Mediagazer: Network and cable execs have a tough new competitor to square off against in primetime: themselves. (Cynthia Littleton/Variety)

12:55 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, Thomson IR and @niemanlab

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, Financial Times, MediaWire Daily, @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

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, FishbowlDC, Politico, ABC News, @sdanawolfe, @anmccartney, Current.org, @brianstelter, @stephenmfee and @ejensennyc

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?

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

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

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, @davidcharter, @bengoldacre, @unity_mot, @nhsconfed, @matttee, Guardian, @shaunlintern and HoldTheFrontPage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:

Shazam Brings Always-On Music and TV Recognition to Mac With Free Menu Bar App — Music recognition service Shazam, which was one of the early App Store hits and has continued to see good success on mobile platforms, is now bringing its services to the desktop in the form of the first music, TV show, and ad recognition app for Mac.

Discussion: VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Fast Company, The Next Web, Macworld, Wall Street Journal, iTech Post, Lifehacker, TechRadar.com, Gigaom, Gizmodo, Engadget, App Advice and Mashable

John Ebbert / AdExchanger:

Defining Native Advertising Success At The Washington Post — Like many publishers, The Washington Post's Kelly Andresen grapples with success metrics for native advertising campaigns. — As director of ad innovations and product strategy, she has a front-row seat on her publication's digital evolution …

Discussion: @wpbrandstudio, Business Insider, Cision and mUmBRELLA

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.

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Network and cable execs have a tough new competitor to square off against in primetime: themselves. — Network and cable execs have a tough new competitor to square off against in primetime: themselves. — In the past year, the volume of DVR playback viewing that occurs during primetime hours …

Discussion: @drewmccaskill, @tvconfidential and @saschapriewe

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

David Holmes / PandoDaily:

Breaking news in the social age is a mess. Can Grasswire help stop the spread of misinformation? — From Reddit's catastrophic witch hunt in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing to the deluge of fake images and reports during Hurricane Sandy, social media has turned every breaking news event into a playground of misinformation.

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: TechCrunch, Twitter Transparency Report, The Twitter Blog, TIME, New York Times, Mother Jones, Twitter Transparency Report, Re/code, WebProNews and The Next Web

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 …