Mediagazer: Amazon acquiring Twitch for $970M in cash (Amazon.com)

7:00 PM ET, August 25, 2014

Top News:

Following layoffs memo, Jeff Zucker tells CNN employees they need to “do less and do it with less” — CNN chief: News operation will do less with less — CNN chief Jeff Zucker recently shared not so encouraging words with some of the news operation's employees, many of whom have been bracing for potential jobs cuts.

Discussion: TVNewser, @t_mcconnell, @brianstelter, The Wrap, @howardkurtz, @mlcalderone, @tvnewslab, @passantino, The Huffington Post and Inside Cable News

Jon Lafayette / Multichannel News:

Turner Broadcasting to offer buyouts to 500 senior staff tomorrow, CNN included — Buyouts Coming For 500 Staffers At Turner — Cost-cutting in Motion at Time Warner Unit — Some 500 senior Turner Broadcasting staffers will be offered buyouts tomorrow.

Discussion: Variety

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

NYT public editor says choice of words in Michael Brown profile a “regrettable mistake” — An Ill-Chosen Phrase, ‘No Angel,’ Brings a Storm of Protest — Two words — “no angel” — have become a flash point for many of the difficult, contentious, entrenched issues that have arisen …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, @naacp_ldf, @fmanjoo, @mlcalderone, @andykindler, @jamilsmith, @ggreenwald, @jennydeluxe, @jayrosen_nyu and Pressing Issues

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
New York Times defends Michael Brown Jr. ‘no angel’ characterization

Amazon.com:

Amazon acquiring Twitch for $970M in cash — Amazon.com to Acquire Twitch — Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Twitch Interactive, Inc., the leading live video platform for gamers. In July, more than 55 million unique visitors viewed …

Joshua Brustein / Businessweek:

With high levels of engagement, Twitch users could make Amazon more attractive to advertisers — Why Amazon Is Paying $1 Billion to Help People Watch Video Games — For months Twitch, the video-game streaming service, was supposedly putting the finishing touches on a deal with Google (GOOG).

Discussion: @bradstone, Ars Technica and The Verge

Edmund Lee / Re/code:

New York Times' Digital Subscription Growth Story May Be Ending — The New York Times has bet on digital subscriptions to play a central role in its long-term future. But while selling access to the paper's Web and mobile versions was an initial hit, growth is slowing …

Discussion: @mathewi, @mattzeitlin, @pkafka, @eduardosuarez and FishbowlNY

Carmel DeAmicis / Gigaom:

Facebook shifts its algorithm to fight clickbait. Will it kill off Upworthy and Buzzfeed? — Facebook is going after clickbait with its new algorithm changes. That could have a profound impact on the traffic Buzzfeed, Upworthy and their lesser rivals see. — Facebook has changed its news feed algorithm for the millionth time.

Bill Carter / New York Times:

Profile of NBC News President Deborah Turness as she completes her first year in the role — NBC News President Rouses the Network — In her first year as president of NBC News, Deborah Turness received one message loud and clear: Welcome to the feeding frenzy.

Discussion: TVNewser, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, @hgil, @brianstelter, @joshsternberg, Capital New York, Mediaite, The Wrap and FishbowlDC

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Time Inc. Faces a Looming Existential Magazine Deadline — What should a magazine company be now? The most storied one in America has to come up with an answer fast. — In the 92 years since Henry Luce co-founded Time Inc., there have been just seven journalists to hold the title of editor-in-chief.

Discussion: PandoDaily, @raju, @bgrueskin, @mikeisaac, @kvirella, @mathewi, @peterlattman, @pkafka, MediaWire Daily, @markleibovich, @mlcalderone, @gabrielsherman, The Huffington Post, @mattbuchanan, @sarahw, @harrymccracken and FishbowlNY

Zachary M. Seward / Quartz:

Quartz has a new look—and for the first time, a homepage — We just shipped version 3.0 of Quartz, which you are looking at right now. It's our second major redesign in as many years, a rapid pace of reinvention that makes good on our promise to continually evolve and improve on what a purely digital news organization can be.

Discussion: @markarms, @craigmod, Forbes, @baekdal, @gintautasd, @zseward, @joelcifer, @felixsalmon, @samuelrsolomon, @qoreilly, @jackdearlove, @vivian, @chiaraalbanese, @davidbauer, @danieldrepper, MediaWire Daily and Talking Biz News

Tim Peterson / AdAge:

Yahoo rolls out its native ad network to other publishers, including Vox Media's SB Nation — Here Is Yahoo's Native Ad Network — Content Recommendation Box on Vox Media, CBS Interactive Sites Includes Yahoo's Ads — Yahoo's content recommendation box places its native ads on others' sites.

Discussion: @om, Marketing Pilgrim, VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal and Business Insider

Chris Ip / Columbia Journalism Review:

John Siracusa's legendary - and lengthy - Apple reviews reach their 15th year — John Siracusa's legendary - and lengthy - Apple reviews reach their 15th year — Though he only write a major story every year or two, for the last decade and a half John Siracusa has built a reputation as one of Apple's most influential critics.

Discussion: @cjr