Mediagazer: Is U.S. press freedom really ‘plummeting’? Not if you look at the data. (Max Fisher/WorldViews)

3:15 PM ET, February 12, 2014

Top News:

The very public growth of The Intercept — The Intercept, the new startup title funded handsomely by eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar, debuted Monday and created buzz both for simply showing up and for its content: An article examining the use of drones to kill government-selected targets abroad …

Discussion: @the_intercept, @janinegibson and @niemanlab

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

Greenwald's ‘The Intercept’ Gets Intercepted on Day One — With access to Edward Snowden's treasure-trove and four months to prepare, the new magazine got scooped by the 168-year-old Associated Press on the world's biggest drone story Monday. — The Intercept has landed—but with a bang or a thud?

Discussion: The New Yorker Blog, FAIR Blog and @thedailybeast

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Does a ‘savvy media observer’ require anonymity for smack talk? Apparently so! — In Lloyd Grove's column about The Intercept, a “savvy media observer and journalist” lets Glenn Greenwald's new publication have it: … Let's just let that waft on the breeze for a moment. — OK.

Discussion: @ggreenwald, @sulliview, @jayrosen_nyu and @antderosa

Andrew Osborn / Reuters:
European press chief to UK: Ease up on Guardian over Snowden leaks

Discussion: @nickpickles

Max Fisher / WorldViews:

Is U.S. press freedom really ‘plummeting’? Not if you look at the data. — This year's global press freedom ranking, released annually by the international NGO Reporters Without Borders, appears to show something alarming: The U.S. has dropped in the rankings from the world's 32nd most free for media to only 46th.

Discussion: @jcstearns and Business Insider

J.C. Stearns / Free Press Blog:
US plummets to #46 in Global Press Freedom Rankings

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, Agence France Presse, Reporters Without Borders, India Real Time, Guardian, @starvfilmcritic, The Huffington Post, Freedom of the Press …, Washington Times, Al Jazeera America, @freepress and @jcstearns

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

The Facebook Effect on the News — Social networks are the new front page and homepage for news. But on Facebook, it's not the “news” that readers come to see or click to leave. — Around this time last year, I considered writing a story claiming that Facebook and Twitter were the new “homepages” for news on the Internet.

Discussion: The Dish, @nathanjurgenson, @tsimonite, @theatlantic, @millie, @mathewi, ReadWrite, @kevinroose, @alexismadrigal, @mjenkins, @jbennet, @holmesdm, @rubinafillion, @darcyday and Felix Salmon

Bloomberg:

Apple Said to Plan New Set-Top Box Amid Time Warner Cable Talks — Apple Inc. (AAPL) is planning to introduce a new Apple TV set-top box as early as April and is negotiating with Time Warner Cable Inc. and other potential partners to add video content, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Discussion: Deadline.com, AppleInsider, Re/code, @awallenstein, Business Insider, MacRumors, The Verge, Gizmodo, @sherman4949, BGR, @brianstelter, 9to5Mac, @zseward, @bloombergtech, The Next Web and App Advice

Henry Taylor / TheMediaBriefing:

BuzzFeed's native advertising: are they really making ads you want to share? — BuzzFeed is a business built on sharing. That doesn't just mean shareable articles, it also means shareable ads. But do people really want to share this branded content? We thought we'd take a look …

Discussion: @henryctaylor, @blathnaidhealy, @mashplant and @danwmedia, Thanks:@rorybrown

Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:

Second-screen apps? Viewers say ho-hum, but execs see potential — Andrew Lincoln appears in a scene from “The Walking Dead.” The show has been using second-screen technology to engage viewers. (Gene Page / AMC) — Networks, advertisers and tech start-ups have been trying …

Craig Timberg / Washington Post:

Foreign regimes use spyware against journalists, even in U.S. — Mesay Mekonnen was at his desk, at a news service based in Northern Virginia, when gibberish suddenly exploded across his computer screen one day in December. A sophisticated cyberattack was underway.

Discussion: @ezraklein, @washpostpr and @oswaldrachel

Gideon Spanier / London Evening Standard:

Net-A-Porter's glossy mag is raising hackles at Vogue — The glossy world of fashion magazines hasn't seen a war like this for years. Porter, a new print title published by online retailer Net-A-Porter, is going head to head with Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and other established names.

Discussion: Mediawire Daily

Sam Kirkland / Poynter:

Does it matter that mobile-native Quartz has a mobile-minority audience? — As much as mobile is poised to keep growing in 2014, old desktop habits die hard — especially during business hours. That leaves Quartz, Atlantic Media's 18-month-old business site, with a fascinating hand after going all-in on mobile.

