Top News:
Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
NBC Wanted to Hire Jon Stewart As Host of Meet the Press — “They were ready to back the Brink's truck up,” one source said — This Sunday marks Chuck Todd's one-month anniversary in the anchor chair at Meet the Press. Despite an opening-week ratings spike from his exclusive sit …
Chris Ariens / TVNewser:
Comcast Shareholders Approve Time Warner Cable Merger — More than 99% of Comcast shareholders voted this morning in support of the company's planned acquisition of Time Warner Cable. TWC shareholders, who are expected to vote on the merger tomorrow, would get 2.875 shares of Comcast Class A stock for every one of their TWC shares.
Discussion:
Radio & Television …, Multichannel News, GalleyCat, The Wrap, Lost Remote, VentureBeat, Variety and FishbowlNY
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Glenn Fleishman / The Magazine:
Subscriber-supported magazine app The Magazine will produce its last issue Dec. 17 — Last Issue Is December 17, 2014 — Hello, readers, The Magazine will stop publishing its every-other-week issues on December 17, 2014, cancel all outstanding subscriptions, and automatically provide pro-rated refunds …
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
Funny or Die Launches News Hub (Exclusive) — “You can be entertained while getting your news” — Funny or Die is tackling the news with the Wednesday launch of its newest content vertical. — Funny or Die News will feature daily editorial content about current events from the comedy website.
Discussion:
Mediaite and @funnyordie
David Higgerson:
Instead of fearing Facebook, journalists should be exploring how to make the most of it — Why journalism needs to get over its fear of Facebook — At the Online News Association conference in Chicago, Facebook went under the microscope, challenged almost to prove it was a force for good in journalism …
Discussion:
@davidhiggerson, @raju, @macloo, @marcsettle and HoldTheFrontPage
Abigail Edge / Journalism.co.uk:
Shorthand launches immersive storytelling tool aimed at freelancers — Immersive aims to offer individual journalists a quick and cost effective format for producing media-rich stories combining text, images and video — Shorthand, the immersive storytelling platform …
Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:
Newsweek announces it's profitable — IBT Media is celebrating the first anniversary of its Newsweek ownership with some good news. — The publisher, which closed on a sale of the title last October for an undisclosed sum, told staff this week that it plans to reveal Newsweek is now profitable …
Discussion:
Media & Entertainment, The Wrap, @joepompeo, FishbowlNY, @joelcifer and @granteb
Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:
Next up for Netflix: An expansion to South Korea, Italy or the Middle East? — Netflix is looking for people who can speak Korean, Arabic and a number of other languages. The job offer could give us clues about the company's international plans. — Netflix isn't done with its international expansion …
Claire Atkinson / New York Post:
Hulu CEO mulls cutting number of ads running on Hulu Plus — Hulu is looking to lighten its ad load. — CEO Mike Hopkins, who took the helm in May, is considering cutting back the number of ads that appear on Hulu Plus, the $7.99-a-month paid tier of the online streaming service, The Post has learned.
Discussion:
Gigaom
Ben Woods / The Next Web:
EE enters into TV wars with first set-top box and catch-up streaming service — UK mobile network operator EE has today launched its own set-top box in a bid to grab a slice of the UK's on-demand TV market. — Announced today, the EE TV set-top box and service allows users to watch on-demand TV …
Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Gannett shifts some costs of USA Today layoffs to states — USA Today laid off about 70 people last month. Those who lost their jobs received a week of pay for every year of service, health care through the end of September and the vacation pay they'd already accrued for the year.
Discussion:
@abeaujon
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
Forbes tweaks native ad program for greater scale — Publishers are pinning their hopes on native ads, but sooner or later, they'll have to address the question of how they're going to scale ads without diminishing the qualities that make them native in the first place.
Discussion:
Forbes, American Press Institute and Talking Biz News
David Bauder / Associated Press:
CBS News Takes Huge RIsk, Sends Reporter Undercover To Syria — NEW YORK (AP) — CBS News reporter Clarissa Ward traveled undercover to Syria to interview two Westerners fighting against the United States for stories airing this week, a risk the network took despite the backdrop of kidnappings and beheadings by Islamic state fighters.