Mediagazer: Om-Niscient: A Much-Deserved Mash Note to Tech Blogger Om Malik (Kara Swisher/Re/code)

11:20 AM ET, February 21, 2014

Top News:

Phone-hacking trial told of ‘bin man’ who sold documents to newspapers — Rebekah Brooks explains reference to ‘binology’ on invoice sent to the News of the World in 2001 while she was editor — A man who used to go through the bins of lawyers and other high profile people would sell material …

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Om-Niscient: A Much-Deserved Mash Note to Tech Blogger Om Malik — Of course, I was jammed yesterday with a trip and then the big news of Facebook forking over $19 billion for WhatsApp in the endless hamster-wheel cycle that is sometimes my life, so I missed the news about Om Malik.

Discussion: TechCrunch, @jayrosen_nyu, @mathewi, Om Malik, Talking Biz News and @nitashatiku

Om Malik / Gigaom:
Om Malik leaves day-to-day operations at Gigaom, becomes full partner at True Ventures, site raises $8M more

Discussion: Om Malik, Talking Biz News, @alexia, @kentgoldman, @waltmossberg, @tomkrazit, @om, Pulse 2.0, @nitashatiku, @carr2n, @johnolilly, @pkafka, @hblodget, @thekenyeung, @laurengoode, @satishd, @caseynewton, @pkedrosky, @twittner, @rafat, @msquinn, @mikeisaac, @ashleymayer, @tonysphere, @mims, @jason_pontin, @timoreilly and PE Hub Blog

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Sources say Amazon readying a Web TV box competing with Apple TV and Roku, for March rollout — Amazon Gets Its TV Box Ready, Again — Amazon is gearing up to take on Apple and Roku, again. — Industry sources say Amazon is getting ready to launch a Web TV box that would compete …

Discussion: Forbes, CNET, TechCrunch, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, VatorNews, GeekWire, WebProNews, MacRumors, BGR, Pocket-lint, App Advice, The Verge and Business Insider

Angela Doland / AdAge:

Western TV Hits a Big Draw for Online Viewers — and Advertisers — in China — Brands Reach Out to Young, Educated Audience That Loves ‘House of Cards’,'Sherlock' — How to Make Credible Green Marketing Claims — While Americans shell out for Netflix subscriptions to see the second season of …

BBC:

Venezuela threatens to expel CNN over protest coverage — Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has threatened to expel the US news network CNN from the country over its reporting of recent protests there. — Mr Maduro said he would take action if CNN did not “rectify its coverage”.

Discussion: Poynter, Politico, FishbowlNY, Caracas Chronicles, Committee to Protect …, @fieldproducer and TIME

Uri Friedman / The Atlantic Online:
Why Venezuela's Revolution Will Be Tweeted

Discussion: @valtmc, @hemlockmartinis and @anupkaphle

Danny O'Brien / Electronic Frontier Foundation: Venezuela's Internet Crackdown Escalates into Regional Blackout

Eric Lipton / New York Times:

Comcast's Web of Lobbying and Philanthropy — WASHINGTON — Only a few hours had passed after the $45 billion merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable was announced last week when an early voice emerged endorsing the giant deal. — “Win-win situation for American businesses,” …

Discussion: @tackettdc and @brianstelter

Jeff Bercovici / Playboy:

Nick Denton: Gawker, Crowdsourcing & Kinja — Manti Te'o had a fake girlfriend. Rob Ford smoked crack. Brett Favre texted photos of his junk to a young woman. That these and countless other onetime secrets are now public knowledge is thanks to Nick Denton, the founder and owner …

Discussion: Forbes, Erik Wemple, @thestalwart, @taylorlorenz, @psigrist, @lhfang, @mslaurenrae, @pkafka, @jyarow, Capital New York and @jayrosen_nyu

New York Post:

Maxim owners sue over bungled buyout — Maxim's parent company has sued media mogul Calvin Darden Sr. over the $31 million buyout of the glossy men's mag that was bungled by his alleged scammer son. — In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court, Alpha Media Group …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:

‘House of Cards’ Binge-Watching: 2% of U.S. Subs Finished Entire Series Over First Weekend — Binge-watching on the rise compared to drama series' first season — There are some dedicated “House of Cards” fans out there. — Approximately 2% of Netflix subscribers on U.S. broadband networks took …

Discussion: @awallenstein, TIME, Fox Business, @theaafca, @awallenstein and The Verge

Pew Internet:

Mapping Twitter Topic Networks: From Polarized Crowds to Community Clusters — Summary of Findings — Polarized Crowds: Political conversations on Twitter — Conversations on Twitter create networks with identifiable contours as people reply to and mention one another in their tweets.

Discussion: Quartz, @jesseholcomb, The Technology Chronicles, Des Moines Register, Business Insider, Washington Post, Al Jazeera America, PBS and CNET

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Gannett blog shuts down after almost 7 years — Gannett Blog, a nonprofit site being run by an ex-Gannett editor, has shut down after nearly seven years. — The site was launched by Jim Hopkins, a former reporter and editor at USA Today, and was probably the foremost tracker of the tumult …

Discussion: Gannett Blog and SFist

Henry Taylor / TheMediaBriefing:

Contributoria catch up Q&A: how the first month went — Described as “if Kickstarter and Medium had a baby”, crowd-funded journalism community Contributoria is now one month old. — The Guardian Media Group-backed startup has signed up more 650 members - 65 percent of which are writers - and 24 projects have been backed.

Discussion: @mattmcalister

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Core Media Teams with PopSugar, in Latest Tie-Up of TV and Web Worlds — TV production company Core Media Group, best known for “American Idol,” inked a pact with celeb website PopSugar to jointly develop and distribute scripted and non-scripted projects. — The deal fits within the trend …

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

BitTorrent shuts down its live streaming website to refocus on mobile — BitTorrent Inc. is shutting down its P2P-powered live streaming website by the end of the month, according to an email BitTorrent co-founder Bram Cohen sent out to users late Wednesday.

Lily Kuo / Quartz:

A Chinese tycoon is close to buying a bygone icon of American capitalism — A Chinese conglomerate on a global buying spree is reportedly in talks to buy Forbes Media—although for much less than the Forbes family has been hoping. Fosun International—which most recently bought JP Morgan's …

Discussion: @christinelu and Fortune

Maryclaire Dale / Associated Press:

Rivals debate auction rules for Philly newspapers … PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The top investor in Philadelphia's largest newspapers wants the company sold in a quick, closed auction among current partners while a rival wants a slower sale open to all. — The Philadelphia Inquirer …

Discussion: Philadelphia Magazine