Mediagazer: Since 2007, L.A. Times' Homicide Report has wrested stories from data (Sara Morrison/Poynter)

8:50 PM ET, February 22, 2014

Top News:

Ben Cosman / The Wire:

Inside Amtrak's (Absolutely Awesome) Plan to Give Free Rides to Writers — Amtrak has begun offering “writers' residencies” to, well, writers - long roundtrip rides aboard Amtrak trains dedicated solely for the purpose of writing. — After New York City-based writer Jessica Gross took the first …

Discussion: The Paris Review, @rebleber, @arimelber, @alexanderchee, The Verge and @richmhuff

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Attorney General Signs New Rules to Limit Access to Journalists' Records — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who drew fire last spring over the Justice Department's aggressive tactics for secretly obtaining reporters' phone logs and emails as part of leak investigations …

Discussion: USA Today, @emptywheel, @drudge, emptywheel, @kgosztola and Associated Press

CNN:

Venezuela says CNN can stay, a day after saying ‘get out’ — (CNN) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told a CNN reporting team Friday that it could continue reporting in the South American country, a day after the government revoked or denied press credentials for CNN journalists.

Discussion: Poynter, @romustgo, @jorgeramosnews, @statedept, MiamiHerald.com, US Department of State, Global Voices, Business Insider and @tv6tnt

Natalie Kitroeff / The Lede:
Venezuela Battles Media, Social and Otherwise, to Restrict Protest Coverage

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Mashable, Feministing and The Verge

Frank Bajak / Associated Press:
Activists say Venezuela is blocking walkie-talkie app Zello and websites Pastebin and NTN24

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, @wexler, @nancypelosi, Politico and BBC

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Netflix packets being dropped every day because Verizon wants more money — Verizon wants to be paid by consumers and Cogent, but Cogent refuses to pay. — The battle over who should pay to carry Netflix traffic is heating up again, and one of the main players blames Verizon's greed …

Discussion: @binarybits, @al3x, Softpedia News, Media Channel, @caseyliss and CNNMoney.com

Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:

Direct connection between Comcast and Netflix networks suggests peering agreement reached — Sources: Netflix and Comcast have reached a peering agreement — Consumers' troubles with online video may be subsiding — at least for Comcast customers. Comcast and Netflix appear to have resolved …

Discussion: Engadget, The Verge and BGR

Esther Addley / Guardian:

Julian Assange's ghost writer breaks silence on failed autobiography — WikiLeaks founder a mercurial character who could not bear his own secrets, according to writer Andrew O'Hagan — The ghostwriter who collaborated with Julian Assange on his abortive 2011 autobiography has broken …

Discussion: London Review of Books, @jamesrbuk, Boing Boing and @arusbridger

Sara Morrison / Poynter:

Since 2007, L.A. Times' Homicide Report has wrested stories from data — We've heard a lot about Chris and Laura Amico's Homicide Watch - and for good reason. The site tracks homicides in Washington, D.C., (and, as of just over a year ago, Chicago and Trenton) from police report to conviction …

Cathy Loughran / BBC College of Journalism:

Getting into journalism: Just go out and do it, says VICE maverick Tim Pool — In the first of a series of blog posts on alternative ways to get into journalism, Chicago-born self-taught journalist Tim Pool, now an international correspondent for media company VICE, tears up the traditional rule book.

Discussion: @bbccollege and @niemanlab

Jim Romenesko:

Report: Baltimore City Paper staffers will lose their jobs, but could be rehired by the Sun — Fern Shen reports Baltimore City Paper staffers met Thursday afternoon with their new boss at the Sun and were told that everyone loses their jobs, but could be rehired.

Discussion: bizjournals, Baltimore Brew, @carr2n, @camilledodero, @maura and The Huffington Post

Tom Scocca / Gawker:
Baltimore Is One Step Closer to Being a Zero-Newspaper Town

Discussion: @objectguerilla, @johnmcquaid, @tomscocca, @crash_landers, @jackshafer and @max_read

Gautham Nagesh / Wall Street Journal:

Comcast Sees Time Warner Cable Deal Boosting Broadband Competition — Executive Says Deal Wouldn't Harm Home Users or Content Companies — A Comcast executive said Friday the company's planned $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable would create new competition in the commercial market …

Bloomberg:

Roku Said to Be Weighing Initial Public Offering in U.S. in 2014 — Roku Inc., the maker of set-top boxes that connect TVs to the Internet, is weighing an initial public offering in the U.S. this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. — A decision to move ahead hasn't been made …

Discussion: @pkafka, VentureBeat, Gigaom, @zseward and Re/code

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Dish's Charlie Ergen: I'm Nervous About Comcast-TWC, Surprised Our Business Hasn't Been Worse — Optimism is supposedly one of the qualities people look for in politicians and business leaders. Apparently no one told Charlie Ergen, who seemed less concerned with soothing investors …