Mediagazer: GAO: FCC flying blind on broadcasters' sharing deals (Julian Hattem/The Hill)

5:40 PM ET, July 28, 2014

Top News:

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

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

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

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, www.wnyc.org, AllAccess.com, 9to5Google and Gizmodo

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

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

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

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 …