Top News:
Neil MacFarquhar / New York Times:
Russia Quietly Tightens Reins on Web With ‘Bloggers Law’ — MOSCOW — Russia has taken another major step toward restricting its once freewheeling Internet, as President Vladimir V. Putin quietly signed a new law requiring popular online voices to register with the government, a measure that lawyers …
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Leslie Kaufman / New York Times:
Jet Magazine to Shift to Digital Publishing Next Month — Jet, the pioneering African-American weekly magazine that rose to prominence covering the civil rights movement, is expected to announce Wednesday morning that it will no longer publish a regular print edition, the latest in a growing list …
J.K. Trotter / Gawker:
Fox News Just Unsettled Its $8 Million Hush-Money Settlement — Remember Brian Lewis, the former vice president of media relations for Fox News and even more former confidante of Fox News president Roger Ailes? This past November, Fox paid approximately $8 million in hush money to settle …
Discussion:
@gawker, @davidfolkenflik, @gabrielsherman and Inside Cable News
Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:
Amazon, Netflix and tech giants defend net neutrality in letter to FCC — In a rare public stand for the internet retailer, Amazon has come out against the Federal Communications Commission's purported plan to bifurcate the internet into faster and slow lanes as part of its new network neutrality rules.
Discussion:
@katyonthehill, @tcarmody and @designhawg
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Dominic Rushe / Guardian:
Protesters set up camp at net neutrality rally outside FCC headquarters
Protesters set up camp at net neutrality rally outside FCC headquarters
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable and International Business Times
Peter Suciu / Fortune:
Can Netflix kill cable TV if it's part of it? — The streaming TV company has always been portrayed as a television-killer. In the wake of several deals to put its service on cable boxes, the reality is more complicated. — FORTUNE — Streaming television services such as Netflix (NFLX) …
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Jeff Baumgartner / Multichannel News:
Suddenlink To Offer Netflix On TiVo Devices
Suddenlink To Offer Netflix On TiVo Devices
Discussion:
multichannel.com, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Home Media Magazine and Variety
Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Just 7 percent of journalists are Republicans. That's far fewer than even a decade ago. — A majority of American journalists identify themselves as political independents although among those who choose a side Democrats outnumber Republicans four to one, according to a new study …
Discussion:
Politico, The Awl, Washington Examiner, @scottbix, NY Daily News, @jayrosen_nyu, The Week, The Corsair and Mediaite
Press Gazette:
Hacking trial summing up: ‘Who polices the journalists? No Mrs Brooks[’ — Jurors in the phone-hacking trial were today told to consider who knew about the “rotten state of affairs” that went to the top of the News of the World. — Former editors Rebekah Brooks (pictured above: Reuters) …
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Gideon Spanier / London Evening Standard:
ITV is sitting pretty, but problems lurk — As ITV's Adam Crozier prepares for his fifth annual meeting as chief executive next Wednesday, he can claim he deserves his £8.4 million pay and bonus. — ITV has been on a golden run since the ex-Royal Mail boss joined in 2010 with a five-year …
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Londn Evening Standard:
BBC Trust scandals may scare off new chair candidates, MP warns — The Government may struggle to persuade a strong enough candidate to head the BBC Trust after the wave of scandals that have hit the corporation, a senior MP warned today. — “You only have to look at Chris Patten's experiences …
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John Plunkett / Guardian:
Howard Stringer and Marjorie Scardino in line to replace Lord Patten
Howard Stringer and Marjorie Scardino in line to replace Lord Patten
Discussion:
Herald Scotland, Guardian, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, MediaTel, The Wrap, Rapid TV News, Sky News, thesundaily.my and Hollywood Reporter
Joe Lucia / Awful Announcing:
MLB is urging iTunes to pull team-related podcasts (UPDATE) — In one of the more disappointing things we've seen out of them lately, MLB is reportedly requesting that iTunes pull several team-related podcasts from their service. Among the affected podcasts are Twins podcast Gleeman and the Geek …
Discussion:
Poynter, @bkoo, HardballTalk, @markcoddington, @jimmiebjr, @joe_toc and Electronista
NBCSports:
IOC awards Olympic Games broadcast rights to NBCUniversal through to 2032 — Agreement ensures the long-term financial security of the Olympic Movement — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday awarded NBCUniversal (NBCU) the broadcast rights in the USA for the Olympic Games through to 2032.
