Mediagazer: DirecTV profit jumps 22%, beats expectations (Erin McCarthy/Wall Street Journal)

12:10 PM ET, July 31, 2014

Top News:

Sources at Vocative say their software, touted to mine the deep web for generating news stories, doesn't work as promised — Showtime for Vocativ — Vocativ, the news organization that promises to mine the “deep web” for stories of global interest that cannot be found using traditional reporting methods …

Discussion: Mediaite, @dancow, @melissagira, @jayrosen_nyu, @aubernalevy, @tmcgev, @buzzfeedben, @riceid, @mbradylynch, @petersterne and @mccollumashley

Bill Glauber / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Journal Communications of Milwaukee and E.W. Scripps announce merger, spinning off newspapers — Journal, Scripps deal announced Newspaper firm to be based in Milwaukee; broadcast company in Cincinnati — Two storied media firms, Journal Communications Inc. of Milwaukee and E.W. Scripps Co …

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Diversified media companies are hurrying to undiversify — What does the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel know that your newsroom doesn't? — Not long ago — hours ago, actually — both Journal Communications and E. W. Scripps were media company models of diversification.

Discussion: Associated Press, @jayrosen_nyu, @niemanlab and Thomson IR

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Sorting the Serious From the Silly, BuzzFeed Develops a Mobile App for Real News — Not Likely to Be Featured: ‘21 Office Printers That Are Going Through a Mid-Life Crisis’ — Best Places to Work … BuzzFeed is known for publishing highly shareable lists and quizzes …

Discussion: niemanlab.org, USA Today, @henryctaylor, @flipprior and BBC

Jeremy Barr / Capital New York:

Marty Baron discusses hiring digital journalists, future of WaPo's blogs, and new ownership — The 60-second interview: Marty Baron, editor, The Washington Post — CAPITAL: Looking at some of the new hires that the Post has made over the last several months, we've noticed that some of them have come …

Discussion: @michaelpaulson, @postbaron, @kenvogel, @themarkberman, @carloslozadawp, @caitlindewey and @mlcalderone

Henry Taylor / TheMediaBriefing:

News Corp's new app plans and how old media is chasing younger audiences — The so-called “millennial” generation - those aged between 14 and 34 - have never really developed the habit of reading newspapers, so how do publishers go about capturing their attention and getting them to read their content?

Discussion: Financial Times

Roy Greenslade / Guardian: News Corp considers app-based news service to attract ‘millennials’

Elizabeth Jensen / New York Times:

ABC Veteran Sara Just named PBS NewsHour executive producer, effective Sept. 2 — An ABC Veteran Is Named ‘PBS NewsHour’ Executive Producer — Sara Just, the Washington deputy bureau chief for ABC News, has been named executive producer of “PBS NewsHour,” the first major change …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Politico, ABC News, Current.org, @brianstelter, @stephenmfee and @ejensennyc

Peter Sterne / Capital New York:

As Gawker grows, one exec advocates an end to ‘petty feuds’ — A decade-plus into its existence, Gawker Media in 2014 is a very different organization than Gawker circa its 2003 founding, when it entered the Manhattan media fray elbows out, aiming spitballs at the Condé Nast cafeteria.

Discussion: @matthewwells, @timfernholz, @mikeisaac, @jackshafer, @jayrosen_nyu, @mathewi and @moorehn

Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:

Future of Homicide Watch D.C. uncertain as Amico joins Boston Globe — In 2012, Laura Amico got a call that changed a lot of things — her city, her work and, eventually, her future — Amico, who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., had been selected to be a Nieman-Berkman fellow at Harvard University …

Discussion: @poynter

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

NYT response to plagiarism claim acknowledges improper use of language, details from Wikipedia — Times Issues Editor's Note in Response to Plagiarism Charge — The New York Times issued an editors' note on Wednesday in response to allegations that a reporter in the culture department …

Discussion: Washington Post, ARTnews, Talking Points Memo, @craigsilverman, @nbj914, New York Magazine, Politico, @clpauwels, @theapjournalist, @paperhaus, @journolibrarian, @saramorrison, The Huffington Post and New York Times

Ian Griggs / PRWeek:

IPSO appoints Matt Tee, former permanent secretary for government comms, as chief executive — Matt Tee appointed as new press regulator's first chief executive — The Independent Press Standards Organisation has appointed Matt Tee, the former permanent secretary for government comms, as its first chief executive.

