Mediagazer: HBO works on expanding reach by bundling with Internet + basic cable for $40-$50/month (Christopher Palmeri/Bloomberg)

4:10 PM ET, July 28, 2014

Top News:

Jim Brady / NetNewsCheck:

Lessons Learned From Project Thunderdome — “Do we think local news organizations — in the disaggregated Web world we live in and the even more atomic mobile world we're speeding into — actually need much national news anymore?” asks Jim Brady, who was head of Project Thunderdome until …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, Poynter, @mjenkins, @dailybreezeme, @mattderienzo and @jbinckes

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Apple to Buy Radio App Swell for $30 Million — Apple is close to buying the Pandora-for-talk-radio app Swell, according to multiple sources. — The deal is worth about $30 million, these sources say. — Swell had raised $7.2 million from investors including DFJ, Google Ventures and InterWest Partners.

William Turvill / Press Gazette:

Convicted in absentia, sentenced to ten years in Egypt prison: British Al Jazeera journalist tells of ‘burning sense of injustice’ — A British Al Jazeera journalist convicted in absentia over terrorism offences in Egypt has spoken out against the “burning sense of injustice” he and colleagues feel.

Globe and Mail:

Jailed journalist Mohamed Fahmy denied presidential pardon in Egypt — Dashing the hopes of his family, Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy will remain in an Egyptian jail after his name and those of his Al Jazeera colleagues were absent from a list of presidential pardons issued …

Discussion: @lindseyhilsum, Gulf Business, The Huffington Post, @indexcensorship and Christian News …

Ben Cardew / Guardian:

MH17: how Storyfuls social sleuthing helped verify evidence — Stories such as the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines plane show the importance of checking Twitter and YouTube content — In the aftermath of an event as tragically uncertain as the MH17 plane disaster …

Discussion: Mediashift, @cairbreuk, @mjenkins and @fiona_rogers

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:

HBO works on expanding reach by bundling with Internet + basic cable for $40-$50/month — HBO Pushes Web Expansion as Bewkes Battles Murdoch Bid — Jeff Bewkes is looking to the Internet to accelerate growth at his prized TV network, HBO, as he seeks to demonstrate to investors that Time Warner Inc. …

Discussion: Deadline.com, VentureBeat, Re/code, MediaWire Daily and The Huffington Post

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

NPR One Delivers A Curated Public Radio Stream For The Smartphone Era — Radio is an increasingly perplexing mode of content delivery as we gain access to more and better streaming services with on-demand programming. But the serendipity of radio is still appealing, the ability to turn …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, VentureBeat, 9to5Google, www.wnyc.org, AllAccess.com and Gizmodo

Pierre Omidyar / First Look Media:

First Look rethinks approach, focuses on incubating ideas over launching digital magazines — Nine Months in, First Look is Still Very Much a Startup — It's been some time since I've shared what we're working on at First Look Media and I wanted to provide an update.

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, @daveweigel, Pressthink, Capital New York, @michelemclellan, @zandarvts, @gabestein, The Intercept, @gregorydjohnsen and @raju

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

Fox Sports and Sporting News tie digital properties — Fox Sports and The Sporting News will combine their digital sports coverage under one umbrella, the companies said today. — The new online entity will reach some 55 million users each month, and will be called Fox Sports Digital-Sporting News Media.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, Variety and Adweek

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Reddit, still unprofitable, looks to grow ad revenues without alienating users — Can Reddit Grow Up? — The New York Times's Mike Isaac posed these questions to Reddit's users in a post on the site. Included here are a selection of responses. — Since its founding nine years ago, Reddit has stuck to its own weird guns.

Discussion: @lpolgreen, Wall Street Journal, @johnlegere, @hannaingber, ITProPortal, Business Insider, Guardian and Boing Boing

Brent Lang / Variety:

Time Warner Unmoved by Fox's Board Seat Offer — 21st Century Fox is will to give Time Warner shareholders representation on its board as part of a bid for the media giant. — However, participation in the leadership of the tightly controlled conglomerate may not be enough to make much difference …

Discussion: Media & Entertainment, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Malay Mail Online, ustradevoice.com and NASDAQ.com

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Apple's Beats Acquisition Gets Approval From The European Commission — Apple has the green light to proceed with its acquisition of Beats Electronics and Beats Music from the European Commission. Both companies do indeed sell headphones in the EU, which is part of the motivation behind the scrutiny …