Mediagazer: BBC News announces plans to save £48m and invest in digital transformation (BBC Media Center)

9:25 AM ET, July 17, 2014

Top News:

In Modern Media Realm, Big Mergers Are a Bulwark Against Rivals — When the news broke on Wednesday that 21st Century Fox, Rupert Murdoch's huge media and entertainment company, made an $80 billion offer to buy Time Warner Inc., another big media conglomerate, it seemed like a seismic jolt in the business landscape.

New York Times:

Time Warner Chief's Turnaround Effort Opened the Door to Fox's Bid — On a Saturday in early June, Jeffrey L. Bewkes, the chief executive of Time Warner, got an email from Chase Carey, the president of 21st Century Fox, proposing lunch. — They met a few days later in the executive dining room of the Time-Warner Center.

Discussion: @alansmurray and @peterlattman

John McDuling / Quartz:

It's not TV that Rupert Murdoch wants: It's HBO — The shockwaves from the news that Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox recently approached Time Warner (and was rebuffed) about an $80 billion takeover are still rippling through New York's media scene today. — And the early consensus among analysts …

Discussion: Bloomberg and Mashable

Simon Dumenco / AdAge:
What If Rupert Murdoch Really Is Unstoppable — and Immortal?

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, USA Today, BuzzFeed, Variety, @themarkberman, Latest News & Headlines, Variety, Media & Entertainment, USA Today and @dellcam

Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:
21st Century Fox Bid Puts CNN in Cross Hairs

Discussion: The Huffington Post

David Boardman / Poynter:

Essay: Hey, Publishers: Stop fooling us, and yourselves — For an industry built on a foundation of truth-telling, the newspaper business sure has trouble telling the truth about itself. — Last month at the World Newspaper Congress in Turin, Italy, the chief spokesperson for U.S.-based dailies …

Discussion: Gigaom, Guardian, Reflections of a Newsosaur, @chadedge, @pmarca, @samkirkla, @albertocairo, @bobstep, @geostanley, @derekmyoung, @samkirkla, @jillkimball, @stevebuttry and @greggriffin

Alan D. Mutter / Reflections of a Newsosaur:
The newspaper crisis, by the numbers

Discussion: Street Fight, @gsterling, @stevebuttry, @grovesprof, @jayrosen_nyu, @ssuttell, @niemanlab, @billadairduke and @kevglobal

Joe Strupp / Media Matters for America:

NPR Backs Off Planned “Downgrade” Of Ombudsman — National Public Radio is backing away from a revised job description for its ombudsman that suggested the person in the position should avoid “passing judgment” on any errors in NPR News coverage, calling that listing “a mistake.”

Discussion: @sulliview, @acarvin, @brianstelter, @dangillmor, @theharryshearer, @jayrosen_nyu and @digiphile

BBC Media Center:

BBC News announces plans to save £48m and invest in digital transformation — BBC News today outlined plans to save £48 million a year across the BBC News Group by 2016/17, along with proposals to restructure the division and to invest in digital transformation and original journalism.

Discussion: Forbes, Hollywood Reporter, Televisual, The Evening Times, @spencetimes and Prolific North

BBC:
BBC News to cut a further 415 jobs

Discussion: Guardian, Press Gazette, @leimdorfer, @marcsettle, @marcsettle, @marcsettle, @trushar, @lucynews, @imkevinyoung and @trushar

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Netflix says ‘no rules’ would be better than FCC's net neutrality proposal — Netflix filed a comment with the FCC yesterday strongly condemning the commission's new net neutrality proposal, which would allow internet service providers to offer so-called “fast lanes” to companies that can afford them.

