Mediagazer: Gawker wants to double its staff by end of 2015 (Peter Sterne/Capital New York)

3:10 PM ET, June 23, 2014

Top News:

Patrick Kingsley / Guardian:

Al-Jazeera journalists jailed for seven years in Egypt — Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed of Al-Jazeera English sentenced on terrorism-related charges — An Egyptian court has convicted three journalists from Al-Jazeera English and sentenced them to seven years in prison each …

Discussion: Al Jazeera English, Reuters, CNN, New York Times, Variety, The Huffington Post, Poynter, Mashable, The Independent, BBC, @psawers, Sky News, Wall Street Journal, BBC, National Union of Journalists, Daily Dot, Amnesty International, Associated Press, ITV, @alistergreste, Committee to Protect …, @paulbernaluk, @skynewsbreak, @patrickkingsley, @mishalhusainbbc, @nycjim, @malonebarry, mUmBRELLA, @mwhanna1, @marklittlenews, @arusbridger, Middle East Eye, ThinkProgress, Telegraph, Channel 4, @nycjim, @miafarrow, @inigogilmore, @jeffjarvis, @davidbangladesh, @nervana_1, @rj_gallagher, @jonathanwatts, Reuters, @ianwoodssky, UK - The Huffington Post, @abcnewsintern, @jeromestarkey, @camanpour, @skynewsbreak, @paulmasonnews, @petertatchell, @katz, @ltribe, @jackmirkinson, CNN, @margotkiser, @the_intercept, @sulliview, @abuaardvark, @iburrell, The Wrap and The Newspaper Guild

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Kerry hits ‘draconian’ Al Jazeera convictions — Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday condemned an Egyptian court's decision to convict Al-Jazeera journalists on spurious terrorism-related charges. — “Today's conviction and chilling, draconian sentences by the Cairo Criminal Court …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and @mattrhodes

William Hague / @williamjhague: Egyptian Ambassador to London will be summoned to the @foreignoffice today over sentencing of journalists in #Egypt

Sydney Ember / New York Times:

Yahoo Hires Michael Isikoff as Chief Investigative Correspondent — Michael Isikoff, the investigative reporter who recently left NBC News, is joining Yahoo News as its chief investigative correspondent. He will start in August. — Mr. Isikoff will help build Yahoo's new investigative unit and will be based in Washington.

Discussion: New York Times, @jimpoco, Wall Street Journal, @annarobertson, @isikoff, @peterlattman, The Wrap, @jayrosen_nyu, @davidsirota, @dklaidman, @meganliberman, @jasonleopold, @vivian and FishbowlNY

New York Times:

Vice Has Many Media Giants Salivating, but Its Terms Will Be Rich — A black S.U.V. recently rolled through the streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and stopped in front of the converted warehouse that is the global headquarters of Vice Media. Out of the vehicle stepped the media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Discussion: Fortune, TVNewser, The Wrap, Quartz, @nybizfischer, @gabrielsherman, @suzykhimm, @rafat, @lpolgreen, @miriamgottfried, @jonah_kessel, @ischafer, @davepell, @pkafka, @peterlattman, @maura, @jennifersaba, @felixsalmon, @nycjim, @jayrosen_nyu and Los Angeles Times

Peter Sterne / Capital New York:

Gawker wants to double its staff by end of 2015 — Growth-mode Gawker aiming for traffic and staff bumps — As it continues to court a mass, if scattered, readership across its network of sites, Gawker Media leadership is looking for a sizable rise in unique U.S. visitors a month by the end of 2014 …

Discussion: Gigaom, The Awl, @mathewi, @joeljohnson, @felixsalmon and @joeljohnson

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Sports Illustrated Unveils A New Web Design And A Fantasy Sports App — It's been a busy few months for Time Inc. Not only has the publishing company spun out from Time Warner, it has also revamped the websites for its publications Time, Money, and Fortune. Now Sports Illustrated is launching a new website, and new products, too.

Discussion: Forbes, Adweek and MediaWire Daily

David Hepworth / Guardian:

Felix Dennis personified the buccaneering spirit magazines have lost — Outrageous and passionate, Dennis was a shrewd operator who made small fortunes from the mis-steps of the big boys — I first met Felix Dennis in an upscale New York restaurant on a hot July Saturday in 1983.

Discussion: The New York Observer, FishbowlNY, @harrymccracken, @davidhepworth, @davidhepworth, Digital Spy and @davidhepworth

Press Gazette:
Magazine publisher Felix Dennis ‘famed for his maverick and entrepreneurial style’ has died aged 67

Discussion: The Week UK, Mirror.co.uk and Capital New York

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:

CNN partnering with Georgia Institute of Technology to study drone use for journalism — CNN to study drone use for reporting — Seeking to speed up government rule-making about the use of drones in newsgathering, CNN and the Georgia Institute of Technology said Monday that they would jointly study …

Discussion: TVNewser, Poynter, @dorseyshaw and @brianstelter

Tim Molloy / The Wrap:

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp Sells Community Newspaper Group — Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is selling its Community Newspaper Group, which distributes more than 235,000 copies of its papers in New York City, to Les and Jennifer Goodstein, the publishers of such papers as Downtown Express and Gay City News.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Capital New York, Media & Entertainment and Variety

Deadline.com:

Bart & Fleming: Why Nikki Finke Won't Be Coming Back — Peter Bart and Mike Fleming Jr. worked together for two decades at Daily Variety. In this weekly Sunday column, two old friends get together and grind their axes on the movie business. — Bart: You and I have lived through …

Discussion: @davidpoland, @sharonwaxman, @therealjethro, @hunterw and FishbowlNY

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

SCOTUSblog's appeal fails; can't get Senate press credential — If you spent any part of Monday checking SCOTUSblog for the Supreme Court orders, you're not alone — about 10,000 people were on its live blog around 10 a.m., Editor Amy Howe wrote. — But SCOTUSblog's indispensibility …

Discussion: @abeaujon, @billadairduke and @scotusblog

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Guardian Media Group and EFF amongst winners of Knight News Challenge; $3.4M for 19 projects — New Knight News Challenge winners receive funding to help strengthen the Internet — The Knight Foundation is out with the most recent group of winners in the Knight News Challenge …

Discussion: 10,000 Words, Knight Foundation, @niemanlab, Digital Public Library …, MIT Center for Civic Media, SocialTimes, @justinnxt and The Hill

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed:

Conservative Website Relied On Republican Opposition Researcher For Clinton Stories — The Center for American Freedom is free of the traditional lines between politics and journalism. Reinschmiedt helped with paperwork, research assistance. — Eric Gay / AP Photo