Mediagazer: My Friend James Foley (Clare Morgana Gillis/Syria Deeply)

5:50 AM ET, August 20, 2014

Top News:

Clare Morgana Gillis / Syria Deeply:

My Friend James Foley — How do I sum up my friend Jim? Around this time last year, having returned to the U.S. from his first trip to Syria, he was emailing me repeatedly. “Come to NYC, dude,” he said, the nickname he used with everyone. “We need you ASAP.”

Discussion: CNN, @syriadeeply, @tiranahassan, @athertonkd, @edgiles, Vox, @dangillmor and @ivadixit

Facebook:

A message from Jim's mom, Diane Foley — We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people. We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents.

Discussion: CNN, Gawker, USA Today, WAVE-TV, Associated Press, @ke11yfoley, @nycjim, TheBlaze.com, BBC, @pressfreedom, @ap_ken_thomas, New York Magazine, @tomrisen, @yahoonews, The Week and The Huffington Post

Spencer Ackerman / Guardian:

Islamic State militants claim to have killed US journalist James Foley — Propaganda video circulated Tuesday claims to show beheading of photojournalist, who went missing in Syria in 2012 — James Foley, left, in Libya in 2011, where he was previously held by Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

Shane Harris / Foreign Policy:
Social Media Companies Scramble to Block Terrorist Video of Journalist's Murder

Discussion: Mashable, @dickc, The Drum, @heidifang, @attackerman, @wexler, @aakankshat, Washington Post, @zaidbenjamin, @policy, @mathewi, @leighh and Talking Points Memo

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Condé Nast to Sell Fairchild Fashion Media for $100 Million — Condé Nast announced on Tuesday the sale of Fairchild Fashion Media, a group of trade publications including Women's Wear Daily and Footwear News, to Penske Media. The sale price was about $100 million, according to a person briefed on the deal.

Discussion: Folio, Variety, MediaWire Daily, @ericperrydesign, Bloomberg, Capital New York, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, @katierosman and FishbowlNY

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Fareed Zakaria responds to plagiarism charges — On Tuesday, two anonymous Twitter users — @blippoblappo & @crushingbort — published a report citing 12 instances in which the journalist Fareed Zakaria appeared to have lifted passages wholesale from other authors.

Discussion: Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Our Bad Media:

Team who discovered BuzzFeed editor's plagiarism reveal Fareed Zakaria as serial plagiarist — Did CNN, The Washington Post, and TIME Actually Check Fareed Zakaria's Work For Plagiarism? — WHEN AN “ISOLATED” INCIDENT ISN'T — Following our reports on Benny Johnson and plagiarism last month …

Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
After new plagiarism allegations, Time magazine will review Zakaria's work again

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Digital First puts 51 newspaper buildings on the market — Digital First Media has listed 51 newspaper buildings for sale, according to a press release from the real estate firm Twenty Lake Holdings. — The properties are “for sale across seven states including California, Connecticut …

Discussion: @lparsons69 and @abeaujon

Rod Nordland / New York Times:

Afghan officials interrogate New York Times correspondent Matthew Rosenberg, ban him from leaving country — Afghan Officials Interrogate Times Correspondent — KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan attorney general's office called in a New York Times correspondent for questioning Tuesday …

Discussion: Washington Post, Capital New York, @peterbakernyt, Associated Press, @kenroth, The Huffington Post, Committee to Protect … and The Hill

Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:

Netflix is now paying Time Warner Cable for direct access and faster streams — Netflix, the online streaming giant, has signed a paid peering deal with Time Warner Cable, meaning that it now has deals with the four biggest U.S. ISPs. — Time Warner Cable signed a direct interconnection deal with Netflix …

Discussion: @gigaom, Multichannel News, Variety, The Verge and Engadget

Ted Johnson / Variety:

Al Jazeera Says Al Gore's Claims of Fraud Are ‘Blatantly False’ — Al Jazeera pushed back on Al Gore and Joel Hyatt's lawsuit over the sale of Current TV, contending that their claims that Al Jazeera engaged in fraud in withholding tens of millions in payments are “blatantly false …

Discussion: Capital New York and Reuters

John Herrman / The Awl:

NowThis bypasses websites, uses others' apps to publish news, including headlines in Snapchat — The Weird Near Future of News — NowThisNews was started a couple years ago as a “brand new video network built from scratch for people who get their news on mobile devices and through social streams.”

Discussion: @estherbreger, @pareene, @michelledean, @kevinroose, @eilenez, @katenocera, @jaredbkeller, @kia_mak, @beccabigwords, @ryanj899 and Business Insider

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Sky News Coverage of Malaysia Airlines Crash Leads to Investigation — Britain's media watchdog will probe the network after viewers complained about a reporter who rummaged through a victim's luggage — U.K. media watchdog Ofcom will launch an investigation into Sky News' coverage …

Discussion: Guardian, BBC, The Independent, Daily Mail and The Huffington Post