Mediagazer: AJAM launches midterms coverage (Hadas Gold/Politico)

9:25 AM ET, October 7, 2014

Top News:

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Turner to reduce headcount by 10% — Turner Broadcasting, the parent company of CNN, will cut its total workforce by about 10 percent in the coming weeks through a mix of buyouts, layoffs and other measures, the company said Monday. — The reductions are part of a broader effort to save money …

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

UK's Daily Telegraph moves towards becoming a digital first newsroom — Telegraph to use digital content as backbone of paper — Editor-in-chief Jason Seiken unveils plan to mostly treat online content as a ‘buffet’ to fill the paper — TMG executives have ‘cherry picked’ ideas from newspapers in North America and Europe

Discussion: @buzzfeedben, @fcage, @mlcalderone, @charliebeckett, @johngapper, @gavinhjackson, @clairemilleruk, @sarahmarshall, @julesmattsson and American Press Institute

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:

Google's “In The News” Box Now Lists More Than Traditional News Sites — Google has confirmed that new “In The News” box appearing in some of its search results now lists content from more than just the traditional news sites. Discussions at Reddit, blog posts, videos and more from non-news sites may turn up.

Discussion: @dannysullivan, @dr_pete, The Next Web, @baekdal and Engadget

John Tamny / Forbes:

Even If His Newspaper Investments Don't Work Out, Aaron Kushner Is A Hero For Trying — “It is the leap, not the look, that generates crucial information.” - George Gilder, Wealth and Poverty — In July of 2012 internet entrepreneur Aaron Kushner* acquired Freedom Communications, owner of the Orange County Register newspaper.

Discussion: @romenesko

Gustavo Arellano / Navel Gazing:
OC Register subscribers inundate customer service with calls about missed deliveries

Discussion: @seasnork, @dannysullivan, @dannysullivan and FishbowlNY

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

Publishing Battle Should Be Covered, Not Joined — IS the fight between traditional publishers and Amazon “the end of the world as we know it,” in the words of the old R.E.M. song? — A prominent literary agent declares that “if Amazon is not stopped, we are facing the end of literary culture in America.”

Discussion: bookforum.com, @oliverburkeman, @barryeisler, @porter_anderson, @aoscott, @kevin_ashton, @ryanchittum, @laurahazardowen, @joshgerstein, @hughhowey, @abwashbureau, BusinessJournalism.org …, GalleyCat, Publishers Weekly, @jayrosen_nyu and @mathewi

Natasha Singer / New York Times:

Companies like NewsBios are selling intelligence dossiers on reporters to PR agencies — Just the Facts? This Dossier Goes Further — It was my birthday the other day, and, along with the usual private greetings from family and friends, I noticed a couple of public salutations about it on Twitter from entities I didn't recognize.

Discussion: @lizdday and @carlbialik

Amy Calder / Morning Sentinel:

Risen: Journalists must fight or become irrelevant — Colby College's Lovejoy winner, a New York Times reporter, faces the possibility of being imprisoned for refusing to reveal his sources. — 207-861-9247 — New York Times investigative reporter James Risen speaks with journalism students …

Discussion: Politico, @eddyelfenbein, @20committee, @ggreenwald, @cmegalodon69, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Huffington Post and American Press Institute

Claire Atkinson / New York Post:

Sony's new Internet pay-TV service to have 100 channels, may cost between $60-80/month — Sony sets high price bar for Web TV — Sony's upcoming Internet-delivered TV service will carry 100 channels and a surprisingly high price tag of as much as $80 a month, The Post has learned.

Discussion: Business Insider, Multichannel News and Gigaom

David Banks / New Statesman:

UK journalists should fear scrapping of the Human Rights Act as it protects them — What has the Human Rights Act done for us? Quite a lot, as it turns out — The European Court of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act have both done a huge amount of good for people in the UK. — GOOGLE PLUS ONE

Todd Spangler / Variety:

AOL Hires Viacom's Dermot McCormack as Head of Video, as Ran Harnevo Steps Aside (Exclusive) — AOL has tapped Viacom exec Dermot McCormack as president of its video division, replacing Ran Harnevo, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. — Harnevo has been with AOL since …

Hadas Gold / Politico:

AJAM launches midterms coverage — Al Jazeera America, the extremely well-financed and extremely low-rated network, is vying for a few more eyeballs during the 2014 midterms: On Monday, it will launch “America Votes 2014,” a series of election-related programs that will focus on the issues rather than the horserace.

Discussion: Politico

Shivam Srivastava / Reuters:

Amazon to face EU investigation over Luxembourg tax deal: FT — (Reuters) - The European Commission is set to begin a formal probe into allegations that Luxembourg allowed Amazon.com Inc to benefit illegally from state subsidies for its European operations for almost 10 years, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Discussion: Financial Times and Agence France-Presse

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

How TV's Sports Addiction Could Destroy Its Business — Over the weekend, the NBA struck a massive deal with ESPN and TNT worth $24 billion between 2016 and the 2024-25 season. On its face, it's a good and obvious move—good for the NBA, good for fans, and obvious for the networks.

Discussion: @richbtig, @dkthomp, @benliebmann and @bcappelbaum