Mediagazer: Google May Lead $500 Million Round in Magic Leap Virtual Reality Tech (Liz Gannes/Re/code)

1:45 PM ET, October 14, 2014

Top News:

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

BuzzFeed growth chief Dao Nguyen promoted as Publisher, to head tech, product, data, platform — BuzzFeed's Growth Czar Is Now Its Publisher — For the last couple of years, Dao Nguyen has been the person in charge of data and growth at BuzzFeed, which means she has done a very big job very well …

Discussion: The New York Observer, Gigaom, MediaWire Daily, FishbowlNY, Poynter, @lauraelizdavis, @macloo, @cdirusso, @annehelen, @nycjim, @elanazak, @pkafka, @suzykhimm, @mathewi, @buzzfeedben, @lauraolin, @hannaingber, @noahchestnut and The Daily Caller

John McDermott / Digiday:

Profile of Rurik Bradbury, the tech entrepreneur behind the @profjeffjarvis account — One man's war on digital media's ‘thinkfluencer’ echo chamber — In real life, Rurik Bradbury is a mild-mannered Englishman who bears a startling physical resemblance to Edward Snowden.

Discussion: @profjeffjarvis, @markhurst, @johnmcquaid, @evgenymorozov, @jyarow, @digiday, @jeffjohnroberts and @slarkpope

Lily Leung / Orange County Register:

Orange County Register names new publisher, ex-Harrah's exec Richard Mirman; Kushner remains principal owner and Freedom CEO — Register names new publisher — Richard Mirman, a former executive at Harrah's Entertainment known in Las Vegas for his talents in casino marketing …

Discussion: Navel Gazing, LA Observed, @glenfaison, @ksablan, Associated Press, @pottsmark and @stevebuttry

Gabriel Kahn / Mediashift:

Q&A with ex-Gigaom CEO Paul Walborsky on how it built a media business around free content — How Gigaom Built a Media Business Around Free Content — Last month, Paul Walborsky stepped down after seven years as chief executive of Gigaom. During that time, the tech site grew enormously …

Discussion: @ethan_lindsey and @mathewi

Brian Fung / Washington Post:

Aereo to the FCC: Let us join the cable companies we tried to replace — It's been weeks since we last heard from Aereo, the shuttered streaming video service that lost big at the Supreme Court this summer. Now it's back, and the company is rolling over in its fight against TV broadcasters …

Discussion: Bloomberg, All Aereo, Light Reading, Multichannel News, Deadline, New York Post, MediaPost, Consumerist, FierceOnlineVideo News and The Hill

George Packer / New Yorker:

The story behind the making of Citizenfour, Laura Poitras' film about Edward Snowden's leaks — The Holder of Secrets — The Holder of Secrets Laura Poitras's closeup view of Edward Snowden. From the garden terrace of a sixth-floor walkup on a quiet Berlin street, there was a clear view to the TV Tower, in Alexanderplatz.

Discussion: Forbes, Wired, @evanchill, @matinastevis and Business Insider

Motherboard:

How an FBI Informant Ordered the Hack of British Tabloid ‘The Sun’ — In July of 2011, the website for the British tabloid The Sun announced that media mogul Rupert Murdoch had been found “dead in his garden.” — It was a lie, of course; a fake article planted by hackers who spent …

Discussion: @jimwaterson, @dangillmor, Guardian and @jamesrbuk

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

Washington Post's chief revenue officer heads for Yahoo — Kevin Gentzel, The Washington Post's chief revenue officer, is headed to Yahoo, where he'll be the head of ad sales, an internal memo from Steve Hills, president and general manager of Washington Post Media, announced on Tuesday.

Discussion: @mikeisaac

Liz Gannes / Re/code:

Google May Lead $500 Million Round in Magic Leap Virtual Reality Tech — Google and other investors are planning a huge investment in Magic Leap, a secretive but boastful company building hardware and software it says will deliver “cinematic reality.” — Sources say Google is leading …

Discussion: Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Beyond Search, @willaaye, VentureBeat, @caseynewton, @arainert and Gizmodo UK

Dave Smith / Business Insider:

How Seth Weintraub, an IT professional, started one of the biggest Apple news blogs, 9to5Mac — How An IT Guy Stranded In Paris Turned Himself Into The Most Powerful Source Of Apple News — There's one website that breaks more Apple news than any other — 9to5Mac.

Discussion: Nieman Lab and @markgurman

Rem Rieder / USA Today:

Under new editor Susan Glasser, Politico will switch focus to efficiency, relaunch site in Nov — Rieder: Will Politico change under Glasser? — There's no question Politico has been one of the big success stories of the digital journalism era. — Launched seven years ago …

Discussion: @jbenton, @tonyromm and @peterbakernyt

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

Sources say NYT staff unhappy with Guardian's total control over Snowden's document cache — Is The Guardian Holding Back The New York Times' Snowden Stories? — A source at the Times tells The Daily Beast the paper feels ‘shackled’ over The Guardian's total control over the cache …

Discussion: @juliaangwin

Chris O'Brien / VentureBeat:

Maker Studios CEO says Disney had to buy it to ‘remain relevant’ — Above: Ynon Kreiz of Maker Studios speaking at the 2014 VidCon at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. — When Disney plopped down $500 million earlier this year to buy Maker Studios …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Guardian, Variety and SSN Insider