Mediagazer: Why BuzzFeed is expanding with new Distributed division (Catalina Albeanu/Journalism.co.uk)

9:45 PM ET, August 14, 2014

Top News:

How the absence of tweets led journalists to figure out that two reporters had been arrested — How social media freed reporters Wesley Lowery and Ryan Reilly from Ferguson police — When police in combat gear arrested two reporters last night in Ferguson, Mo., the journalists' first instinct was to tweet about it.

Discussion: Poynter, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, TechCrunch, @davidnakamura, @thefanger, Boing Boing, @postbaron, The Daily Caller, @tierney_megan, US News, @kodacohen, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, The Hairpin, Mashable and Jezebel

Wesley Lowery / Washington Post:

In Ferguson, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery gives account of his arrest — FERGUSON, Mo. — For the past week in Ferguson, reporters have been using the McDonald's a few blocks from the scene of Michael Brown's shooting as a staging area. Demonstrations have blown up each night nearby.

Discussion: Medium, niemanlab.org, ABC News, Washington Post, Poynter, Media Nation, Guardian, Quartz, The Huffington Post, CNN, The Wrap, Politico, The Wire, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Free Press Blog, @ryanjreilly, The Stranger …, @mateosfo, Jezebel, Deadline, Gawker, Vanity Fair, SPLICETODAY.com, Reuters, Latest News & Headlines, Pressing Issues, @pbump, UPROXX, Mashable, @neetzan, @postbaron, @fergusonunity, @nickconfessore, @buzzfeedandrew, @astroehlein, @sarahljaffe, @washingtonpost, @jonchesto, The ToastThe Toast, USA Today, New York Magazine, Daily Mail, @annfriedman, @therealfitz, @lukerussert, @ezraklein, Committee to Protect …, Hit & Run, Media Law Prof Blog, @suzykhimm, The Week, abc11.com, @ron_fournier, The Newspaper Guild, @sophia_mjones, @jerometaylor, @abeaujon, @fraying, @qhardy, @fmanjoo and @benkuchera

John Herrman / The Awl:

How the influential Drudge Report covered police shooting and ensuing unrest in Ferguson, Mo. — Ferguson, Missouri, According to Drudge — “Today Matt Drudge can influence the news like Walter Cronkite did,” Mark Halperin said in a 2006 interview promoting his new book, cowritten with John Harris, who had not yet founded Politico.

Discussion: BuzzFeed

David Uberti / Columbia Journalism Review:

Why Obama's statement on reporters' arrests in Ferguson is hypocritical — Obama defends reporters in Ferguson, but demands compliance from James Risen — In a news conference Thursday addressing the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown and resulting unrest in Ferguson, MO …

Discussion: Washington Post, Poynter, Mediaite, Reporter's Committee …, @heytammybruce, @freedomofpress, @tonygorder, @meghabuda and CNN

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:
Arrested reporters freed after call by LA Times journalist to police chief

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Poynter, Variety, The Daily Caller, The Huffington Post, Gawker, SPJ News, Mediaite, @mattdpearce, @ryanjreilly, Latest News & Headlines, FishbowlNY, USA Today and @allisonkilkenny

Mark Berman / Washington Post:
WaPo reporter describes arrest; exec editor Marty Baron calls it an assault on press freedom

The Huffington Post:
Huffington Post Statement On Arrest Of Reporters In Ferguson

Discussion: @brianefallon, Mediaite, Columbia Journalism Review, The Daily Caller, @freedomofpress and @ryanjreilly

National Association of Black Journalists:
NABJ Statement on the Arrests of Wesley Lowery and Ryan J. Reilly

Discussion: Reporter's Committee …, The Huffington Post, @timkarr, @drgoddess, The Daily Banter and @lnonblonde

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:

“Meet the Press:” Gregory out, Todd in — NBC will name Chuck Todd the new host of “Meet the Press” as early as Thursday afternoon, according to people with direct knowledge of the network's plans. — The sources confirmed widespread speculation that David Gregory, the moderator …

Gary Strauss / USA Today:

Icahn takes 6.6 percent stake of Gannett, wants role in company's planned split — Carl Icahn places bet on Gannett — Activist investor Carl Icahn has taken 6.6% stake in Gannett, saying he wants a role in the company's planned split of its TV and newspaper divisions.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Ethan Zuckerman / The Atlantic Online:

Ad-supported web led to targeting and surveillance as a default; let's try again, with fees for service — The Internet's Original Sin — Ron Carlson's short story “What We Wanted To Do” takes the form of an apology from a villager who failed to protect his comrades from marauding Visigoths.

Discussion: @sethmnookin, @skap5, @anildash, Engadget, @chx, @mgeist, @mccarthyryanj, @scottros, @adriennelaf, @acarvin, @dangillmor, @evgenymorozov, @mathewi, @pkedrosky, @emmaogreen and @medialab

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:
Don't give up on the advertising model - make it better

Discussion: Gigaom, @jeffjarvis and @jason_kint

Will Oremus / Slate:

Peretti: deleted BuzzFeed posts were created before company chose to become journalistic — One Viral Media Company That Isn't Evil, Just Misunderstood — Thirty-Nine Listicles Whose Sourcing Is Shaky at Best. — One Writer Fired for Plagiarism. — Four Thousand Old Posts That Mysteriously Disappeared.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Gawker, @peretti, @mathewi, @mlcalderone, @clarajeffery, @timfernholz, @peretti, @jackshafer, @craigsilverman, @craigsilverman and @seanmcelwee

Tim Molloy / The Wrap:

Police: Tear Gas Not Fired at Al Jazeera News Crew Intentionally (Video) — Raw video shows an Al Jazeera America news crew covering the Ferguson, Mo., protests being hit with tear gas. After they fled, a SWAT team pulled up to dismantle their equipment. — The footage has become …

Discussion: KSDK-TV, Poynter, CNN, @jonswaine, The Huffington Post, @poniewozik, @machallboyd, @jeremykohler, New York Times and The Week

Max Fisher / Vox:
Al Jazeera journalists teargassed by security forces — in Ferguson, Missouri, USA

Discussion: New York Times, TVNewser, Capital New York, Techdirt, @brianstelter, NY Daily News, The Wrap, Columbia Journalism Review, Des Moines Register, KXAN-TV, The Huffington Post, @daliaezzat_ and @jcstearns

Jordan Chariton / TVNewser:

NBC selling African American news and politics site The Grio back to its founders — NBC News Selling TheGrio.com — First on TVNewser: NBC News is selling TheGrio.com back to its original owners, TVNewser has learned. — The African American news and politics site will be sold …

Discussion: FishbowlDC

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Lab:

Racist content forces Thought Catalog to put barriers between contributors and Twitter — There's no need to enumerate the breadth and variety of godawful content published by millennial angst engine Thought Catalog. The site's propensity for publishing garbage is so well known, they actually address it in the FAQs.

Discussion: Gawker, Salon, @craigsj, @robinhardwick, @blacknerdjade, @bigcityjames, @mf_greatest and Mediaite

John Biggs / TechCrunch:

DISH TV Now Accepts Bitcoin Payments — Another day, another major corporation accepting BTC. This time it's DISH TV, a satellite TV provider that is working with Coinbase to accept bitcoin payments online. — Why is this news? Well, considering Overstock is now accepting $15,000 …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Press Release, CoinDesk and NEWSBTC