Mediagazer: Condé Nast to merge two magazine websites to create new design portal (Press Gazette)

11:40 AM ET, March 13, 2014

Top News:

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Edward Snowden looms over Pulitzer Prizes — Next month, the trustees who oversee America's most distinguished journalistic award could face their toughest decision in at least four decades. — The issue before the Pulitzer Prize Board: Does it honor reporting by the Washington Post …

Discussion: Mediaite, @jeffjarvis, @erikwemple, @jackshafer, @jayrosen_nyu, @dylanbyers and @mlcalderone

Arif Durrani / MediaWeek:

Trinity Mirror's pre-tax profits rise 2.6% as digital focus takes hold — Trinity Mirror, home to the Daily Mirror, Sunday People, Liverpool Echo, and the Manchester Evening News, has reported a 2.6% lift in pre-tax profits in 2013, after cost savings and digital investment.

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Press Gazette, Reuters, Financial Times, RTTNews, Guardian and HoldTheFrontPage

Ernesto / TorrentFreak:

Google: Piracy is An Availability and Pricing Problem — As in many other countries, online piracy is causing headaches for the Australian Government. A variety of anti-piracy strategies to deal with the problem have been suggested in recent years, but thus far without result.

Discussion: Music Week

Sabrina Treitz / USA Today:

A night of storytelling as Twitter Festival begins — Stories told 140 characters at a time. — NEW YORK — The Twitter Fiction Festival began Wednesday night with a live storytelling event in downtown Manhattan. — The host, comedian and author Sara Barron, said millions of Twitter followers …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN-IBN News, Marketplace.org, USA Today, The Millions and The Hindu

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

Transformative or just taking? Lawyers struggle to define fair use in wake of Google Books case — When federal judge Denny Chin declared last fall that Google's decision to scan 20 million books did not violate copyright law, the ruling came as a new high water mark for “transformative use” …

Discussion: @pbsmediashift

Helienne Lindvall / Guardian:

What is a music stream? Artists and labels in battle over digital income — Dispute rages over how royalties should be split in the age of Spotify, Google and Apple — UK artists, managers and performers have called for streaming revenue to be split 50/50 between labels and artists.

ASNE:

ASNE Awards for 2013's best journalism! — We're happy to announce the winners of the 2014 ASNE Awards for distinguished writing and photography. Our kudos to your hard work and high-impact journalism! — The awards, which encompass nine categories and honor the best in print and digital content …

Discussion: Politico

David Leonhardt / Facebook:

How The Upshot Will Help Navigate the News — Imagine that you were sitting down with a journalist and could ask any question about the news. — Which parts of Obamacare are working, and which parts are not? Is Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, really in danger of losing his seat this year?

Discussion: Poynter, @neil_irwin and @venohr

Liam Moloney / Wall Street Journal:

Mass Appeal: Pope's Popularity a Blessing for Media — The ‘Francis Effect’ Proves a Boom to Niche Publishers, Broadcasters — VATICAN CITY—Francis mania is lifting up the religious media. — As Pope Francis marks the anniversary of his election on Thursday, his popularity is generating …

Discussion: @niemanlab

Aye Aye Win / Associated Press:

Private Myanmar newspapers struggle to stay afloat — YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — With tears in his eyes, the chief editor scoured the last-ever edition of his newspaper before sending the proofread copy to the printing press. His once-bustling newsroom was quiet.

Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:

The rise of the mobile editor — CNN readers following the news of yesterday's explosion in Harlem via their phones owe a lot to Etan Horowitz, CNN's mobile editor. — From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Horowitz and CNN sent out four push alerts to app users with the latest developments about the blast.

Mary Schlangenstein / Bloomberg:

JetBlue Sells LiveTV Unit to France's Thales for $400 Million — JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU), the U.S. carrier that pioneered real-time television on aircraft seat-back screens, agreed to sell its LiveTV LLC to Thales SA (HO), concluding a three-year effort to divest the unit.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Reuters

Alec Luhn / Guardian:

Editor of independent Russian news site replaced with pro-Kremlin figure — Ousting of Galina Timchenko at Lenta.ru is latest move in what critics fear is a crackdown on left-of-centre media outlets — In what appears to be part of a growing state crackdown on liberal media …