Mediagazer: Tidal launches as a $19.99 per month hi-fi music streaming service with editorial curation and videos (Josh Ong/The Next Web)

9:25 AM ET, October 29, 2014

Top News:

Magazine journalist Matt Taibbi has left Pierre Omidyar's First Look Media: “Our differences were never about editorial independence” — Important Announcement — I regret to announce that after several weeks of discussions, Matt Taibbi has left First Look. We wish him well.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, @johnjcook, @jamesrbuk, @pierre, @dangillmor, @tomgara, @rafat, PandoDaily, @nicholasdynan and @acarvin

Andrew Rice / New York Magazine:

Matt Taibbi leaves First Look Media after disagreements with management — Matt Taibbi Disappears From Omidyar's First Look Media — Matt Taibbi, the star magazine writer hired earlier this year to start a satirical website for billionaire Pierre Omidyar's First Look Media …

Wolfgang Blau / Guardian:

Guardian US launches responsive, redesigned website with flexible section pages — Welcome to the new Guardian US — We are proud to introduce our 27 million American readers to the new US edition of theguardian.com today. Take a look around and let us know what you think

Discussion: AdAge, TheMediaBriefing, The New York Observer, Guardian and Guardian

Theo Padnos / New York Times:

Theo Padnos, American Journalist, on Being Kidnapped, Tortured and Released in Syria — My Captivity: A Journalist's Years in Syria — In 2012, Theo Padnos, an American journalist, was kidnapped by the Nusra Front. After months of beatings and torture, he was certain he would be executed.

Discussion: Guardian and New York Magazine

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

British Broadcaster Sky Invests $7 Million In YouTube Video Network Whistle Sports — Sky (BSkyB) is best known as a British satellite broadcaster, but it is increasingly becoming a startup investor after it announced its third deal in a month. Fresh from putting $5 million …

Discussion: The Wrap, Telegraph, Bloomberg, Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Deadline

Saeed Kamali Dehghan / Guardian:

Iranian journalists detained after reporting on acid attacks — Hardliners criticise news agency's coverage of assaults on women in city of Isfahan — Iranian authorities, irked by the scale of public outrage about a string of acid attacks in the city of Isfahan, have turned on the media …

Discussion: Full, Telegraph, Slate, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and Agence France-Presse

The Moscow Times:

Russia Bans Wayback Machine Internet Archive Over Islamic State Video — The Russian government has blacklisted the California-based Wayback Machine, a comprehensive archive of the Internet, over an Islamist video available on the website. — The video, called “The Clang of Swords,” …

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Digital chief Denise Warren leaves the Times — Denise Warren, The New York Times' digital chief and a 26-year veteran, is leaving the company as a result of what Times brass described as “organizational changes.” — Warren has served as executive vice president of digital products and services since April 2013.

Discussion: New York Times

Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:

Sun-Times owner Wrapports launching 70 news sites and apps for US metros, aiming to build national news and ad network with local partners — The newsonomics of the Sun-Times national/local network play — Coming, officially today, to your hometown: A templatized, national/local …

Discussion: Chicago Business, Chicago Sun Times, @ckrewson, @mikeziegler, @mschwerha, @mikeziegler, @mathewi, Robert Feder, @jbenton, @shoominc and Poynter

Patrick Howell O'Neill / The Daily Dot:

Verizon's tech news site SugarString won't let writers report on US spying or net neutrality — Verizon is launching a tech news site that bans stories on U.S. spying — Verizon is getting into the news business. What could go wrong? — The most-valuable, second-richest telecommunications company …

Discussion: Engadget, ethernut.net, @klinla, @viku1111, Business Insider, The Verge, @fordm, @mattblaze, Gizmodo, @tvnewslab, @mikeisaac, @emptywheel, @aidanfeldman and @reckless

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Former CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson alleges network suppressed stories on ‘corporate partners’ — CBS News declined to comment on the allegations below. — In an astonishing media tour following her resignation from CBS News last spring, correspondent Sharyl Attkisson sat …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Post, BREITBART.COM, Washington Times, TheBlaze.com and Fox News

NetNewsCheck:

iHeart Reports Revenues Up 3% For Q3 — iHeartMedia has reported consolidated revenues for the third quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2014 increased $42.5 million, or 3%, compared to the same period of 2013 and revenues increased $7 million, or 1%, primarily driven by core national broadcast radio …

Discussion: MySanAntonio.com, Hollywood Reporter, Radio Ink Magazine and Wall Street Journal

Rafat Ali / rafat.org:

Why It Is Time For A Vertical Media Collective — For all the hype that media loves to shower on itself, vertical media companies, outlets and startups are the invisible middle child that everyone ignores. Even media reporters writing at vertical media outlets ignore it …