Mediagazer: ESPN Films, FiveThirtyEight to Launch 2 Short Documentary Series (Exclusive) (Todd Spangler/Variety)

1:10 PM ET, September 9, 2014

Top News:

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Politico Gearing Up For Europe Expansion — NEW YORK — Politico is planning to expand into Europe through the launch of a new organization based in Brussels, Belgium, the capital of the European Union. — On Monday morning, Politico CEO Jim VandeHei told senior editors that the company's plans …

Discussion: FishbowlDC, BuzzFeed, @albertozilio, @niemanlab, @lehmannchris, @wblau, @mtblumencron and The New York Observer

Dylan Byers / @dylanbyers:

POLITICO CEO: “We are joining forces w Axel Springer, Europe's largest & most powerful media company, to start European edition of POLITICO”

Leo Barraclough / Variety:

21st Century Fox's Chase Carey on Time Warner: 'We've Moved On' — LONDON - “We've moved on,” said Chase Carey, president and chief operating officer of 21st Century Fox, when asked whether there would be a renewed bid for Time Warner at a London TV industry conference Tuesday.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Hollywood Reporter, Broadband TV News, Televisual, @davidfolkenflik, Advanced Television and broadcastnow.co.uk

Mark Sweney / Guardian:
BSkyB bid may still be on cards, says 21st Century Fox president

Discussion: Forbes, London Evening Standard and Digital TV Europe

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:

Steven Sotloff spokesman blasts White House handling — A spokesman for Steven Sotloff's family contends the slain American journalist was sold to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant by Syrian rebels and says the Obama administration “could have done more” to save him.

Discussion: Mediaite, TVNewser, The Daily Caller, CNN, @dmcgowen1776, Reason, International Business Times, BREITBART.COM, International Business Times, Jerusalem Post, Washington Free Beacon, @politico, The Times of Israel, @drudge_report and Washington Times

Ed Mazza / The Huffington Post:

Steven Sotloff Was Sold To ISIS By ‘Moderate’ Rebels, Family Spokesman Tells CNN — Steven Sotloff, the American journalist murdered by Islamic State militants last week, was sold to the terrorist organization by supposedly moderate rebels in Syria, a family spokesman told CNN on Monday night.

Discussion: RT, @kabirtaneja, @thekarami and @liamstack

Luisa Beltran / PE HUB:

Thomson Reuters puts peHUB, Buyouts and VCJ on block — Thomson Reuters puts peHUB, Buyouts and VCJ on block: UPDATED — Thomson Reuters has put a package of specialty publications on the block, including peHUB, Buyouts and Venture Capital Journal, two sources said. — The auction is believed to be early.

Discussion: @laragon and New York Times

Todd Spangler / Variety:

ESPN Films, FiveThirtyEight to Launch 2 Short Documentary Series (Exclusive) — ESPN Films and Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight stats-based journalism blog this fall will roll out a pair of documentary-short series keying off the analytical approach cultivated by FiveThirtyEight …

Discussion: LA Observed, @natesilver538, @30for30 and @thestalwart

Alice Truong / Fast Company:

ISIS-affiliated Twitter account calls for assassination of Twitter employees, Twitter investigating — A now-suspended Twitter account seemingly affiliated with the extremist group ISIS has been calling for the assassination of employees who work at the social network.

Discussion: Vocativ, Mashable, International Business Times, Washington Post, SFGate Blog, Daily Mail, The Hill, The Inquisitr News, Firstpost, The Wire and The Daily Caller

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Esquire uses interstitial ad with donate button on article to benefit James Foley scholarship, partnering with TinyPass and Atavist — Esquire Sets Up Paywall to Benefit James Foley Memorial Fund — Ahead of the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Esquire magazine is putting …

Discussion: Gigaom, Mediashift, FishbowlNY, The Huffington Post, @heyitshales, Esquire, @gmarkham and @nbj914

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

Facebook drops hints that it's eyeing content recommendation, too — Facebook is quietly dropping hits that it may be getting into the content-recommendation game. This should come as no surprise, as Yahoo has launched its own content-recommendation widget and Google is reportedly working one as well.

Discussion: Mediaite and Business Insider, Thanks:@steverubel

Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:

The NFL Blows Away All Other TV Shows on Twitter — The National Football League rules TV. So it's not surprising that it rules social TV. In fact, when it comes to delivering a Twitter audience, the NFL beats the rest of the primetime schedule and it's pretty much a blowout.

Discussion: @digitalshields

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

With a Big Push From Facebook, Facebook Video Is Booming. Heads Up, YouTube. — Do you like watching videos on Facebook? — You're not alone. And you're going to be seeing a lot more of them. — That's the word from Facebook, which is excited about the rapid uptake of its new …

Discussion: @pkafka, Variety, @kevdonahue, Digiday, @galenwnewton, @socialtechmo, @mccollumashley, @lapuravida and Facebook

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Nancy Pelosi urges FCC to reclassify broadband as a utility — A good number of politicians have recently made statements in favor of net neutrality, but House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is going further than most of them today and asking that the Federal Communications Commission reclassify broadband …

Discussion: Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Free Press Blog, The Hill and DSLreports