Mediagazer: German-American journalist Michael Scott Moore was freed after $1.6M ransom paid, pirate says (Associated Press)

1:45 AM ET, September 25, 2014

Top News:

Top ESPN executives were involved in Simmons suspension from all platforms, including podcast, Facebook and Twitter — ESPN suspends Bill Simmons for criticism of Roger Goodell — One of the most popular figures in sports media dared ESPN management to take him to task for his comments …

Discussion: Grantland, ESPN, Mediaite, @dw_grant, @lahlahlindsey, @kellydomara, @mattdpearce, @jay_jaffe, @richarddeitsch, @nealrogers, @evanmcmurry, @richarddeitsch, @clydetombaugh, @zigmanfreud, Business Insider, Deadspin, Mashable and The Daily Caller

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:

ESPN Suspends Bill Simmons 3 Weeks for Goodell Rant — ESPN commentator and Grantland editor-in-chief Bill Simmons went off on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during his podcast Tuesday, lambasting the commissioner for claiming not to have known what the Ray Rice tape contained: … His reward?

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

Diversity, Strong Editing and Moving Forward from the Shonda Rhimes Furor — In more than two years as public editor at The Times, I've encountered very few subjects that have aroused as much passion and reaction as an Arts & Leisure article about the TV producer Shonda Rhimes and the stereotype of the …

Discussion: @stevebuttry, The Wrap, @moorehn, Entertain This!, @mattdpearce, @erikwemple, @emilynussbaum, @tanzinavega, @kateaurthur, The Huffington Post and Forbes

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

New York Times retires managing editor title, promotes four to deputy executive editor — New York Times Promotes Editors, in Change of Leadership Structure — The executive editor of The New York Times announced broad changes to the newspaper's leadership Wednesday …

Discussion: Poynter, JIMROMENESKO.COM, The New York Observer, WWD Media Headlines, Capital New York, The Huffington Post, MediaWire Daily, Politico, FishbowlNY, @jenny8lee, @romenesko and @mlcalderone

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

Journalists face restricted access at Clintons' event amid speculation of presidential run — At Clintons' Event, a Really Close Watch on Reporters — Charitable commitments have been made. Important topics like Ebola and elephant poaching have been discussed.

Discussion: Washington Post, @tripgabriel, @aaronblakewp, @byronyork, @morningmoneyben, @stephcliff, @rebeccagberg, Mediaite, @oknox, @bomble, @crowleytime, @thefix, @amychozick and The Daily Caller

Rob Brunner / Fast Company:

ANTHONY BOURDAIN HAS BECOME THE FUTURE OF CABLE NEWS, AND HE COULDN'T CARE LESS — “Ready to eat well?” asks Anthony Bourdain. — The chef turned TV star is leading the way toward a pair of narrow seats at the New York outpost of a Michelin-rated Tokyo yakitori joint called Tori Shin …

Discussion: @jannarden, Eater and kottke.org

Pew Research Center:

How social media is reshaping news — The ever-growing digital native news world now boasts about 5,000 digital news sector jobs, according to our recent calculations, 3,000 of which are at 30 big digital-only news outlets. Many of these digital organizations emphasize the importance …

Discussion: @journalism2ls, ReadWrite, @mickcote, @sarakgoo, @pewinternet and @niemanlab

Eric Blattberg / Digiday:

The secret to BuzzFeed's video success: Data — BuzzFeed Motion Pictures wants to be your best friend. — And by all accounts, it's well on its way: Like the rest of BuzzFeed, the 40-person video department has centered the majority of its content around a cheerful, upbeat tone …

Discussion: @camrobertson5 and @janebsinger

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:

Authors Group Will Ask Justice Department to Probe Amazon — A group of authors protesting Amazon.com 's ongoing contract negotiation with publisher Hachette Book Group plans to ask the Justice Department to investigate the retailer's business practices. — The group, Authors United …

Discussion: Financial Times, Publishers Weekly, Bookseller news and Publishers Lunch

Jillian York / Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Where Books Are Banned, The Internet Can Be a Lifesaver — The censorship or banning of books is a phenomenon that occurs in countries around the world. Books that are considered “scandalous” or inciteful in some way are often targets of censorship by governments, schools, libraries and other entities.

