Mediagazer: Bustle, Bryan Goldberg's news site for women, raises $15.5M, led by General Catalyst; total raise now $27M (Alyson Shontell/Business Insider)

12:35 PM ET, December 18, 2014

Top News:

Dave McNary / Variety:

Sony Has ‘No Further Release Plans’ for ‘The Interview’ — Sony Pictures Entertainment has walked out on “The Interview,” deciding against releasing the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy in any form — including VOD or DVD. — “Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film,” a spokesman said Wednesday.

Discussion: TIME, @jimmykimmel, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Forbes, The Verge, Mashable, The Desk, Gizmodo, Slate, TechCrunch, Mediaite, FishbowlNY, Gawker, Business Insider, Engadget and /Film

Brent Lang / Variety:

Sony Cancels Theatrical Release for ‘The Interview’ on Christmas — With theater chains defecting en masse, Sony Pictures Entertainment has pulled the planned Christmas release of “The Interview.” — In announcing the decision to cancel the holiday debut, Sony hit back at the hackers …

Ted Johnson / Variety:

CNBC and CNN reporting US investigators have linked North Korea to Sony attack — North Korea Ordered the Sony Attack: Reports — Federal authorities have determined that hackers working on behalf of the North Korean government were behind the attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, according to published reports.

Discussion: Forbes, CNBC, Hollywood Life, Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable, fox4kc.com and @marlenacnn

Bryan Bishop / The Verge:

With major US movie theater chains refusing to show Interview, Sony should release it online — Why Sony Pictures should release The Interview online — Not even North Korea can stop the internet — The dominoes fell swiftly Tuesday. The group behind the massive Sony hacks released another cache …

Justin Ellis / Nieman Lab:

New friends: The Washington Post and The Texas Tribune enter into a new reporting partnership — The Texas Tribune is taking its split with The New York Times pretty well. — Two months ago the Times ended its story-sharing agreement with the Austin-based news nonprofit after four years.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Texas Tribune, Folio, Capital New York, Poynter, @evanasmith, @rosental, @justinnxt and @jayrosen_nyu

Alex Kantrowitz / AdAge:

Inside the Business of the Serial Podcast — Signing on as “Serial's” first advertiser has turned out nicely for MailChimp. The podcast, which investigates the 1999 murder of a Baltimore high school student, quickly became a hit. But as Serial's only launch partner …

Discussion: Online Journalism Blog, Wall Street Journal, The Irish Times, @jcstearns, @shannonpareil, @pjvogt, Vulture and WTOP

Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:

Bustle, Bryan Goldberg's news site for women, raises $15.5M, led by General Catalyst; total raise now $27M — 1-Year-Old Startup Bustle Hits 20 Million Uniques And Raises $15.5 Million: 'It's Been A Watershed Year For Digital Media' — Bryan Goldberg and Kate Ward's one-year-old publication for women …

Discussion: TechCrunch, @rafat, @katewardbustle and @ajs

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Ex-Reuters journalist Jui Chakravorty launches video startup b-yond.tv to cover global cultures and communities — Ex-Reuters journalist launches video startup — Jui Chakravorty, a Reuters journalist for nine years, has left the wire service and launched a digital video startup.

Discussion: @bobbymacreports and thebaron.info

Press Gazette:

Former Sunday Mirror investigations editor Graham Johnson avoids prison after admitting hacking — A former Sunday Mirror journalist who voluntarily came forwad to police to admit hacking the voicemails of a soap star today avoided jail. He was sentenced to two months in prison …

Discussion: Telegraph

Graham Cluley:

Technology news site Ars Technica hacked, readers advised to change passwords — Ars Technica was hacked. Readers advised to change passwords — Oh arse! Registered users of Ars Technica told their passwords might now be in the hands of hackers. Not that Ars Technica is making the news that obvious on its webpage, mind you...

Discussion: Ars Technica

Andrew Jacobs / New York Times:

Visa renewals obscure a mounting hostility toward Western media outlets operating in China — China Gets Even Colder for Reporters — For foreign journalists in the Chinese capital, the end of the year brings the usual swirl of holiday parties, talk of escaping the bracing cold …

Discussion: @comradewong

Hugh Langley / TechRadar:

Netflix exec says access and quality of wi-fi will improve within 5 years, end the need for offline downloads — Netflix: offline viewing is ‘never going to happen’ — Well damn … For some time now, services like BBC iPlayer and 4oD have offered the ability to download shows for offline viewing, yet Netflix hasn't

Discussion: /Film, @brianb, @sievertmike, TechCrunch, The Verge, The Mac Observer, Electronista, Mashable, Pocket-lint, WebProNews, Business Insider, BGR and Engadget

Mallory Ortberg / The Toast:

Following outcry from writers over copyright transfer, The Toast and The Butter amend their contracts — A Note About Contracts and Authors' Rights — Hello, lovelies! This is going to get a bit inside-baseball-y, so if you do not consider yourself A Writer or Someone With A Vested Interest …

Discussion: @mallelis, @thewayoftheid, @meanchelled, @sedna_51, @mallelis, @mallelis, @mallelis, Writer Beware, @tithenai, @scalzi, @eilatan, @mallelis and @scalzi

Manjula Martin / Scratch Magazine:
The Toast's publisher Nick Pavich explains contract changes, apologizes for rude tweets

Discussion: Whatever, @alexanderchee, @manjulamartin, @nick_pavich, @sulagnamisra and @glennf

Alex Hern / Guardian:

Reddit bans SonyGOP subreddit and users for sharing leaked Sony documents, deletes posts after receiving DMCA takedown request — Reddit bans users for sharing hacked Sony documents — The social news site has acceded to a DMCA takedown request from Sony and removed a hub for sharing the company's hacked files

Discussion: Business Insider, Pocket-lint, The Verge and Vox

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
New York Times Reporters Told Not To Open Hacked Sony Emails, Some Of Which Involve The Times

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Media Channel, Hollywood Reporter, Washington Post, @freebarrett_, @matthewkeyslive, Sony Hack, Poynter, US News, @mlcalderone, @dangillmor and Gawker

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

BuzzFeed buys Hyper IQ, small app developer that has been working on its iOS app — BuzzFeed buys developer to focus on building native apps — BuzzFeed has big plans to build out its mobile app. The site has acquired the team behind Hyper IQ, a developer that's already been working on BuzzFeed's iOS app.

Discussion: @mobilemediamemo

Mat Honan / Wired:

Inside Circa, BuzzFeed, and First Look Media: the battle for attention from the news startups — Inside the Buzz-Fueled Media Startups Battling for Your Attention — It's like a parody, spending time in a well-funded startup's office, with exposed brick walls and Great Big Screens Showing User Numbers …