Mediagazer: Publishing businesses contributed to revenue gain at former Washington Post company (Andrew Beaujon/Poynter)

12:55 PM 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 …

Press Association: Rebekah Brooks paid £1,000,000 for David Beckham's autobiography, court told

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: VentureBeat, Forbes, CNET, Polygon, ReadWrite, Business Insider, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, VatorNews, GeekWire, AppleInsider, WebProNews, BGR, MacRumors, The Verge, App Advice and VG247

Leo Mirani / Quartz:

Turns out Twitter is even more politically polarized than you thought — This is what Twitter looks like when two groups with different political views talk about the same thing: — As part of a new study on Twitter's network structures, the Pew Research Center and the Social Media Research …

Discussion: @gregdklein, SocialTimes and AppNewser

Pew Internet:
Mapping Twitter Topic Networks: From Polarized Crowds to Community Clusters

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

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, @doctorparadox, Om Malik, @mathewi, @jayrosen_nyu, Pulse 2.0, Talking Biz News, @carr2n, @pkafka, @thekenyeung, @laurengoode and Gigaom

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Telegraph: Jason Seiken confirms MacGregor and Evans in editing roles — TMG editorial chief also announces three deputies and creates digital director roles for content and visual journalism — Telegraph Media Group's editorial chief, Jason Seiken, has announced a number of changes to the senior editorial team.

Discussion: Press Gazette and @mediaguardian

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, The Wrap, Erik Wemple, bookforum.com, @thestalwart, @taylorlorenz, @psigrist, @lhfang, @mslaurenrae, @pkafka, @jyarow, Capital New York and @jayrosen_nyu

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 …

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: @nickconfessore, @amychozick, @tackettdc and @brianstelter

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, Reuters, Forbes, FishbowlNY, Committee to Protect …, Caracas Chronicles, @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

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Proposed FCC study of news organizations sparks outcry — A proposed government study of how media organizations gather news has incited a powerful backlash, particularly among conservatives, who said that it could be part of an official effort to intimidate or second-guess journalists.

Discussion: Mediaite, Poynter, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, @jondelano, Hot Air, Los Angeles Times, The Verge, The Newspaper Guild, Hit & Run and The Hill

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:

Garrick Utley, Former NBC Anchor and Foreign Correspondent, Dies at 74 — Garrick Utley, a former anchor for NBC News who for many years was one of a rare breed in television news reporting, a full-time foreign correspondent, died on Thursday night at his home in Manhattan. He was 74.

Discussion: Capital New York and Robert Feder

William Dotinga / Courthouse News Service:

Media Outlets Put Google's Feet to the Fire in Gmail Wiretap Suit — SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) - A federal judge should keep public materials in the lawsuit alleging that the running of Gmail violates wiretap laws, several media outlets said in a new amicus brief.

Thanks:@tartakoff

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

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

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

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Ireland's newspapers lose print sales, but national titles hold up well — Ireland's three home-grown national titles have enjoyed a reasonable six months in terms of circulation, according to the latest set of ABC audited sales figures. — But the year-on-year comparisons reveal …

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 …