Mediagazer: New York magazine's designers increase emphasis on online design with gifs, footnotes, video (Simon Owens/Nieman Lab)

5:50 PM ET, November 17, 2014

Top News:

Vice Hires Alyssa Mastromonaco, Former Official in Obama White House, as Top Executive — Vice Media, the news and entertainment group, is expected to announce Monday that it has hired Alyssa Mastromonaco, a former Obama administration official, as its chief operating officer.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, @ericsundy, @nitashatiku, @no_redheads_pls, Variety, @maxseddon, @diplomansky, @viceukmedia, The New York Observer, FishbowlNY, Media Wire Daily and Mashable

Peter Sterne / Capital New York:
Vice is expanding into science fiction with a new section called “Terraform” for Motherboard

Discussion: Publishers Weekly

Marco Arment / Marco.org:

Podcasts are neither exploding nor dying - they've been steadily growing for a decade — Why podcasts are suddenly “back” — Did you hear? Podcasts were dead, and now they're back! — This story is suddenly everywhere. It's not extremely accurate, but I'll take it.

Discussion: @beachwoodreport, @stan_alcorn, @jsb and ParisLemon

Elizabeth Jensen / New York Times:

Podcast network Radiotopia raises over $620K on Kickstarter — Kickstarter Campaign Focuses on Public Radio — A Kickstarter campaign offering backers the opportunity to participate in “remaking public radio” through podcasts raised $620,412 by the time it ended Friday …

Discussion: @prx, @kickstarter and @radiotopiafm

Jane L. Levere / New York Times:

Airbnb launches Pineapple, a quarterly print magazine focused on travel; $12 at select stores — Airbnb Introducing Print Magazine, Pineapple — Following in the footsteps of other digital brands like CNET and WebMD, Airbnb is getting into the print magazine business.

Discussion: The Awl, @katiefehren, Gawker, Business Insider, @susie_c, FishbowlNY, @besvinick, @caseynewton, @jonmarino, Street Fight and BetaBoston

Chris Amico / Homicide Watch DC:

After announcing it is shutting down, Homicide Watch DC is now seeking a local owner — Request for Proposals to Continue Homicide Watch D.C. — A week ago, we announced that we would close this site at the end of December, after covering the District of Columbia for more than four years.

Discussion: Poynter, @aschweig, @amlwhere, @mikedebonis and @homicidewatch

Capital New York:

As NYT buyout deadline nears, speculation mounts about who is leaving the newsroom — New York Times buyout watch, 2014 — With a looming deadline for New York Times buyout applications, details about employees who have taken the package—or are believed to be strongly considering it—are starting to trickle out.

Discussion: Poynter and @joepompeo

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Economist EIC: We're no different from Sky or HBO - we all make most money from subscriptions — Micklethwait: 'Merkel listens to the Economist's audio app in the car' — The Economist's editor-in-chief on his big-name readers and rumours that the FT will sell its 50% stake

Discussion: @mediaguardian

Simon Owens / Nieman Lab:

New York magazine's designers increase emphasis on online design with gifs, footnotes, video — It's small touches that can make a difference in New York's layouts — In a recent long New York magazine interview with Jon Stewart, the Daily Show host made an offhand reference …

Grady Smith / Guardian:

Forgoing streaming and iTunes sales, Garth Brooks sees meager sales for his comeback album — How Garth Brooks took on the internet - and lost — The poor sales of his comeback album Man Against Machine show that taking a stand against the modern music business only works if you're Taylor Swift

Discussion: @dsilverman, @monkbent, @guardianus, Associated Press and ParisLemon

Jeff Elder / Wall Street Journal:

Russian Agency Looks to Meet With Twitter, Facebook on New Laws — The Russian government agency looking to enforce new restrictions on the Internet has asked Twitter and Facebook to send representatives to Russia to discuss the laws. — A spokesman for Russian government media regulator Roscomnadzor confirmed the planned meetings.

Jacqui Shine / The Awl:

The history of the Styles section of the New York ‘Times’—and the real New Journalism — Bonfire of the Inanities — The story arrived in November of 1992—more than a year after the video for Nirvana's “Smells Like Teen Spirit” premiered on MTV's “120 Minutes.”

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, bookforum.com, @lpolgreen, @moorehn, @danjonesnyt, @mattdpearce, @jamesestrin and @prisonculture

Patrick Smith / BuzzFeed:

Russia Today UK reaches 395K, or 0.7% of Britons, faces questions about impartiality — Everything You Need To Know About Russia Today UK — RT UK is the newest part of a Kremlin-funded news network with more money than the BBC World Service. It's already facing the possibility of Ofcom sanctions for its lack of impartiality.

Discussion: @maxseddon, @lukelewis and BBC

Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:

Uber Confirms Spotify Integration — The companies made the news official Monday — Uber is bringing personalized music to its on-demand car service. — CEO Travis Kalanick on Monday announced a partnership with Spotify that will allow Uber customers to play their music when they take a ride.