Mediagazer: Some news sites cracking down on over-the-top comments (Paul Farhi/Washington Post)

9:45 AM ET, May 8, 2014

Top News:

Joshua Green / Businessweek:

Conservative think tank Heritage Foundation launches mobile-first news site Daily Signal aimed at younger audiences on June 3 — Daily Signal: Heritage Foundation News Site Seeks Mainstream Impact — Last year the conservative Heritage Foundation had more influence on the direction …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, @tyrangiel, @jledbetter, @jayrosen_nyu, @kagrox, @katrinatrinko, @johnmcquaid, @jbouie, @athertonkd, @jamilsmith, @joshuagreen, @mlcalderone, @robertbluey and @kelsrenhar

Mary Hui / Poynter:

As China's control grows, Hong Kong media freedoms recede — They got him as he stepped out of his car one morning in February. Wielding a meat-cleaver, Lau Chun-to's assailant hacked at his back and legs, then sped away on a motorbike with an accomplice.

Discussion: Associated Press

Gillian Wong / Associated Press:

China detains veteran journalist for state secrets — BEIJING (AP) — A veteran journalist who was among prominent intellectuals jailed during China's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown has been detained just weeks ahead of the 25th anniversary of the bloodshed on accusations of leaking state secrets.

Discussion: Amnesty International and Guardian

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.

Katy Bachman / Adweek:
Two FCC Commissioners ask Wheeler to delay net neutrality proposal, but Wheeler doesn't budge

Discussion: FCC.gov, Engadget, @amy_schatz, New York Times, PC Magazine, Bloomberg, Broadcasting & Cable, Electronista, The Verge and Talking New Media

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Some news sites cracking down on over-the-top comments — Attention, reader comment-board trolls: News sites are getting tough on your crude, your rude and your sometimes lewd postings. — Faced with the unbounded id of anonymous readers who can't resist posting nasty comments under online articles …

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

All3Media sold to Discovery and Liberty Global in deal worth £500m — Maker of Skins and Midsomer Murders bought by US media giants after an attempt to sell in 2011 failed — Skins and Midsomer Murders maker All3Media has been sold to US media giants Discovery and Liberty Global …

Discussion: Sky News, Televisual and Prolific North

Reuters:

Exclusive: Cars.com investor Gannett mulls bid for entire company: sources — (Reuters) - Gannett Co Inc (GCI.N), one of the newspaper owners of Cars.com, is exploring a bid for all of the auto sales website and has discussed teaming up with private equity firms in a deal that could reach $3 billion …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Talking New Media

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

The complicated and disputed mission of the Huffington Post, 9 years after launch — The Huffington Post, nine years on — On Friday, March 7, Peter Goodman was writing an email to Arianna Huffington during the last hour of his last day as her employee, when a team of workmen showed …

Discussion: @gideonresnick, @michaelroston, @mattbai, @erinruberry and @lmoses

Seth Fiegerman / Mashable:

Marissa Mayer: Stop Asking If Yahoo Is a Tech or Media Company — In 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs visited Yahoo's headquarters and urged employees to decide once and for all whether it wanted to be a media company or a technology company. — Yahoo's identity crisis, if you want to call it that …

Discussion: New York Magazine, New York Times, @art_policarpio, Tech Trader Daily, TechRadar.com and TechCrunch

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Dish Network Q1 revenue rose 6.5% to $3.59B, adds subscribers amid pay TV slump — Dish Adds Subs in First Quarter, Earnings Drop — UPDATED: The satellite TV giant, led by chairman Charlie Ergen, reported higher quarterly revenue. — Dish Network on Thursday reported lower …

Discussion: Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal and Reuters

Guardian:

ABC's Australia Network faces the axe, but severing contract will incur costs — There will be costs incurred unwinding agreements and the Coalition will have to legislate if it wants to offer a new tender — The ABC will lose its Australia Network contract next week …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Sydney Morning Herald, @gliburtine, @guardian and TV Tonight

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Yahoo News Digest arrives on Android and launches an international edition — Four months after bringing its unconventional news app to iOS, Yahoo News Digest arrives on Android today along with international editions that bring a global perspective to currents.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Digital Spy, Geeky Gadgets, The Next Web and thedrum.com

Jack Marshall / Wall Street Journal:

Major brands inadvertently supporting sites with pirated video via automated ads — Illicit Websites Use Automated Ad-Buying Systems to Their Advantage — It's easy for websites to make a profit selling online advertising. All they have to do is avoid paying for content.

Discussion: @xpangler and @vranicawsj

ABC:

Fairfax staff vote to end strike over job cuts — Employees of The Age and Sydney Morning Herald have voted to go back to work after walking off the job on Wednesday following the announcement of job cuts. — Fairfax announced plans to cut 80 jobs from the photography, editorial and Life magazine divisions in Melbourne and Sydney.

Discussion: @mediaalliance, mUmBRELLA, Yahoo! Finance, @mediaalliance and mUmBRELLA

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Channel 4 cuts executives' bonuses as it reports £15m loss — Broadcaster's revenues fell during 2013 as its audience share slipped, but it says it expects to return to breakeven this year — Channel 4 has reported a loss of £15m in 2013, as the broadcaster's main channel sunk …

Discussion: MediaTel and Prolific North

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.

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

Publishers get creative with an à la carte approach to digital media — The all-you-can-eat approach to digital media is going away in favor of à la carte. — Consider Facebook. It launched Facebook Messenger and Paper as standalone apps following its acquisition of Instagram.

Federico Mastrogiovanni / VICE News:

Photo Auction Raises Money for Another Murdered Mexican Journalist — Applause and hoots of laughter can be heard from the steep stairs that lead up to the small room at the Gimnasio de Arte Cultural Center in Mexico City, where an auction to benefit the family of murdered journalist “Goyo” Jiménez is taking place.

Henry Taylor / TheMediaBriefing:

Beyond responsive: three mobile website design tricks becoming trends — The Los Angeles Times has a new-look website: a responsively designed effort from the same chaps behind sites for The Verge, Hearst and Mashable. — But apart from being mobile-friendly in its responsiveness …

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

College newspapers are following students online, but will revenue come along, too? — Late last month, The Columbia Daily Spectator at Columbia University announced a big change, Peter Sterne reported in Capital New York. The publication would still update its website daily …