Mediagazer: LA Times fires reporter, admits error in 3 stories (Associated Press)

8:35 AM ET, March 17, 2014

Top News:

Michael Wolff / USA Today:

New cash, new questions for Business Insider — Business Insider, one of the sites at the forefront of creating a native digital publishing model, happily announced the other day an additional investment of $12 million, bringing its total to about $30 million.

Discussion: @gregory, @jeffjohnroberts, @carr2n, @losowsky, @danprimack, @mathewi, @jeffmacke, @jayrosen_nyu, @raju, @jackshafer, @zerohedge and @michaelwolffnyc, Thanks:@steverubel

Mark Kleinman / Sky News:

UK's Channel 5 to float on stock market for £700M, say sources — Media Boss Desmond Eyes £700m Channel 5 Float — Celebrity Big Brother is a Channel 5 hit — The media tycoon Richard Desmond is considering a stock market flotation of Channel 5 even as bidders firm up offers …

Discussion: Reuters, @markkleinmansky and Variety

Ivor Tossell / The Walrus:

The Story behind the Rob Ford Story — A little-known Supreme Court ruling unmuzzled reporters—and changed Canadian journalism — R OBYN DOOLITTLE could not sleep the night before the Toronto Star broke the story about what happened at the Garrison Ball. Not that she was too busy; the article had already been put to bed.

Discussion: Page-Turner

Chris O'Brien / Los Angeles Times:

Subject of Newsweek Bitcoin story hires lawyer, “unconditionally” denies its accuracy — Dorian S. Nakamoto hires lawyer to ‘clear his name’ of bitcoin claim — Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto of Temple City, the man recently named by Newsweek as the mysterious creator of bitcoin …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, TechCrunch, Guardian, Business Insider, Engadget, The Next Web and New York Magazine

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

Sarah Palin plans “Rogue TV” channel on Tapp, the upcoming $10 per month online network — Sarah Palin plans ‘Rogue TV’ — Fox News contributor and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will be launching her own digital video channel, tentatively called “Rogue TV,” a source familiar with the project told Capital.

Discussion: Adweek, @zseward, TVNewser, The Wire, Mashable, The Raw Story, Hot Air, Mediaite, Erik Wemple, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Huffington Post and New York Magazine

Lisa Campbell / The Bookseller:

UK launch for Nook's self-publishing platform — Nook is set to launch its self-publishing platform Nook Press in the UK at the Oxford Literary Festival this weekend (22nd March). — The digital arm of the American bookseller Barnes & Noble is providing the festival marquee along …

Lucas Shaw / The Wrap:

Warner Bros. to Refund Angry ‘Veronica Mars’ Contributors — Warner Bros. will provide refunds to backers of the “Veronica Mars” crowdfunding campaign who struggled to download the movie they helped support, the studio said Friday. Irate contributors complained about their problems throughout the day …

Discussion: Boing Boing, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Verge, Re/code and @lucas_shaw

Moisés Chiullan / TechHive:
Why Veronica Mars embraced UltraViolet and angered fans

Discussion: @film_girl, @waxpancake, @iamchoppah, @moiseschiu, @timhorsburgh, Flavorwire and @kvetchup

Lucas Shaw / The Wrap:
Can ‘Veronica Mars’ Convince Mainstream Hollywood to Embrace Crowdfunding?

Discussion: Variety, ZDNet, BuzzFeed, Kickstarter, Home Media Magazine and New York Times

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web: Kickstarter brings hundreds of its funded films to iTunes

Susannah Nesmith / Columbia Journalism Review:

When public officials skirt open meetings laws, what can we do? — With enforcement weak, the best remedy may be to do what The Atlanta Journal-Constitution did: Expose it — MIAMI, FL — When officials in Cobb County, GA, wanted to lure the Atlanta Braves out of Atlanta …

David Meyer / Gigaom:

Vodafone buys Ono for $10B to offer mobile, fixed-line and TV bundles in Spain — As was reported to be likely last week, the British telecoms group Vodafone is to buy the Spanish fixed-line operator Ono for €7.2 billion ($10 billion). — Vodafone recently sold its stake in Verizon Wireless …

Discussion: Vodafone, Reuters, Globe and Mail, TheAustralian, BBC and Bloomberg

Los Angeles Times:

Who will succeed Disney CEO Robert Iger in 2016? — Media networks executive Anne Sweeney's departure could set up important moves on a corporate chess board as Disney prepares for bigger changes. — Disney executive Anne Sweeney was not considered a top contender for CEO …

Discussion: @mistercoat

James Wolcott / Vanity Fair:

How to Become a Name-Brand Journalist Like Arianna, Nate, and Ezra — Big-name literary branding isn't new—look at Twain or Hemingway. But today, even novice writers must nurture a social-media presence. Arianna Huffington, Nate Silver, and Ezra Klein have branded their way to the top of Journalism 2.0.

Discussion: bookforum.com, @nbj914 and @poynter

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Copyright As Censorship: Turkey's Prime Minister Copyrights His Recorded Calls To Get Them Off YouTube — Just recently, we noted that Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has tried to shut down social media sites in the past, was once again threatening to ban YouTube and Facebook.

Discussion: @06jank

Rachel Bartlett / Journalism.co.uk:

Content for ‘the YouTube generation’: Experiments at a Belgium broadcaster — A look at some of the digital projects being tested by Belgium public service broadcaster VRT's internal ‘start-up’, to engage a younger audience online, on mobile and on social media — Credit: By Horia Varlan on Flickr.