Mediagazer: New California Law Bans Companies from Punishing Negative Online Reviewers (Jacob Gershman/Wall Street Journal)

3:45 AM ET, September 14, 2014

Top News:

Anna Griffin / Nieman Reports:

Why we need more female newsroom leaders — At a time when women head fewer major U.S. newspapers than they did 10 years ago, there is a place where women run not only some of the nation's leading papers but the major public TV station and private TV and radio stations, too.

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @cschweitz, @rachellarris, @ruthannharnisch, Nieman Lab, @howardweaver and The Media Online

Ian Steadman / New Statesman:

Returning the gaze: everyone's a war reporter in an always-connected world — The internet brings war and conflict into homes around the world more immediately than ever before, but with the torrent of data, images and videos comes confusion and propaganda.

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / Mashable:

Russian social network VKontakte starts shutting down accounts that promote ISIS — Russia's ‘Facebook’ Cracking Down on ISIS Accounts — The Islamic State may soon be running out of social networks — When Twitter ramped up its crackdown on several accounts in the wake of the brutal beheading …

Discussion: Vocativ and Fast Company

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Obama met with over a dozen top columnists and magazine writers before his ISIS war speech — Obama Met Privately With Top Journalists Before ISIS War Speech — NEW YORK — President Barack Obama met with over a dozen prominent columnists and magazine writers Wednesday afternoon …

Discussion: New York Times and @mlcalderone

Jacob Gershman / Wall Street Journal:

New California Law Bans Companies from Punishing Negative Online Reviewers — Companies could be slapped with thousands of dollars in fines for trying to punish a consumer for writing a negative online review under a new Yelper-friendly law enacted in California.

Discussion: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Yelp Official Blog, The Hill, TIME, CNN, Gigaom, Marketing Pilgrim, Techdirt, Engadget, The Next Web, TechHive, Naked Security, nbcbayarea.com and WebProNews

Committee to Protect Journalists:

Editor of Sunday Standard newspaper in Botswana arrested for sedition, released after 24 hours — Sunday Standard editor Outsa Mokone arrested in Botswana — The image of Botswana as a bastion of press freedom and good governance has been dented following the arrest of an editor …

Discussion: BDlive, Imperial Valley News, The Voice, Agence France-Presse and Mmegi

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:

Hope, Change and Venture Capital: Earnest Media Start-Up Mic Targets Millennials — MIC founders Chris Altchek (left) and Jake Horowitz (right). — When Chris Altchek and Jake Horowitz hatched PolicyMic four years ago, they were as earnest about the enterprise as one would expect …

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @mradamtaylor and @kbsmoke

Michael Isikoff / Yahoo! News:

Sotloff's parents told they could be prosecuted for paying ransom to IS — Yahoo News 55 mins ago — The parents of murdered journalist Steven Sotloff were told by a White House counterterrorism official at a meeting last May that they could face criminal prosecution if they paid ransom …

Discussion: Reuters, Mashable, ABC News, Boing Boing, @isikoff, Talking Points Memo, The Week, @wntonight, @shannonbream, @meekwire, @trdeghett and @wikileaks

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

ESPN's John Skipper Wants to Add Web TV — Without Losing Pay TV: The Full Code/Media Interview — Right now you can't watch ESPN without paying for cable TV, or satellite TV, or telco TV. — But that could change soon: The sports powerhouse has signed on to sell its programming as part …

Discussion: TechHive

Jim Romenesko:

Digital First Media's York Daily Record shuts off power mid-afternoon to save money — Digital First Media CEO John Paton told his employees this morning that “after a rocky five years, the newspaper industry is firmly back on its feet again.” — It is? Then why did Paton's York (PA) …

Discussion: The Wrap, @chrismegerian, @tjholmes_rs, @amuhs, @jbenton, @dancow, @coreypein, @ajfriedenberger and Talking New Media

Denver Post:
Digital First Media to consider sale of some or all of its newspapers

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Apple Users Download Free U2 Album Two Million Times — Some of you do not want the U2 album Apple is giving away. But lots of you were willing to download it. Or, at a minimum, your iPhones and MacBooks did. — iTunes users have downloaded more than 2 million copies of “Songs of Innocence” …

Discussion: Billboard, App Advice, @bwerde, AppleInsider, MacRumors, Digiday, 9to5Mac and Business Insider

Bloomberg:

Weather Channel Talks to Banks on Options Including Sale — The buyout firms that own Weather Channel Cos. have spoken to JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. about strategic options including a possible sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: @jwdavis4, Multichannel News and Gawker