Top News:
Associated Press:
Mother of Japanese reporter Kenji Goto makes public appeal for his life after Islamic State abduction — Japanese Isis hostage Kenji Goto's mother makes tearful appeal — Junko Ishido calls for end to hatred as supposed deadline approaches for paying ransom for two captured men
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Business Insider and NBC News
RELATED:
Antoni Slodkowski / Reuters:
Japanese reporter's bid to save friend led to Islamic State abduction
Discussion:
The Independent and TIME
J.K. Trotter / Gawker:
NYPD increasing patrols near Gawker, BuzzFeed, Daily Beast offices after Charlie Hebdo attack — The NYPD Is Patrolling Gawker Because of the Charlie Hebdo Attack — The New York City Police Department has assigned police officers to guard the Manhattan offices of at least three media outlets …
Discussion:
JIMROMENESKO.COM, PandoDaily, Mediaite, @brianstelter, Politico, @mlcalderone, Capital New York and The Week
Linda Ge / The Wrap:
DreamWorks Animation to Cut 500 Jobs, Release Fewer Films — DreamWorks Animation will release two films per year, down from three, and cut approximately 500 jobs across the board in a restructuring of its core feature animation business, the company announced Thursday.
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
Journalist and Anonymous advocate Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison on charges stemming from Stratfor hack — Barrett Brown has been sentenced to 63 months in prison — After years of legal battles, Barrett Brown's legal saga has finally come to a close.
Mark Wilson / Co.Design:
The Upshot: Where The New York Times Is Redesigning News — Should I buy a condo or continue renting? I'd been asking myself that question as I perused Chicago real estate, uncertain how market gains, taxes, tax breaks, maintenance costs, homeowners insurance, mortgage payments, and assessments would add up for me financially.
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
The case for Marissa Mayer, as key metrics suggest the turnaround at Yahoo is on track — Marissa Mayer's Plan for Yahoo Takes Hold. The Question Now Is Time. — When Marissa Mayer was offered the chief executive job at Yahoo in the summer of 2012, she had a script for returning …
Discussion:
@paulg, @pmarca, @_maggiehenry, @sicilydickenson, @ruikaneya, @wucker and @anildash
Economist Group:
Zanny Minton Beddoes appointed new editor of The Economist — The Economist Group announced today (January 22nd) that Zanny Minton Beddoes has been named as the 17th editor of The Economist. — She succeeds John Micklethwait, the editor for the past nine years, during which time the circulation grew from 1.1 million to 1.6 million.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Guardian, Politico, @maggiejordanacn and @bklynmiddleton
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
The case for, and against, integrated print-digital newsrooms — In the dot-com days, publishers tended to treat their online counterparts as second-class bolt-ons to their print editions. When it became clear the Web was here to stay, they had to demonstrate they were serious about growing their Web operations.
Discussion:
@marcwalder
Eric Athas / Nieman Lab:
NPR tests audio to find what people share: explainers, strange sounds, storytelling, quick reviews — From explainers to sounds that make you go “Whoa!”: The 4 types of audio that people share — Editor's note: Public radio produces a lot of audio — but it doesn't always get the attention …
Simon Houpt / Globe and Mail:
After conflict of interest allegations, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. bans on-air journalists from paid appearances — In wake of Amanda Lang controversy, CBC bans on-air journalists from making paid appearances — The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is banning all outside paid appearances …
Discussion:
Globe and Mail, @josh_wingrove, @marcooved, @allansorensen, @stuartxthomson, @globeandmail and Talking Biz News
Michael Roston / Nieman Lab:
Don't try too hard to please Twitter — and other lessons from The New York Times' social media desk — The past year brought major changes to The New York Times. The social media desk's editors joined a new department, Audience Development. Our team gained new resources as we combined efforts …
Discussion:
@niemanlab
Deborah Gage / Wall Street Journal:
Persado Raises $21 Million to Replace Human Copywriters With Computers — Persado Inc. has raised another $21 million for software that aims to replace copywriters with computers, in another demonstration of the power of machines to solve problems that used to be the sole domain of humans.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Forbes, bizjournals, Wired, TechCrunch and Consumerist
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Bill Gates is guest-editing The Verge in February — Technology will build a better, safer, healthier world by 2030 — I'm very excited to announce that Bill Gates will be The Verge's first ever guest editor in February. This is a new type of collaboration for us, but there's no one better …
Discussion:
Poynter, @caseynewton, @verge, UK Blog on The Huffington Post, @urbanstrata, Forbes, @jasonkirksbn, @jyarow, @adrjeffries and FishbowlNY
John Otis / Committee to Protect Journalists:
How Ecuador's plans to make communications a public service is threat to free press — Attempts to amend Ecuador's constitution to categorize communications as a “public service” has sparked a fierce debate, with one critic drawing comparisons to the way dictators such as Stalin and Hitler used …
Discussion:
@albertocairo
Jay Rosen / Pressthink:
Journalism site success means uniquely defining beats and a different mission than industry standard — A brief sketch of the “full stack” (intellectually speaking...) news and information company. — Meaning: it has its own way of doing things, its own ideas about what is worth doing, and it implements them from end to end.
Discussion:
Andreessen Horowitz, @jayrosen_nyu and @monkbent
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Television Becomes a Force at Sundance Film Festival — PARK CITY, Utah — The Sundance Television Festival this is not. — That snarky, small-screen nickname is nonetheless being tossed around by some of the Hollywood attendees who are gathering here for the 31st Sundance Film Festival, which starts on Thursday.
Discussion:
@nytimes and The Corsair
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
New possible metrics for the value of news and ads: time spent, time well spent, time saved — Time spent or time well spent — how to think about Web traffic — The search for meaningful digital audience metrics took a turn for the better in 2014 when Chartbeat and others began touting …
Discussion:
@rickedmonds, @cfrech, @mbusse and @chartbeat
Marc Graser / Variety:
Annapurna Pictures Forms Virtual Reality Division — Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures has formed a virtual reality division as part of a joint venture with VRSE.farm, a partnership with artist Chris Milk. — New venture will give filmmakers the opportunity to develop virtual reality content and explore new ways of storytelling.
Jaime Fuller / Washington Post:
Three YouTube stars interview US president and bring both serious and frank questions — This is what happens when the White House does a YouTube interview — President Obama met with three YouTube stars — each with millions of followers — to discuss his State of the Union address on Thursday.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Mashable, Voice of America, TheBlaze.com, Mashable and White House.gov Blog
The Information:
Viacom weighs buying three comedy sites: the Onion, Funny or Die, and CollegeHumor — Viacom Ponders Rollup of Comedy Sites — Through its ownership of Comedy Central, Viacom has a lock on the television funny space. Now the company is contemplating whether to extend that presence in the digital realm.
Discussion:
@alexweprin and @cityofthetown
Caroline Alexander / Bloomberg:
Egypt President Seeks End to Jazeera Reporters' Detention — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said he's seeking a resolution to the case of three Al Jazeera television journalists imprisoned for more than a year. — “We are very keen on sorting this out and getting it finished as soon as possible …
Discussion:
TVNewser and @malonebarry
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