Mediagazer: Founder of “Syria Deeply” Lara Setrakian plans to launch “Ebola Deeply” in October (Rem Rieder/USA Today)

3:45 PM ET, September 30, 2014

Top News:

Alina Selyukh / Reuters:

U.S. FCC votes to do away with sports TV blackout rule — (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to eliminate a decades-old rule that has prohibited pay-TV providers from airing some home sports games, such as NFL football, if tickets to those games did not sell out.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Capital New York, The Wrap, Washington Post and Variety

Brendan Sasso / National Journal:
FCC may treat some online video services like cable and satellite TV providers

Discussion: Variety and Mashable

Peter Sterne / Capital New York:

The Toast hires Roxane Gay to lead new sister site ‘The Butter’ — The Toast, the women's site co-founded by Mallory Ortberg and Nicole Cliffe, has hired author Roxane Gay to lead a new sister site called The Butter, Toast publisher Nick Pavich told Capital.

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Piers Morgan joins Daily Mail Online as Editor-at-Large for the US — Piers Morgan joins Daily Mail Online — Piers Morgan, the former CNN anchor, has joined the UK-based Daily Mail Online as Editor-at-Large for the United States, where he will write commentary “several times each week” on major news stories.

Discussion: Daily Mail, Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, Press Gazette, The Independent, Talking Points Memo, @abiwilks, Mediaite, @dylanbyers, @jonsteinberg, @kitlovelace, @thestalwart, @brianstelter and The Huffington Post

Ernst-Jan Pfauth / Medium:

Out of De Correspondent's nearly 19K backers, 11K renewed their subscription after a year — Here's what happened to that world-record in journalism crowdfunding — In November 2013, GigaOm's Mathew Ingram reported on the Dutch journalism crowdfunding campaign which led to the founding of our publication, De Correspondent:

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @davidbauer and @kevglobal

Rem Rieder / USA Today:

Founder of “Syria Deeply” Lara Setrakian plans to launch “Ebola Deeply” in October — Rieder: A new website totally focused on Ebola — Lara Setrakian, the impresario behind the deeply immersive and critically acclaimed website Syria Deeply, is about to take the same approach to Ebola.

New York Times:

Netflix, Weinstein Co. to simultaneously release “Crouching Tiger” sequel on Netflix and IMAX — With ‘Crouching Tiger’ Sequel, Netflix Takes Aim at Hollywood — In a first deal of its kind, Netflix and the Weinstein Company said Monday that they planned to release next year's sequel …

Discussion: Variety, /Film, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Tech Times, FierceCable, Inside Movies, TVbytheNumbers, SocialTimes, The Verge, Hollywood Reporter, Re/code, BBC, Engadget, The Wrap, Bloomberg and @netflix

Steve Buttry / The Buttry Diary:

Amy O'Leary: Why the New York Times didn't publish its Innovation report — In a post earlier today, I asked the question I would have asked Friday at a panel on the New York Times Innovation report (I was at the microphone, next to speak, when time ran out). — My question:

Discussion: Poynter, @jayrosen_nyu and @ivanlajara

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Judge Rules Against Grooveshark in Copyright Infringement Case — In the music industry's second big legal victory in a week, a federal judge in New York ruled on Monday that Grooveshark, an online music service long vilified by the major record companies, infringed on thousands of their copyrights.

Discussion: Reuters, RAIN News, Engadget, AllAccess.com, VentureBeat, @managingip, @xor, Music Week, TorrentFreak, @pkafka and Billboard

Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:

Japan's SoftBank Eyes Stake in Legendary as DreamWorks Animation Talks Break Down — CEO Masayoshi Son has been negotiating with Thomas Tull's studio on a track separate from DWA talks — Japanese giant SoftBank has backpedaled from an active negotiation to acquire DreamWorks Animation, but it is not done shopping in Hollywood.

Discussion: New York Times, The Wrap, Deadline, Variety, smartcompany.com.au, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, SlashGear, Bloomberg and Electronista

Nicole Levy / Capital New York:

Long-serving deputy Julia Turner takes the reins at Slate — “Continuity is the theme of editorial at Slate,” Gawker founder Nick Denton told Capital at a party feting the online magazine's new editor in chief, Julia Turner, on Tuesday night. — Turner said as much herself in a statement published …

Paul Sawers / The Next Web:

Spotify officially arrives for everyone in Canada — It was a long time coming, but Spotify is finally live for one and all in Canada. — Following an invite-only period that kicked off earlier this summer, Canadians can now access the music-streaming service that has steadily been taking the world by storm over the past six years.

Discussion: RAIN News, Toronto Star, Wall Street Journal, Global News, 9to5Mac, WebProNews, VentureBeat, Financial Post and SlashGear

Jessica Davies / The Drum:

Publishers would be ‘fools’ to disregard wearables, says FT's CTO John O'Donovan as he discusses smart-watch opportunities and responsive-design pitfalls — The Financial Times' foray into smart watches has marked a major step in its strategy to build a contextualised, API-based digital portfolio …

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Judge Modifies $48 Million Verdict Against ‘Manipulative’ MP3Tunes Founder — The new ruling comes after a trial in March against Michael Robertson — U.S. District Judge William Pauley, who since 2007 has presided over what might be the most complex copyright lawsuit of all time …

Discussion: Plagiarism Today and Techdirt

Kurt Wagner / Re/code:

BSkyB leads $10M investment in native ad startup Sharethrough — Native Ad Startup Sharethrough Raises $10 Million — Sharethrough, an advertising startup that specializes in “native ads,” has raised $10 million in new venture funding. The round was led by British Sky Broadcasting …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Sharethrough, Sky News, Wall Street Journal and The Drum