Mediagazer: Wheeler: state laws hurt broadband access in places like Chattanooga; FCC could preempt rules (Tom Wheeler/Official FCC Blog)

12:55 PM ET, June 11, 2014

Top News:

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

Amazon Stops Taking Advance Orders for ‘Lego’ and Other Warner Videos — The Everything Store is shrinking again. Amazon customers who want to order forthcoming Warner Home Video features, including “The Lego Movie,” “300: Rise of an Empire,” “Winter's Tale” and “Transcendence,” are finding it impossible to do so.

Sam Kirkland / Poynter:

Fortune magazine triples amount of online content even as Time Inc. cuts costs — As the newly standalone Time Inc. looks to cut costs by 25 percent and media writers [Bloomberg, The Atlantic, Nieman Lab] outline the magazine publisher's tenuous digital prospects, Fortune and Money …

Discussion: Digiday

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Jury in Rebekah Brooks trial retires to consider verdicts — Eight-month trial over alleged phone hacking, corruption and perversion of the course of justice enters final phase — The jury in the Rebekah Brooks trial has retired to consider its verdicts on a string of offences related to phone hacking …

Discussion: BBC and Reuters

Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:

2014's most talked-about media startups aren't distinguished by the what, but the how — With the launch of new site after new site in 2014, it's been a fascinating time to watch digital media try to figure itself out. Amid the turmoil of disruption, buffeted by tech companies' control …

Discussion: The New York Observer, The Corsair, @conorsen, @jkavanagh, @jayrosen_nyu, @jimtankersley and @mathewi

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

In the news media, are Muslims the only ‘terrorists’? — What do you call a couple who espouse an extremist, anti-government ideology and kill two policemen and a bystander while draping one of their victims in a flag associated with a political movement? — After Sunday's shooting spree perpetrated …

Discussion: @jnaureckas, @zekejohnsonai, VICE and Pressing Issues

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Vice Launches A Sports Channel, With Modest Ambitions (For Now) — Vice Media CEO Shane Smith wants to displace ESPN as the global leader in sports news. He's said so publicly and often. — When I interviewed him for a FORBES profile in December 2011, he told me, “I want to be the next CNN …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:
The Vice-Time Warner deal, HLN, and CNN

Discussion: BuzzFeed, TheStreet.com, Wall Street Journal, TVNewser, Inside Cable News and @antderosa

Ralph Cipriano / Big Trial:

Lenfest to buy out Drew Katz to take sole control of Philly Daily News, Inquirer, websites — The Partnership That Didn't Last Twenty Minutes — Auction winners Gerry Lenfest and Lewis Katz — for Bigtrial.net — In the moments after Lewis Katz and H.F. “Gerry” …

Discussion: Philadelphia Magazine, Poynter, Philly.com, The Huffington Post, @davidleepreston, @will_bunch, @carrierickey, Philly.com and @taramurtha

Ted Johnson / Variety:

Music Groups Urge D.C. Lawmakers to Revamp Licensing Laws — Characterizing the current system as outdated as the heyday of vinyl records and 8-track tapes, representatives for musicians and music publishers called on Congress to overhaul laws governing how songwriters and others in the industry …

Discussion: Washington Post, Media Nation, Latest News & Headlines, FishbowlDC, The New York Observer, Mediaite, Billboard, San Diego Jewish World, radioworld.com and New York Times

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Parade magazine said to be on the sales block — Parade, the Sunday magazine, may be getting ready to march out of Advance Publications — the Newhouse family's media empire. — The company has quietly begun shopping the 73-year-old magazine to prospective buyers, according to reliable industry sources.

Discussion: MediaWire Daily and FishbowlNY

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

The Christian Science Monitor tweaks its engagement algorithm — The Christian Science Monitor, a 106-year-old news organization that boasts a serious, civic-minded audience, would seem well poised to crack the engagement code. A digital-focused publication since 2008 …

Ernesto / TorrentFreak:

RIAA Revenue Drops to Record Low — The RIAA has submitted its latest tax filing to the IRS, covering the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, which provides some background on how the organization is faring. — Continuing the trend from recent years the total revenue of the anti-piracy group dropped once again, to $24.2 million.

Discussion: Music Week and VentureBeat

Tom Wheeler / Official FCC Blog:

Wheeler: state laws hurt broadband access in places like Chattanooga; FCC could preempt rules — Removing Barriers to Competitive Community Broadband — If any city understands the power of networks to drive economic growth, it's Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Discussion: VentureBeat, Gigaom, Consumerist, Watchdog.org, FierceCable, @bruce_katz, @gigibsohnfcc, NationalJournal.com and Broadcasting & Cable

Felix Salmon / Matter:

A Q&A with BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti on everything from print to innovation — BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti Goes Long — The media mogul (twice over) on being both contagious and sticky — I first got to know Jonah Peretti in February 2011, very shortly after the Huffington Post was sold to AOL.

Discussion: New York Magazine, @marklotto, @buzzfeedben and kottke.org

New York Times:

Hong Kong Media Worries Over China's Reach as Ads Disappear — HONG KONG — In what may be a major escalation of pressure by mainland China on Hong Kong's independent-minded news media, two major British banks have stopped advertising with one of the city's biggest newspapers, a top media executive said.

John Eggerton / Broadcasting & Cable:

Industry body representing Microsoft, Google, Facebook and others opposes Comcast/TWC merger — CCIA Opposes Comcast/TWC — Association says it threatens innovation and should be blocked — The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) has come out against the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Variety, Techdirt and The Wrap