Mediagazer: First Look rethinks approach, focuses on incubating ideas over launching digital magazines (Pierre Omidyar/First Look Media)

6:25 PM ET, July 28, 2014

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Andy Orin / Lifehacker:

I'm Ira Glass, Host of This American Life, and This Is How I Work — Ira Glass is a writer, producer, storyteller, performer, and a familiar voice. His show This American Life has set the contemporary standard of nonfiction radio shows, and has influenced and inspired countless others to grab a mic and give podcasting a try.

Discussion: @chasejarvis

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, Folio, Gigaom, @jayrosen_nyu, @daveweigel, Pressthink, @chanders, @michelemclellan, @gabestein, @zandarvts, The Intercept, @gregorydjohnsen, @raju and Capital New York

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

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

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

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.

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, Knight Foundation, VentureBeat, AllAccess.com, 9to5Google and Gizmodo

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

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, Adweek and Variety

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, The Malay Mail Online, ustradevoice.com, NASDAQ.com and Reuters

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

GAO: FCC flying blind on broadcasters' sharing deals — The Federal Communications Commission is largely flying blind when it comes to its oversight of broadcast companies that share resources, according to the Government Accountability Office. — The office, which acts as Congress's investigative arm …

Discussion: Reuters