Mediagazer: YouTube founders' startup Avos is laying off 80% of staff & killing video app Mixbit (scoop) (Tom Cheredar/VentureBeat)

6:35 PM ET, February 4, 2014

Top News:

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Intelligence chairman accuses Glenn Greenwald of illegally selling stolen material — A top lawmaker argued Tuesday that journalist Glenn Greenwald is illegally selling stolen material by asking news organizations to pay for access to U.S. intelligence secrets taken from the National Security Agency.

Discussion: Mediaite, thenation.com/blogs/174784, Guardian, @mathewi, @puellavulnerata, @kgosztola, @declanm and @froomkin

Washington Post:

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers grills FBI director about reporter “accomplices” selling stolen material — FBI Director Comey discusses legality of reporters, stolen Snowden documents — In Tuesday's hearing of the House Intelligence Committee on “Worldwide Threats,” Rep. Mike Rogers …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, @declanm, @lorenzofb, @youranonnews, @ggreenwald and Techdirt

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Glenn Greenwald denies selling NSA documents — Writer Glenn Greenwald charged Tuesday that claims by U.S. officials that he's selling National Security Agency documents are wrong and that those officials are pursuing a campaign that could criminalize the practice of journalism.

Discussion: @buzzfeedben

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

Video of Journalists' Arrest in Egypt Seen as Threat to Media — CAIRO — A leaked video of the arrest of two journalists offered a cinematic close-up on Monday of the new military-backed government's crackdown on dissent: slow-moving footage of a hotel room full of telecommunications equipment set …

Discussion: TVNewser, @pattyculhane, @kfahim, @kenroth, The Huffington Post, @mostafasalem8 and Kirk LaPointe's …

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:

Obama Administration Has Told Egypt To Release Al Jazeera Reporters — “We have strongly urged the government to drop these charges and release those journalists and academics who have been detained,” White House spokesperson Jay Carney said Tuesday. He wouldn't say if aid would be in jeopardy if detention continues.

Discussion: Politico, Reuters and The Huffington Post

Maxime Zech / NL Times:
Dutch journalist flees Egypt after being accused of aiding terrorist network linked to Al Jazeera

Discussion: TheBlot, @jmalsin and Digits

Darren Boyle / Press Gazette:
Journalists protest at Egypt's Nairobi embassy over detention of Al Jazeera staff

Discussion: BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Andy Carvin, a pioneer in using Twitter for real-time journalism, joins Omidyar's First Look Media — First Look Media — the new media entity that eBay founder Pierre Omidyar is building and has promised to fund to the tune of at least $250 million — is still in its formative stages …

Discussion: Andy Carvin's Waste …, Nieman Journalism Lab, Washington Post, Poynter, @_arianna, @jasonleopold, @michaelwolffnyc, @antderosa and @davidbauer

Michael Sebastian / AdAge: Pierre Omidyar's First Look Media Names Michael Rosen Chief Revenue Officer

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Netflix plans to spend $3 billion on content this year — Good news for Netflix subscribers looking to burn through more movies and TV shows: The company declared in its 2013 Annual Report this week that it intends to spend close to $3 billion on content in 2014.

Discussion: VatorNews and @peterlauria3

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix to Raise $400 Mil in Additional Debt to Fund Original Content, Euro Expansion

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Verge, VentureBeat, WebProNews, CNET and Business Insider

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Video News Aggregator Watchup Raises $1M From Microsoft Ventures, Others — Video news startup Watchup, is announcing that it has raised $1 million in additional funding. — Co-founder Adriano Farano, a former journalist himself, has said that his goal is to create a new version of the daily newscast.

Discussion: Watchup, @xdamman, @farano and @ibarguen

Emmy Favilla / BuzzFeed:

It's fanboy, not fan boy: BuzzFeed releases internal style guide — BuzzFeed Style Guide — The BuzzFeed Style Guide aims to provide a prevailing, and evolving, set of standards for the internet and social media. — BuzzFeed publishes news and entertainment in the language of the web …

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

News UK chief exec Mike Darcey: 'Don't confuse Mail Online with a business that is based on professional journalism' — News UK chief executive Mike Darcey today revealed that The Times and Sunday Times were on the brink of turning a profit as he condemned The Guardian and Mail Online …

Discussion: Capital New York and Guardian

Eliza Brooke / Fashionista:

Vogue Goes Digital With a New Flipboard Partnership — Vogue has been making a concerted effort to get more multi-channel and tech-happy this year, with a new emphasis on video content and getting its editors involved in social media (hello, #voguestagram).

Discussion: @carlmartin, Thanks:@eliza_pb

Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:

YouTube founders' startup Avos is laying off 80% of staff & killing video app Mixbit (scoop) — Avos Systems, the company created by YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, is laying off a significant portion of its workforce, sources close to the company told VentureBeat.

Discussion: Gigaom and The Next Web

Nikki Usher / Nieman Journalism Lab:

In Des Moines, the Register's new newsroom space aims to be a symbol of its digital future — The Des Moines Register said goodbye to almost a century worth of memories in June when it left its 13-story home for a floor-and-a-half of commercial real estate in what had been vacant office space.

Discussion: @niemanlab and The Newspaper Guild

Juliette Garside / Guardian:

BBC to slash YouView investment — BT and TalkTalk remain as the major shareholders in set-top box television project created to rival Freeview — The BBC and other broadcasters are planning to slash their investment in the YouView set-top box, leaving BT and TalkTalk as the major shareholders …

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Cable lobby hits setback in fight for Kansas municipal internet ban, will try again despite Google opposition — Cable co. blames “misinformation” for failure of municipal Internet ban — Kansas cable lobby will try again, now facing opposition from Google.

Discussion: @jbrodkin, Consumerist and DSLreports

Joseph Ax / Reuters:

Apple, U.S. clash in court over e-books antitrust monitor — (Reuters) - Apple Inc urged a federal appeals court on Tuesday to put a court-appointed antitrust monitor on hold, arguing that his efforts were harming the company's business. — The iPhone maker asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court …

Discussion: AppleInsider, Gigaom, SiliconBeat and Law Blog

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:

Adobe Partners With Microsoft's Azure To Power NBC's Sochi Olympics Video Streaming — NBC caught a lot of flak for its live video streams during the London Olympics, but for Sochi, the network promises to stream every event live. Just like during the London Olympics …

Discussion: Home Media Magazine, Forbes, Beet.TV, Gigaom and Latest News & Headlines

Roger Yu / USA Today:

Gannett Q4 income falls 12% due to lower ad sales — Gannett, the parent company of USA TODAY, said Tuesday its net earnings for the fourth quarter fell 12% from the quarter a year ago to $90.7 million due to the absence of political advertising from a year ago and a decline in print ad sales.

Discussion: Poynter, Broadcasting & Cable and Gannett Company, Inc.