Mediagazer: EXCLUSIVE: Egypt Begins Surveillance Of Facebook, Twitter, And Skype On Unprecedented Scale (BuzzFeed)

5:20 AM ET, September 18, 2014

Top News:

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:

iOS 8: How 5 news orgs have updated their apps for Apple's new operating system — As iPhone users frantically delete apps and photos from their phones to make space for the iOS 8 update, many news organizations are also taking advantage of Apple's new mobile operating system to release …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, THE DEFINITIVE SOURCE, @ctrouper and Capital New York

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:

How the new Wall Street Journal iPad app is taking advantage of new features in iOS 8 — When Apple launched the first iPad in 2010, The Wall Street Journal was one of the first news organizations with a dedicated app on the new tablet. In the four years since, tablets have become mainstream …

Discussion: @pgcat, ReadWrite, Pocket-lint, @zseward, @lauraelizdavis, TIME, The Next Web, ZDNet and Neowin

BBC:

NewsCorp: Google is a ‘platform for piracy’ — The chief executive of NewsCorp has written to the European Commission calling for a tougher approach to search giant Google. — In the strongly worded letter, Robert Thomson says “the shining vision of Google's founders has been replaced by a cynical management”.

Discussion: News Corp, @jayrosen_nyu and @jeffjarvis

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine: News Corp CEO Robert Thomson sends letter to EU calling for tougher stand on Google

Hayley Tsukayama / Washington Post:

Amazon unveils six new tablets and e-readers, moving even further into hardware — Amazon announced six new tablets and e-readers on Wednesday, the latest sign that the Web retailer is trying to reach consumers through devices where it can sell more books, movies and TV shows.

Discussion: Business Insider, Gigaom, The Verge and Ars Technica

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Apple, Amazon offer family sharing for digital media — If you spend any time at all buying digital music, movies or other media, you get used to dealing with nonsensical rules about what you can and can't do with the things you bought. But every so often the digital media business surprises you and gets it right.

Discussion: @pkafka, @pkafka and The Verge

Justin McCarthy / Gallup:

Trust in Mass Media Returns to All-Time Low — Six-percentage-point drops in trust among Democrats and Republicans — WASHINGTON, D.C. — After registering slightly higher trust last year, Americans' confidence in the media's ability to report “the news fully, accurately, and fairly” has returned to its previous all-time low of 40%.

Discussion: TVNewser, Poynter, US News, The Huffington Post, @zigmanfreud, The Week, @brianstelter, @corbettreport, Associated Press, Washington Post, @motokorich and BREITBART.COM

Andy Newman / New York Times: Seeking clicks rather than truth, NY Meta is a mix of real and fake viral stories

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Under new ownership, WJLA-TV takes a slight turn to the right — There's a new owner and a new approach to the news at WJLA-TV, Washington's ABC affiliate. Under the direction of its ambitious corporate parent, the station's news operations have taken a subtle but noticeable turn to the right.

Discussion: @jakesherman, @reedfrich, @profblackistone, @tnofuentes, @abeaujon, @milesgrant, @chriswi3nters, @drewmtips, @mollyesque, Broadcasting & Cable and TVSpy

BuzzFeed:

EXCLUSIVE: Egypt Begins Surveillance Of Facebook, Twitter, And Skype On Unprecedented Scale — “We are looking at any conversation, any interaction, we might find worrying or would want to keep a closer eye on.” Sheera Frenkel reports from Jerusalem and Maged Atef from Cairo for BuzzFeed News.

Discussion: @russellbrandom, @matin, @naderism and The Verge

Jason Lynch / Quartz:

Why TV time slots still matter for new shows — The fall season—TV's annual version of Thunderdome—is almost upon us. During the next month, the US broadcast networks will debut 20 new series they hope will connect with audiences (with three additional new shows premiering slightly later in the fall).

Discussion: @qz

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
How Much Television Can the TV Biz — and Viewers — Handle?

Discussion: @maskedscheduler and @teelajbrown

Jane Johnston / The Conversation:

Are bloggers ‘journalists’? New Zealand's High Court says yes — A New Zealand High Court judgment handed down on Friday will have far-reaching implications for journalists and bloggers, as courts around the world consider the rapidly changing definitions of journalism...

