Mediagazer: Layoffs hit CNN and other Turner properties like TNT and TBS as Time Warner cuts costs (Alex Weprin/Capital New York)

9:05 AM ET, October 15, 2014

Top News:

China blocks BBC website amid Hong Kong protests — The BBC's website was blocked in China Wednesday, one day after a video of Hong Kong police beating and kicking a pro-democracy protester began circulating online. — The move appears to be the first time the British broadcaster's website …

Discussion: RSS Breaking News

Wall Street Journal:

Mobs intimidate staff and disrupt distribution at Hong Kong's pro-democracy paper, Apple Daily — Hong Kong's Press Under Siege — Gangster mobs harass the pro-democracy Apple Daily.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Bloomberg and The Epoch Times

Justin Ellis / Nieman Lab:

The new Vox daily email, explained — he old email newsletter continues its remarkable return to prominence. The latest move: Vox wants to make explaining the news a little more manageable by telling you everything you need to know in the comfort of your inbox.

Discussion: Fast Company, @dylanmatt, @tomgara, @davisshaver, @jbenton, @samkirkla, @jayrosen_nyu, New York Magazine and The Daily Caller

Will Oremus / Slate:

The Decline and Fall of the San Francisco Bay Guardian — Another alt-weekly is dead. But this one wasn't just another alt-weekly. It was the San Francisco Bay Guardian, one of the most venerable, staunchly independent, and defiantly weird of America's great alternative weekly newspapers.

Discussion: San Francisco Chronicle and Hit & Run

Joe Eskenazi / SFWeekly:
San Francisco Bay Guardian Closed by San Francisco Media Company

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

Layoffs hit CNN and other Turner properties like TNT and TBS as Time Warner cuts costs — ‘Turner 2020’ cuts hit CNN — CNN faced significant layoffs on the editorial side of its business Tuesday, as parent company Time Warner continued to cut costs. — Capital has learned …

Discussion: TVNewser, Mashable, TVNewser, Politico, The Wrap, FishbowlNY, Poynter, Hollywood Reporter, The Drum, FishbowlDC and The Huffington Post

Wall Street Journal:
Time Warner to Lay Out Its Plan Forward

Discussion: New York Times, Capital New York, Re/code, TheStreet.com, Quartz, Hollywood Reporter, @richbtig and Los Angeles Times

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

BuzzFeed has reinvented the Publisher role, focusing on tech instead of editorial — BuzzFeed's choice of publisher says a lot about how the site looks at media — BuzzFeed's new publisher is not a veteran media executive or an MBA with a business background, but someone who specializes …

Peter Kafka / Re/code:
BuzzFeed growth chief Dao Nguyen promoted as Publisher, to head tech, product, data, platform

New York Times:

Bill Simmons's Return Sets Intrigue in Motion at ESPN — A decade ago, Howard Stern got tired of fighting with the Federal Communications Commission over its decency standards and quit Viacom for satellite radio. — More recently, Glenn Beck clashed with his bosses at Fox News and started his own Internet channel, Glenn Beck TV.

Discussion: @jonathanmahler, @michaeldavsmith and @mattyglesias

Shan Li / Los Angeles Times:

Los Angeles Times sues O.C. Register alleging breach of contract — The Los Angeles Times filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Orange County Register, accusing the embattled newspaper of breach of contract and failure to pay more than $2 million in delivery fees.

Discussion: LA Observed, @ckrewson and ABC News

Todd Spangler / Variety:

NBC Sports Digital Launches ‘SportsWorld,’ Its Version of ESPN's Grantland — NBC Sports Digital has launched SportsWorld, a microsite within NBCSports.com dedicated to long-form storytelling stocked with stories, essays, videos and documentary films — an attempt to engage sports fans beyond …

Discussion: The Wrap and NBC SportsWorld

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Phone hacking: Rebekah Brookss husband loses £600,000 costs claim — Judge also refuses claim from ex-NoW managing editor, saying ‘the defendants’ conduct brought suspicion on themselves' — Rebekah Brooks's husband Charlie has lost his bid to recover the £600,000 in legal fees …

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

SoftBank Snaps Up Global Video Site DramaFever To Increase Its Entertainment Focus — Fresh from announcing a $250 million joint venture with media giant Legendary, SoftBank is increasing its focus on entertainment with an undisclosed deal to buy DramaFever, a five-year-old startup that streams global TV shows and movies online.

Discussion: Adweek, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, Tech in Asia, Financial Times, VentureBeat, Deadline, Multichannel News, Gigaom and Business Wire

Marc Graser / Variety:

Walmart Launches InstaWatch to Increase Digital Downloads from Discs — The addition of digital copies of movies with Blu-rays was meant to help make the physical discs more popular to consumers. Few shoppers are actually redeeming the codes, however, with some saying the process is too time consuming or just plain confusing.

Discussion: Reuters, USA Today and Hollywood Reporter

Alexandra Steigrad / WWD:

Bauer Media introduces flat $9.99/month fee for digital titles in Germany, UK, and US — Bauer Media Group Introducing Flat Fee for Digital — The Bauer Media Group is introducing a flat fee for its digital products. — The Hamburg, Germany-based media firm has partnered with rate provider Readly.

Discussion: MediaPost

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

Inside Gannett's editorial innovation lab — When Gannett Digital created an interactive feature for the Des Moines Register called Harvest of Change, it wasn't just notable because it incorporated cutting-edge technology, virtual reality headset Oculus Rift.

BBC:

Former Sunday Mirror journalist Graham Johnson charged with hacking into mobile phone voicemail systems — Ex-Sunday Mirror journalist charged — Ex-Sunday Mirror journalist Graham Johnson charged with hacking mobile phone voicemail messages by UK prosecutors

Discussion: Guardian, ITV, Reuters and Telegraph

Ishbel Macleod / The Drum:

BBC looks to develop ‘hybrid’ radio to allow mobile users to listen without the internet — The BBC is one of the companies looking to develop a ‘hybrid’ radio for mobile phones, which will combine the strengths of broadcast radio - free-to-receive, robust reception and reliability …

Discussion: whatmobile.net, Music Week, SEENIT, Engadget, Telegraph and media.info