Mediagazer: How AOL maintains editorial independence in Ford-sponsored ‘This Built America’ series (Sam Kirkland/Poynter)

9:15 AM ET, March 30, 2014

Top News:

Sam Kirkland / Poynter:

How AOL maintains editorial independence in Ford-sponsored ‘This Built America’ series — When an AOL team with an editorial vision joined a video production team with an artistic vision to launch an ambitious 50-week series about people and companies rebuilding America, it was clear they needed a brand to help fund it.

Trevor Timm / Freedom of the Press Foundation:

Lessons for Journalists and Sources from the Microsoft/Blogger Privacy Fiasco — Privacy-conscious Internet users were aghast last week when court documents showed that Microsoft looked at the content of a blogger's Hotmail account without a warrant—or any legal process whatsoever …

Discussion: blogs.technet.com, @levjoy, Softpedia News, BGR, Boing Boing, Re/code, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Mashable, Gigaom, New York Times, Wired, Digital Trends, TheHill, Forbes, The Next Web, BetaNews, Techdirt, Engadget, Guardian and ZDNet

Emerging Technology From the arXiv:

The Evolution of Automated Breaking News Stories — A Google engineer has developed an algorithm that spots breaking news stories on the Web and illustrates them with pictures. And it is now filing its first stories on Twitter. — Breaking news stories are one of the driving forces for online media.

Discussion: @mathewi

Alexander Howard / Tow Center for Digital Journalism:

Aron Pilhofer on data journalism, culture and going digital — When it comes to computer-assisted reporting and how media companies are using technology, there are few people in the U.S.A. as knowledgeable as Aron Pilhofer. He run a newsroom team at The New York Times that combines journalism …

Discussion: @digiphile

Robert Kolker / New York Magazine:

How NBCUniversal Killed DailyCandy — Dany Levy, the founder of DailyCandy, the addictive and once wildly successful shopping e-newsletter and website, was boarding a plane to Mexico when she heard her creation was being shut down by its current owner, NBCUniversal, along with Television Without Pity …

Discussion: @thestalwart and @jeffjarvis

Today's Zaman:

Turkish journalist detained over leak of key Syria meeting — A journalist was detained over allegations that he migh have had information in prior to the audio recording and posting online of an alleged conversation between some state officials about a possible incursion into Syria.

Discussion: @eagunes, @chrchristensen, @zeynep and @kiramenkatip

Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:
Turkey's YouTube traffic down 2/3 after blockage by government

Discussion: @zeynep, Washington Post, SocialTimes and Bloomberg View

Vijaya Gadde / The Twitter Blog:
Twitter wins Turkish court case overturning take-down order of account, but service still blocked

Discussion: Re/code, VentureBeat, @anildash, Hurriyet Daily News, @zeynep, @kirstinestewart, Los Angeles Times, Engadget, Business 2 Community and Mother Jones

Stephen Franklin / The Big Roundtable:

Veteran journalist recalls Beirut in 1982 and reflects how the Internet is changing Arab world — The Light in Beirut — Up against a wall, waiting to die on a late afternoon in August 1982, a journalist's life stops and then starts over. — Bright, bright light. So bright it blinds me.

Discussion: @lpintak

Hilmar Schmundt / Spiegel Online:

How Copyright Laws Keep E-Books Locked Up — Many publishing houses don't allow their products to be lent out by digital libraries for fear of piracy. Articles and books by researchers are also affected. Readers are the ones who have to pay the price. — When the German author Johann …

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEightDataLab:

FiveThirtyEight admits issues with climate-science article, will commission rebuttal — FiveThirtyEight to Commission Response to Disputed Climate Article — FiveThirtyEight relaunched less than two weeks ago. It's been a heck of a learning experience.

Discussion: @juddlegum, @kellyhereid, @cbasturea, @annleegibson, @ccolose, @sam_schulman, @jayrosen_nyu, Talking Points Memo and Boing Boing

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
FiveThirtyEight Apologizes On Behalf Of Controversial Climate Science Writer

Discussion: Washington Center …, Talking Points Memo, @pdykstra, @ryangrim, @dhberman and New York Magazine

Re/code:

Yahoo tries to lure YouTube stars with better ad rates for new video service — Ready for Marissa's Closeup? Yahoo Is Considering Creating Its Own YouTube (And Poaching YouTube Stars). — Google-owned YouTube hasn't had a serious competitor for years.

Discussion: Business 2 Community, Engadget, Mashable, Newsy, Digital Trends, The Verge, VentureBeat, @dannysullivan, @marcbodnick, @ryanlawler and @hunterwalk

Robert Andrews / Beet.TV:

Huffington Post CEO Maymann: “HuffPost Live” Nears Break Even, Eyeing Global Expansion — LONDON — Nearly two years after launching, HuffPost Live, Huffington Post's effort to reinvent rolling TV news, is on the verge of breaking even, says HuffPost's CEO.

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Designer Craig Mod launches Hi, an experiment in iterative writing and networked journalism — The internet and the social web have transformed almost every pursuit that humans can engage in, and writing is clearly high on that list. But despite all of the advancements in distribution …

Discussion: @jcstearns

John Eggerton / Broadcasting & Cable:

Wheeler: L.A. Test Makes Compelling Case For Channel Sharing — FCC chair says broadcasters can have their cake and eat it too — FCC chairman Tom Wheeler says the results of the Los Angeles channel sharing test demonstrates the once in a lifetime opportunity the incentive auctions provide …

Discussion: Variety, TheHill and Reuters