Mediagazer: BuzzFeed editor in chief Ben Smith on the challenge of competing with every other piece of content on the Web (Ben Smith/Nieman Reports)

4:35 AM ET, June 18, 2014

Top News:

Why Audiences Hate Hard News—And Love Pretending Otherwise — Ask readers what they want, and they'll tell you vegetables. Watch them quietly, and they'll mostly eat candy. — You may not realize this, but we can see you. Yes, you. The human reading this article.

Discussion: @stacyherbert, @jonathanhaynes, Washington Post, @jimmyorr, @rebeccaschinsky, @michaellinhorst, @kctvphotogbrett and @onceupona

Clay Shirky:

Kushner's wrong; trying to save print journalism steals resources from planning for the future — Nostalgia and Newspapers — Aaron Kushner, CEO of Freedom Communications and the architect of a contrarian plan to expand southern California newspapers, began erecting hard paywalls …

Discussion: @mathewi, @stevebuttry, @mathewi, @monkbent, @pottsmark, @mathewi, @putneydm, @dangillmor, @will_bunch, @vosdscott, @ckrewson, @wendywarren, @glyph, @kleinmatic, @austenallred, @fraying, @brianstelter, @jamcnn, @laura_nelson and @brizzyc

Chilling Effects Clearinghouse:

Twitter Restores Access to Pakistani Notices — Abstract: Today, June 17th, Twitter has restored access to the tweets and Twitter accounts that it blocked in Pakistan on May 18th, using its Country Withheld Content tool. — Pakistani authorities had requested the removal of the material …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Engadget and The Next Web

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:
Twitter struggles to remain the free-speech wing of the free-speech party as it suspends terrorist accounts

Discussion: @farhanmemon

Ben Smith / Nieman Reports:

BuzzFeed editor in chief Ben Smith on the challenge of competing with every other piece of content on the Web — BuzzFeed editor in chief Ben Smith on the challenge of competing with every other piece of content on the Web — When Ben Smith joined BuzzFeed as editor in chief in 2012 …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

World Cup Sets New Internet-Video Streaming Record — The 2014 FIFA World Cup is still in its opening round, but the soccer tourney has already broken the previous global record for online-video streaming and set new digital high-water marks for ESPN. — Monday's Germany-Portugal match drove …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, @raanan and New Yorker

Luke Vnenchak / New York Times:

NYT's content-management system Scoop: managing 700 articles, 600 images, 14 slideshows, 50 videos a day — Scoop: A Glimpse Into the NYTimes CMS — You know the importance of technology to the future of journalism has become a widely accepted fact when a prominent editor decides to join …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, @amyoleary, @rjs, @robinsloan, @leslienassar and @wblau

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

AnonyWatch: When Unnamed Sources Are Flat Wrong — In a blistering column this week, the Reuters media critic Jack Shafer takes The Times to task for using a particular kind of anonymous source — the kind who turn out to be wrong. — In two recent cases, he writes, The Times was left “at the corner of Mortified and Peeved.”

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @froomkin, Jack Shafer, @sulliview, @jessicalustig and @the_intercept

Edirin Oputu / Columbia Journalism Review:

Jill Abramson and Arthur Sulzberger Jr. have tense reunion at Pulitzer lunch — A tense reunion — On May 28, Columbia University photographer Eileen Barroso captured a historic, if uncomfortable New York Times moment at the Pulitzer Prize luncheon: the last portrait …

Jennifer Saba / Reuters:
NY Times top 3 paid generously given its results, size: analysis shows

Discussion: Poynter, @nycjim, @michaelroston, @edmundlee and @mccarthyryanj

Joshua Brustein / Businessweek:

Stephen Colbert's In-House Tech Startup Wants to Fix TV Scripts — Is it too soon to discuss the legacy of the Colbert Report now that its always-in-character blowhard host is presumably ditching his persona and taking over David Letterman's desk? Sure, he put the term “truthiness” …

Discussion: @bw

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Surprise! Twitter Ad Partnership Research Says Twitter Ads Are Great (And Boost Sales). — Last year, in an effort to prove that TV was the perfect medium to show off Twitter's efficacy, the San Francisco social communications company created The Social TV Lab with giant media buying agency …

Discussion: Fast Company

Yinka Adegoke / Billboard:

YouTube Confirms Subscription Service Imminent, Warns of Takedowns — YouTube has confirmed it is close to launching its music subscription service, even as it in the process of pulling down some of the biggest indie label acts in a dispute over payments. — Acts like Adele …

Discussion: @viticci, @ow and Businessweek

Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube to Block Music Videos from Labels That Don't Sign On for Subscription Service

Discussion: Guardian, Engadget, Softpedia News, Rolling Stone, @yinkawrites, Gawker, AdAge, Business Insider, The Verge, hypebot, TechCrunch and @scroobiuspipyo

Andy / TorrentFreak:

In Australia, theatrical release window narrowing to 90 days from 120 days, to combat piracy — Movie Piracy Combated by Narrowing Theatrical Release Window — While its popularity has waned in recent years, the issue of camcorder piracy is often spoken about in crisis terms by the major movie studios.

Discussion: @glynmoody

Kirsten Reach / Melville House Books:

Norway's biggest publishers won't allow Google to sell their e-books — You can't buy a Norwegian book with Google Play, even if you're in Norway — Badass Norwegian via Shutterstock. — Google Play Books launched in Norway about two weeks ago. There's just one problem: uh …

Discussion: @melvillehouse and @philipdsjones

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

YouTube adds Chromecast support for live streams to its iOS and Android apps — Watching YouTube live streams on the TV just got a bit easier: Chromecast owners can now beam any live video streams straight from the YouTube iOS and Android apps to Google's streaming stick.