Mediagazer: Did Aaron Sorkin Really Apologize for ‘The Newsroom’ Last Night? (David Sims/The Wire)

11:10 AM ET, April 22, 2014

Top News:

Jennifer Khoury Newcomb / Comcast Voices:

Comcast Response to Netflix's Opposition to Time Warner Cable Transaction — Netflix's opposition to our Time Warner Cable transaction is based on inaccurate claims and arguments. There has been no company that has had a stronger commitment to openness of the Internet than Comcast …

Discussion: New York Times, Business Insider, ZDNet, VideoNuze Analysis, Softpedia News, TheHill, Re/code, Adweek, @pkafka, @jmcduling, @miriamgottfried, VentureBeat and TechCrunch

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Netflix opposes Comcast-TWC merger over ‘anticompetitive’ concerns — Netflix has come out in opposition of Comcast's proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable, writing in a letter to shareholders that the merger would give the combined service provider “even more anticompetitive leverage” …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Washington Post, ZDNet, Politico, Variety, The Huffington Post, Financial Times and Re/code

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Netflix Beats Expectations With 4M New Subscribers, Earnings Of 86 Cents Per Share — Netflix today released its first-quarter financial results, with the company beating analyst expectations. For the first three months of the year, the company reported earnings of 86 cents per share on revenues of $1.27 billion.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Forbes, multichannel.com, ZDNet, FishbowlDC, FishbowlNY, Variety, Softpedia News, @jank0, @pkafka, @jbflint, @katyonthehill, @lach1435, CNBC, AdAge, Gigaom, Pocket-lint, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and YCharts

Crayton Harrison / Bloomberg:

Netflix Calls Out AT&T for Lackluster Streaming Performance — Netflix Inc. (NFLX:US), stepping up its criticism of Internet service providers, called out AT&T Inc. (T:US) for offering video-streaming speeds that trail even those of phone companies with inferior technology.

Discussion: Gigaom, Gigaom, Reuters and Businessweek

Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:

An Exlcusive Interview With Aereo CEO Ahead Of Supreme Court Trial — Today, the David-vs-Goliath moment that we've all been waiting for will finally arrive. In just a few short moments, Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia and his legal team will enter the Supreme Court Courthouse to make final oral arguments against multiple broadcasters.

Zachary M. Seward / Quartz:
Aereo's Supreme Court case could catch TiVo and others in its crossfire

Discussion: Business Insider, Gigaom, PC World, Wired, CBS News, Politico, Philly.com, TIME, Wall Street Journal, @zseward, Washington Post, www.wnyc.org, Plagiarism Today and Fortune

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

New York Times launches The Upshot, aims to make data journalism part of “daily news cycle” — Navigate News With The Upshot — You have no shortage of excellent news sources — sources that expertly report and analyze news as it happens. Like you, those of us at The Upshot rely on those sources every day.

Discussion: The Awl, Poynter, FishbowlNY, Mediaite, The New York Observer, @pamelapaulnyt, @lpolgreen, @rdmurphy, @craigsilverman, @tcarmody, @rafat, @jayrosen_nyu, @digiphile and investors.nytco.com

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Here comes The Upshot, the new explanatory journalism effort from the New York Times — Ever since Nate Silver left his perch at the New York Times and took his FiveThirtyEight blog to ESPN, where he subsequently launched an ambitious experiment aimed at data-driven journalism …

Discussion: MediaWire Daily, @upshotnyt, @dleonhardt, Digiday, Capital New York, @neil_irwin and The FJP

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Felix Salmon to Leave Reuters — Felix Salmon, a prominent writer at Reuters on finance and the news media, said on Monday that he was leaving the news agency. — Mr. Salmon declined to release details of his new job when reached by phone on Monday, but in an email sent to colleagues he explained he was …

Discussion: @jeffjarvis, @nytfridge, @rolfewinkler, MediaWire Daily and Talking Biz News

Jack Shafer:

Intelligence Community Directive 119, a gag order that makes the public less safe, not more — The top spook's stupid gag order — The nation's top spy has prohibited all of his spies from talking with reporters about “intelligence-related information” unless officially authorized to speak.

Discussion: @spytalker, @trevortimm, @eriksherman, @mattdpearce, @mar4612 and @jaketapper

Steven Aftergood / Secrecy News:
DNI bars US Intelligence Community from leaking even unclassified information to media

Discussion: New York Times, @billmon1, Guardian, TheHill, The Huffington Post, @davidbarstow, @free_snowden, Politico and @davidfolkenflik

Adam Satariano / Bloomberg:

Study: households spent 10% less at Amazon in states where online sales tax introduced — Amazon Sales Take a Hit in States With Online Tax — Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is taking a hit in states that are collecting an online sales tax. — In one of the first efforts to quantify the impact …

Discussion: USA Today, Business Insider, Washington Post, SlashGear, @maudnewton and @puiwingtam

David Sims / The Wire:

Did Aaron Sorkin Really Apologize for ‘The Newsroom’ Last Night? — Because it sounds like he still thinks we just don't get it. — The internet is abuzz about a rare moment of humility from screenwriting icon Aaron Sorkin, who apparently copped to how much his much-hyped HBO drama …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Capital New York, The Wrap, @timamolloy and PopWatch

Todd Spangler / Variety:

AT&T, Chernin Group Invest $500 Million to Form Over-the-Top TV Venture — AT&T and The Chernin Group announced they plan to invest $500 million to create a new venture that will acquire, invest in and launch over-the-top video services. — Additional financial terms of the deal were not been disclosed.

Discussion: Gigaom, VentureBeat and CNET