Mediagazer: In Media Moguls' Rarefied Realm, It's Like Father, Like Son (David Carr/New York Times)

11:55 PM ET, March 30, 2014

Top News:

Marcella Bombardieri / The Boston Globe:

Court documents reveal ambivalence in how MIT assisted Aaron Swartz's prosecution — The inside story of MIT and Aaron Swartz — More than a year after Swartz killed himself rather than face prosecution, questions about MIT's handling of the hacking case persist

Discussion: @matthewkeyslive, @declanm, @caleb_crain, @bostonglobe, @jesselynradack and Mashable

David Carr / New York Times:

In Media Moguls' Rarefied Realm, It's Like Father, Like Son — Last week, Rupert Murdoch handed the future leadership of two publicly held companies worth a combined $80 billion to his two sons, almost as casually as if they were the keys to the family station wagon.

Discussion: @mathewi, @pkafka and @carr2n

Alexander Howard / Tow Center for Digital Journalism:

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

Discussion: @elanazak, @jayrosen_nyu and @craigsilverman

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.

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

The Wrap:

Josh Elliott Exiting ABC's ‘Good Morning America’ for NBC Sports — After months of speculation over Josh Elliott's future at ABC News' “Good Morning America,” contract talks broke down over the weekend and he will leave his anchor spot for a gig with NBC Sports.

Discussion: New York Times, TVNewser, Capital New York, Mediaite, @brianstelter, CNNMoney.com, Variety, @brianstelter and @josephkapsch

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, Techdirt, @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, Engadget, Guardian and ZDNet

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Media career path: Cry ‘media bias’ — Sharyl Attkisson hasn't landed yet, but there's every reason to suppose she's not going to finish her career in local news in Duluth. — For starters, Atkinson is an accomplished reporter. But she's also taken one of the surefire moves to help ensure …

Discussion: @rachelsmolkin, @mckaycoppins and @sissenberg

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

Lessons from a good vertical: Skift.com — For digital media companies, creating good verticals that breed small but valuable audiences has become essential. On that subject, here are my takeaways following a conversation with Rafat Ali, founder and CEO of Skift.com.

Martin Chulov / Guardian:

Spanish journalists freed in Syria after six-month ordeal — Javier Espinosa and Ricardo Villanova Garcia released but Islamist extremists still hold over 40 other western hostages — Two Spanish journalists kidnapped in northern Syria last September were freed by their captors on Saturday night …

Discussion: Gawker, BBC, CNN, The Huffington Post, TIME and Metro.co.uk

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

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 and SocialTimes

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

Discussion: Re/code, VentureBeat, Hurriyet Daily News, Los Angeles Times, @anildash, @zeynep, @kirstinestewart, 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