Mediagazer: Copyright Holders Want Netflix to Ban VPN Users (Ernesto/TorrentFreak)

10:00 AM ET, September 18, 2014

Top News:

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 — In the strongly worded letter, Robert Thomson says “the shining vision of Google's founders has been replaced by a cynical management”.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: Guardian, Reuters, Press Gazette, The Drum, Gigaom, London Evening Standard, City A.M., IT PRO, Management Today, Complete Music Update, Business Technology, BetaNews, @jayrosen_nyu and @jeffjarvis

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Media buccaneer Rupert Murdoch dares to complain about Google's ‘piracy’ — Help me please. Does the appeal by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation to the European Commission about Google amount to an irony? Or is a paradox? Or maybe it's just an example of rank hypocrisy?

Discussion: @jackofkent

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

Discussion: News Corp, Guardian and New York Times

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, @ctrouper, THE DEFINITIVE SOURCE and American Press Institute

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

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Susan Glasser named Editor of POLITICO — Susan Glasser, the editor of POLITICO Magazine, has been promoted to Editor of POLITICO, a new title that will give her “full authority” over the site's core coverage, magazine and Pro verticals, the company's leadership announced early Thursday morning.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, @davidmwessel, Politico, @markknoller, @nycjim, @dylanbyers, @mlcalderone, @davidkenner, @kimkingsley and American Press Institute

BBC:

BBC team under attack in southern Russia — A BBC team has been attacked in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan. — They had gone to investigate reports of Russian servicemen being killed near the border with Ukraine. — The team's cameraman was beaten up and the camera smashed during the attack.

Discussion: Guardian, Digital Spy, Press Gazette, BuzzFeed, Agence France-Presse, Wall Street Journal and Wall Street Journal

BBC:

BBC calls on Russian authorities to conduct investigation after attack on news crew — BBC News statement on intimidation in Russia — The BBC has today lodged a formal protest with the Russian authorities after a news team from our Moscow bureau was attacked in southern Russia whilst …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Reuters, @lucynews, @astroehlein, @billbrowder, @jsphctrl, @peterhorrocks1, @peterhorrocks1 and @jameshardy61

Michael Tarm / Associated Press:

Journalists criticize White House for ‘secrecy’ — CHICAGO (AP) — Editors and reporters meeting in Chicago raised concerns Wednesday about what they described as a lack of access and transparency undermining journalists' work, several blaming the current White House for setting standards for secrecy that are spreading nationwide.

Discussion: USA Today

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
The solution to President Obama's off-the-record sessions with journalists

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

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Latest report about Zakaria's CNN work does show plagiarism, 2 journalism ethics experts say — The wrongs of Fareed Zakaria — For the past month, two anonymous media watchdogs have been accusing the journalist Fareed Zakaria of serial plagiarism. Across multiple reports …

Discussion: Inside Cable News and @dylanbyers

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: New York Times, Gigaom, Ars Technica and Business Insider

Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Apple, Amazon offer family sharing for digital media

Discussion: TechRadar.com, Irish Examiner, Gizmag Emerging …, Good E-Reader, NDTV Gadgets, Tech2, Laptop Mag, Tech2, Reuters, Mashable, The Verge, @pkafka, @pkafka, Engadget, SlashGear and The Verge

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Baquet's new New York Times masthead said to be imminent — Four months after replacing Jill Abramson in The News York Times' top newsroom position, executive editor Dean Baquet is said to be close to announcing some changes to his masthead. — One likely scenario that's being talked about internally …

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: @rpollard, @doylebytes, @jackmcd83, @astroehlein, @shotofwhisky, @simonvigar5 and American Press Institute

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: @profblackistone, @mollyesque, @drewmtips, @tnofuentes, @abeaujon, @jakesherman, @reedfrich, @milesgrant, @chriswi3nters, 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: @sultanalqassemi, @russellbrandom, @matin, @naderism and The Verge

Ernesto / TorrentFreak:

Copyright Holders Want Netflix to Ban VPN Users — With the launch of legal streaming services such as Netflix, movie and TV fans have less reason to turn to pirate sites. — At the same time, however, these legal options invite people from other countries where the legal services are more limited.

Discussion: CNET, canada.com, DSLreports, Tech Insider, Forbes, Mashable and Gizmodo

Knight Foundation:

News for high schools: Digital media plus teaching equals support for freedom — Report summary: A Right to Speak Out/Our Business is None of Yours. Credit: Column Five. — Some experts say smartphones make young people stupid. Others say technology makes them smarter.

Discussion: @jcstearns, @brizzyc, @ericnewton1, Guardian, @rickhirsch and @jeffjarvis

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

Paul Bischoff / Tech in Asia:

The Next Web signs exclusive deal with Tencent to republish articles in Chinese — Tencent has signed a deal with western tech blog The Next Web to be the latter's exclusive content partner for Greater China. The announcement published today says Tencent has exclusive rights to translate The Next Web's content into Chinese.

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...

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

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: C21Media, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Variety

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