Mediagazer: Free Press: Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger Would Be a Disaster for Consumers (Free Press)

11:40 PM ET, February 12, 2014

Top News:

Comcast to Buy Time Warner Cable in $44.2 Billion All-Stock Deal, Says CNBC — CNBC's David Faber this evening tweeted that multiple unnamed sources have indicated to him that Comcast (CMCSA) will announce tomorrow a deal to purchase Time Warner Cable (TWC) for $159 per share, in an all-stock deal.

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: Pocket-lint, Fortune, Mercury News, @brianstelter, Business Insider, Gizmodo, Gigaom, AppleInsider, The Verge, Deadline.com, @awallenstein, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, @sherman4949, BGR, VentureBeat, ReadWrite, @edmundlee, The Next Web, App Advice, @zseward, @bloombergtech, Mashable, Variety, Electronista, MACé" blog and DealBook

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Here's What the New Apple TV Could Look Like (Hint: Check Your iPad) — Apple is reportedly prepping a new version of Apple TV, which would work like a cable set-top box. Apple is working with Time Warner Cable to launch the device this year, Bloomberg says.

Free Press:

Free Press: Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger Would Be a Disaster for Consumers — Jenn Topper, 202-265-1490 ext. 35 — WASHINGTON — According to press reports late Wednesday night, Comcast is preparing to announce a $44 billion deal to buy Time Warner Cable.

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Who Rules The Second Screen, Facebook Or Twitter? — Twitter's user growth in the last couple quarters may have been less than stellar, but one place the social messenging service hasn't disappointed is its hold on television viewers. Twitter executives see the so-called second screen experience …

Discussion: @rachaelrad and @kevinweil

Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:
Facebook Lays Claim to Twitter's Live TV Territory

Discussion: @jimconnolly

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Media Standards Trust updates its “churnalism” tools — The U.K.'s Media Standards Trust has released an updated version of Churnalism, its tool to identify news stories that are thin rewrites (or outright cut-and-paste copies) of press releases. In addition to a revamped website …

Discussion: Media Standards Trust

Johana Bhuiyan / Capital New York:

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, @niemanlab and Agence France Presse

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

Discussion: Guardian and @nickpickles

David Sirota / PandoDaily:

PBS station WNET financed “Pension Peril” series with $3.5M donation from Arnold Foundation — The Wolf of Sesame Street: Revealing the secret corruption inside PBS's news division — On December 18th, the Public Broadcasting Service's flagship station WNET issued …

Discussion: Felix Salmon, @johnarnoldfndtn, The Raw Story, @davidsirota, @billmon1, @froomkin and PandoDaily

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: @darcyday, ReadWrite, Kirk LaPointe's …, The Dish, @rubinafillion, @tsimonite, @nathanjurgenson, @mjenkins, @millie, @jbennet, @kevinroose, @mathewi, @holmesdm, @alexismadrigal and @theatlantic

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, Business Insider and The Huffington Post

David Lieberman / Deadline.com:

CBS Beats Q4 Earnings Estimates And Says It Will Add $1.5B To Share Buys This Quarter — CBS shares are up in post market trading after it reported the ambitious stock repurchase plan — bringing Q1 buying to $2B — and Q4 results that exceeded forecasts just about everywhere except in local broadcasting and its billboard operation.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Variety, Los Angeles Times, PR Newswire, USA Today, Nieman Journalism Lab, Reuters, @alexweprin, @edmundlee, @richbtig, @dana_mcclintock and The Wrap

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Yahoo's Contextual Homescreen App Aviate Adds A Smart “Listening Space” For Music Lovers — Aviate, the contextual Android homescreen application Yahoo bought for $80 million in January, has rolled out an update today which introduces a smart “Listening Space” that allows users to more easily find …

Discussion: Aviate Blog, Gigaom and The Next Web

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: @butterworthy and @chanders

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

Deutsche Welle:

Myanmar: School of journalism in the making — Germany's Federal President Joachim Gauck has praised DW Akademie's efforts to set up a much-needed journalism school in Myanmar. He referred to the project in a speech given this week at Yangon University. — The first national school …

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Nielsen Pauses Effort To Report Broadband-Only Audiences Watching Local TV — Nielsen is putting its efforts to divulge broadband-only households watching programming from local TV stations on hiatus, after various requests from the TV industry. — Because of technical issues …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, MediaPost and multichannel.com/rss

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: @rj_gallagher, @ezraklein, Mashable, @washpostpr and @oswaldrachel

Catherine Taibi / The Huffington Post:

Soledad O'Brien Teams Up With Google — Soledad O'Brien's production company is teaming up with Google as she prepares for her first speaking tour, the former CNN host told the Huffington Post Wednesday. — Google will expand O'Brien's Starfish Media Group using Google+'s Hangouts …

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 …

Rem Rieder / USA Today:

Battling for profitability, GlobalPost adds “Voices” commentary with $100k Ford grant — Rieder: Digital journalism's financial challenge — Foreign news site GlobalPost launches a new feature with foundation support. — Being a digital journalism entrepreneur is not for the fainthearted.

Discussion: Mediaite

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: Guardian and @cpjinternet

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

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

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

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, Variety, CNET and @chudson