Mediagazer: An inside look at First Look Media's The Racket before it collapsed (Mat Honan/Wired)

9:10 PM ET, December 15, 2014

Top News:

Mat Honan / Wired:

An inside look at First Look Media's The Racket before it collapsed — The Guerrilla Tactics of The Racket, and How It Almost Upended Journalism — In September, when it wasn't quite autumn in New York but after the long hot summer had ended, I rode up an elevator in New York's Flat Iron district …

Discussion: @dandrezner, @cd_hooks, @mtaibbi, The New York Observer, @doreeshafrir, @trevortimm, @mattbraga, @evanatmedium, @csoghoian, @dangillmor, @mattbors, @lpolgreen, @olivianuzzi, @jackshafer, Mediaite, @janinegibson, @albertocairo and @choitotheworld

David Roman / Wall Street Journal:

Spain's Publishers Brace for Google News Shutdown — MADRID—Spain's government said Monday there are no ongoing talks to avoid a planned shutdown tomorrow of the Spanish version of Google Inc.'s news service, even as local media frets over the effect of a potential loss of Internet traffic.

Discussion: The Drum

Emily Greenhouse / Bloomberg Politics:

The quixotic fight against Google by Spanish news publishers likely has no happy ending — The Spanish War Against Google — At least in Europe, the newspaper wars are not quite over. — Five years ago this month, Eric Schmidt, the chairman and then-CEO of Google …

Discussion: Business Insider, Top Digital Journal News and Forbes

Eugene Volokh / Washington Post:

Sony unlikely to prevail in court if it sues media organizations for publishing stolen data — Can Sony sue media outlets who publish the stolen Sony documents? — David Boies, representing Sony, has written a letter to various media outlets, demanding that they not publish or otherwise use …

Discussion: Gawker, Poynter, CNNMoney.com, Gigaom, Wall Street Journal, Variety, @awallenstein, Krebs on Security, Re/code and New York Times

Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:
Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton to staff: Hackers 'won't take us down'

Discussion: Deadline, Reuters, Los Angeles Business Journal, Hollywood Reporter and The Hill

Variety:
Aaron Sorkin Slams Journalists for Publishing Hacked Sony Documents

Discussion: Slate, Wired, The Daily Beast, Deadline, @mattzeitlin, @benedictevans, @caseynewton, @benedictevans, @pmarca, @tomgara, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, @ow, @johnwilson, @lucasgw, @benedictevans, @pmarca, @tcarmody, @antderosa and Medium

Ben Frumin / The Week:

TheWeek.com announces that it is closing its comments section before the end of the year — Why TheWeek.com is closing the comments section — In the age of social media, the smartest and most vibrant reader conversations have moved off of news sites and onto Facebook and Twitter

Discussion: Poynter, Gigaom, Medium, @samantharollins, @theseantcollins, @megangarber, @mathewi and FishbowlNY

Sharon Weinberger / The Intercept:

Jana Winter, Fox News reporter who faced jail time for protecting sources, joins The Intercept — Jana Winter Joins The Intercept — Jana Winter, a Fox News reporter who faced jail time for refusing to reveal her confidential sources, is joining The Intercept today as a national security reporter based in Washington, D.C.

Discussion: FishbowlDC, Mediaite, @jeremyscahill, @rj_gallagher, @ggreenwald and Politico

Mathew Ingram / Gigaom:

There's never been a better time to run a niche media business — As new-media players like BuzzFeed, Vox Media and VICE raise huge sums of money that value their companies in the billion-dollar-plus range, it's easy to see the media landscape as one in which the big get bigger and the small fry get annihilated.

Discussion: USA Today, NetNewsCheck Latest, Guardian, @simonowens, @mathewi, @michaelwolffnyc, @cdixon, @cdixon, @rafat and @monkbent

Jason Hughes / The Wrap:

MSNBC expanding online with “Shift by MSNBC”, 14 original shows exclusive to the web — MSNBC Expanding Online With Original Programming, Streaming Video — MSNBC is making a major push into the online market with “Shift by MSNBC,” a bold new initiative that will see the 24 …

Discussion: Variety, FishbowlNY, Broadcasting & Cable, @bfouhy, @jessicavalenti, FTVLive and Media & Entertainment

News Corp:

Rahul Chopra becomes CEO of Storyful, founder Mark Little becomes director of editorial innovation — Storyful Announces Leadership Changes To Build On Substantial Growth Momentum Under News Corp — Rahul Chopra Becomes CEO; Founder Mark Little Named Director of Editorial Innovation

Discussion: Storyful Blog, The Irish Times, @marklittlenews, @jayrosen_nyu, @raju and @mikemillerwsj

Jacob Fischler / BuzzFeed:

Uber responds to Sen. Al Franken, says it accessed reporters' account because she was late, scales back access to God View; senator still dissatisfied — Uber Said It Accessed BuzzFeed News Reporter's Information Because She Was “Late” — The company, responding to Sen. Al Franken …

Discussion: CNET, Politico, @itsfischy and The Next Web

Harrison Weber / VentureBeat:

HBO Go is now available on Amazon's Fire TV, coming to the Fire TV Stick in spring — We've got some good news for you, Fire TV fans: Today Amazon announced that its flagship streaming device now supports HBO Go. — Amazon announced the news in a press release, claiming that it has …

Discussion: Amazon.com, Home Media Magazine, TechCrunch, Gigaom, Pocket-lint, Variety, Ubergizmo, 9to5Google and Gizmodo

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Rolling Stone Writer Contacting UVA Students As Magazine Reviews Disputed Article — NEW YORK — Sabrina Rubin Erdely, the author of a now-disputed Rolling Stone story on an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia, hasn't spoken publicly as her explosive story has unraveled over the past two weeks.

Discussion: Washington Post, Mashable, Variety and The New York Observer

Nate Raymond / Reuters:

Apple e-book case enters appeals court; some judges seem sympathetic, citing Amazon dominance — U.S. faces tough questions in Apple e-books antitrust appeal — (Reuters) - A U.S. government lawyer faced tough questioning in an appeals court on Monday as he sought to defend a judge's ruling …

Discussion: The Mac Observer, Fortune, Gigaom, Consumerist and Wall Street Journal

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Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

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