Mediagazer: Chinese Internet Giant Tencent Launches Film Production Unit (Patrick Frater/Variety)

8:15 AM ET, September 19, 2014

Top News:

William Turvill / Press Gazette:

Mirror and Express are only two Fleet Street titles not to name British journalist hostage held by IS — The Daily Mirror and Daily Express are the only two national newspaper not to have identified British journalist John Cantlie who is being held hostage by the Islamic State.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Independent, ASHARQ AL-AWSAT, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, Global News, NBC News and NY Daily News

Michèle Léridon / AFP Correspondent/ behind the news:
Agence France-Presse won't accept freelance work from Syria, will decide on publishing ISIS images case by case

Mike Wallberg / IVOH:

New Washington Post newsletter delivers optimism to readers' inboxes — Washington Post photo of Whitney Paxson and daughter Madeline, 6, who were featured in a story about the transformation of alleyways in D.C. The story appeared in the Post's new newsletter, The Optimist.

Discussion: Poynter, @ivohmedia, @mallarytenore, @carloslozadawp, @meena_thiru and @jayrosen_nyu

Patrick Frater / Variety:

Chinese Internet Giant Tencent Launches Film Production Unit — HONG KONG - Tencent, the giant Chinese Internet firm which operates WeChat and the QQ messaging service, has unveiled plans to become a film producer. — Its new unit Tencent Movies+ has a slate of seven feature films in development.

Discussion: Tech in Asia, Forbes, ScreenDaily and BusinessKorea

Tamara Baluja / J-source:

Winnipeg Free Press adds social media element to letters to the editor — Letters to the editor are a dying breed. Although a long-standing tradition at newspapers, they just don't jibe with today's media landscape of immediacy and urgency. The Winnipeg Free Press is changing that by bringing social media to snail mail.

Discussion: @meltait, @tamara_baluja, @tamara_baluja, @quinparker and @iabcmanitoba

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

YouTube will spend millions to fund & promote new shows from popular creators — YouTube Takes Out Checkbook Again, Pays Its Stars to Make Videos — The world's biggest video site is paying people to make videos. Again. — YouTube is planning to invest millions in some of its biggest stars …

Discussion: Guardian, Tech Trader Daily, LifeHealthPro, Onlinevideo.net, 9to5Google, TechBeat, SocialTimes, YouTube Blog, Forbes, The Next Web, Variety, Marketing Land, The Next Web, Bloomberg, CNET and Gigaom

Associated Press:

3 Guinean radio journalists among those killed in an attack on a team fighting Ebola in Guinea — 7 Killed While On Guinea Ebola Education Campaign … CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — The prime minister of Guinea says seven bodies have been found in rural Guinea after a group …

Discussion: Reuters, BBC, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, Agence France-Presse, Gawker, New York Times, International Business Times and Bloomberg

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Twitter's New US Media Boss is Kirstine Stewart — Twitter has named Kirstine Stewart to head up its U.S. media unit, filling a vacancy left by Chloe Sladden in June. Stewart, who had previously run Twitter's media group in Canada, will report to Katie Stanton, who now runs Twitter's global media group.

Discussion: @joannauk, @katies, @shinangovani, @mathewi, @kathrynbuczko and @chrisdoyle

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

New Politico Editor Susan Glasser praises newsroom's clear-cut mission, acknowledges need to adapt constantly — New Politico Editor Susan Glasser Wants To ‘Win The Morning’ — And The Afternoon And Evening — NEW YORK — On Thursday morning, Politico cofounders John Harris …

Discussion: @jonathanchait, @sbg1, @carloslozadawp, @mlcalderone and FishbowlDC

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

BMI Reports a Record $977 Million in Revenue — BMI and Ascap, two of the music industry's oldest and biggest licensing organizations, are struggling to adapt to the digital age. But both groups are also collecting more and more money as their songs are played on all kinds of media.

Discussion: BMI.com and RAIN News

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Lab:

New Inquiry publisher says building cultural significance is easy, building a sustainable business is hard — For New Inquiry publisher Rachel Rosenfelt, building cultural significance was easy — building a sustainable business is the hard part — The New Inquiry started as a Tumblr in 2009.

Discussion: @mattdpearce, @zunguzungu, @gillianmae, @rachelrosenfelt and @niemanlab

Tampa Bay Times:

Tampa Bay Times cuts employee pay 5% starting Sept. 29, warns of job losses, reduces severance after Oct. 1 — Times cuts employee pay 5 percent, reduces severance payments — Pay for full-time employees at the Tampa Bay Times will be cut by 5 percent under a new cost-savings plan implemented by the newspaper starting Sept. 29.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, @gangrey, @gangrey, @romenesko, @kvanvalkenburg, @gangrey, @amydempsey, @jwilks26 and @alldigitocracy

Carmel DeAmicis / Gigaom:

Twitpic says it was acquired and will no longer be shutting down, but doesn't name buyer — Twitpic says it's getting acquired but it won't say by whom — The official Twitpic account just tweeted that the company isn't shutting down after all. It's being acquired, although the tweet didn't specify what company is saving the day.

Discussion: @twitpic, Ubergizmo, The Drum, @8bsn, @textfiles, @yannikouts, Engadget, The Next Web and PandoDaily

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 …