Mediagazer: White House: We 'Didn't Threaten' Families Of Slain U.S. Journalists With Prosecution (Jennifer Bendery/The Huffington Post)

11:30 AM ET, September 14, 2014

Top News:

White House: We 'Didn't Threaten' Families Of Slain U.S. Journalists With Prosecution — WASHINGTON — White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Sunday pushed back on claims that the Obama administration threatened prosecution against the families of two American journalists brutally murdered …

Discussion: Pastebin, Mediaite, Politico, Washington Post, National Review, Guardian, NBC News, BBC and ABC News

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: Mediaite, Reuters, Mashable, Boing Boing, @isikoff, ABC News, Talking Points Memo and The Week

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

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

David Carr / New York Times:

TMZ displays its power by exposing Ray Rice's attack, imperiling the NFL and its commissioner — In Ray Rice Scandal, TMZ Scores on a Fumble — The N.F.L., arguably the three most powerful letters in branding, bumped into three other letters — TMZ — and was thrown for a huge loss.

Discussion: Forbes, Rolling Stone and Hollywood Reporter

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Britannica shifts its online-only encyclopedia toward a free, advertising-supported model — Encyclopaedia Britannica sees digital growth, aims to draw new users — Chicago-based Encyclopaedia Britannica, which shelved its venerable print edition in favor of a digital-only version …

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, TIME, Gigaom, CNN, The Hill, TechHive, Naked Security, Marketing Pilgrim, Techdirt, Engadget, The Next Web, nbcbayarea.com and WebProNews

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

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

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

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