Top News:
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:
FishbowlNY, New York Magazine, @jayrosen_nyu, @jonathanmahler, @michaeldavsmith and @mattyglesias
Agence France-Presse:
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:
Tech in Asia and RSS Breaking News
RELATED:
Alastair Reid / Journalism.co.uk:
Hong Kong outlet wins at World Digital Media Awards while deliveries blocked at home — Apple Daily wins award for best mobile service as Norway's VG picks up two awards, Dagbladet, Guardian and BBC also win — A Hong Kong news organisation was commended for its digital work …
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, @samkirkla, @jbenton, @davisshaver, @tomgara, @dylanmatt, @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
RELATED:
Joe Eskenazi / SFWeekly:
San Francisco Bay Guardian Closed by San Francisco Media Company
Discussion:
SFist, @sfbg, JIMROMENESKO.COM, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, @nateog, @mbridegam, @pmarca, @sfkale, @jtemple, @mattlynley, @danamo, @textfiles, @andohehir, @annapulley, @stevefennessy, LA Observed, @laura_nelson, @derekopperman, @lydiadepillis, @jayadelson, @sr_lazarus, @juliachanb, @latimesrainey, @michaelroston, @maassive, @zoranbasich, @iport and @jakeswearingen
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, TVNewser, Mashable, Politico, The Wrap, FishbowlNY, Hollywood Reporter, Poynter, Hollywood Reporter, The Drum, FishbowlDC and The Huffington Post
RELATED:
Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:
Condé Nast to Lay Off 70 to 80 Employees — Cuts Come Amid Tough Market For Print Ads — Magazine publisher Condé Nast is expected to lay off 70 to 80 employees within the next week or two, primarily from the group that oversees ad sales, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
MediaWire Daily and FishbowlNY
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:
Nieman Lab, LA Observed, @ckrewson, ABC News and Orange County Register
John Plunkett / Guardian:
BBC playing catch-up with Vice News, says Newsbeat editor — Louisa Compton admits frustration at being ‘shackled’ by technology that can take up to five hours to upload a video — The editor of BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat has admitted the corporation is playing “catch-up” with Vice News and that she is …
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:
NBC SportsWorld and The Wrap
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
Michael Sebastian / AdAge:
New York Times Rolls Out Archive of Vintage Print Ads, Asks for Help ID-ing Them — ‘Madison’ Debuts With Ads From the 1960s — Vintage ads that appeared in The New York Times are getting their own digital archive that will live on the Times' website. Called Madison in reference to Madison Avenue …
Discussion:
Gigaom, nytlabs, @jayrosen_nyu, Engadget, @derekwillis, @harrisj and FishbowlNY
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.
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 …
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
BuzzFeed growth chief Dao Nguyen promoted as Publisher, to head tech, product, data, platform
Discussion:
bookforum.com, Marketplace.org, New York Times, @pkafka, FishbowlNY, Poynter, MediaWire Daily, Talking New Media, @lauraolin, The New York Observer, @lauraelizdavis, The Daily Caller, @macloo, @cdirusso, @nycjim, @elanazak, @suzykhimm, @mathewi, @annehelen, @buzzfeedben, @hannaingber and @noahchestnut
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