Mediagazer: WhatsApp CEO scolds former TechCrunch writer for 2011 fundraising scoop (Robin Wauters)

7:40 AM ET, March 3, 2014

Top News:

Glenn Greenwald / The Intercept:

On the meaning of journalistic independence — This morning, I see that some people are quite abuzz about a new Pando article “revealing” that the foundation of Pierre Omidyar, the publisher of First Look Media which publishes The Intercept, gave several hundred thousand dollars to a Ukraininan …

Discussion: PandoDaily, USA Today, @glennf, @qhardy, @mathewi, @kljdavis, @jfagone, @mattyglesias and @tilojung

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:
First Look Media could preempt controversy by publishing a statement of principles endorsed by employees and investors

Discussion: @albertocairo and @jayrosen_nyu

Mark Ames / PandoDaily:
Pierre Omidyar co-funded Ukraine revolution groups with US government, documents show

Discussion: Omidyar Network, emptywheel, @jilliancyork, @jason_pontin, @jayrosen_nyu, @evgenymorozov, @howardweaver, @emptywheel, @mmasnick, @jason_pontin, @davewiner, @mathewi, @espiers, @jeffjarvis and The Raw Story

Liz Shannon Miller / Gigaom:

DVD screener leaks decline as distributors crack down on leakers, test digital options — Looking for Oscars torrents? This is why you may end up empty-handed — If Ellen DeGeneres mentions the film The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty on Sunday night, it might be with a wince …

Discussion: Latest News & Headlines, Forbes, Softpedia News, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone and mUmBRELLA

David Carr / New York Times:

Foreign Buyers Eyeing Forbes Magazine, a Chronicler of the World's Wealthiest — Growing up in the Midwest, my idea of rich was my dentist, who lived a few blocks away and had a split-level that was bigger than the rest of ours and a Cadillac in the driveway.

Discussion: @raju

Abigail Edge / Journalism.co.uk:

BBC to air ‘mini-documentary’ filmed entirely on an iPhone, a first for the organisation — Radio reporter films ‘mini-documentary’ using iPhone — The series of short videos, filmed by a reporter for BBC Northampton, is said to be a first for BBC local or network radio

Los Angeles Times:

TV news employee rescued after being trapped in waist-deep mud — A TV news employee trying to report from the scene of an unstable Azusa hillside Friday got stuck in waist-high mud and had to be rescued. The man was reporting in the hillside above the home of Dennis Sanderson on Ridge View Drive when he got stuck in the mud.

Discussion: Mediaite, Gawker, @miguelnbc, NY Daily News, LA Observed, BuzzFeed, Daily Mail, Deadline.com and The Huffington Post

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Comcast Is Acquiring Video Ad Company FreeWheel For $320 Million — Over the years, FreeWheel has become the go-to ad-serving platform for many TV networks that stream their content online. And it's about to become part of one of the biggest distributors of content online and off.

Discussion: AdExchanger, Variety, Re/code and CNET

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Vice CEO: Woodward and Bernstein used to be punks, too — I have not yet seen Vice News, the media conglomerate's expanded news operation, in all its glory. Shane Smith, the company's CEO, is trying to get me an invitation. “Our beta's oversubscribed,” he said by phone from Brooklyn.

Discussion: Guardian

Jason Horowitz / New York Times:

End of an Era? Clinton Media Strategy May Be Due for an Overhaul — WASHINGTON — Soon after Hillary Rodham Clinton left the State Department, her longtime spokesman talked wistfully about their paradise lost. — “We knew the golden age was coming to an end,” Philippe Reines said.

Discussion: @arimelber, @arimelber and @jasondhorowitz

Isabella Steger / Wall Street Journal:

Thousands Take to the Streets to Support Hong Kong Press Freedom — Attacked Hong Kong Journalist's Condition Improves — HONG KONG—Thousands turned out Sunday in Hong Kong to support media freedom after the condition of former newspaper editor Kevin Lau, who was the victim of a brutal knife attack, took a turn for the better.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Voice of America, Agence France Presse, San Francisco Chronicle and New York Times

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:

The Hilarious Way Russia's Official Propaganda Network Covers The Situation In Ukraine — Want a different perspective on the crisis in Ukraine? — Check out RT.com, the state Russian broadcaster that's tasked with improving Russia's image abroad (AKA: propaganda).

Discussion: Poynter, RT, @caamyo, @jayrosen_nyu and TheBlaze.com

Todd Spangler / Variety:

ABC's Live Oscar Internet Stream Suffers Nationwide Outage — Unexpected demand for ABC's live stream of the Oscars telecast over the Internet resulted in the video going down for users across the U.S., the network said Sunday. — The live video, available only to certain pay-TV customers through …

Discussion: @brianstelter, CNET, Quartz and Business Insider

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Mashable Raises More Money, This Time from Tribune — Earlier this year Mashable, the tech news Web site with plans to become much bigger than a tech news Web site, announced it had taken on outside investment money for the first time. Now it has taken on some more.

Discussion: TechCrunch