Mediagazer: Study: Facebook news referrals are ‘gaining’ on Google (Abigail Edge/Journalism.co.uk)

9:45 AM ET, March 18, 2014

Top News:

FiveThirtyEight launches to make data journalism accessible without sacrificing rigor — What the Fox Knows — FiveThirtyEight is a data journalism organization. Let me explain what we mean by that, and why we think the intersection of data and journalism is so important.

Ben Thompson / stratechery:

Average journalism gets crowded out as the internet eases delivery of the best journalism — FiveThirtyEight and the End of Average — Just a few minutes ago, Nate Silver's new FiveThirtyEight site launched. While it's not known how much ESPN is paying Silver, it's certainly a substantial amount …

Discussion: USA Today, @mathewi, @karaswisher and PSFK

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Amazon's Set Top Box Will Be A Dongle Like Chromecast, Could Feature OnLive-Style Streaming — Amazon is readying a game console/set top box of its own, and we've learned from multiple sources familiar with the device that the Lab126-produced gadget will have a form factor similar to the Chromecast …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, WebProNews, Softpedia News, App Advice, PC Advisor, Mashable, Electronista and MCV: Home Stream

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon to Ship Video-Streaming Device in April

Discussion: Ubergizmo, Cult of Mac, CNET, VG247, The Verge and Engadget

Michael Holden / Reuters:

PM Cameron's ex-media chief agreed to fund hacking - court — (Reuters) - Andy Coulson, Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-media chief and a former Rupert Murdoch editor, agreed to fund the hacking of phones of aides to Prince William and Harry, a former reporter told a London court on Tuesday.

Discussion: The Independent, BBC and Guardian

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Charged Sun journalist: ‘Alarming’ police crackdown has made reporters ‘fearful’ of contact with public officials — A Sun journalist facing trial for ‘conspiracy to cause misconduct in public office’ has highlighted the plight of the many UK journalists caught up in criminal investigations prompted by the hacking scandal.

Discussion: @domponsford and @gazthejourno

L.A. Ross / The Wrap:

Scott Robson Out as Editor of Yahoo Entertainment (Exclusive) — Veteran editor is leaving after less than two years as head of website's entertainment division Scott Robson is out at Yahoo Entertainment after less than two years as editor in chief, two individuals with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Henry Blodget / Business Insider:

Business Insider's Henry Blodget pushes back against Michael Wolff's gloomy outlook for ad-supported digital media — USA Today Is Worried About Us And The Digital Media Industry! — USA Today columnist Michael Wolff has written a column expressing his view of the prospects for our business and that of other digital news companies.

Discussion: @michaelwolffnyc, @michaelwolffnyc, @reformedbroker, @michaelwolffnyc, @jayrosen_nyu, @michaelwolffnyc, @katie_roof, @jeffjarvis, @hblodget, @raju and @mathewi

Dan Primack / Fortune:
You can't judge Business Insider's value by its investors

Discussion: Talking Biz News and USA Today

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

YouTube is reportedly building a version for kids under 10 years old, asks creators for child-oriented content — As the biggest video sharing site by a landslide, YouTube attracts people from all walks of life, for better or for worse. Yet the Google-owned company is reportedly developing …

Discussion: The Information, Daily Mail and @amir

Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:

Hedge-fund manager David Einhorn asks court to unmask blogger who writes at Seeking Alpha — Hedge Fund Spars With a Nameless Blogger — Who was the leaker? — That is what David Einhorn, the outspoken hedge fund manager, wanted to know after one of his firm's investments was disclosed by an anonymous blogger last year.

Discussion: @felixsalmon and Business Insider

Elizabeth Jensen / New York Times:

State funding for public television is increasing, $191.5M allocated for 2014, up $10M from last year — In Reversal Since the Recession, Some States Give More Money to Public Television — Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana would seem an unlikely candidate to receive an award from the Association …

Discussion: @richhomberg and Committee to Protect …

Connie Cass / Associated Press:

Study: three quarters of Americans get news at least daily, using multiple devices and sources — ON THE MEDIA BUFFET, PEOPLE STILL SEEK MEATY NEWS — WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans of all ages still pay heed to serious news even as they seek out the lighter stuff, choosing their own …

Discussion: American Press Institute, Poynter, Columbia Journalism Review, American Press Institute, TVNewser, Kirk LaPointe's … and @brianstelter

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Comcast and Time Warner Cable lost 1.1 million video customers in 2013 — Pay-TV isn't going away, though, as AT&T and Verizon boost subscriber numbers. — Comcast, Time Warner Cable (TWC), and all other top cable companies lost pay-TV subscribers in 2013, but the companies were able …

Discussion: Forbes, @obrien and VideoNuze Analysis

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Google and Viacom Settle Copyright-Infringement Lawsuit over YouTube — Google and Viacom announced the resolution of the media conglom's copyright-infringement lawsuit filed in 2007 — which had sought more than $1 billion in damages. — The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Discussion: Re/code, Gigaom, VentureBeat, Hollywood Reporter and Wall Street Journal

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Trinity Mirror to close weekly newspaper office in pilot experiment — Trinity Mirror has launched an experiment to test whether local newspaper journalists can report for their paper without an office. — Reporters working at the Crewe Chronicle have been told their office is to close, probably by the end of May.

Discussion: National Union of Journalists

Abigail Edge / Journalism.co.uk:

Study: Facebook news referrals are ‘gaining’ on Google — Traffic referrals to news sites from social media sites have overtaken referrals from search, according to a recent report by Parse.ly — Credit: Image by owenwbrown on Flickr. Some rights reserved

Kelly McBride / Poynter:

Lessons learned from a Twitter storm — Poynter is a school. We teach journalists new and better ways of informing the public. And so it makes sense that I would share what I've learned from the recent Twitter uproar over a column I wrote last week. — First the background …

Discussion: Forbes, @mathewi, TechRepublic and ReadWrite