Mediagazer: Amazon Feud With Publishers to Escalate as Contracts End (Bloomberg)

7:25 PM ET, June 4, 2014

Top News:

Andrew Rosenthal / New York Times:

NYT launches NYT Opinion, a $6/month subscription and app for op-eds, editorials, and curated online commentary — Announcing NYT Opinion — Today, I'm proud to say, we are launching NYT Opinion. It's the first time we have offered a stand-alone subscription to all of The New York …

Discussion: TechCrunch, FishbowlNY, New York Times, New York Times, The Next Web, Capital New York, @henryctaylor, @yancyfaith, @felixsalmon, The Awl, @edmundlee, Gizmodo and Mashable

Joe Fassler / The Atlantic Online:

Who's Going to Buy The New York Times's New Opinion App? — When The New York Times announced its new mobile app, NYT Now, in April, it did more than release a new piece of software to the world. It proposed a new media schedule for would-be users: With time-pegged briefings for the morning and evening …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Gawker, @sewellchan, Flavorwire, @kevinroose, @suzykhimm, Consumerist, Medium, @badewilde, @nycjim and App Advice

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Kushner's Freedom newspapers lurched from one strategy to another; print focus isn't working — The newsonomics of the Orange County Register's swerves all over the freeway — Pity Aaron Kushner's poor driving instructor. We can easily imagine the then-16-year-old's driving inclinations as he first took the wheel.

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @jbenton, The Huffington Post, @johnrobinson, @stevebuttry, @jeffjarvis, Associated Press, Guardian, Freedom Communications, Inc., LA Observed and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Just Like Comcast Did, Verizon Says Netflix Is Slowing Its Own Streams — Verizon, responding to complaints from Netflix about its broadband service, says Netflix is slowing down its own video streams to the telco's providers. — If that sounds confusing, that's because it is.

Discussion: @edmundlee, Washington Post, Verizon, The Verge and DSLreports

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Netflix Nags Another New Partner, Blaming Verizon for Slow Streams — Earlier this year, Netflix signed a Web traffic deal with Comcast, then complained about it. — Here's a new version of the story: In April, Netflix signed a Web traffic deal with Verizon.

Discussion: @yurivictor, @jsf33, BTIG Research, Washington Post, Quartz, VatorNews, Businessweek, Business Insider, TIME, Electronista, Consumerist, @yurivictor, @kabster728, @xpangler, Mashable, @pkafka, CNET, Multichannel News, DSLreports, Variety, Gizmodo, The Verge and The Week

Julien Girault / Agence France-Presse:

China seeks to wipe Tiananmen from popular memory — Beijing (AFP) - China's vast censorship machine does its utmost to wipe the slightest reference to the Tiananmen crackdown from books, television and the Internet, scrubbing the issue from public discussion and even from the minds of its younger generation.

Discussion: TVNewser, @antderosa, Quartz, Washington Post, Techdirt and The New Yorker Blog

Joseph Weber / Washington Post:
Chinese journalists are beginning to fight their government's censorship

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's …

Rose Powell / Sydney Morning Herald:
Tiananmen Square massacre anniversary: China chokes Google, social chatter

Discussion: BBC, Channel 4, Arirang, Wall Street Journal, @apixelshort, New York Times, @dumblydore, Bloomberg, Forbes and Tech in Asia

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

Lara Logan Back at Work on ‘60 Minutes’ — The correspondent has been on the bench for seven months after anchoring an erroneous report about the Benghazi attacks. — Lara Logan has returned to work, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. — The news ends a suspension that began last fall …

Discussion: The Wrap, Associated Press, Mediaite, TVNewser and The Huffington Post

Molly Wood / New York Times:

Report: Online TV viewing up 246% over last year, outpacing online video, up 43% — TV Apps Are Soaring in Popularity, Report Says — When it comes to online video, people may not want to cut the cord. Instead, they want to take the cord with them. People are streaming broadcast television …

Discussion: CMO.com, The Verge, SocialTimes, HotHardware.com News, PandoDaily, @mollywood, MetaFilter and VideoNuze Analysis

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Small Record Labels Ask Regulators to Intervene in YouTube Dispute — Independent music groups, angry with YouTube's demands over licensing terms, have asked government regulators in Europe and the United States to intervene on their behalf. — Trade groups representing thousands …

Discussion: The Register, Hollywood Reporter, Guardian and Music Ally

Bloomberg:

Amazon Feud With Publishers to Escalate as Contracts End — Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)'s sales contracts with some of the world's biggest publishers, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, are next up for renewal, signaling that skirmishes over e-book pricing are set to spread.

Discussion: Mediashift, New York Times, Guardian and Gigaom

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Xbox Adds 45 New Media Partners, Including Twitter, Vine, Comedy Central, And MLG — Microsoft has been trying for a while to make its Xbox Live platform not just a home for gamers, but also the dominant media center in the home. Just ahead of E3, the company is taking a bigger step …

Discussion: Xbox Wire, Xbox Wire, Home Media Magazine, Variety, USA Today, Polygon, The Verge, Electronista, BGR, ReadWrite and The Verge

Ben Beaumont-Thomas / Guardian:

Film streaming and downloads to overtake box office in 2017 — The growing popularity of downloads and streaming services like Netflix means that Blu-ray and DVD sales are declining — Netflix's HQ: the streaming service is eating into DVD sales. Photograph: Graham Whitby Boot/Allstar/Sportsphoto Ltd.

Discussion: Gigaom, Variety, The Wrap and Digital Spy