Mediagazer: Jaunt Aims to Kick-Start Hollywood Virtual Reality With $27.8 Million in New Funding (Carolyn Giardina/Hollywood Reporter)

8:00 PM ET, August 21, 2014

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

A Ferguson Story on ‘Conflicting Accounts’ Seems to Say ‘Trust Us’ — Want an object lesson in the problems of dubious equivalency and anonymous sources? — Look no further than Wednesday's Times, where a highly fraught question — precisely how, in Ferguson, Mo., a black teenager …

Discussion: msnbc.com, @lawrence, @lawrence, @johnmcquaid, @occbaystreet, @dangillmor, @jayrosen_nyu, Pressing Issues, Hot Air and New York Magazine

Ryanschuessler / Ryan L. Schuessler:

Flood of cameras, appalling media behavior in Ferguson spur freelancer to opt out of spectacle — I will not be returning to Ferguson — I had been on the ground helping Al Jazeera America** cover the protests and unrest in Ferguson, Mo., since this all started last week.

Discussion: Gawker, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, @vdcphotonews, @vdcphotonews, @_peech, @april_davis, @amaditalks, @yvonnemmu, @ryanschuessler1, @elisewho, @tomgara, VDC Photo Blog, Hot Air, @antderosa and @mmasnick

James Ball / Guardian:

Twitter's claim to be just a platform, and not a publisher, is suspect if it censors images and videos — Twitter: from free speech champion to selective censor? — By acting on footage of James Foley's murder, Twitter has taken responsibility in a way it hasn't over abuse and threats.

Discussion: Jack Shafer, Wall Street Journal, The Intercept, Associated Press, ThinkProgress and Business Insider

Amanda Meade / Guardian:

News Corp Australia defends use of James Foley beheading images — Julian Clarke tells forum ‘hiding the brutal reality’ is in no one's interest, despite family requests for the images not to be used — The chief executive of News Corp Australia has defended the decision to publish …

Discussion: Forbes, The Huffington Post, Latest News & Headlines, @coopesdetat, @meadea and Digital Life

Michelle Castillo / Adweek:

HuffPost India launching November 25; won't be overseen by former managing editor Jimmy Soni — Huffpost India Is Launching Thanksgiving Week — Editor Jimmy Soni won't direct the project after all — It's official: HuffPost India—a partnership between the Huffington Post Media Group …

Discussion: mUmBRELLA, @bobbymacreports, MediaNama, @bobbymacreports, Capital New York, @nsabloff and FishbowlNY

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

Why it's smart of the HuffPo to partner with Beacon Reader in crowdfunding a reporter — The Huffington Post has sparked a backlash by partnering with Beacon Reader to crowdfund a reporting fellowship in Ferguson, Mo. — but the project is actually a smart way to experiment …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Gawker, @jcstearns, @blackamazon, @hellothefuture, @elonjames, @elonjames, @sandersak and FishbowlDC

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
Huffington Post teams up with Beacon Reader to fund a local journalist reporting in Ferguson for a year

Discussion: Nieman Lab, The Awl, 10,000 Words, The Local News Lab, AdAge, FishbowlDC, The Daily Caller, JIMROMENESKO.COM, @adviserdavid, @mikeisaac, Guardian, @khillmatic, @mathewi, @attackerman, @jcstearns and Beacon

Jeff Baumgartner / Multichannel News:

Comcast to launch ‘Xfinity on Campus’, IP-based video service targeted at college students — Comcast: ‘Xfinity On Campus’ Is Open For Business — Several Schools On Board For IP-Based Multiscreen Offering — Following an extensive trial period, Comcast said it has moved forward …

Discussion: AdAge, Forbes, The Verge, Variety and Engadget

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:

Photojournalist held in Iran is released on bail, but Washington Post reporter still held — A photojournalist arrested in Iran alongside Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and his wife was released on bail Wednesday, a family source said. — Separately, the State Department …

Discussion: New York Times, @pressfreedom, @sherifmnsour, @cpjmena and Agence France-Presse

Nikhil Pahwa / MediaNama:

Thomson Reuters emails Indian digital publisher Medianama: we'll take your articles if you don't tell us not to — Thomson Reuters: we'll take your articles if you don't tell us not to — We received a email from Thomson Reuters last evening, informing us that unless we write …

Discussion: Quartz, Business Insider, @stevesilberman, @myrmecos, @over_rated, @rafat, @thestalwart, @raju, @sachinkalbag, Techdirt, @sirajdatoo, @dmjreports, @qhardy, @rohanv, @earleyedition and @rafat, Thanks:@nixxin

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

Wikipedia blocks edits from Congressional IP address again after edits from “obvious transphobe” — ‘Orange is the New Black’ fight sparks new House Wikipedia ban — For the third time this summer, computers in the House have been blocked from editing Wikipedia due to a string of controversial edits.

Discussion: Business Insider, @congressedits, @piper, @jrbg69, Ars Technica, Mediaite, PandoDaily, @thewikipedian, @congressedits and The Raw Story

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Forecast: Tumblr Will Grow 25% In 2014, But It's Slowing Down — Yahoo paid about the same price for Tumblr, around $1 billion, as Facebook did when it acquired Instagram, and the two had similar numbers of users at the time of acquisition, in the realm of 30 million.

Steven Perlberg / Wall Street Journal:

AdDetector plugin detects native advertising on sites like BuzzFeed and the New York Times — Meet AdDetector — The New Plug-In That Labels Native Advertising — A week-old browser plug-in may have helped solve native advertising's labeling problem. The service, AdDetector …

Discussion: The Verge, @joshsternberg and Engadget

Lockhart Steele / The Verge:

Vox's Lockhart Steele commits to blogging again, hints at turning Chorus CMS into platform — The retro-futuristic future of blogging — I've been thinking about ecosystems lately. As we're digging deeper into YouTube at Vox Media, I'm coming to appreciate the ways YouTube personalities interact …

Discussion: LockhartSteele.com, @verge, @davisshaver, @jonathanglick, @lindseymgreen, @smalera, @dangillmor, @fimoculous, @nbj914 and @petersontee

Kim Williams / Sydney Morning Herald:

Former CEO Kim Williams calls News Corp leaks a festival of vengeance — During my time at News Corporation there were frequent frustrating leaks, much like the one this week, a comprehensive set of numbers on the company's Australian enterprises. — The leak, published in Crikey …

Discussion: @cjoye, @gay_alcorn and Guardian