role as a hub for real-time conversations around sports and news events.
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Chris Welch / The Verge:
NFL will block streaming video inside Super Bowl stadium
NFL will block streaming video inside Super Bowl stadium
Discussion:
@pkedrosky, GeekWire and Business Insider
Associated Press:
Egypt Refers 20 Al Jazeera Journalists To Trial On Terrorism Charges — CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's chief prosecutor has referred 20 journalists from the Al-Jazeera TV network, including four foreigners, to trial on charges of joining or assisting a terrorist group and spreading false news that endangers national security.
Discussion:
Guardian, Mediaite and The Newspaper Guild
RELATED:
Roy Greenslade / Guardian:
Journalists express solidarity in calling for release of Al-Jazeera five
Journalists express solidarity in calling for release of Al-Jazeera five
Discussion:
BBC, @hazemsika, @hackneylad, @felicitybarrtv, @sokkari, Al Jazeera English and The Huffington Post
Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
News of the World phone hacker was refused full immunity by CPS, jury told — Prosecutors believed Dan Evans might be ‘vulnerable’ to allegations he was making up evidence, Old Bailey hears — The News of the World phone hacker Dan Evans was told he would be not getting full immunity …
RELATED:
Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
News of the World hacker admits lying as part of ‘enormous conspiracy’
News of the World hacker admits lying as part of ‘enormous conspiracy’
Discussion:
Telegraph, The Independent, Bloomberg, Sky News, Reuters, BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, @jackofkent and BBC
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
Andy Carvin joins the Tow Center for Digital Journalism as a fellow — Andy Carvin will join the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School as a fellow. — Tow published the news on Wednesday morning, then unpublished it, but not before Google picked it up and sent …
Discussion:
Andy Carvin's Waste …
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
Time Inc. to cut nearly 500 employees: sources — The imminent layoffs at Time Inc. are expected to cut close to 500 people, or about 6 percent of the work force, reliable sources tell Media Ink. — One source said the target date for an announcement is now Feb. 4 …
Discussion:
@mathewi, FishbowlNY, Mediawire Daily and WWD
Zachary M. Seward / Quartz:
Refresh, refresh, refresh... Twitter is monetizing your compulsiveness — Every time you refresh your tweets, Twitter banks a tenth of a penny. — The company, which will issue its first quarterly earnings report next week, considers “timeline views” the best measure of how engaged its users are.
Discussion:
WebProNews, AppNewser, Electronista and Mashable
Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:
HowAboutWe...Buy Nerve and Become a Media Company? — HowAboutWe, the dating site that published editorial content, is taking it to the next level. — The company bought Nerve.com and is becoming a full-fledged lifestyle media brand about modern love, complete with stand-alone verticals and advertising.
Discussion:
Fortune, TechCrunch, Capital New York, @luxnightmare and @beejoli
Choire Sicha / The Awl:
An Oral History Of Gawker, By Reddit — When the history of the web is written, the final word will obviously belong to Reddit. What else will be left? — And: what will we remember of a network of blogs called “Gawker Media”? Here is the collected wisdom on the topic of Gawker …
Discussion:
@matthardigree, @silviakillings, @melanierenzulli, @daweiner and @rilaws
Roy Greenslade / Guardian:
News UK launches journalism academy — News UK has launched the News Academy, an initiative aimed at finding and training teenagers who wish to be journalists. — The launch was attended by the editors of News UK's titles: The Times (John Witherow), Sunday Times (Martin Ivens) and The Sun (David Dinsmore).
Jack Marshall / Digiday:
Elite Daily: Inside One Publisher's Viral Eruption — Publishing used to be a long, hard slog. For most, it still is, even more so these days, but in the Facebook era there are the select few — think Upworthy, ViralNova, even History in Pictures — that record eye-popping traffic-growth numbers that beggar belief.
Thanks:@jackmarshall
Wall Street Journal:
Netflix Gears Up to Expand in Europe — Rival Media Companies Race to Grab Subscribers, Program Rights — As streaming-video juggernaut Netflix Inc. plots an expansion in Europe, media companies across the continent are girding for battle. — The U.S.-based online video service …
Discussion:
Gigaom
Rachel Bartlett / Journalism.co.uk:
Why Kyiv Post reinstated part-paywall and will raise fee — Having dropped its paywall during the ongoing protests in Kiev, the Kyiv Post has reintroduced payment for some content and plans to increase the subscription fee — Read more … - Home — Jobs — PressGo — PressQuest
Mark Sweney / Guardian:
ITV to launch pay-TV drama channel on Sky — Broadcaster continues its strategy of reducing its reliance on free-to-air advertising by announcing rollout of ITV Encore — ITV is to launch a pay-TV channel on Sky showcasing the “best of British drama”, its first major return to pay-TV since …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Independent, Digital Spy, Pocket-lint, @jaxconrad, Brand Republic and Deadline.com
Gillian Wong / Associated Press:
China visa woes for NYT as government ups pressure — BEIJING (AP) — The government is intensifying efforts to control foreign media coverage of China, blocking websites, harassing reporters trying to cover trials of activists in Beijing and thwarting efforts by The New York Times to station new journalists on the mainland.