Mediagazer: After Zite sale, it's time to take a more skeptical look at news personalization by algorithm (Casey Newton/The Verge)

9:35 PM ET, March 7, 2014

Top News:

Kashmir Hill / Forbes:

Deputies confirm key quote from Dorian Nakamoto about Bitcoin in Newsweek story — More Details On Newsweek Journalist's Interview With Alleged Bitcoin Creator — In a long article that points to a 64-year-old California man Dorian Nakamoto as Bitcoin's creator, the most compelling evidence …

Discussion: Mother Jones, @thealexknapp, @mattrosoff, Business Insider, @kashhill, @trevortimm, Daily Dot, SocialTimes, Softpedia News, CNET, New York Times, CNNMoney.com, Wall Street Journal and The Switch

Rob Wile / Business Insider:

A Forensics Analyst Who Worked On The Newsweek Story Explains How They Converged On Dorian Nakamoto — It now appears a toss-up as to whether Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto is the same Satoshi Nakamoto who created Bitcoin. — Newsweek reporter Leah McGrath Goodman continues to stand …

Discussion: @felixsalmon, @edfelten, @cdixon, @binarybits, @dlauer, @thestalwart, @fmanjoo, @dangillmor, @pmarca, The Huffington Post and Forbes

Seth Fiegerman / Mashable:

‘Newsweek’ Editor: We Knew This Might Be a ‘S**tstorm’ — Before Newsweek went ahead with publishing Leah McGrath Goodman's blockbuster article identifying the creator of Bitcoin, Goodman asked her editor an important question. — “Leah actually said to me, 'Are you ready for this?

Discussion: Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, @antderosa, Mediaite, CNET, @tomgara, @themarkberman, @nycjim, USA Today, CNNMoney.com, Consumerist and Scripting News

Felix Salmon:

The Satoshi Paradox — Newsweek wanted a scoop for its relaunch cover story, and boy did it deliver: it uncovered the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of bitcoin. Who then promptly came out and denied everything. Which means that one of the two is wrong: either Nakamoto …

Newsweek:

Newsweek's Statement on the Bitcoin Story — Leah McGrath Goodman's recent cover story for Newsweek, investigating the identity of Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto, has generated an immense amount of international attention, including denials from Mr. Nakamoto and ad hominem criticism of Ms. Goodman's reporting and character.

Discussion: @lheron, @gabosama, @kennwhite, @alecperkins, @tim_stevens, @mathewi, @biellacoleman, @sarahcuda, @fmanjoo, @b_fung, @adamclarkestes, @buttcoin, @harrymccracken, @jimpoco, @dannysullivan, @zpower, @hblodget, The Wrap, SlashGear and TechCrunch

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:
Newsweek Returns with a Thud [Updated]

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Fortune and @kirabind

J.K. Trotter / Gawker:
Newsweek Editor-in-Chief: We Stand by Our Bitcoin Story

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

The Guardian's Alan Rusbridger: 'It's Essential to Be Paranoid' — You've played piano since you were a child, and you've written about parallels between this pursuit and digital news. Can you explain that? Amateur music-making used to be very commonplace and was valued in its own right.

Discussion: @mathewi, @markjones, @amychozick, @robertcaruso, @jayrosen_nyu, @niemanlab and @jackshafer

Dylan Byers / Politico:

CNN's ‘Piers Morgan’ to end in three weeks; Bill Weir, Jake Tapper to sub at 9 p.m. — CNN's Piers Morgan will officially end his primetime show at the end of the month and will be temporarily replaced by alternating hosts, including Bill Weir and Jake Tapper, network sources told POLITICO on Friday.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Huffington Post, The Inquisitr News and @noahwehrman

David Sirota / PandoDaily:

Liberty Media plans transfer of Macneil/Lehrer to PBS station WETA but won't disclose details — After pledging transparency, PBS hides details of new deal with billionaire owner of NewsHour … Last month, in response to Pando's revelations that anti-pension mogul John Arnold secretly was financing PBS's …

Discussion: @greg_palast, @davidsirota and @billmon1

Casey Newton / The Verge:

After Zite sale, it's time to take a more skeptical look at news personalization by algorithm — The smarter news apps are, the dumber they get — A curiously hot category with little to show for it — In August 2011, CNN bought the newsreading app Zite for $20 million.

Discussion: @mathewi

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

This Photographer Just Made $15K In One Day On Instagram — Daniel Arnold had $90.03 in his bank account on Thursday when he had a clever idea: Why not sell some photos on Instagram? — Arnold, a Brooklyn-based photographer, enjoys a bit of fame on the network: He was lauded by Gawker as …

Discussion: Fast Company

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Circa would like you to know that it's about more than just short news hits — it's about building long-form stories over time — There have been a flurry of new apps and services released recently that are aimed at giving users short hits on breaking news, from Jason Calacanis's Inside app …

Discussion: @saila and @kalven

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

Eric Danetz Named Publisher of Fortune — Fortune is getting a publisher after all: Eric Danetz. The business title hasn't had someone in that role since 2012. When Jed Hartman became group publisher of Time Inc.'s news and business brands that year, the publisher title was downgraded to vp of sales.

Discussion: Politico and AdAge

Nicola Pring / Columbia Journalism Review:

Fox News subpoena case appealed to Supreme Court — Aurora shooting suspect James Holmes' lawyers are asking the country's highest court to consider forcing reporter Jana Winter to reveal confidential sources — The New York Court of Appeals ruled in December that Fox News reporter Jana Winter …

Discussion: Reuters

Rachel Bartlett / Journalism.co.uk:

News360 adds ‘international editions’ for audience outside US — The app is launching three ‘international editions’ in total, for the UK, Canada and Australia, with UK readers said to represent around 5 per cent of users — Credit: By ToastyKen on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Zachary M. Seward / Quartz:

The future of TV is coming into focus, and looks pretty great — The future of TV is here. It's just not evenly distributed. — If it doesn't seem like the American television industry is in the middle of a dramatic transformation, that's simply because the pieces are scattered all over the place.

Discussion: Multichannel.com, @stevedittmore, @zseward, Business Insider, Gigaom Research, CNNMoney.com and Techdirt

Todd Spangler / Variety:

New York Times and PBS's POV team up for digital documentaries with launch Saturday — PBS's POV, New York Times Pact on Digital Documentary Series — POV, the long-running PBS documentary series, and The New York Times Co. have formed a partnership to present a series of online-only documentaries …

Wall Street Journal:

Mexico Takes Bold Measures to Rein In Telecom, TV Giants — Unprecedented Regulations Intended to Improve Competition — MEXICO CITY—Mexico took unprecedented strides to rein in the country's telecommunications and television operators, imposing a rash of measures on the phone companies …

Discussion: Fox News, Bloomberg and Associated Press