Mediagazer: Confessions of an ex-tech journalist (Bekah Grant/Medium)

3:50 AM ET, March 19, 2014

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

Introducing ‘AnonyWatch’: Tracking Nameless Quotations in The Times — This post is the inaugural edition of an effort to point out some of the more regrettable examples of anonymous quotations in The Times. I've written about this from time to time, as have my predecessors, to no little or no avail.

Discussion: Mediaite, FishbowlNY, @antderosa, @mattbai, @emptywheel, Politico, @dangillmor, @nickfoxnyt and @jayrosen_nyu

Benjamin Wallace-Wells / New York Magazine:

Why Do We Expect So Much From Nate Silver? — “It is time for us to start making the news a little nerdier,” Nate Silver announced in an essay, written in a Red Bull—aided last-minute cram session, which aimed to explain the philosophy behind his new ESPN-housed data journalism venture, FiveThirtyEight, which launched this week.

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

Pandora raises One price to $4.99 per month for new subscribers and scraps annual option, blames royalty rates — Pandora today announced changes to its Pandora One subscription plan, which charges users to listen without advertising. The company is keeping the same pricing …

Discussion: Pandora Blog, Bloomberg, SlashGear, TechCrunch, CNET and Engadget

Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Streaming Subscriptions Are Now a Billion-Dollar Business, but Music Sales Stall

Discussion: @jyarow

Bekah Grant / Medium:

Confessions of an ex-tech journalist — 20 months, 1,740+ articles, and countless pitches later, I've got some truths to tell — I know how a gazelle feels. There you are, working hard out on the savanna and then BAM! The predators descend, chasing you across the plains, licking their lips …

Discussion: Guardian, @lalwanivikas, @rafat, @robinwauters, @susie_c, @tomgara, @chrissyfarr, @bekahgrant, @alexisohanian and Professional Blog

Tim Kenneally / The Wrap:

ABC News Affiliate Helicopter Crash in Seattle Leaves 2 Dead — A crash involving a KOMO news helicopter in Seattle has left two dead and one in critical condition, the Seattle fire department said Tuesday morning. — The incident, which occurred near the Seattle Space Needle, also involved three car fires, the department added.

Andrew Beaujon / @abeaujon:
KING5 reporting it was “two of our colleagues at KOMO” who died in the crash. http://bit.ly/hE9w6u

Discussion: KIRO-TV, Detroit Free Press, Gawker and KING-TV

Sam Kirkland / Poynter:

AP's White House staff: Press losing presidential access as Obama officials close doors — AP's White House correspondent Julie Pace and its chief White House photographer Charles Dharapak warned colleagues on Tuesday that once the press loses its access to the president, it cannot be recovered.

Discussion: ap.org

Andrew Albanese / Publishers Weekly:

Judge Rules for HarperCollins in Open Road E-Book Dispute — In a significant ruling regarding backlist e-book rights, a New York court this week held that e-book publisher Open Road infringed HarperCollins' copyright with its e-book edition of Jean Craighead George's 1973 bestselling children's book Julie of the Wolves.

Discussion: Melville House Books, TeleRead and Plagiarism Today

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Washington Post goes national by offering free digital access to readers of local newspapers — In 1980, The New York Times launched a daily national edition that, despite a significant upfront investment, turned into a position of strength; today, more than half of the Times' print subscribers are outside New York.

Discussion: Financial Times, Gigaom, Washington Post, PandoDaily, The Incidental Economist, AdAge, The Verge, @raju, @amzam, @heyfeifer, @mattdpearce, @dbrauer, @postbaron, @eramshaw, @losowsky, @jbenton, @caseymcdermott and @jayrosen_nyu

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

What Viacom Has to Show for Seven Years of Pursuing YouTube (Analysis) — The content giant has spent millions of dollars to shape copyright law. — In a Manhattan courtroom on Monday, an attorney for one of the nation's biggest copyright holders delivered closing arguments in a trial meant …

Discussion: Plagiarism Today

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Google and Viacom Settle Copyright-Infringement Lawsuit over YouTube

Discussion: Re/code, The Wrap, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Lost Remote, Techdirt, CNET, Hollywood Reporter, Gigaom and VentureBeat

Guardian:

Guardian wins Scripps Howard Foundation award for NSA reporting — Organisation receives Roy W Howard award for public service reporting, while New York Times and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also win — The Guardian's revelations about the scale of surveillance on American citizens …

Discussion: TheHill, Washington Post, PandoDaily, GNM press office and FishbowlNY

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Q&A: Engin Önder and Zeynep Tufekci on 140journos and the state of journalism in Turkey — Engin Önder is not a journalist, and he'll be the first to tell you that. ("No way," he said, laughing, when I asked.) Instead, Önder, who cofounded the Turkish citizen journalism …

Jim Romenesko:

Jonathan Eig sells his ChicagoSide sports site — ChicagoSide founders Jonathan Eig and Sol Lieberman are selling their two-year-old site to Nick Tranfaglia of ticket broker TiqIQ. — “We set out to create the best online sports outlet in Chicago, and we met feel like we met our goal,” they write in an email.

Discussion: Robert Feder

Australian Associated Press:

Interim Egyptian president will ‘spare no effort’ to have Peter Greste released — Adly Mansour promises a ‘speedy resolution’ that would see jailed journalists freed from jail — Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour, says he “will spare no effort” to quickly resolve the case of jailed Australian journalist Peter Greste.

Discussion: @hchuaeoan, The Huffington Post and Guardian

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: ITV, BBC, Guardian and The Independent

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Charged Sun journalist: ‘Alarming’ police crackdown has made reporters ‘fearful’ of contact with public officials

Discussion: @neilwallis1, @domponsford and @gazthejourno