Michèle Léridon / AFP Correspondent/ behind the news:

AFP global news director outlines editorial policies for covering the Islamic State group — Covering the “Islamic State” — Faced with the kidnap and murder of journalists in Syria, Iraq and Africa, and the flood of horrific propaganda images spewed out by the “Islamic State” …

Discussion: @simonvigar5, @rpollard, @doylebytes, @astroehlein, @shotofwhisky and @jackmcd83

Mike Farrell / Multichannel News:

Discovery, Hasbro Modify Hub Partnership — Network To Be Rebranded Discovery Family — Sources confirmed reports that Discovery Communications and toy maker Hasbro are modifying their four-year partnership in The Hub kids' channel, with Discovery taking a controlling interest in the network …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Variety and Deadline

J.K. Trotter / Gawker:

The New York Times Could Never Have Published TMZ's Ray Rice Video — Over the past week, The New York Times has busied itself by dissecting TMZ's graphic video of Ray Rice punching Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City casino. This is partly motivated by professional envy …

Discussion: @daviduberti, @thefilmgoer, @tolles, @scnewsdude, Poynter, @yayitsrob, @mediadissector, @yayitsrob and @mattdpearce

Chris Ip / Columbia Journalism Review:

On media freedom, United Nations plays by its own rules — Months of international crises raises the stakes for reporting on the UN, but investigative journalists remain without a right to information — From Ukraine to Syria to Gaza, a relentless summer of international strife is raising …

Discussion: @cjr

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian / Foreign Policy:

China's Social Media Underground — Fake terrorism threats, online dissidents, and smear campaigns by bogus accounts — it's all part of Twitter's Chinatown. — GOOGLE +

Discussion: @akadashan

Variety:

Warner Bros. Expected to Cut as Many as 1,000 Jobs (EXCLUSIVE) — Warner Bros. Entertainment is expected to cut as many as 900 to 1,000 jobs worldwide as part of a studio-wide cost-cutting move, according to people familiar with the company's plans. The estimated reductions would amount …

Discussion: @embracethej, @steveparsey and The Wrap

Justin Ellis / Nieman Lab:

The Guardian brings newspaper comics back to life with The Last Saturday — The Guardian is giving new life to the traditional newspaper comic strip with The Last Saturday. Instead of Marmaduke or the ongoing exotic adventures of Mark Trail, The Last Saturday is a weekly graphic novella made to be read in print and online.

Discussion: Comics Alliance

Liam Corcoran / The Whip:

How sites like The Verge, Vox, Business Insider performed on Facebook and Twitter in August — How Different Sites Are Stacking Up On Facebook — We look at social engagement growth patterns from sites outside the top 25 publishers. — Every month, we see some new names on our Facebook publishers charts.

Discussion: @reckless and @ezraklein

John Eggerton / Multichannel News:

Satellite TV bill passes Senate committee after amendments including channel unbundling were dropped — STAVRA Bill Passes Senate Commerce — Amendment Falls a Senator's Rise to Support Passable Bill — With entangling amendments dropping like flies in deference to the retiring committee chairman …

Discussion: American Television Alliance, TVfreedom.org, Ars Technica and Radio & Television …

Jihii Jolly / Columbia Journalism Review:

How to teach news literacy when the government is watching — The news literacy movement reaches Vietnam, but not without difficulties — Two years ago, Vietnamese journalist and lecturer Huyen Nguyen went with some colleagues to a news literacy workshop in neighboring Cambodia after applying …

Discussion: Guardian

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

The solution to President Obama's off-the-record sessions with journalists — New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan is right to side with news consumers who are concerned about journalists from the paper meeting for off-the-record sessions with President Obama.

Discussion: New York Times, @jeffyoung, @sulliview and @dabeard

Deron Lee / Columbia Journalism Review:

How a Nebraska newspaper kicked off a major prison sentencing scandal — The Omaha World-Herald found that hundreds of inmates were being released early — PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS — “Had the World-Herald not broken the story, nothing would have happened.” — So said Nebraska state …

Discussion: @cjr, @mattwynn and @redcloud_scribe

Mark Berman / Washington Post:

Washington Post reporter ‘facing interrogation,’ Iranian official says — A senior Iranian official said Wednesday that Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter detained in Tehran nearly two months ago, is being interrogated on unspecified charges by judicial authorities.

Discussion: @jbaetz, @anupkaphle, @markberman and @thekarami

Knight Foundation:

American Society of News Editors to help newsrooms adopt more digital tools and techniques with $85,000 from Knight Foundation — MIAMI—Sept. 16, 2014—The American Society of News Editors today announced a new digital outreach initiative that will use learning tools—conferences …