Mediagazer: Rupert Murdoch told Rebekah Brooks to make Sun more ‘fun’, court hears (Guardian)

8:45 AM ET, February 27, 2014

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Guardian:

Rupert Murdoch told Rebekah Brooks to make Sun more ‘fun’, court hears — Former editor tells phone-hacking trial that News Corp chief believed paper had become too bogged down in ‘pure politics’ — Rupert Murdoch made Rebekah Brooks editor of the Sun because he wanted her to make it more …

Nick Davies / Guardian:

Rebekah Brooks ‘decided not to help phone-hacking inquiry in 2006’ — Former News of the World editor tells phone-hacking trial ‘complexities on the corporate level’ stopped her from being witness — Rebekah Brooks turned down a police request to help the original 2006 prosecution …

Katrin Bennhold / New York Times:

Tears and Tissues as Editor Testifies in Phone Hacking Case — LONDON — The tabloids Rebekah Brooks once edited might have paid six figures or more for details like those she has been divulging about her personal life during her trial on phone hacking charges: the celebrity husband …

Discussion: Guardian, Sky News, Financial Times, Daily Express, Mumbai, Mirror.co.uk, @karaswisher, Guardian and Daily Mail

Jill Lawless / Associated Press: Rebekah Brooks says she offered convicted phone hacker a job to keep him from going public

Guardian:
Rebekah Brooks tells court she didn't read NoW interview with phone hacker

Discussion: CNN and canada.com

Guardian:

Guardian Australia stands in solidarity with imprisoned journalists — On the global day of action in support of the al-Jazeera journalists detained in Egypt, Guardian Australia stands in solidarity with all persecuted and threatened journalists — Guardian Australia condemns the harassment …

Dominica Lim / Al Jazeera America:
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Corynne McSherry / Electronic Frontier Foundation:

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Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
Google ordered to remove anti-Islamic film from YouTube

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Corey Hutchins / Columbia Journalism Review:

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Discussion: @coreyhutchins and Techdirt

John Eggerton / Broadcasting & Cable:
Clyburn Defends FCC's Critical Needs Study

Discussion: @jbflint, @eggerton, @eggerton, Los Angeles Times, Watchdog.org and TheHill

Fernando Alfonso III / Daily Dot:

Why Reddit mods are censoring Greenwald's latest bombshell — It's been called “Censorship Fiasco 2: Electric Boogaloo.” — News over the past 72 hours has been dominated by the implosion of Mt. Gox, once the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, and a report from Glenn Greenwald …

Discussion: Washington's Blog and Techdirt

Costas Pitas / Reuters:

ITV says open to acquisitions after earnings rise — (Reuters) - ITV, Britain's largest free-to-air broadcaster, said on Wednesday it was on the hunt for acquisitions as it posted an increase in revenue that will help fund another special dividend for shareholders.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Guardian and Guardian

Paul Sawers / The Next Web:

The UK TV licence fee should cover iPlayer on-demand too, says BBC Director-General — At the 13th annual Oxford Media Convention in England today, BBC Director-General Tony Hall outlined his case for publicly funded broadcasting and, more specifically, the UK TV licence fee.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Daily Mail, BBC, mirror, Gloucester and Guardian

John Plunkett / Guardian:
BBC could axe frontline channel or service as it seeks extra £100m in cuts

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Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:

Tumblr Courts Hollywood With First Director of Media (Exclusive) — The Yahoo-owned blogging platform follows Twitter and Facebook in its effort to forge deeper ties with the entertainment industry. — Tumblr is making a big push in Hollywood. — The Yahoo-owned blogging platform …

Discussion: The Wrap, Tubefilter, Variety and MediaPost

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Micro sports news site Rookie uses quotes as atomic units in human curated news stories — Can the quote be a new atomic unit of news? Rookie (no, not that one) tries a new twist on sports — L.C. Angell says he builds websites with himself as the target reader.

Discussion: @eyeseast and @niemanlab

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google Becomes A “Second Screen,” Teams Up With FOX To Offer Online Voting Tools For “American Idol” — Blippar Introduces Image Recognition And AR Advertising On Google Glass — So much for Twitter as the “second screen” and all its TV partnerships - Google announced this morning …

Discussion: Inside Search, Variety, Wall Street Journal, BetaNews, Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, Engadget, 9to5Mac, The Next Web and The Wrap

Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:

Marketing Chief Kathy Savitt's Star Rises at Yahoo — A management shake-up at Yahoo Inc. has conferred more power on Kathy Savitt, a marketing executive who has quickly risen to become one of Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's most prominent and trusted lieutenants.

Discussion: @wsjd

Cory Bergman / Breaking News Blog:

How Breaking News users personalized their Olympics — Thousands of Breaking News users tracked the 2014 Olympics on their own terms, muting stories to avoid spoilers or personalizing push notifications to ping them with results of their favorite events. We published over 600 Olympics updates …

Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:

Warner Bros. Considers Investment in Machinima — Warner Bros. is mulling an investment in Web video network Machinima. — The film studio is said to be considering putting $10 million to $15 million into Machinima, a gaming-centric company that has built a big following on YouTube, according to people familiar with the situation.

Discussion: Music Ally, VentureBeat, @pkafka and @benfritz

NetNewsCheck:

Radio Industry Digital Rev Up 15% In 2013 — Overall, radio sellers closed $426.3 million in local online advertising last year, with the average station generating $166,000 in digital ad revenue in 2013, according to a new report from Borrell Associates. The firm expectss the industry's digital revenue to grow 22% in 2014.

Discussion: Radio & Television …

Merrill Knox / TVNewser:

Bloomberg, El Financiero Launch Business Channel in Mexico, Central America — Bloomberg and Mexican newspaper El Financiero are teaming up to launch a multiplatform Spanish-language business news service, including a television network that will serve as Mexico and Central America's only Spanish-language business news channel.

Discussion: Radio & Television …