Our Bad Media:

Yes, The Indefensible Fareed Zakaria Also Plagiarized In His Fancy Liquor Columns For Slate — Yesterday, Slate Group editor-in-chief Jacob Weisberg took a break from promoting iPhone pants to harrumph about our coverage of Fareed Zakaria's plagiarism. Weisberg, the head of a website …

Discussion: Politico, @justinsreedy, @stevebuttry, @crushingbort, @jayrosen_nyu, @jeremyduns, @jaredbkeller, Inside Cable News and Mediaite

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Lab:

CNNgo is the network's attempt to break the linear model for broadcast television. — It's 2014, and if you want to, you can watch cable news live on a mobile device from pretty much anywhere. It might well stream poorly, and you'll have a hard time figuring out how to log in to (or “authenticate") your account, but you can do it.

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

ABC's ‘Nightline’ Sees New Life After Midnight, Takes Aim at Vice Media Demo — Wee-hours TV can be pretty predictable. You've got umpteen reruns, a handful of old movies, a lot of direct-response ads and Craig Ferguson on CBS and Seth Meyers on NBC. Over at ABC, you never know what you're going to get.

Discussion: TVNewser and The Wrap

The Independent:

Trinity Mirror ‘could face hundreds of claims’ from phone hacking victims — Trinity Mirror is facing potentially hundreds of claims from victims of phone hacking after the publisher admitted that some of its journalists were involved in the illegal practice.

Discussion: @jpublik

Guardian:
Phone hacking: Trinity Mirror to pay out over 10 claims

Discussion: Crikey, @marksweney, RTTNews, London Evening Standard, ITV, BBC, Guardian, The Drum, Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, Press Gazette, @rachelstevenson and Reuters

Sherif Mansour / Committee to Protect Journalists:

CPJ joins call for Rouhani to improve press freedom and human rights in Iran — The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 25 human rights and civil society groups today in signing an open letter to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who is due to address the United Nations General Assembly …

Discussion: Iranwire, @cpjmena and Washington Post

Justin Ellis / Nieman Lab:

Through The Wire: What happened with The Atlantic's experiment in aggregation? — Almost a year ago The Wire dropped an important signifier from its name. The decision to drop the “Atlantic” was about letting the news and entertainment aggregator live on its own outside the parent company.

Discussion: @ceodonovan

Maggie Brown / Guardian:

The BBC's chief international correspondent on the human cost of the Syria and Gaza conflicts, and the dangers facing reporters — BBC's Lyse Doucet: ‘I realised there was a story to be told from the ground up’ — The BBC's chief international correspondent on the human cost of the Syria …

Discussion: @matthewteller, @yifrenia, @mosharrafzaidi and @nickbryantny

Rob Davis / Oregonian:

Forest Service says media needs photography permit in wilderness areas, alarming First Amendment advocates — First Amendment advocates are alarmed by a U.S. Forest Service policy requiring journalists to get a permit to shoot videos in federal wilderness areas including those on Mount Hood.

Discussion: Associated Press, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, @heytammybruce, @amybwang, @myrmecos, @seanrobinsontnt, @mortizuribe, The Newspaper Guild, @popehat, @robwdavis, @dcbigjohn, @kate_sheppard, @agarciaphoto, @clydelewis and @mjsphotog

Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:

Amazon's Head of Digital Music and Video Is Leaving — Amazon.com 's head of digital music and video is leaving after a 15-year stint with the company. — Bill Carr, a 47-year-old vice president, announced his decision internally Tuesday. It was unclear whether Carr had another job lined up when he exits at the end of the year.

Discussion: Variety

Steven Mufson / Washington Post:

Washington Post announces cuts to employees' retirement benefits — The Washington Post announced large cuts in retirement benefits on Tuesday, declaring that it would eliminate future retirement medical benefits and freeze defined-benefit pensions for nonunion employees.

Discussion: @curtwoodward, @ssdance, bizjournals, The Huffington Post, FishbowlDC, @kansasalps, GeekWire, Politico, @carlzimmer, @jamieson, @sarahw, @aterkel and @chris__richards

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Forbes Drops Contributor for Column on ‘Drunk Female Students’ and Frats — Forbes magazine has dumped contributor Bill Frezza after a controversial column he wrote about how drunk female students are a threat to fraternities all over the country. — Frezza contended that fraternities simply …