Mediagazer: Facebook and the race to make content go viral — meet the new boss, same as the old boss (Mathew Ingram/Gigaom)

6:30 PM ET, February 3, 2014

Top News:

Lauren Hockenson / Gigaom:

Facebook's Paper is Facebook for people who hate Facebook — For the past couple years, Facebook has trained its mobile efforts on capturing various facets of social interaction. The social network has compartmentalized and optimized features (Messenger), mimicked the experiences …

Discussion: Forbes, NYT Bits, Business Insider, The Verge, @niemanlab, @mitali, @anttislaine, @epak and @matthewpennell

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Facebook and the race to make content go viral — meet the new boss, same as the old boss — There are two charts that have been making their way around the media blogosphere recently, and they both tell aspects of the same story: namely, a story about how much power Facebook has when it comes …

Discussion: @lhockenson, @lukelewis and Columbia Journalism Review

Peter Kafka / Re/code:
In 2013, Facebook's referral traffic to BuzzFeed and its “Network” sites blew past Google's

Discussion: Business Insider

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:

As the Latest Christie Story Evolved, The Times Should Have Noted a Change — In the digital age, news evolves before our very eyes. A story breaks and goes online with perhaps a few rough paragraphs. Soon after, more details are added, new angles explored and writing is tuned up.

Discussion: Erik Wemple, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, @joenbc, Latest News & Headlines, @jpodhoretz, Capital New York, The Huffington Post, The New Yorker Blog, Politico, Gawker and Twitchy

Rem Rieder / USA Today:

BuzzFeed's investigative unit coming together — BuzzFeed's investigative reporting unit is coming together. — The site best known for its offbeat lists and dead-on sense of the digitally viral hired Mark Schoofs away from the highly regarded investigative site ProPublica to launch its unit.

Discussion: @susarm, @peretti, @gregorydjohnsen, @jwherrman, @mattaikins and @azafar

Jeff Baumgartner / Multichannel News:

Aereo Sets San Antonio Launch Date — Broadband TV/Cloud DVR Combo To Debut On February 19 — Aereo may be tapped out of capacity in New York City, but it's gearing up to tap in to the San Antonio market. — Aereo announced Monday that it will launch its mix of broadband TV …

Discussion: CNET, TVNewsCheck.com, Radio & Television …, World Internet TV, WorldScreen.com, Consumerist and Home Media Magazine

Reuters:

Ex-BBC chief Mark Thompson apologises for failed $170 mln IT project — U.S. media executive Mark Thompson apologised on Monday to the British public and parliamentarians for the failure of a 100 million pound ($170 million) digital project during his years of running the BBC.

Discussion: Guardian, The Independent, Telegraph, Bloomberg, Associated Press, National Updates, broadcastnow.co.uk, @davidfolkenflik, London News, BBC and UK - The Huffington Post

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Rupert Murdoch to be inducted into US television academy hall of fame — Next month, lest it has passed under your radar since the official announcement in December, Rupert Murdoch will be inducted into the US television academy hall of fame. — He is one of six people selected by the academy …

Ben Fritz / Wall Street Journal:

Disney's Interactive-Media Unit to Lay off Several Hundred People — Layoffs Expected to Begin After Quarterly Results Released Wednesday — Walt Disney Co. 's interactive-media unit is preparing to lay off several hundred people despite a strong launch for its videogame “Infinity,” according to people close to the company.

Discussion: Business Insider, Variety, The Wrap, @bobservo and @benfritz

Russell Brandom / The Verge:

New bill would restore net neutrality pending FCC action — A new pair of bills have been introduced to the Senate and House to protect Net Neutrality after a circuit court ruling struck down the FCC's previous rules earlier this month. A permanent solution will ultimately come from the FCC …

Discussion: Business Insider and Re/code

Steve Waldman / Poynter:

Why is local news innovation struggling financially while national thrives? — On the national level, we've seen an exciting burst of investment and innovation in digital news. — The New York Times crowed that “Web News Is Thriving,” the evidence being that Ezra Klein, the wonk's wonk …

Discussion: Guardian, @dicktofel and @jayrosen_nyu

Jeff Kosseff / InsideTechMedia:

Journalists Nationwide Face Surge of Subpoenas in Federal and State Courts — Reporters nationwide have faced a flurry of subpoenas in recent months, calling into question whether journalists can guarantee confidentiality to sources. The repeated attempts to force journalists to reveal …

Discussion: @sulliview, @atlblog and The Newspaper Guild

Press Gazette:

Sun editor David Dinsmore announces shake-up of senior team with focus on digital — Sun editor David Dinsmore has announced a shake-up of his senior editor to strengthen the paper's digital offering. — In a note to staff he said: “As you have seen from the recent press …