Discussion: @poynter

Nick Vivarelli / Variety:

MacNeil/Lehrer Productions Teams Up With Al-Monitor For Middle East Web Specials — MacNeil/Lehrer Productions and Washington-based website Al-Monitor.com have teamed-up to produce a series of Web video specials on Middle East politics titled Trendlines to be streamed on the PBS NewsHour webiste …

Discussion: Rapid TV News and TV Media Insights

Alice Su / Wired:

In the Middle East, Arabic Wikipedia Is a Flashpoint — And a Beacon — AMMAN, Jordan - Rami Tarawneh knew something was wrong when security in a Middle Eastern airport made him wait for three hours. The 36-year-old Jordanian traveled throughout the region often, but this was the first …

Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:

Facebook Lays Claim to Twitter's Live TV Territory — Social media giant cites new research demonstrating users comment on TV shows while they air — In their battle for advertising dollars, Facebook and Twitter have taken positions in the marketplace to differentiate themselves.

Discussion: Forbes and @jimconnolly

Will Oremus / Slate:

The Rise of the Facebook Truthers — Journalists will believe anything about the social network, as long as it's totally outlandish. — Something about Facebook makes journalists lose their minds. How else to explain the seemingly unending procession of stories based on wild speculation and implausible conspiracy theories?

Discussion: Forbes, Columbia Journalism Review, @willoremus, SocialTimes, PandoDaily, Boing Boing, Business Insider and WebProNews

Al Jazeera English:

CPJ slams charges against Al Jazeera staff — Watchdog says detained journalists face a political trial and that press freedom in the country is in sharp decline. — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned Egypt's charges against Al Jazeera staff, and said that press freedom in the country is in sharp decline.

Discussion: BBC

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Are publishers overselling social traffic at the expense of search? A dialogue with Danny Sullivan … You may have seen my column yesterday on the rise of content designed for social sharing — a category that for me includes everything from pure-viral outlets like Upworthy to more newsy but still sharing-optimized sites like Quartz.

Discussion: American Press Institute and @niemanlab

Lee Hutchinson / Ars Technica:

Slashdot's new interface could kill what keeps Slashdot relevant — Flashy revamp seeks to draw new faces to the community—at the cost of the old. — In the modern responsive Web Three Point Oh Internet, Slashdot stands like a thing frozen in time—it's a coelacanth stuck incongruously in an aquarium full of more colorful fish.

Discussion: The Switch

Nicole Perlroth / NYT Bits:

The Day the Internet Didn't Fight Back — So much for mass protest. — A consortium of Internet and privacy activists had long promoted Feb. 11 as the day the Internet would collectively stand up and shout down surveillance by the National Security Agency.

Discussion: The Switch, TheHill, Free Press, PSFK, TechWeekEurope UK, Softpedia News, Mother Jones, @pernillet, @evacide and @xor

Ken Yeung / The Next Web:

Disney teams with Techstars to launch accelerator program for media and entertainment startups — The Walt Disney Company is launching an accelerator program to help ten lucky startups succeed and give the media giant more insights into innovation and creativity.

Discussion: TechCrunch, CNET and Variety

Rebecca Greenfield / Fast Company:

Why The New York Times Hired A Biology Researcher As Its Chief Data Scientist — It doesn't come as a huge surprise that the New York Times has hired a chief data scientist. Even 162-year-old media companies know that technology will play a huge role in the future of journalism.

Discussion: @chanders

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Indy Star's Bizarre Tale of Real-Life Exorcism Wins Huge Mobile Traffic, but Cashing In Is Harder — Haunted House Story a ‘Serendipitous’ Big Draw for Gannett Paper — Gannett's Indianapolis Star is happily learning what movie studios have long known: Ghost stories are a huge draw.

Discussion: @gangrey and @romenesko

Yang Xiao / Nieman Reports:

Are the linguistic tricks Chinese journalists use to express their opinions just another form of self-censorship? — Are the linguistic tricks Chinese journalists use to express their opinions just another form of self-censorship? — In China, May has 35 days.

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab

Geoffrey King / Committee to Protect Journalists:

The NSA Puts Journalists Under a Cloud of Suspicion — In fall 2013, the U.S. National Security Agency quietly began booting up its Utah Data Center, a sprawling 1.5 million-square-foot facility designed to store and analyze the vast amounts of electronic data the spy agency gathers from around the globe.

Discussion: @cpjinternet

Reuters:

Turkish editor hits out at media coercion under Erdogan — (Reuters) - A prominent Turkish newspaper editor has openly decried government pressure on the media, saying journalists live in fear, in unusually blunt criticism of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's leadership months ahead of elections.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and @pamukhum

Ted Johnson / Variety:

U.S. Trade Representative Identifies ‘Notorious’ Piracy Sites — Putlocker.com, Rapidshare.com and The PirateBay.se have enjoyed huge traffic on the Internet, but they also have earned a distinction of being among the most “notorious” online sites when it comes to piracy.