Discussion: Press Association, Guardian, HoldTheFrontPage, @davidcharter, @bengoldacre, @unity_mot, @nhsconfed, @matttee and @shaunlintern

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Two Palestinian journalists killed during Israeli attack on Gaza — Two Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza yesterday, taking the journalistic toll to eight since the Israeli bombardment began a month ago. — According to an affiliate of the International Federation of Journalists …

Discussion: Latest News & Headlines, IFJ, english.wafa.ps, The Electronic Intifada, VICE and @paulhansen64

Ricardo Bilton / Digiday:

The Daily Dot goes long and slow with relaunch of The Kernel — Count The Daily Dot as the latest digital publisher getting into the “magazine” business — not just the moniker, but the weekly schedule. — The site is putting the final touches on the relaunch of The Kernel …

Discussion: Talking New Media and @neilthackray

Bloomberg:

AMC Networks in talks to acquire almost 50% of BBC America — AMC Networks Said to Discuss Acquiring Stake in BBC America — AMC Networks Inc. (AMCX), the cable network controlled by the Dolan family, is in talks to acquire about a 50 percent stake in BBC America, BBC Worldwide's U.S. channel …

Discussion: Guardian, London Evening Standard, Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, Realscreen, C21Media, Advanced Television, Wall Street Journal, Deadline.com, The Wrap, Telegraph, New York Times, Variety, @tpalazzo and @chrissiemurray

Erin McCarthy / Wall Street Journal:

DirecTV profit jumps 22%, beats expectations — DirecTV said its second-quarter earnings climbed 22% as the satellite-television provider reported higher revenue in both the U.S. and Latin America, as the U.S. narrowed its loss of subscribers.

Discussion: MediaPost, MarketWatch, Reuters, Bloomberg, Benzinga, RTTNews and Variety

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Discovery 2Q Profit Rises 26%, Boosted By International Networks — Discovery Communications said weaker results at its U.S. TV networks were offset by robust activity from its international TV holdings, which helped the company notch a 26% increase in net income for the second quarter.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, Reuters, Discovery Communications …, RTTNews and Ticker Report

Sophie Knight / Reuters:

Sony Q1 profit jumps as games, networks outweigh smartphone, TV weakness — (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp said operating profit doubled in the April-June quarter, helped by a strong performance in its games and networks division, even as the firm cut smartphone and TV sales forecasts that analysts had said were too ambitious.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, USA Today, NDTV Gadgets and BBC

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Interim No More: Rob Glaser Named Permanent CEO of RealNetworks — Rob Glaser, who founded RealNetworks in 1994 and served as its CEO until 2010, has been named permanent CEO of the Seattle-based digital media company. He has been interim CEO for the last two years, trying to turn around RealNetworks …

Discussion: @jbenton, FierceOnlineVideo News, Brier Dudley's blog, Multichannel News, Wall Street Journal, FierceOnlineVideo News and GeekWire

Matthew Kassel / The New York Observer:

The Believer Bets on Bi-Monthly — The latest issue of The Believer. — The Believer, the San Francisco-based literary magazine founded in 2003, is gearing up for a bi-monthly relaunch this January, according to Casey Jarman, its managing editor. — While the new, less frequent publication schedule …

Discussion: @silvermanjacob and @kbsmoke

Jasper Jackson / TheMediaBriefing:

Condé Nast digital director on avoiding a race to the bottom in online ads — Condé Nast, Monetising Media, Advertising, Consumer Media, Digital Media — This is part of a series of articles focused on the key issues that will be covered in our Monetising Media event at the end of September.

Brian Ries / Mashable:

Twitter Transparency Report Reveals 46% Rise in Government Requests — Twitter released its biannual transparency report on Thursday, revealing a 46% increase in government requests for user information. — See also: Those GIFs on Twitter Aren't Actually GIFs

Discussion: The Twitter Blog, Re/code, The Next Web, Twitter Transparency Report and Twitter Transparency Report

Bloomberg:

Thomson Reuters releases Q2 results, beats estimates, but remains flat with $249M net profit amid major reorganization — Thomson Reuters Profit Beats Analysts' Estimates on Cuts — Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI), the provider of financial data and news, reported second-quarter profit …

Discussion: Benzinga, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! Finance, RTTNews, Irish Independent, BDlive, Yahoo! Finance, TheStreet.com and Rehak/Stuebing Mostly Media

Saeed Kamali Dehghan / Guardian:

Six judges accused of leading role in Iranian crackdown on free speech — Human rights groups say judges, under influence of intelligence apparatus, spearheading crackdown on journalists and activists — Iran's crackdown on journalists and political activists is being spearheaded …

Discussion: @guardian

Marc Graser / Variety:

WWE Network ends Q2 with 700K subs; digital channel to launch in 170 countries starting Aug 12 — WWE Network Ready for International Rollout to Pin Down New Subscribers — Ends Second Quarter with 700,000 Subs; New markets include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Latin America timed with ‘SummerSlam’