Mediagazer: Ex-NYT editor Jill Abramson on defying the White House, from the Pentagon Papers to Snowden (Jill Abramson/Columbia Journalism Review)

2:55 PM ET, December 22, 2014

Top News:

Hacking at Sony Over ‘The Interview’ Reveals Hollywood's Failings, Too — Kim Jong-un, who appears to be America's newly self-appointed minister of culture, has decided that “The Interview,” the Seth Rogen film about North Korea that includes Mr. Kim's assassination, will not be released.

Discussion: CNNMoney.com, @kathtx, Lawfare, @fmanjoo, @jeffjarvis, @cherylstrayed, RedState, @nickkristof, @matthewkeyslive, @alexgibneyfilm, @adamnagourney, @jeffjarvis, @jacobwe, @jeffjarvis, @carr2n, ThinkProgress, Wall Street Journal and Electronista

Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:

Sony Hasn't Decided Where to Stream “The Interview” — Meaning Not on Crackle (For Now) — Sony Pictures Entertainment is still considering how to release the film “The Interview” after theaters canceled screenings following threats of violence. — The company hasn't decided where or how to release …

Discussion: Business Insider, Mashable, @marciahofmann, @robertmlee, @mikeisaac, FishbowlNY, Not A Blog, The Wrap, Washington Times, VentureBeat, Refinery29 and Rolling Stone

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

New Republic Editor Gabriel Snyder Promises Ambitious Journalism, More Diverse Voices — NEW YORK — Gabriel Snyder, who was tapped as editor-in-chief of The New Republic amid a recent staff exodus, wrote in his first editor's note that the 100-year-old magazine “has always been both in love and at war with its prior self.”

Discussion: The New Republic, The Wrap, Politico, Capital New York, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, @heoj, @mattyglesias, @jenny8lee, @jcstearns and @jayrosen_nyu

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Politico's Laura McGann Joins Vox To Lead Political Coverage — NEW YORK — Politico deputy managing editor Laura McGann is joining Vox as the site's first political editor. — In an interview with The Huffington Post, McGann suggested that Vox, the general-interest site founded earlier …

Discussion: @mattmansfield, @kenvogel, @bankoff, @mattyglesias, @mattdelong, @lkmcgann and @daveweigel

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Politico editor Susan Glasser: We're in a ‘period of growth and rising ambition’

Discussion: @erikwemple

Jill Abramson / Columbia Journalism Review:

Ex-NYT editor Jill Abramson on defying the White House, from the Pentagon Papers to Snowden — Jill Abramson on putting the public interest first — Defying the White House, from the Pentagon Papers to Snowden — Disc error The remnants of The Guardian computers used to store leaked Snowden documents.

Discussion: @towcenter, @cjr, @palafo, @katierosman and @albertocairo

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:
New York Times Executive Editor says in past press gave in too readily to government pressure

Discussion: @tedrall, Lawfare, @johnmcquaid, @mlcalderone, @ramez, @themurdochtimes, @jayrosen_nyu, @jeffjarvis, @davidfolkenflik, @jeffjarvis and Pressing Issues

Jordan Chariton / The Wrap:

Rolling Stone Outsources Internal Investigation of Botched UVA Rape Story to Columbia Journalism School — Rolling Stone Magazine added a new editor's note to its inaccurate University of Virginia campus rape story Monday. — Also Read: Rolling Stone UVA Rape Controversy: Friends of Alleged Victim Remember It Differently

Discussion: @brianstelter and @brianstelter

Michael Birnbaum / Washington Post:

Facebook blocks Russian page supporting Navalny, Putin's biggest critic — MOSCOW — In a sign of new limits on Facebook's ability to serve as a platform for political opposition movements, Russian users appear to have been blocked from accessing a page calling for a protest in support of a prominent dissident.

Discussion: The Verge, Bloomberg View, @ncardozo, @brianbergstein, @syriano100, Quartz, BuzzFeed, ABC News, Vocativ and Global Voices

Todd Spangler / Variety:

DirecTV Launches First Over-the-Top Video Service, Yaveo, for U.S. Hispanic Audiences — DirecTV, seeking a revenue stream beyond pay TV, has launched Yaveo: its first Internet-only subscription video service aimed at U.S. Hispanic consumers, with partners including Viacom and broadcast giant Univision Communications.

Discussion: Multichannel News, Home Media Magazine and BroadwayWorld.com

Adrian Chen / MIT Technology Review:

A group of Swedish journalists and researchers wade into ugly corners of the Internet to expose trolls, racists, and creeps — The Troll Hunters — A group of journalists and researchers wade into ugly corners of the Internet to expose racists, creeps, and hypocrites. Have they gone too far?

Discussion: @adrianchen, @mahnoorie and @dromanber

Liam Corcoran / The Whip:

HuffPo, BuzzFeed, Fox News have best engagement on Facebook; BBC, Mashable, NYT top on Twitter — Whippies 2014 - The Best Sites Of The Year On Facebook And Twitter — We're delighted to announce the first Whippies - recognising publishers that performed best on Twitter and Facebook in 2014 …

Discussion: @chrisdyork, @willpsaunders, @richardporter and @liatkornowski

Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:
All Day, the company founded by creators of @HistoryInPics and @EarthPix, raises $2M

Discussion: Mother Jones and Gigaom

C.W. Anderson / Nieman Lab:

2015 predictions: Liberal arts journalism and metric-obsessed culture begin to coexist — Beyond journalism in the present tense — A Hollywood director couldn't have scripted a more compelling (and stereotypical) clash between two sets of journalistic beliefs than this month's battle between …

Discussion: @blunderbussmag, @jayrosen_nyu, @kharloe, @_jonathanallard, @journoscholar, @yolo_tengo and @niemanlab

Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:

U.K. Media Giant ITV Invests in Ousted Maker Studios Co-founder Danny Zappin's Media Startup — Internet entrepreneur Danny Zappin, who co-founded Maker Studios only to be ousted prior to the company's acquisition by Walt Disney Co., has spent much of the last year trying to build out a new digital media empire.

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, broadcastnow.co.uk, Televisual and @digitalshields