Mediagazer: NBC paid Chelsea Clinton $600K a year to curry favor with her family; the hire fits a pattern (Michael Hiltzik/Los Angeles Times)

4:55 AM ET, June 17, 2014

Top News:

Michelle L. Price / Associated Press:

Salt Lake Tribune ex-employees sue to stop changes to JOA with Deseret News — FORMER EMPLOYEES SUE OVER SALT LAKE TRIBUNE DEAL … SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A group of former employees of The Salt Lake Tribune has filed a lawsuit to suspend and repeal the latest changes …

Discussion: Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City Weekly … and Deseret News

Todd Spangler / Variety:

DreamWorks Animation Launches YouTube Channel with Shrek, Original Series and More — DreamWorks Animation officially launched DreamWorksTV, a YouTube channel aimed at families with a mix of animated and live-action original series. — The new channel is part of the studio's effort to reach millennials …

Discussion: Paste, Tubefilter, Los Angeles Times and The Wrap

Caysey Welton / Folio:

Condé Nast Entertainment and Twentieth Century Fox TV to Team Up — Three TV series already slated to air in 2014. — Condé Nast Entertainment has signed a first look agreement with Twentieth Century Fox TV. The deal is a new expansive venture for CNE, and one that further positions it as a multimedia company.

Discussion: Multichannel News, Broadcasting & Cable, The New York Observer, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, WWD, Capital New York and Variety

Joel Rosenblatt / Bloomberg:

Apple Settles E-Books Pricing Case With States, Consumers — Apple Inc. (AAPL) reached a settlement with U.S. states and consumers seeking damages over the company's fixing of electronic book prices, avoiding a trial in which it faced as much as $840 million in claims.

Discussion: VentureBeat, Cult of Mac, Electronista, CNET, AppleInsider, @tcarmody, @sarahw, 9to5Mac, Publishers Lunch, The Verge and App Advice

Jack Shafer:

Anonymous sourcing, often used in NYT and Washington Post, exposes reporters to error, shame — The source may be anonymous, but the shame is all yours — Twice over the past two weeks, New York Times reporters got taken for long rides by anonymous sources who ultimately dropped them off at the corner of Mortified and Peeved.

Discussion: @sulliview, @antderosa, @davidfolkenflik, @jessicalustig, @afraser_nuim, @moorehn, @the_intercept and @bretisrael

Al Jazeera America:

Egypt to release hunger-striking Al Jazeera journalist Elshamy — Reporter to be freed on medical grounds after being held without charge for 306 days and protesting with hunger strike — Egypt's prosecutor general has ordered the release of Al Jazeera journalist Abdullah Elshamy on medical grounds …

Discussion: Guardian, TVNewser and VICE News

Stephen Kalin / Reuters:
Egyptian court to give final ruling in case of Al Jazeera journalists on June 23

Discussion: TVNewser, Al Jazeera English, Columbia Journalism Review, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, Daily News Egypt and ABC Radio Australia

Jeff Elder / Wall Street Journal:

New Wikipedia terms of use require anyone paid to edit articles to disclose that arrangement — Wikipedia Strengthens Rules Against Undisclosed Editing — A week after a coalition of big public relations firms vowed not to secretly edit their clients' Wikipedia pages …

Discussion: The Next Web, Wikimedia blog, CNET and Marketing Land

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

After Louisville layoffs, reporters will be coached more than edited — WFPL — Louisville Courier-Journal Executive Editor Neil Budde tells WFPL's James Miller the budgetary imperatives behind last week's layoffs allowed him to reimagine the news organization: “The approach I took …

Discussion: WFPL

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

The future of music subscription services is binge listening, not exclusives — Beats Music got a lot of press Monday for nabbing the exclusive rights to a track that features Jay Z. The deal was seen by some as a sign that Beats may take a cue from Netflix and battle competitors like Spotify with exclusive content deals.

Discussion: Billboard, Cult of Mac, VentureBeat, Business Insider, TechCrunch, The Verge, 9to5Mac and App Advice

Barry Levine / VentureBeat:

Supreme Court will decide if the First Amendment can protect threats on Facebook — How can you leverage mobile to increase profitability for your company? Find out at MobileBeat, VentureBeat's 7th annual event on the future of mobile, on July 8-9 in San Francisco. Register now and save $200!

Discussion: Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Associated Press, PandoDaily, Forbes, The School Law Blog, Ars Technica, Fast Company and Gigaom

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Journalism Lab:

In New Jersey, with $2 million from Knight, the Local News Lab launches to seek revenue models — The Local News Lab launches today, supported by a $2 million grant awarded by the Knight Foundation in February. The New Jersey-based organization will incubate six local journalism sites in an effort to …

Discussion: @niemanlab, @hidenise, FishbowlNY, @jcstearns and @dangillmor

Capital New York:

The 60-second interview: Laurie Hays, senior executive editor, Bloomberg News — CAPITAL: What are your responsibilities as senior executive editor in charge of beat reporting and editing? — HAYS: I lead 1,200 beat reporters around the world at Bloomberg News in delivering high-impact stories …

Discussion: @edmundlee and @spettypi

James Crugnale / The Wrap:

Business Insider says it saw 26M uniques May, passing Forbes, and exceeding WSJ and CNNMoney — Business Insider Surpasses Forbes Web Traffic for the First Time — The online business publication says they outpaced their competitor in May, according to comScore Business Insider surpassed Forbes …

Dominic Rushe / Guardian:
Henry Blodget on Business Insider's launch of a London office, current state of digital media

Discussion: @stevekovach and @dominicru

Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:
Business Insider launching European site, with deputy editor Jim Edwards as founding editor

Discussion: @anthonyweiner, @hblodget, @stevekovach and @digiday

Dan Primack / Fortune:

Is Aereo working on a Plan B? — Aereo is just days away from a Supreme Court ruling on whether or not its streaming TV service is legal. “Of course. What else would I do? Just sit around and wait?” That's Aereo founder and CEO Chet Kanojia after being asked if he's still going into work each day …