Mediagazer: Softbank in Talks to Acquire DreamWorks Animation (Wall Street Journal)

1:45 AM ET, September 28, 2014

Top News:

Softbank in Talks to Acquire DreamWorks Animation — Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp. is in talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Variety, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, PC World, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Deadline and Bloomberg

Jeremiah Patterson / Online News Association:

Seattle Times, Pro Publica, NPR take home 2014 Online Journalism Awards — CHICAGO — Coverage of natural disasters and health care as well as the making of a T-shirt took top honors Saturday night at the 2014 Online Journalism Awards, which ended the Online News Association Conference.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and @raju

Brian Knowlton / New York Times:

US State Department fights ISIS social media propaganda with accounts like @ThinkAgain_DOS — Digital War Takes Shape on Websites Over ISIS — WASHINGTON — Along with its surprising military success, the Islamic State group has demonstrated a skill and sophistication with social media previously unseen in extremist groups.

Discussion: VICE News, Bloomberg, ABC News and Telegraph

Ryan Devereaux / The Intercept:

Managing a Nightmare: How the CIA Watched Over the Destruction of Gary Webb — Eighteen years after it was published, “Dark Alliance,” the San Jose Mercury News's bombshell investigation into links between the cocaine trade, Nicaragua's Contra rebels, and African American neighborhoods in California …

Discussion: @ggreenwald, @jayrosen_nyu, @brendan_fischer, @ggreenwald, Columbia Journalism Review and SN&R Weekly Contents

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

What's changed at the NYT since the leaked innovation report, according to NYT staffers at ONA conference session — How the NYT innovation report came to be — Amy O'Leary's first thought when she heard The New York Times' innovation report had been leaked was “S**t, I'm going to get fired.”

Discussion: BuzzFeed, @poynter, @amyoleary, @amyoleary, @amyoleary, @rsm, @digiphile, @derekwillis, @karaswisher, @macloo, @pmarca, @abeaujon and @antderosa

Timothy B. Lee / Vox:

How experiments with online services in '80s led newspapers to believe the web wasn't a serious threat in the '90s — Newspapers weren't late to online news — they were way too early — When a new technology is invented, there's often a lot of doubt about its utility.

Discussion: @mattyglesias and @ruthoutspoken

Rebecca Greenfield / Fast Company:

The (Surprisingly Profitable) Rise Of Podcast Networks — In the third episode of StartUp, the podcast about starting a podcast business, host and aspiring entrepreneur Alex Blumberg has a breakdown. — “I spent three f**king thousand dollars today,” he complains to his wife. “As I'm about to quit my job!

Discussion: Washington Post, Thanks:@jakeshapiro

Alexis Sobel Fitts / Columbia Journalism Review:

How Facebook is changing who gets paid for your work — Content curators and aggregators aren't going away — In 2009, Wired's then-executive editor, Chris Anderson, released a book with a daunting prediction. In Free: The Future of A Radical Price, Anderson claimed that the open-air marketplace …

Rafat Ali / rafat.org:

This Vertical Life: The Media Models I Admire — Verticals have a particular attraction for me, which may have something to do with my general obsessiveness. Picking a topic you're willing to spend a good number of years in, going deep into it with everything you have …

Discussion: @jasonhirschhorn, @rafat, @zseward, @hsherman and @athorsheim

John Ourand / SportsBusiness Daily:

An Inside Look At ESPN's Decision To Suspend Bill Simmons For Goodell Comments … It was around 5:00pm ET Wednesday afternoon when Marie Donoghue, one of ESPN's highest-ranking female execs, picked up the phone in the network's Manhattan office to call Bill Simmons.

Discussion: ESPN, The Dish, @ceisenhood, @joshmartinnba and Columbia Journalism Review

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

As Roku grows, it's moving towards pay-to-play for successful channels — Getting your app onto Roku's platform is free. But once you start to make real money, the company will ask you to sign a new deal — to the surprise of some publishers. — With 1,800 channels and growing …

Discussion: FierceCable

Craig Silverman / Tow Center for Digital Journalism:

News in the Grey: Rumors and Debunkings in Online Media — Our new fellow, Craig Silverman, launched his research project at the Online News Association conference in Chicago this week. The timing was perfect: It's been a big week for rumors and debunkings. — On Monday this week there were rumors that:

Discussion: @emilybell and The Atlantic Online