Mediagazer: New cybercrime law could have serious consequences for press freedom in Qatar (Committee to Protect Journalists)

12:45 PM ET, September 18, 2014

Top News:

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, MediaWire Daily, Politico, @nycjim, @dylanbyers, @mlcalderone, @davidkenner, @kimkingsley, @davidmwessel, @markknoller, @diannaheitz 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, BuzzFeed, Agence France-Presse, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal and Press Gazette

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, @jsphctrl, @astroehlein, @peterhorrocks1, @billbrowder, @peterhorrocks1, @jameshardy61 and @lucynews

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 — In the strongly worded letter, Robert Thomson says “the shining vision of Google's founders has been replaced by a cynical management”.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

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:
Media buccaneer Rupert Murdoch dares to complain about Google's ‘piracy’

Discussion: Business Insider and @jackofkent

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

Discussion: News Corp and Guardian

Rem Rieder / USA Today:

Fighting back against government secrecy — CHICAGO — It's come to this. — A transportation reporter for the Associated Press was told by federal government sources that they would be fired if they provided information to the journalist, AP Washington Bureau Chief Sally Buzbee says.

Discussion: @remrieder and @tbridis

Michael Tarm / Associated Press: Journalists criticize White House for ‘secrecy’

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

Discussion: @jeffyoung, @sulliview, @dabeard 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: @ctrouper, BuzzFeed, 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

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

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: The Huffington Post, @andrewbeatty, @amie_fr, @rpollard, @doylebytes, @jackmcd83, @fergalrte, @astroehlein, @shotofwhisky, @nicolasdepedro, @simonvigar5 and American Press Institute

Mark Seibel / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
British hostage seized by Islamic State with Foley appears in new video

Discussion: Gawker, Poynter, BuzzFeed, Metro.co.uk, Guardian, Vocativ, Agence France-Presse, The Wire, BBC, International Business Times, Agence France-Presse, @adrianchen, @robaeprice and @mattaikins

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.

Discussion: @niemanlab

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Pink slips to fly at Parade after sale of magazine — The latest issue of Parade pairs Lady Gaga with Tony Bennett on the cover. — The sale of 73-year-old Parade magazine will lead to layoffs for most of the 85 staffers in its New York office, The Post has learned.

Discussion: MediaWire Daily, FishbowlNY and Chicago Tribune

Natalie Jomini Stroud / American Press Institute:

From free to fee: How U.S. dailies decide to use paywalls — Before charging for digital content, doing research seems like good business. It can help publishers learn how particular audiences will react to a transition from free content to paying for content.

Discussion: @myurow, @ampress, @jakevolcsko, @kevinloker, @mathewi, @jeffjarvis and @niemanlab

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 …

Discussion: @rustyk5 and @sulliview

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, @rickhirsch, @tglaisyer, Guardian and @jeffjarvis

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: TVNewser, The Buttry Diary, The Corsair, Inside Cable News, @tobyharnden, @dylanbyers, @joshuafoust and @tedhartii

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

Julia Fioretti / Reuters:

EU regulators agree on guidelines for ‘right to be forgotten’ complaints — (Reuters) - European regulators have agreed on criteria for judging appeals for the “right to be forgotten”, taking into account public profiles or crime for example, when search engines such as Google turn down requests …

Committee to Protect Journalists:

New cybercrime law could have serious consequences for press freedom in Qatar — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Qatari government to abolish parts of a restrictive cybercrime law that passed this week, despite assurances from its prime minister last year that the legislation …

Discussion: Naharnet and Amnesty International