Discussion: hngn.com, StreamDaily, Softpedia News, BGR, Variety, @acedtect, The Hill, The Slanted, Netflix US & Canada Blog, Techdirt, Gigaom, FierceOnlineVideo News and Daily Dot

Tyler Hicks / New York Times:

Pulitzer-prize winning NYT photographer describes witnessing the deaths of four boys in Gaza — Through Lens, 4 Boys Dead by Gaza Shore — GAZA CITY — My day here began at 6 a.m. Photographing something as unpredictable as war still has a routine. — It is important to be out the door …

Discussion: New York Times, TVNewser, Guardian, @westwingreport, @nancykric, @jonathanweisman, NBC News, @hystericalblkns, The FJP, @grahamliddell, @cblatts, @justinraimondo and @lucykafanov

Laura Hazard Owen / Gigaom:

Kindle Unlimited: More details and a few questions about Amazon's subscription book service (exclusive video) — An ebook subscription service, available on any device including your Kindle: That appears to be what Amazon is planning, but is it worth $9.99 a month?

Discussion: Pocket-lint, ZDNet, Guardian, KBoards and Publishers Lunch

Laura Hazard Owen / Gigaom:
Amazon is testing “Kindle Unlimited,” an ebook subscription service for $9.99/month

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Eight jobs at risk as Sunday Mirror and People editorial teams set to merge — Trinity Mirror has announced plans to merge the editorial teams of the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People with the loss of up to eight editorial jobs. — The move comes two years after the Daily Mirror …

Discussion: Guardian

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Independent launches i100, a Buzzfeed style news site, where users can upvote articles — Now i goes digital with a BuzzFeed-style website called i100 — First there was BuzzFeed and then there was Trinity Mirror's Usvsthe3M. And now there is i100, a new site launched by ESI Media.

Discussion: Press Gazette, Journalism.co.uk, @olyduff, @omaroakes, MediaTel, American Press Institute and communicateonline.me

Peter Jukes / New Statesman:

Rupert's red top: the rise and fall of Rebekah Brooks — Peter Jukes watched the former tabloid editor's extraordinary composure in court on every day of the hacking trial. Her story tells you everything you need to know about the way power works. In March, midway through …

Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:

What Do Consumers Hate More Than TV Ads? Online Video Commercials — Consumers love to complain about TV commercials. But if they dislike anything more, its online video ads. — A recent survey of about 700 consumers found that about 36% of those polled said they find online video ads more irritating than TV ads.

Discussion: MediaTel, IP&TV News, ITBusinessNet.com, Advanced Television, MediaPost and FierceOnlineVideo News

Abid Rahman / Hollywood Reporter:

China's Censors Crack Down on Streaming Services Showing Hollywood Content — Days after Alibaba announced a landmark deal with Lionsgate on streaming content, China's state media watchdog warns seven Internet-TV companies on “unauthorized” content and threatens to revoke their licenses.

RT:

Australian bill sees whistleblowing on intel ops punishable by up to 10 years in jail — Neo-McCarthyism is on the march in Australia as the country's attorney general proposed a new bill which would see potential whistleblowers facing up to 10 years in prison for leaks.

Discussion: Guardian, Mashable, @anonymiss_, Engadget and Boing Boing

Kristen Schweizer / Bloomberg:

Liberty Global Acquires ITV Stake From BSkyB for $824 Mln — Cable billionaire John Malone took another step to expand in TV programs and production with the purchase of a stake in ITV Plc (ITV), the biggest U.K. commercial broadcaster known for its top-rated show “Downton Abbey.”

Discussion: Variety, Guardian, Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, RTTNews, Key 103 Manchester and Proactive Investors

Simon Parkin / Eurogamer.net:

Some YouTubers covering video games are running advertorials, paid promotions, and product placement without disclosures — Blurred lines: Are YouTubers breaking the law? — From unmarked advertorial to paid social promotion, Simon Parkin investigates the ethics and legality of YouTube.

Discussion: Softpedia News, Guardian, @renireni and Forbes

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

A change in the IRS process for granting tax-exempt status could be a boon to nonprofit news — It took almost a year and a half for nonprofit news site Eye on Ohio to get its tax-exempt status approved by the IRS this spring. Launched in the fall of 2012 by former business reporter Lori Ashyk …