Mediagazer: UK slips down press freedom index due to harassment of the Guardian (Roy Greenslade/Guardian)

12:10 PM ET, February 12, 2014

Top News:

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

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: @niemanlab

J.C. Stearns / Free Press Blog:

US plummets to #46 in Global Press Freedom Rankings — According to a new report from Reporters Without Borders, there was a profound erosion of press freedom in the United States in 2013. — After a year of attacks on whistleblowers and digital journalists and revelations about mass surveillance …

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, The Huffington Post, India Real Time, Freedom of the Press …, Guardian, @starvfilmcritic, @freepress and @jcstearns

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

UK slips down press freedom index due to harassment of the Guardian — US also registers fall in latest world press freedom index — Major declines in media freedom in countries as varied as the United States, Central African Republic and Guatemala are highlighted in the latest annual …

Discussion: Poynter, Press Gazette, Latest News & Headlines, Reuters, Mashable, The Raw Story and American Press Institute

Agence France Presse:

US under fire in global press freedom report — Paris (AFP) - Conflicts continued to weigh heavily on the media last year but press freedom was also under increasing threat from abuses by democracies like the United States, Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday.

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, @umairh, Washington Times, Al Jazeera America and @jayrosen_nyu

Henry Taylor / The Media Briefing:

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

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: ReadWrite, @mjenkins, @jbennet, @kevinroose, @rubinafillion, @mathewi, @holmesdm, @alexismadrigal, @theatlantic, @millie, @darcyday and Felix Salmon

Austin Ramzy / New York Times:

Free Press Groups Warn of China's Influence on Hong Kong and Taiwan Media — Press freedom in Hong Kong and Taiwan, which have long been known for their boisterous news media, is under increasing pressure from China, as news outlets curtail coverage that might anger government officials …

Paul Mooney / Nieman Reports:
The state of journalism in China, 25 years after Tiananmen

Discussion: @david__moser, @alecash and @niemanreports

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 …

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, PandoDaily, Boing Boing, Business Insider, WebProNews and Nieman Journalism Lab

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

Net News Check:

AH Belo Digital Rev Up 18% In 2013 — A. H. Belo's digital revenue rose 7% for the fourth quarter and 18% for the year, helping slow overall revenue declines to their lowest levels since thenewspaper publisher's 2008 spinoff from Belo Corp. The company's digital efforts were driven …

Discussion: Poynter and Wall Street Journal

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

Ian Traynor / Guardian:

Edward Snowden asylum demand dropped by European parliament — MEPs fail to reach consensus on amendment to inquiry calling on governments to assure NSA whistleblower of his safety — The European parliament is to ditch demands on Wednesday that EU governments give guarantees of asylum …

Discussion: TheHill, @boldfreshjew and @janalbrecht

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: @niemanlab and American Press Institute

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Why the NYT published the general location of a planned drone strike and the AP held back — New York Times Editor: Government Requests To Hold Info Are ‘Almost Blanket Policy’ — NEW YORK — The Associated Press revealed Monday that the U.S. government is considering a drone strike …

Discussion: New York Times

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

John Battelle on His New Venture: Programmatic for Publishers Big and Small — PALM SPRINGS, CA - John Battelle, who sold Federated Media last month, has kept the programmatic unit of the company which is called Sovryn. In this interview with Beet.TV, he talks about the opportunities around programmatic for publishers.

Press Gazette:

£250k spent on deciding who will appoint press regulation recognition panel — The Government is spending up to £250,000 on deciding who will choose a press regulation recognition panel which may ultimately have nothing to do. — The recognition panel is needed to decide whether …

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: @jimconnolly

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

Joseph P. Kahn / The Boston Globe:

Garry Trudeau plans hiatus from daily ‘Doonesbury’ — Saying that newspaper comic strips aren't as influential as they used to be, Garry Trudeau will put daily production of “Doonesbury” on long-term hiatus beginning Feb. 24. Instead, he plans to focus on “Alpha House,” an original Web series that he's helped create for Amazon.

Discussion: Houston Chronicle, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Salt Lake Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Herald-Dispatch.com, @alexweprin, @bostonglobe and Comics Alliance

Richard Kastelein / TV App Market:

Nearly 70% of Europeans download or stream films for free — Nearly 70% of Europeans download or stream films for free, whether legally or illegally, according to a new European Commission study on audience behaviour. It also finds that 40% of smartphone owners and more than 60% of tablet owners watch films on their devices.

Discussion: infojustice

Merrill Knox / TVNewser:

Fox News Latino to Increase Video Production — Since its launch more than three years ago, Fox News Latino has been one of Fox News' steadily-growing brands. The site averaged 3.6 million page views and 1.1 million unique visitors in 2013, according to ComScore.

Discussion: Capital New York and Lost Remote

Tess Stynes / Wall Street Journal:

Thomson Reuters Swings to Loss on Restructuring Charges — Company Says Revenue from Financial and Risk Division Fell 2.4% in Fourth Quarter — Thomson Reuters Corp. swung to a fourth-quarter loss as the financial data provider posted restructuring charges and revenue declined at its core financial and risk division.

Discussion: Fox Business and Reuters