Mediagazer: Providence Journal sold to GateHouse for an estimated $50-60M, sources say (GoLocalProv)

2:55 PM ET, June 13, 2014

Top News:

Chelsea Clinton paid $600K by NBC — Chelsea Clinton earned an annual salary of $600,000 at NBC News before switching to a month-to-month contract earlier this year, sources with knowledge of the agreement told POLITICO. — Clinton, who joined NBC News as a “special correspondent” …

Jason Abbruzzese / Mashable:

Reddit's Newsgathering Comes of Age After Growing Pains — In the hours and days after the Boston Marathon bombing, the hive mind of Reddit sprang into action. Redditors studied pictures from the scene, listened to police scanners and pieced together information in attempts to identify the suspects.

Wall Street Journal:

Univision in talks with CBS, Time Warner about possible sale; seeks more than $20B — Univision Holds Preliminary Sale Talks With CBS, Time Warner — Univision's Owners Seek for More Than $20 Billion for Broadcaster — The owners of Univision Communications Inc., in their search for an exit …

Discussion: TVNewser, USA Today, CNNMoney.com, @richbtig, @peterlauria3, New York Times, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Radio & Television …, Deadline.com, @peterlauria3 and AllAccess.com

GoLocalProv:

Providence Journal sold to GateHouse for an estimated $50-60M, sources say — Providence Journal Sold to GateHouse, Sources Tell GoLocal — The sale of the Providence Journal is almost complete. — Unless the deal collapses, GateHouse Media, which recently emerged from bankruptcy …

Discussion: Boston Globe, Talking New Media and Media Nation

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Tribune Publishing to carry $350 million in debt in spinoff … Tribune Publishing will carry $350 million of debt when it spins off as a stand-alone company, $25 million higher than previously stated. That figure includes a $275 million cash dividend payable to Tribune Co., which remains the same.

Discussion: @jordanrau

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

Al Jazeera launches standalone online video service — Al Jazeera quietly launched its digital video news channel Al Jazeera + on Friday. — Dubbed “AJ+” for short, the service seems to be cut from the same cloth as other video startups like NowThis News and Vice News.

Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:

Here's What Happened To BuzzFeed's Facebook Traffic, Which Seems To Be Tanking — BuzzFeed, a digital media company with 130 million monthly unique visitors, gets a lot of traffic from Facebook. But recently Facebook shares and likes seem to be drastically down for the company.

Discussion: Globe and Mail, @mikeisaac and @niemanlab

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Twitter Media Head Chloe Sladden Is Leaving — Chloe Sladden, the high-profile executive in charge of Twitter's media unit, is leaving the company. Sources familiar with the company say she informed her team of her plans today; later, she announced her departure publicly via a series of tweets.

Discussion: Re/code, Gigaom, Reuters, @chloes, Bloomberg, @chloes, Business Insider, Variety, SocialTimes, @gabrielstricker, @vivian, @jenniferpreston, Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, VatorNews, Mashable and Quartz

Mike Isaac / Medium:
Twitter's once-independent Media team will report to the Marketing and Communications division

Discussion: Forbes, Business Insider, SocialTimes, Re/code, Re/code, Bloomberg, BuzzFeed, Businessweek, TechCrunch, @pkafka, @sfiegerman, @mikeisaac, CNNMoney.com, cnbc.com, ZDNet, The Wrap, TIME and The Verge

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

Hearst Magazines builds centralized news desk to supply digital content to 18 titles — Hearst's new approach to digital news — Hearst Magazines is building a centralized news desk to supply digital content to its 18 glossy magazines. — The desk is small for now …

Discussion: @digiday

Brian Fung / Washington Post:

The FCC is going to scrutinize Netflix's deals with Comcast, Verizon — and others, too — Netflix's continued dispute with Internet providers underscores that we can't declare a winner in the debate without more information about what Netflix is paying Comcast and Verizon …

Discussion: Multichannel News, TechCrunch, New York Times, The Wrap, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, CNET, Re/code, The Hill, Ars Technica and NationalJournal.com

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Layoffs at News Corp's community papers as sale looms — On Thursday, layoffs hit News Corp's Community Newspaper Group, where a sale is pending, Capital has learned. — The local newspaper chain, which includes titles like The Brooklyn Paper, the Brooklyn Courier, the Times Ledger and the Bronx Times …

Myriam Robin / Crikey:

News Corp's copyright claims against Mail Online calls into question ownership of quotes — News faces uphill battle to stop Mail pinching its work — Who owns the copyright on a quote? Probably not the newspaper publishing it, according to media law experts.

Discussion: Guardian, @greenj, @crikey_news and @myriamrobin

Capital New York:

The 60-second interview: Erik Wemple, Washington Post media critic — CAPITAL: What's the biggest difference between the D.C. and New York media? — WEMPLE: Well, New York journalists are self-involved, thin-skinned and workaholics, whereas D.C. journalists are self-involved, thin-skinned and workaholics.

Jesse Brown / CANADALAND:

Leaked memo confirms that Globe and Mail wants journalists to write advertorials — CANADALAND has obtained the following document, marked as “intended only for members of the Local 87-M bargaining unit at the Globe & Mail” and containing direct passages from a proposal presented …

Discussion: Poynter and J-source.ca

Tim Cushing / Techdirt:

Academic Publisher Fights Publication Of Paper Criticizing Publishers' Price Increases And Profits — The world of academic publishing is highly profitable — and, apparently, highly sustainable. There's no shortage of content seeking publication as researchers, professors, etc. seek to have their work published and cited.

Discussion: @winston_chang, @neurobonkers and @openscience

David Zurawik / Baltimore Sun:

CNN ‘documentary’ on George H.W. Bush paid for by Bush Library Foundation — Should a news channel be presenting such hagiography as history? — Father and son, and former U.S. Presidents, George H.W. Bush (L) and George W. Bush, shake hands at the dedication for the George W. Bush Presidential Center …

Discussion: Mediaite

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

In Bet on Girl Geeks, Dan Abrams Folds Geekosystem Site Into TheMarySue — Traffic to TheMarySue Has Climbed 37% — ABC anchor Dan Abrams is placing a bet on the so-called geek girl, merging his company's four-year-old geek culture site Geekosystem into its three-year-old female-focused TheMarySue.

Discussion: @vqnerdballs