Mediagazer: Sony Hack Reportedly Includes 47,000 Social Security Numbers, Celebrity Data (Gregg Kilday/Hollywood Reporter)

1:15 AM ET, December 5, 2014

Top News:

Dylan Byers / Politico:

TNR staff fear CEO Guy Vidra's plans for digital focus; meeting Friday, more resignations possible — Implosion of a Washington institution — Two weeks ago, Washingtonians gathered to celebrate the 100th birthday of The New Republic, the magazine that helped shape Woodrow Wilson's views …

Discussion: @rosiegray, @jeffreygoldberg, @notjessewalker, @sethmiller79, @reihan, @juliaioffe, @tunkuv, @dankennedy_nu, @fvgamespres, @tonybiasotti, @mattwelch, @brithume, @morningmoneyben, @logandobson, @penenberg and @jayrosen_nyu

Dylan Byers / Politico:

New Republic shakeup: Foer and Wieseltier quit, Gabriel Snyder to replace Foer as editor; magazine moving to NYC, reducing print frequency — Frank Foer, Leon Wieseltier out at TNR — Franklin Foer and Leon Wieseltier, the top two editors at The New Republic, have just quit amid an editorial shakeup …

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trying to copy a digital media formula from BuzzFeed or the Huffington Post is wrong for The New Republic — A Eulogy for The New Republic — A century-old liberal institution gazes at the end. — Shares — Not long after he purchased The New Republic, Chris Hughes had lunch with me …

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, Melville House Books, @fmanjoo, @reihan, @leon_krauze, @nprmelissablock, @nytfridge, @michaeldweiss, @christinecipri, @justaschill, @daveschwartz, Washington Post, @jonathanchait, The Dish, Talking Points Memo and @tanehisicoates

Alexis C. Madrigal / Fusion:

Facebook mobile apps drive up to about half of unattributed mobile traffic, or “dark social”, to some media sites — Dark social traffic in the mobile app era — About two years ago, I wrote a story about a strange phenomenon on the web: in a medium known for its ability to track people …

Discussion: @mims, @joelcifer, @corybe, @joshdzieza, @alexismadrigal, @taylorlorenz, Gigaom, @antderosa, @mattyglesias, @jayrosen_nyu, @fxmatt4, @johnjannuzzi and @scottros

Martin Beck / Marketing Land:

Chartbeat changes how it tracks traffic from mobile apps to measure dark social referrals better — Chartbeat Shines A Light On Dark Social, Finds Missing Mobile Referrers — Sites with high Facebook referral traffic are seeing a bump of 40% in traffic attributed to Facebook mobile …

Discussion: Chartbeat Blog, @direwolf11, @jeress, @daozers, @jdevalk, @thisislankylank, @daozers, @joshuadschwartz, @chartbeat and SocialTimes

Alex Sherman / Bloomberg:

Starz Said to Consider New Options as It Fails to Find Buyer — Starz LLC (STRZA), the pay-TV channel with more than 50 million subscribers, is considering alternatives to a sale after reaching out to potential bidders who passed on making an offer, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: @sherman4949 and CNBC

Nick Statt / CNET:

Eddy Cue testimony in antitrust trial: Apple's iPod updates, DRM strategy were to prevent hacks, piracy — Apple defended iPod from hackers, iTunes chief says in antitrust trial — In a trial questioning Apple's use of software updates, iTunes chief Eddy Cue says they were necessary …

Discussion: AppleInsider and The Verge

Jeff Elder / Wall Street Journal:
Lawyers say Apple deleted music from rival services on users iPods between 2007-2009

Discussion: 9to5Mac, UPROXX, MacRumors, GeekWire, The Verge, Daring Fireball, hypebot, @dhm, Mashable, TIME, Engadget, Digital Spy, Rolling Stone, Business Insider, @wsjd, @sterlewine, BGR, Gigaom, SlashGear, Neowin, VatorNews, The Next Web, AppleInsider, Gizmodo and @halvarflake

Gregg Kilday / Hollywood Reporter:

Sony Hack Reportedly Includes 47,000 Social Security Numbers, Celebrity Data — The files include information on former employees as well as celebrities like Sylvester Stallone — As fallout from the cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment continues to grow, it now appears …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, CNET, The Wrap and Los Angeles Times

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Google and Facebook will have more than half of UK digital ad market — Advertising on websites, smartphones, video and social media will see UK operations make £4.1bn in 2015, according to report — Google and Facebook's domination of UK digital advertising has been underlined …

Ted Johnson / Variety:

President Obama Signs Satellite TV Bill — President Obama signed into law the Satellite Television and Localism Act, which extends the ability of rural satellite subscribers to access broadcast channels. The legislation passed Congress despite efforts by some lawmakers to include provisions …

Discussion: The Hill

Official FCC Blog:

FCC approves sales resulting in 10 new minority- or women-owned TV stations — Making Good on the Promise of Independent Minority Ownership of Television Stations — Increasing minority ownership of television broadcast stations has been an often-stated, but elusive goal.

Discussion: All Digitocracy and Reuters

Ryan Lawler / TechCrunch:

Say Media Buys Out Investors As It Exits The Media Business And Focuses On Its Publishing Platform — After four years of operating a portfolio of digital magazines, Say Media is saying goodbye to its media business. The company is also saying goodbye to its investors …

Discussion: @nelson_keating, @seanglass and @levitmc

Ray Locker / USA Today:

Luke Somers named as hostage journalist US attempted to rescue last month in Yemen — Pentagon reports unsuccessful rescue attempt in Yemen — WASHINGTON — U.S. commandos made an unsuccessful attempt to rescue captive journalist Luke Somers in Yemen recently, the Pentagon reported Thursday …