Mediagazer: Betsy Morgan Named CEO of TheBlaze (Brian Steinberg/Variety)

6:40 PM ET, December 9, 2014

Top News:

Emily Bell / Guardian:

Can Silicon Valley disrupt journalism if journalists hate being disrupted? — Facebook's Chris Hughes says he doesn't want to ‘listicalize’ the New Republic. Then why is Buzzfeed still winning the internet? — “It is frustrating to me personally that there was a perception we would listicalize the place.

George Packer / New Yorker:

Amid a couple of dispiriting events, the changes at The New Republic best highlight the ongoing crisis in journalism — The Real Crisis of Journalism — Two dispiriting events in the world of magazine journalism coincided last week. The first is the collapse of Rolling Stone's story …

Guy Vidra / The New Republic:

Guy Vidra writes open letter to TNR readers, says company will invest in tech and editorial — A Letter to Our Readers — Today I want to address the recent changes at The New Republic on our own pages. It is important to me to outline the vision for this critically important institution.

Discussion: Poynter, @scottbix, @mmoyr, Talking Points Memo, @hawthornelat, @theshrillest, @daniellarison and @daveweigel

Erin Griffith / Fortune:

HBO to outsource streaming technology behind standalone service launching in 2015 to MLB Advanced — Exclusive: HBO to outsource streaming technology in blow to ‘backstabbing’ CTO — The future of HBO Go is unclear. In a major strategic shift, HBO will license the technology underpinning …

Discussion: @cityofthetown, @leokitty, Business Insider, @eringriffith, Engadget, @karlbode, @adamnash, @pkafka, @alexweprin, The Verge, BGR and WebProNews

Todd Spangler / Variety:

HBO's CTO Otto Berkes, co-creator of Xbox, resigns after HBO outsources the tech for its planned streaming service — HBO CTO Otto Berkes Resigns After Network Enlists MLB to Build OTT Platform — HBO chief technology officer Otto Berkes is leaving the premium cable network …

Discussion: @ryanlawler, @alexweprin and @eringriffith

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Economist Editor John Micklethwait becomes Bloomberg's Editor-in-Chief, Matt Winkler stepping down — Matt Winkler steps down as Bloomberg News EIC — Matthew Winkler will step down as editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News. Economist Editor John Micklethwait will be the news organization's new editor-in-chief.

Mike Reynolds / Multichannel News:

Discovery Communications partners with Hulu, making content available to Hulu subscribers — Discovery Communications Inks Hulu Pact — Streaming Service Gains Access Across Programmer's Portfolio — Discovery Communications has made a significant foray into the streaming arena inking …

Discussion: TVbytheNumbers, Home Media Magazine, The Wrap, Realscreen, Reuters, Hollywood Reporter, Hollywood Reporter, FierceCable, Variety, WorldScreen.com, The Inquisitr News and Broadcasting & Cable

Evelyn M. Rusli / Wall Street Journal:

SoundCloud in discussions to raise about $150M at a valuation expected to top $1.2B — SoundCloud's Valuation Could Top $1.2 Billion With New Fundraising — SoundCloud, a popular music and audio-sharing service, is in discussions to raise about $150 million in new financing at a valuation …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Inc.com, @joshconstine and @evelynrusli

Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:

Murdoch: Digital Gives TV Business Chance to Innovate — 21st Century Fox's COO says MVPDs are moving too slow — The killer app on digital is television, said James Murdoch, chief operating officer of 21st Century Fox. — Asked about Fox's digital strategy at the 42d annual UBS Media Conference …

Discussion: Variety

Joe Coscarelli / New York Times:

Judge dismisses copyright claim against Jay Z's “Run This Town” based on one syllable: “oh” — Judge Dismisses a Suit Over Jay Z's ‘Run This Town’ — Oh, boy. — A Federal district judge in Manhattan has dismissed a copyright case brought by TufAmerica …

Discussion: NY Daily News, Page Six, Hollywood Reporter and @joecoscarelli

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Betsy Morgan Named CEO of TheBlaze — Betsy Morgan has been named chief executive of independent cable outlet TheBlaze, succeeding Chris Balfe, who has worked with founder Glenn Beck for the past 12 years. — Morgan had been president and chief strategy officer.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Politico, AllAccess.com and @bmorrissey

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

The New York Times open-sources its Hive crowdsourcing platform — A couple of months ago, the New York Times rolled out an interesting project called Madison, in which the newspaper asked readers to help the paper identify old print ads by going to a website and answering questions …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, nytlabs ← Research … and AdAge

J.K. Trotter / Gawker:

Meet Chuck C. Johnson, divisive blogger drawing hate and praise in the dark corners of Twitter — What Is Chuck Johnson, and Why? The Web's Worst Journalist, Explained — If you were active on social media this weekend, you may have noticed frequent references to a website called “GotNews” and a writer named Charles C. Johnson.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, BuzzFeed, @yesyoureracist, @hello_tailor, @elongreen, @mariabustillos, @johnmcquaid, Bloomberg Politics and @noltenc

Roberto Baldwin / The Next Web:

Amazon-owned Twitch acquires esports agency GoodGame — Game streaming service Twitch has just announced that it has acquired esports agency GoodGame. — In an announcement Twitch stated: … According to Twitch, GoodGame will help broadcasters better monetize their feeds by doing …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Variety and Business Wire