Mediagazer: Convicted in absentia, sentenced to ten years in Egypt prison: British Al Jazeera journalist tells … (William Turvill/Press Gazette)

2:50 PM ET, July 28, 2014

Top News:

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.

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, @dailybreezeme, @mattderienzo and @jbinckes

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, @mjenkins, @cairbreuk and @fiona_rogers

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

William Turvill / Press Gazette: Convicted in absentia, sentenced to ten years in Egypt prison: British Al Jazeera journalist tells …

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

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

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

The New York Times Will Continue Drug Testing Despite Pot Legalization Stance — NEW YORK — The New York Times came out in its Sunday editorial in support of legalizing marijuana, kicking off a six-part series to make its case. — But the editorial board's new stance doesn't mean incoming Times employees can partake.

Discussion: SPLICETODAY.com, The New York Observer, Mediaite, New York Times, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, FishbowlNY, The Latest Word, The Daily Banter and The Cannabist

Andrew Rosenthal / New York Times:
Behind NYT's decision to endorse marijuana legalization and publish its “High Time” series

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

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, Capital New York, @michelemclellan, @zandarvts, @gabestein, @gregorydjohnsen, @raju and The Intercept

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 …

Discussion: AppleInsider, Engadget, The Register, ZDNet, Belfast Telegraph, Cult of Mac and hypebot

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:

HBO considers expanding web product, letting all consumers watch on the web for $49/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, MediaWire Daily, The Huffington Post and Re/code

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: Wall Street Journal, The Malay Mail Online, NASDAQ.com, ustradevoice.com and Reuters