Mediagazer: NFL to post game highlights and other video clips on Facebook with Verizon Wireless ads, share ad revenues with Facebook (Mike Shields/Wall Street Journal)

8:45 AM ET, December 27, 2014

Top News:

Claim: New York Observer story on the Times is ‘innuendo-laden’ and ‘laughably wrong’ — Warning: I am about to indulge in a long screed. If you don't care about media covering media (and I wouldn't blame you), look away. — The New York Observer's recent article on The New York Times Company …

Discussion: @howardweaver and @joehagansays

Ken Kurson / The New York Observer:

New York Times Insider: Multi-Million Dollar Shortfall Causing Drastic Cuts — The New York Times building. (Photo by Arman Dzidzovic/ New York Observer) — Yesterday, New York Times readers were treated to a beautifully nuanced and balanced and richly detailed feature about a topic very much in the mix.

Discussion: @danmunns

Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:

NFL to post game highlights and other video clips on Facebook with Verizon Wireless ads, share ad revenues with Facebook — Facebook Scores NFL Video Clips With Ads From Verizon — Facebook has scored a big partner as it ramps up its online video ambitions: the National Football League.

Discussion: Re/code, Gigaom, TechCrunch and The Verge

Voice of America:

Radio Free Europe Bureau Raided by Azerbaijan Authorities — State prosecutors in Azerbaijan raided the offices of a U.S.-government funded media outlet on Friday, saying they have a court order to close the facility. — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said Friday at least 10 prosecutor's …

Discussion: Agence France-Presse, Arutz Sheva, Reporters Without Borders, The Huffington Post, BBC, Panorama.am, The Moscow Times, Bloomberg, presstv.ir, Voice of America and Associated Press

Agence France-Presse:

Mauritania sentences blogger to death for article deemed blasphemous of Islam, for the first time since its independence in 1960 — Mauritania issues first apostasy death sentence — 18 hrs ago — Nouakchott (AFP) - Mauritania has delivered its first death sentence for apostasy since independence …

Discussion: The Age, Voice of America, New York Times and DW.DE

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Interlude targets YouTube with more engaging “choose your own adventure” music videos — YouTube Challenger Lets Music Fans Call the Shots — Five years ago Yoni Bloch, an Israeli rock star, wanted to make a music video that would let viewers choose what happened as the story unfolded.

Discussion: BuzzFeed and @interludevideo

Krishnadev Calamur / NPR:

The Interview now available to rent for $5.99 or purchase for $14.99 through YouTube, Google Play, Xbox Video, and SeeTheInterview.com — Sony To Stream ‘The Interview’ On YouTube, Other Sites Starting Tonight — Sony Pictures' The Interview, the comedy that centers on a plot to assassinate …

Discussion: CNNMoney.com, The Wrap, New York Times, Variety, ReadWrite, Japan Times latest, The Official Microsoft Blog, Re/code, Hollywood Reporter, ABC News, Washington Post, CNBC, Deadline, AppleInsider, Inside Movies, GeekWire, The Wrap and Gigaom

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Netflix in Talks to Stream ‘The Interview’ as Starz Releases Pay TV Rights (EXCLUSIVE) — YouTube, Google Play and Xbox will also offer the Sony comedy — Netflix is in talks with Sony Pictures to make “The Interview” available for streaming by its subscribers.

Regina Ruiz / KOAT.com:

The Albuquerque Journal website taken down for several hours to investigate ISIS propaganda post; no data compromised says the newspaper — Albuquerque Journal, on ISIS headline: There was no data breach — Newspaper site goes down after ‘Cyber Jihad’ — A radical group's Christmas …

Discussion: Gawker, KRWG, The Santa Fe New Mexican, The Inquisitr News, bizjournals, KRQE-TV and Mediaite

Jonathan Mahler / New York Times:

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki encourages experimenting with professional content and new business models, like subscription-based Music Key, to grow revenues — YouTube's Chief, Hitting a New ‘Play’ Button — This fall, Susan Wojcicki, the chief executive of YouTube, appeared on a panel …

Discussion: @paulisakson, @davemcclure, @faketv, @pkafka and @digiphile

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Lab:

What does it mean to run “product” in a news organization? Hayley Nelson's big challenge at Wired — f there's a news outlet you would expect to be ahead of the curve in digital media, it might be Wired. The San Francisco-based magazine of technology has been at it longer than just about anyone …

Discussion: @ceodonovan

Ernesto / TorrentFreak:

MPAA Secretly Settled With Hotfile for $4 Million, Not $80 Million — It's been nearly a year since Hotfile was defeated by the MPAA, resulting in a hefty $80 million dollar settlement. — While the public agreement left room for the file-hosting service to continue its operations …

Discussion: Techdirt

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Ex-News of the World journalists given go ahead to sue for unfair dismissal — Neville Thurlbeck and James Weatherup get green light from employment tribunals to take action against News Group Newspapers — Two former News of the World journalists who were jailed for hacking the phones …

Hadas Gold / Politico:

AP denies Pyongyang bureau under North Korean control — The Associated Press is pushing back on a report its bureau in North Korea is nearly completely controlled by the North Korean government. — In a lengthy article for NKNews.org, Nate Thayer, a former AP stringer …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, NK News, Foreign Policy and Mediaite