Patrick Frater / Variety:
Why Alibaba's IPO Matters to Hollywood — As China's e-commerce giant seeks a $150 billion flotation it is building an array of video and internet options and moving upstream into content. — Asia Bureau Chief — HONG KONG — The proposed share sale in the US of Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter
Roy Greenslade / Guardian:
Daily Mail pays ‘substantial damages’ and apologises to JK Rowling — The Daily Mail carries an apology today to the author JK Rowling in which it states that it has paid her substantial damages over an article that claimed she had told a misleading “sob story.”
Discussion:
Poynter, Press Gazette, @djmgaffneyw4, @aljwhite, @oliverburkeman, BBC, The Huffington Post and @dawnhfoster
Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:
TuneIn relaunches with a big focus on social to become the Twitter of radio — Streaming radio aggregator TuneIn relaunched its mobile apps and website Wednesday, introducing a Twitter-like follower model and adding new ways for podcasters, radio staions and brands to reach an audience.
Discussion:
Re/code and VentureBeat
Ben Fischer / New York Business Journal:
BuzzFeed chairman Ken Lerer pledges independence, says IPO is a possibility — BuzzFeed Chairman Ken Lerer said Tuesday the growing media powerhouse won't sell itself and strongly hinted at an initial public offering one day, while not exactly denying recent reports of failed acquisition talks with The Walt Disney Co.
Discussion:
@mjenkins and TechCrunch
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
EndlessTV Serves Up Free Web Video to Your Phone, Minus the Ads. How Long Can That Last? — Lots of people are trying to figure out ways to help people “discover” digital video, and lots of them don't work because they don't solve a real problem: Most folks have no trouble “discovering” video on their own.
Dorothy Pomerantz / Forbes:
Nielsen Is About To Help Programmers Profit From Your Online TV Viewing — For all the talk of a “golden age” of television, traditional TV networks have a big problem, and Mitch Barns, the new CEO of audience-measurement company Nielsen, thinks he can fix it.
Wall Street Journal:
DirecTV Working With Goldman, Advisers on Possible AT&T Deal — Move Is Sign Satellite Broadcaster Serious About Combination — DirecTV is working with advisers including Goldman Sachs to evaluate a possible combination with AT&T Inc., people familiar with the matter said …
Discussion:
multichannel.com, The Verge and Los Angeles Times
Anna Prior / Wall Street Journal:
21st Century Fox Q3: net income $1.05B, 12% revenue increase on cable growth and Super Bowl — 21st Century Fox reports a better-than-seen increase in revenue, helped by the Super Bowl. — 21st Century Fox reported a better-than-expected 12% increase in third-quarter revenue …
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Variety and TVNewsCheck.com
Sharri Markson / The Australian:
Staff strike as Fairfax takes sword to snappers, subs — FAIRFAX staff have voted to go on strike in response to the news the company will sack 80 newsroom staff across production, layout and photographics and outsource the work. — Staff tweeted that a snap 24-hour strike …
Discussion:
@tanyachilcott, @michaelsin_, ABC, Reuters, @meadea, GlobalPost, @domsequitur, @belindaseeney, Sydney Morning Herald, Mark Skulley, ABC, NEWS.com.au, HeraldSun, Guardian, @ivorytowerjourn and @larasinclair
RELATED:
Nic Christensen / mUmBRELLA:
Fairfax announces 70-80 redundancies across production, lifestyle and photographic
Fairfax announces 70-80 redundancies across production, lifestyle and photographic
Discussion:
mUmBRELLA, Guardian, MEAA web site, The Straits Times, Business Insider Australia, Sydney Morning Herald, radionz.co.nz, @theage_photo, @melbourneobs, @mpbowers, @perkinsmiki, @danielmoakes, @jillastark, Sky News Australia, Crikey, TheAustralian, @dowsteve, @sally_jackson and @nicchristensen