Mediagazer: From Vox to 538, white guys get feted as the future of journalism while everyone else gets attacked and dismissed (Laurie Penny/New Statesman)

11:30 PM ET, April 7, 2014

Top News:

Marty Baron on Ezra Klein's departure: “The company is owned 100 percent by Jeff Bezos, so any decision to fund a new venture would be his to make” — It's remarkable, I think, how much mainstream-media attention the departures of Nate Silver from The New York Times and Ezra Klein …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, Gigaom, @maura, @jbenton, Talking New Media, @kevglobal, @mathewi, Talking Biz News, @webjournalist, @wesleylowery and @joshsternberg

Allie Jones / The Wire:

Redefining Internet Journalism Proving Harder Than Vox Expected — “What is marijuana?” Vox.com asks today, ready to seriously answer that question for anyone who's not sure. Ezra Klein's newly-launched site, which aims to report and explain the news in a way that's unlike anything we've ever seen …

Discussion: PandoDaily, Associated Press, @mathewi, Erik Wemple, Columbia Journalism Review and Vox

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
New York Times Changes Ezra Klein Quote To No Longer Criticize Washington Post

Discussion: @willvanwazer, @mikeisaac, @edbott, The New York Observer, @bankoff, Mediaite, Mediawire Daily, @romenesko, New York Times and @umairh

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Xbox Boosts User-Generated Video Play with YouTube and GoPro — Microsoft is making it easier for Xbox One users to share their gameplay videos on YouTube — a hugely popular genre on the Google-owned service — and is adding a channel to bring action videos captured with Go Pro's personal HD cameras to the console.

Discussion: Xbox Wire, TIME, TechCrunch and Engadget

Bloomberg:

Microsoft Xbox launching six TV series in June; comedians Seth Green, Sarah Silverman onboard — Microsoft Goes Hollywood in Amazon-Like Programming Push — Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is going Hollywood with a cast including comedians Sarah Silverman and Seth Green, aspiring World Cup players and eerily human robots.

Laurie Penny / New Statesman:

From Vox to 538, white guys get feted as the future of journalism while everyone else gets attacked and dismissed — From Vox to 538, white guys get feted as the future of journalism while everyone else gets attacked and dismissed. — GOOGLE PLUS ONE — TWEET WIDGET

Discussion: @pennyred, @m_m_dh, @kissane, @jaredbkeller, @saramayeux, @peggyholman, @moorehn, @robert_exley, @katikrause, @profbootyphd, @pennyred, @losowsky, @bronwen and @pmarca

Raju Narisetti / Nieman Journalism Lab:

We need to talk: 26 awkward questions to ask news organizations about the move to digital — Here are 25 awkward questions (and one counter-question) that I wish media reporters/critics would routinely ask of editors and mainstream news organizations, each year.

Discussion: @blmorgan, @tom_el_rumi, @craigmod, @mathewi, @marklittlenews, @raju, @fieldproducer, @charlesforelle, @tothevictor, @sarahmarshall, @mattderienzo, @antderosa, @jbenton and Kirk LaPointe's …

Marc Frank / Reuters:

Cuba says U.S. created other ‘Cuban Twitter’ projects — HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba said on Sunday the United States continues to use social media to “subvert” the island's government and that the revelation this week of a U.S.-created, Twitter-like service for Cuba was just one of several examples.

Discussion: VentureBeat and Latin Times

Adi Robertson / The Verge:
USAID refutes claims about allegedly subversive Cuban Twitter clone

Discussion: USAID Impact, TechCrunch, The Next Web, TheHill and NPR

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Six major movie studios file copyright lawsuit against Megaupload, seek $150k per infringement — Movie Studios Sue Defunct Piracy Site Megaupload, Seeking Millions in Damages — Six major U.S. movie studios have sued Megaupload — which U.S. law enforcement officials shut down in January 2012 …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Gigaom, Mashable, Home Media Magazine, @kimdotcom, Deadline.com and @kimdotcom

Stephen Buckley / Poynter:

Last Saturday, Omidyar gathered industry thinkers to brainstorm First Look Media's strategy — Omidyar's First Look Media looking to find its focus, target an audience — Pierre Omidyar has issues. Several problems, actually. — The billionaire technologist, philanthropist …

Discussion: @samkirkla, @jayrosen_nyu, @jesseholcomb, @megan, @paulcarr and @davewiner

Bob Fernandez / Philly.com:

Senate hearing on Comcast merger comes amid major concerns — The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold the first public hearing on Comcast Corp.'s proposed $45.2 billion deal for Time Warner Cable Inc. on Wednesday, amid regulatory and financial concerns about merging the No. 1 and No. 2 cable-TV companies.

Discussion: Radio & Television … and Los Angeles Times

David Carr / New York Times:
Questions for Comcast as It Looks to Grow

Discussion: TVNewser, @davidsirota, @carr2n, @jcstearns and @samgustin

Erin Madigan White / The Definitive Source:

Associated Press CEO Gary Pruitt condemns attacks on journalists in order to control news — Pruitt: ‘Journalists today are targeted’ — Three days after the killing of an Associated Press photojournalist and the wounding of an AP correspondent in Afghanistan, AP President …

Discussion: @pressfreedom

BBC:
Egypt al-Jazeera case: Fresh calls to free reporters

Discussion: Poynter, @bbclooknorth, @genesharpaei and @annaholligan

Marguerite Reardon / CNET:

NAB president to FCC: Stop favoring broadband — President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters Gordon Smith takes the FCC to task for its policies he said favor broadband over the broadcast industry. And he called on the Commission to come up with a National Broadcast Plan.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable

Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:

Publishers including US Weekly and Rolling Stone experimenting with sponsored comments — Publishers bring native ads to their comment sections — Native advertising, the ad format du jour, has been an effective way for publishers to make money, ostensibly without interfering with the reader experience.

Discussion: TechCrunch, @beschizza, @bradparsons, @ssktanaka, @dangoldgeier, @melisbuzzfeed, @jlandau and Business Insider

Lorraine Luk / Wall Street Journal:

Foxconn family's content company eyeing partnership with Taiwan's largest cable TV operator — Foxconn's Founding Family Eyes Cable TV Alliance — Foxconn's founding family seems to have ambitions far beyond assembling iPhones and iPads for Apple. — An entertainment content company run …

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

How ThinkProgress became ‘real competition for scoops’ — One morning in late February, ThinkProgress' climate reporting team met in a narrow conference room with the thermostat set to 72 degrees and a selection of Bigelow teas in one corner. — There were eight people around the table …

Tamara Baluja / J-source.ca:

4.1 PR professionals for every journalist in Canada — Stop the presses! Breaking news! According to a report by the U.S. Department of Labor, the ratio of public relations practitioners to journalists in the U.S. is higher than it's ever been. — In 2010, researchers Robert McChesney …

Discussion: @gwynduns