Mediagazer: Absurd backlash over CNN's interview with George Zimmerman (Erik Wemple)

1:25 PM ET, February 17, 2014

Top News:

Stealthily, Comcast Fortifies Its Arsenal — Big media companies are generally warships, blistering with firepower and declaring their might long before they attack. But Comcast, which is headed toward being one of the biggest of them all, is much more like a submarine …

Discussion: @antderosa, @timkarr, @artfcity, @stevenlevy, @maura, @carr2n, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, MoneyBeat and The New Yorker Blog

David Gelles / DealBook:

With a Bigger Comcast May Come 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, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, @pkafka and Paul Krugman

Nicole Perlroth / New York Times:

Profile of blogger Brian Krebs who was first to uncover security breaches at Adobe and Target — Reporting From the Web's Underbelly — SAN FRANCISCO — In the last year, Eastern European cybercriminals have stolen Brian Krebs's identity a half dozen times, brought down his website …

Discussion: @hartupnorth, @erikrolfsen, @peterwsinger, @derekwillis, @jamesvgrimaldi, @infoarbitrage, @ashk4n, @carr2n, @jeremyzilar, @virusbtn, @butterworthy, @sullduggery, @gerryfsmith, @attackerman and Krebs on Security

Leslie Kaufman / New York Times:

Breitbart News Network plans global expansion with Texas and London operations — Breitbart News Network Plans Global Expansion — It has been nearly two years since the conservative provocateur Andrew Breitbart died, but the online news organization that carries his name is not only continuing …

Discussion: @donal_blaney, @erinmcunningham, @billmon1 and @flipcritic

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:
Conservative columnist James Delingpole to lead Breitbart.com's London team

Discussion: @sunny_hundal, @arrest_bankers, @sturdyalex, @timmontgomerie, BREITBART.COM, @_sidverma and @dsquareddigest

New York Times:

Punching Above Its Weight, Upstart Netflix Pokes at HBO — On the night of the Golden Globes ceremony last month, Netflix and HBO held dueling parties at the Beverly Hilton hotel. Bono and Julia Roberts mingled underneath a bejeweled tent as Netflix, the upstart streaming service …

Discussion: The Wrap, @pkafka, @laceyvrose, @carr2n, @nycjim, @rafat, @brucedaisley, @zseward, @jbennet and @brianstelter

Martin Pengelly / Guardian:

Journalists who broke NSA story in Guardian receive George Polk Awards — The three journalists who broke the National Security Agency revelations from Edward Snowden in the Guardian are among the recipients of the prestigious 2013 George Polk Awards in Journalism.

Discussion: Long Island University, Poynter, New York Times, Associated Press, The Wrap, FishbowlNY, @jayrosen_nyu, The Intercept, @newsliteracy, @vivianschiller, @janinegibson and @ggreenwald

James Trew / Engadget:

GoPro's IPO isn't about selling cameras, it's about creating a media empire — It was 2001, more than a decade before GoPro would announce its intentions to go public, and its CEO Nick Woodman was facing a very expensive failure. In just two years, he'd lost nearly $4 million of investors' money …

Ashley Armstrong / Telegraph:

Reader's Digest sold for £1 by Better Capital — The sale for a nominal amount marks another chapter in the magazine publishing company's chequered history and a steep writedown for Jon Moulton's listed private equity firm — Reader's Digest has been sold for just £1 …

Discussion: Guardian, Sky News, @neilthackray, BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, Book2Book, @raju, Ifa Magazine and thedrum.com

Bill Carter / New York Times:

‘Tonight’ Show Returns to New York After Nearly 42 Years — On Monday night, for the first time in almost 42 years, NBC's “Tonight” show will be hosted from New York. The show, which invented the form of entertainment known as late-night television, is returning to the place of its birth …

Discussion: CNN, AM New York, NY Daily News, FishbowlNY and @danielpink

Erik Wemple:

Absurd backlash over CNN's interview with George Zimmerman — Good interviews generally stem from simple, short questions, like the one that CNN's Chris Cuomo put to George Zimmerman in an interview that's now making the rounds: “Do you regret that you killed Trayvon Martin?”

Discussion: Fox News, CNN, News One, @erikwemple, The Raw Story and New York Magazine

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: @ibogost, @jaclark, Marketing Land, @chrismoranuk, @gerrymcgovern, @lakey, @chrisphin, @jessicagalliart, @monkbent, @hunterschwarz, @joseph_grima, @craigsilverman, @upworthyspoiler and CNET

Michael Holden / Reuters:

Murdoch's ex-British paper boss Brooks to start phone-hacking defence — Rebekah Brooks, the former boss of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers, is due to begin her defence on Wednesday against allegations she was complicit in widespread phone-hacking at the now defunct News of the World weekly.

Discussion: Crikey