Mediagazer: Google makes play for TV ad dollars, signs deal with ad buyer Magna Global (Alistair Barr/USA Today)

11:00 AM ET, February 18, 2014

Top News:

Snowden Documents Reveal Covert Surveillance and Pressure Tactics Aimed at WikiLeaks and Its Supporters — Top-secret documents from the National Security Agency and its British counterpart reveal for the first time how the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom targeted WikiLeaks …

Discussion: The Verge, TheHill, @driven_by_data, @johnknefel, @onekade, @lilianasegura, @ali_gharib, Softpedia News, The Next Web, TorrentFreak, @csoghoian, @the_intercept, @ioerror, @micahflee, @brianboyer and @koenrh

WikiLeaks:

NSA and GCHQ spying on WikiLeaks — Julian Assange calls for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to investigate the NSA, after documents show US spying on WikiLeaks and its supporters. — Today, documents were published from the national security whistleblower Edward Snowden …

Discussion: @csoghoian, Softpedia News, @freedomofpress, alexaobrien.com/secondsight and @wikileaks

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Study says civic participation fell in Denver and Seattle after newspapers closed — Civic engagement in Denver and Seattle “dropped significantly from 2008 to 2009,” Portland State University professor Lee Shaker says in a paper published at the end of January called “Dead Newspapers …

Discussion: @haldonahue

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

Hearst Is Staking Its Future on an Editor Turned CEO — When SmartMoney made its debut in 1992, it was anything but another staid business magazine. A joint venture of Dow Jones and Hearst Magazines, it mixed humor with provocative stories, many of which regularly incensed advertisers.

Discussion: @lmoses, @careyathearst, @hearstcorp and @carr2n

Meredith Blake / Los Angeles Times:

Jimmy Fallon powers ‘Tonight Show’ debut with stars like Tina Fey, U2 — NEW YORK — Heeeere's Jimmy! Jimmy Fallon made his debut Monday as the new host of “The Tonight Show” in an inaugural broadcast that was heavy on star power and sought to capitalize on the franchise's new digs in New York City after 42 years on the West Coast.

Discussion: New York Times, FishbowlNY, The Wrap, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Mediaite, Mediaite, Speakeasy, Variety, The Week, Variety and @deadspin

Alistair Barr / USA Today:

Google makes play for TV ad dollars, signs deal with ad buyer Magna Global — Google strikes upfront deal with ad giant Magna Global — SAN FRANCISCO — Google struck an “upfront” deal with Magna Global, one of the world's largest advertising buyers, the latest effort by the Internet search leader …

Discussion: Pulse 2.0 and WebProNews

Lucas Shaw / The Wrap:

Joe Berlinger to Direct Eight-Part Criminal Justice Series for Al-Jazeera America (Exclusive) — Award-wining filmmaker Joe Berlinger will direct and executive produce “The System,” an eight-part series on the criminal justice system, for Al-Jazeera America, TheWrap has learned.

Discussion: TVWeek.com

Ellen Barry / New York Times:

Indian Journalist Charged With Rape of a Reporter — NEW DELHI — The police in the coastal state of Goa charged Tarun J. Tejpal, an investigative journalist and magazine editor, with raping and sexually assaulting a staff reporter during a November encounter in a hotel elevator.

Discussion: The Wrap, @rosiegray, @nycjim and @hinduamericans

Bloomberg:

Talks for including Netflix on Time Warner set-top boxes are on hold after Comcast deal announcement — Netflix Talks for Time Warner Cable Carriage Said to Slow — Netflix Inc. (NFLX)'s effort to secure a place for its video-subscription service on Time Warner Cable Inc. set-top boxes …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Business Insider, @jason_kint, The Verge, @notaaroncraig and @zseward

Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:

Is it time to tie journalists' pay to revenue? — The days of editorial teams being quietly sheltered from the rigors of the sales team are long gone. Instead, journalists today increasingly double as numbers-crunching audience-hunting analytics wizzes, often paid based on the reach, not the quality, of their output.

Discussion: @digiday, @kevglobal and Common Sense Journalism

Sam Kirkland / Poynter:

Mental Floss a big winner after Facebook's mysterious ‘high quality’ algorithm change — When Facebook announced in December that it was altering its News Feed algorithm to focus on “high quality content,” speculation centered on which sites might be in danger of excommunication as Facebook took aim at the viral bubble.

Discussion: Salon, Digiday, @poynter and @englishjason

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

Could Guardian, Washington Post share a Pulitzer for Snowden stories? — Pulitzer judges meet this weekend to begin choosing the latest winners. Chronologically, the awards come later than most, and you can find winners in awards that come out earlier in the year.

Discussion: @poynter, IRE.org, NPR, Talking Points Memo and The Intercept

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Press freedom groups urge David Cameron to lay off The Guardian — A group of the world's leading press freedom bodies is calling on prime minister David Cameron to distance himself from the investigation into The Guardian over the leaks by the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Discussion: Committee to Protect …