Mediagazer: People don't always read the articles they share (Adrianne Jeffries/The Verge)

2:25 PM ET, February 16, 2014

Top News:

David Gelles / DealBook:

A Bigger Comcast May Beget More Deals — Just last month, Discovery Communications, the owner of cable networks including Animal Planet and TLC, had considered acquiring rival Scripps Networks Interactive in a deal that would have been valued at more than $10 billion. — Discovery never went ahead.

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, @pkafka, New York Times, Paul Krugman and Reuters

Bloomberg:

Comcast Talks From Sochi Win Time Warner Cable in Six-Day Sprint — On Feb. 4, executives of cable operators Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) gathered at the Manhattan offices of law firm Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz to discuss Charter's bid to buy Time Warner Cable Inc. …

Discussion: @sherman4949, Los Angeles Times and DealBook

Liz Hoffman / Wall Street Journal:
Charter's Nominees to Time Warner Cable Board to Get $75,000 Each

Discussion: @lizrhoffman

Adrianne Jeffries / The Verge:

People don't always read the articles they share — You're not going to read this — But you'll probably share it anyway — Earlier this month, there was yet another lengthy public debate about Upworthy, the two-year-old publisher that has become one of the most popular sites …

Discussion: @upworthyspoiler, @craigsilverman, @joseph_grima, CNET and Gigaom

Elizabeth Jensen / New York Times:

WNET to Return $3.5 Million Grant for Pension Series — WNET, the New York City public television broadcaster, said Friday that it will return a $3.5 million grant it received to sponsor an ambitious project on public pensions amid charges that it solicited inappropriate underwriting for the series.

David Sirota / PandoDaily:

After Pando probe, WNET says it will return $3.5M grant for pension series from John Arnold — BREAKING: PBS to return John Arnold's $3.5 million, following Pando exposé — Following Pando's exclusive report on a secret financing deal between public broadcasting officials …

Discussion: PBS Ombudsman, @davidsirota, @jledbetter, @brianstelter and Talking Biz News

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Journalism Lab:

How a crime becomes political: Trayvon Martin and the way different media co-create the news — The shooting of Trayvon Martin was one of the biggest stories of 2012. But it didn't start out that way — it began as just another local crime story, and without a number of key points …

Discussion: Mediaite

Ian Crouch / New Yorker:

Creators of the Hemingway App Explain Their Rules for Writing — This week, in the Times, Charles McGrath wrote about a newly digitized collection of ephemera from Ernest Hemingway's Cuban estate, Finca Vigía, which confirms that the famously terse writer was, as McGrath says, “a hoarder.”

Discussion: PandoDaily and GalleyCat

Wall Street Journal:

Venezuela Media Largely Ignored Protests — Free-Speech Advocates Say Black Out Points to State Intimidation — CARACAS—As some of the biggest anti-government protests in months gathered momentum across the country earlier this week, Venezuela's largest private television networks largely …

Associated Press: Users say Twitter image blocking in Venezuela ended by Friday

The Stream: Venezuelan journalists say: ‘No paper, no newspaper’

Sam Kirkland / Poynter:

Facebook vs. Google, social media vs. SEO: Why BuzzFeed data shouldn't declare a winner — Last week, the latest traffic referral report from BuzzFeed caught Marshall Simmonds's eye. The data indicated Facebook delivered about 3.5 times more page views to BuzzFeed Network sites in December than Google did:

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:

Syrian Electronic Army Attacks Forbes Website, Steals User Info — The Syrian Electronic Army has broken into the website of business magazine Forbes and claims to have made off with a million user account names and passwords, according to statements and screenshots posted on the group's Twitter feed.

Discussion: Forbes - Facebook, @official_sea16, International Business Times, The Verge, Re/code, Graham Cluley, eSecurityPlanet, SC Magazine, Talking Biz News, Softpedia News and CNET

Tina Amirtha / Co.Labs:

How The Founder Of WeTransfer Went From Blog To Startup — If one were to compare the Dutch tech entrepreneur Nalden (yes—he goes by just one name) to anyone in the States, it would probably be a hybrid of the serial entrepreneur Sean Parker and Jason Kottke, the web designer and blogger.

Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:

Why TV Networks Are Interested in Adapting Online Series Again — After previous flops like “quarterlife,” programmers are renewing their interest in online shows, even if they still haven't quite figured out how to use this new talent. — Six years ago, NBC took a chance and gave …