Mediagazer: BBC, Channel 4 and ITV agree £100m-plus Freeview Connect deal (Mark Sweney/Guardian)

5:55 AM ET, June 5, 2014

Top News:

New Tow Center report examines current state of data journalism, takes inputs from journalists, academics, and more — Read some of the smartest thinkers on data journalism in this new Tow Center report — In order to consider the future of data journalism, you have to start by looking at the past.

Discussion: @niemanlab, @trasel and Project News

Joe Fassler / The Atlantic Online:

Rosenthal hopes a younger, news informed audience that's interested in op-ed will embrace the NYT Opinion app — 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.

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

Andrew Rosenthal / New York Times:
NYT launches NYT Opinion, a $6/month subscription and app for op-eds, editorials, and curated online commentary

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

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

BBC, Channel 4 and ITV agree £100m-plus Freeview Connect deal — Broadcasters aim to secure future of free-to-air service on smart-TVs in move that could challenge YouView platform — The BBC, Channel 4 and ITV have agreed a £100m-plus deal for a Connect service on smart TVs

Discussion: Pocket-lint, Broadband TV News, dtg.org.uk and seenit.co.uk

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

Lara Logan returns to CBS, will likely be back on 60 Minutes in the fall — 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.

Discussion: The Wrap, CNNMoney.com, TVNewser, Associated Press, New York Times, @marisaguthrie, Mediaite, New York Magazine and The Huffington Post

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: Verizon, @edmundlee, The Verge and DSLreports

Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Netflix Nags Another New Partner, Blaming Verizon for Slow Streams

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

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: LA Observed, @vosdscott, Media Nation, @johnrobinson, @niemanlab, @stevebuttry, The Huffington Post, @jbenton, @jayrosen_nyu, @jeffjarvis and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:

In addition to Soundcloud, Twitter also reportedly considered acquiring Pandora and Spotify — Last month, a Recode rumor suggested Twitter was looking to buy Soundcloud, only to have a WSJ rumor say that “the numbers didn't add up” for a deal to go through.

Discussion: Financial Times

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Daily Beast executive shuffle: CEO departs, editor and digital officer to be managing directors, Conde Nast veteran will advise — Leadership changes at The Daily Beast — Five months after parting ways with founding editor Tina Brown, The Daily Beast is making more changes to its top management team.

Associated Press:

France lifts restrictions on D-Day video coverage — PARIS (AP) — France on Wednesday dropped restrictions on live video coverage of ceremonies this week marking the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, ensuring that millions of viewers across the world will be able to watch the event as it unfolds.

Discussion: Poynter and Guardian

Dawn McMullan / INMA:

Raju Narisetti says “storytelling could be the key to the industry's long-term relevance” — Can storytelling be the industry's savior? — Media companies want to tell stories. Brands want to tell stories. Audiences want to hear stories, yet now crave an experience with their content.

John McDermott / Digiday:

Whisper editor Neetzan Zimmerman talks about traffic, Facebook's media role, Whisper for news — Can anonymity app Whisper become a viable news source? — Neetzan Zimmerman was once heralded as the Internet's foremost viral-traffic whisperer; a one-man traffic generating machine who …

Discussion: @lmoses

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