Mediagazer: George Clooney to Direct Phone-Hacking Scandal Movie for Sony (Rebecca Ford/Hollywood Reporter)

8:35 AM ET, September 4, 2014

Top News:

Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:

Michael Bloomberg to reassume leadership of Bloomberg LP; Dan Doctoroff to step down as CEO at year end — Michael Bloomberg to Return as Chief of Company He Founded — Michael R. Bloomberg will reassume the leadership of his business empire only eight months after ending his final term as mayor of New York.

Peter Lauria / BuzzFeed:
Here's An Idea For Michael Bloomberg: Buy CNN

Discussion: New York Times, @peterlauria3 and @peterlauria3

Emily Steel / New York Times:

Vice raises $250M from Technology Crossover Ventures for 10% stake, now valued at over $2.5B — Vice Lands 2nd Investment, to Fuel Expansion — Vice Media, the rabble-rouser of the news and entertainment business, has landed a pair of investments totaling $500 million to fuel the expansion of its media empire.

Discussion: Guardian, TechCrunch, Co.Create, @markfollman, @justin_d_martin and @simoncrerar

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

New Times editor on what his paper owes the reader — In the wake of the videotaped beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff at the hands of the jihadist group ISIS, New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet weighed in on a debate that has loomed large as footage …

Michael Daly / The Daily Beast:
From ISIS Videos to JLaw Nudes, When Is Looking Abetting Evil?

Discussion: Forbes, Guardian, @jeffjohnroberts, @mathewi and TIME

Joel Simon / Columbia Journalism Review:
Is it time to end media blackouts?

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Beast, Columbia Journalism Review, @cjr, @cpjmena, New York Times, Committee to Protect … and The Dish

Rob Crilly / Al Jazeera America:
Islamic State's execution videos are sly propaganda written in blood

Discussion: Guardian, New Yorker, The Desk, @ibnezra, @robcrilly, Guardian and The Atlantic Online

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

USA Today lays off between 60 and 70 staffers — USA Today laid off between 60 and 70 staffers Wednesday, with about half those cuts hitting its newsroom, a company source tells Poynter. — Gannett, which owns USA Today, announced in August it plans to spin off its publishing business.

Discussion: @ednagundersen, JIMROMENESKO.COM, The Huffington Post, @abdub29, @bookbobminz, @danlamothe, @johnlpitts, @steph_steinberg, USA Today, @murdochdavis, AdAge, Mashable, The New York Observer, New York Times, Ashvegas, @abeaujon, FishbowlDC and bizjournals

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Rdio Moves to Free Music Model to Compete with Spotify and Others — In the face of growing competition in the streaming music market, Rdio, a four-year-old service that charges for online subscriptions, has moved into a new phase with abundant free music — as well as free music's ever-present companion, advertising.

Discussion: Gizmodo UK, The Verge, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, CNET, Engadget and Music Ally

Laura M. Holson / New York Times:

WWD Seeks an Expanded Online Presence and Larger Staff — The day after Condé Nast announced last month that it was selling Fairchild Fashion Media for a reported $100 million, the new owner, Jay Penske, held several meetings with staff members of its crown jewel publication, Women's Wear Daily.

Discussion: @kristiano, @lauramholson, @koblin, FishbowlNY and WWD Media Headlines

Media Standards Trust:

Media Standards Trust: post Leveson coverage of press regulation mostly negative, did not include public opinion — How newspapers covered press regulation after Leveson — The Media Standards Trust today publishes the first comprehensive analysis of UK national newspaper coverage …

Discussion: Guardian, @martinjemoore and @brightsparkspr

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Washington Times staffers contribute to special NRA pullout — The Washington Times is a natural partner for the National Rifle Association. Its editorials run strongly in favor of gun rights, a tradition currently overseen by Opinion Editor David A. Keene, a former president of the NRA.

Discussion: Washington Times

Rebecca Ford / Hollywood Reporter:

George Clooney to Direct Phone-Hacking Scandal Movie for Sony — ‘Hack Attack’ explores the Rupert Murdoch media scandal — George Clooney has made the call on his next directing project. The actor-producer-director will helm an adaptation of the book Hack Attack, exploring …

Discussion: Guardian, Deadline, Telegraph, Reuters, BBC, The Independent, TIME, Politico, New York Times, NME News, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Washington Post and /Film

Sean Gallagher / Ars Technica:

4chan adopts DMCA policy after nude celebrity photo postings — Site agrees to remove “bona fide” infringing material if asked. — In the wake of the release of stolen, intimate photos from a number of celebrities' cell phones this past weekend on 4chan's /b/ Web forum …

Discussion: TorrentFreak, ReadWrite, Geek.com, BBC, Gizmodo UK, Consumerist, BetaNews and Ubergizmo

Nic Christensen / mUmBRELLA:

News Corp's Daily Telegraph raises price of eNewspaper app by 320 per cent — Sydney tabloid The Daily Telegraph has raised the subscription price of its digital newspaper replica app by more than 300 per cent, from $6.49 a month to $19.99. — The price rises sees the price of monthly subscription …

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Publishers Push For EC To Reject Almunia's Google Antitrust Proposal — The long-running saga involving a European investigation into Google over alleged antitrust violations has taken another turn: today a group of European publishers have come out urging the European Commission …

Discussion: Gigaom and Emma

Jeff John Roberts / Gigaom:

Yelp does not “extort” by trading review placements for ad contracts, appeals court rules — Does Yelp manipulate reviews based on whether a business buys advertising? There's no proof it does but, in an important decision, an appeals court found that Yelp has the right do so if it wishes.

Discussion: Yelp Official Blog, Engadget, Law360, PandoDaily and Forbes

Christine Lagorio-Chafkin / Inc.:

Profile of Dao Nguyen, who helped quintuple Buzzfeed's traffic in two years — Meet BuzzFeed's Secret Weapon — Meet Dao Nguyen. She helped BuzzFeed quintuple traffic in two years. The secrets behind how she became one of the most important and beloved BuzzFeeders.

Discussion: @kristenlepore and bookforum.com

Josh Taylor / ZDNet:

Australian Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance withdraws government submission to endorse Internet filter after journalists' protests — Journalists' union withdraws support for internet filtering — Summary: The Media, Entertainment, and Arts Alliance has withdrawn its support …

Discussion: ZDNet, Guardian, LNR Journalism, Media, Entertainment … and @strom_m