Mediagazer: How TV's Sports Addiction Could Destroy Its Business (Derek Thompson/The Atlantic Online)

4:45 PM ET, October 7, 2014

Top News:

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Cable network Fusion hires Alexis Madrigal, deputy editor of TheAtlantic.com, to cover tech, TV and digital media — Fusion Hires Alexis Madrigal of Atlantic.com to Bolster Tech Coverage — Alexis Madrigal, deputy editor of Atlantic.com and a prominent online voice on technology and culture …

Discussion: MediaWire Daily, Poynter, @deilemberg, @pkedrosky, @fruzse, @megangarber, @alexismadrigal, @phillydesign, @nandorvila, @noahshachtman, @stevesilberman, @nbj914, @mathewi and @digiphile

Knight Foundation:

Jennifer Preston will join Knight Foundation as vice president for journalism — New York Times digital and print veteran will lead team supporting adoption of innovative digital practices — Jennifer Preston, an award-winning New York Times journalist and digital innovator …

Discussion: Poynter, Capital New York, @sulliview, @ibarguen, @sdkstl, @jeffjarvis, @jcstearns, @dangillmor, @jenniferpreston, @vivian, @louiegilot, @craigsilverman, @digiphile, @aadamglenn and @nycjim

Steve Buttry / The Buttry Diary:

NYT Executive Editor Dean Baquet responds to criticism that he doesn't tweet enough, says new “journalism priesthood” being created — Dean Baquet's response: Beware creating a new journalism ‘priesthood’ — New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet has responded …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, @sulliview, @moneyries, @jeffjarvis, @nytnickc, @mathewi, @fmanjoo, @lpolgreen and @chrisottolnp

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

Twitter sues U.S. government over limits on ability to disclose surveillance orders — Twitter, the world's largest microblogging platform, on Tuesday sued the U.S. government, alleging that the Justice Department's restrictions on what the company can say publicly about the government's …

Discussion: The Twitter Blog, Poynter, VentureBeat, New York Times, TIME, ZDNet, Electronista, The Hill, @johngramlich, Mashable, Threatpost, The Verge, New York Magazine, The Next Web, Engadget and The Week

Sean Gallagher / Ars Technica:

Adobe's e-book reader sends your reading logs back to Adobe—in plain text — Digital Editions even tracks which pages you've read. — Adobe's Digital Editions e-book and PDF reader—an application used by thousands of libraries to give patrons access to electronic lending libraries …

Discussion: The Digital Reader, Gigaom, Network World, Inquirer, The Register, @ricketyoldshack, @virtadpt, @dangillmor, @maira, Consumerist, LJ INFOdocket, Techdirt and Brave New World

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

Storify adds a way to collaborate on breaking news — Storify now has a way for journalists to collaborate on breaking news, Livefyre announced Tuesday. Storify Enterprise, which was previously Storify VIP, lets several people “simultaneously add text or content in real-time …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Storify and The Next Web

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

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 …

Discussion: AdAge, The Wrap and AdExchanger

Gustavo Arellano / OC Weekly:

LA Times: OC Register Owner Aaron Kushner Owes Us $3.5 Million, And We Want it NOW — BOOM! — The gloves are off between the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register owner Aaron Kushner over him owing them millions of dollars for distributing his paper—and it looks like it just might end up in court.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, LA Observed, @palewire, @jadande, @rdotinga, Navel Gazing and @dannysullivan

John Tamny / Forbes:
Even If His Newspaper Investments Don't Work Out, Aaron Kushner Is A Hero For Trying

Discussion: @romenesko

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Politico to add new policy shop: ‘The Agenda’ — We already have The Upshot, Vox.com, Wonkblog, FiveThirtyEight and other policy-heavy news sites. This news space will get a touch more crowded early next year, when Politico launches “The Agenda.” — In a memo to Politico staffers …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, @erikwemple, Prof Chris Daly's Blog and Politico

Yasser Allawi / Syria Deeply:

Journalists in Deir Ezzor province forced to abide by draconian set of rules dictated by ISIS — ISIS Issues 11 Rules for Journalists in Deir Ezzor — Many local journalists fled Deir Ezzor when ISIS arrived - and the ones who stayed behind are forced to abide by the extremist group's draconian rules …

Discussion: @phil_torres, @alexiseast, @fleetstreetfox, The Huffington Post, @khinman, @stigabell, @benweinthal and The Daily Caller

David Cohn / Poynter:

Enough with the manifestos about the future of news, let your product do the talking — Nikki Usher had a great Columbia Journalism Review article “Startup site manifestos are press criticism” where she notes that startup news orgs like PandoDaily, Vox, FiveThirtyEight and more have gotten …

Discussion: @eyeseast, @morisy, @abeaujon and @kimbui

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: Slate, @richbtig, @theatlantic, @benliebmann, @dkthomp and @bcappelbaum

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Halperin/Heilemann's new show lacks focus, covers everything; Monday premiere is a flop — Why the Halperin/Heilemann show flopped — Two decades ago, someone at the Fox Broadcasting Company hit upon the bright idea of giving Chevy Chase his own late-night television show.

Discussion: @samsteinhp, @eliasisquith, @dylanbyers, New York Magazine and Mediaite