Mediagazer: Patrick Gottsch, Rural Media Group chief, warns rural America about the proposed Comcast-Time Warner merger (Emily Steel/New York Times)

7:50 AM ET, August 26, 2014

Top News:

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: Ars Technica, @bradstone and The Verge

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

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

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

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

To lure subscribers, the Times debuts a free mini crossword — The New York Times is launching a free daily mini crossword puzzle for users of its crossword app for iOS devices, the company said today. — The puzzle, which is comprised of a five-by-five grid of blocks …

Edmund Lee / Re/code:
New York Times' Digital Subscription Growth Story May Be Ending

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

Ben Mathis-Lilley / Slate:

James Foley's Family Posts Letter He Dictated to Fellow ISIS Captive — The family of James Foley, the American photojournalist murdered by ISIS militants, have posted a letter on Facebook that they say he dictated this summer to a fellow captive: — Diane Foley is James Foley's mother.

Discussion: Free James Foley, CNN, Politico, The Wrap, Guardian, Vanity Fair, The Independent, Mirror.co.uk, CBC News, Fox News, Middle East, The Huffington Post, BBC, Business Insider, Newsweek, The Wire, Mediaite and Daily Mail

Andy Cush / Gawker:
Experts: Foley Execution Video Was Edited to Streamline Beheading

Discussion: The Times, NY Daily News, Hit & Run, National Post, Metro.co.uk, Sydney Morning Herald, WorldNetDaily, TheAustralian, The Economic Times, RIA Novosti, Telegraph, @gawker and The Daily Caller

Emily Steel / New York Times:

Patrick Gottsch, Rural Media Group chief, warns rural America about the proposed Comcast-Time Warner merger — TV Chief Takes 2-by-4 to a Proposed Cable Merger — MEDINA, Minn. — As the oom-pah-pah oom-pah-pah of the band fades, Patrick Gottsch makes his way through silver-haired couples circling …

Discussion: Variety, corporate.comcast.com, @brianstelter, Gigaom and The Hill

Amanda Meade / Guardian:

Rupert Murdoch runs News Corp along feudal' lines, Kim Williams says — Former CEO says the Australian newspaper business is ‘vaingloriously ignoring the facts’ and is shackled by outdated management systems — News Corp Australia is a company run along feudal lines which is …

Discussion: ABC

Justin Ellis / Nieman Lab:

Verge Hack Week: developers, designers, and writers build new storytelling tools, plot growth — The Verge threw a hackweek and invited everyone they know — The idea for a Hack Week at The Verge was fairly simple, says editor-in-chief Nilay Patel. Looking at the example …

Michelle Atagana / memeburn:

Erik Martin, general manager of Reddit, on journalism, comments, global expansion, democracy — Creating a more curious generation through memes: Q&A with Reddit GM — It's a slightly gloomy Seattle day but the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) is packed with students and members of the public.

Thanks:@steverubel

Michael Wolff / USA Today:

Mail Online success due to publisher ensuring digital and print function separately, different products with different functions — ‘Daily Mail’ solves Internet paradox — News is a reliable British export. The lineup of products has included the tabloid and broadsheet newspaper …

Discussion: @nero, @spencerreiss, @michaelwolffnyc and @amolrajan

Denny Thomas / Reuters:

Taiwan's Wei family to buy cable TV operator CNS for $2.4 bln -source — Taiwan's Wei family has agreed to buy China Network Systems (CNS), the nation's biggest cable TV operator, for about $2.4 billion including debt from private equity firm MBK Partners, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Sunday.

Discussion: Variety, Bloomberg, Taipei Times and Wall Street Journal

Walt Mossberg / Re/code:

Re/code introducing native advertising — A New Advertising Format for Re/code — Eagle-eyed readers may notice a new feature here on Re/code today. It's called “Sponsor Content,” and is, for us, a new form of advertising. Known broadly as “native advertising,” this is a category …

Discussion: @monkbent and @jonrussell, Thanks:@steverubel

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

Alexandra MacCallum, a business-side executive appointed to assistant managing editor at NYT — An Unusual Hire, for Uncommon Times — SINCE I arrived in the newsroom of The Times two years ago, I've watched vast change take hold. The digital revolution has hit the newspaper business like a hurricane roaring ashore.