Mediagazer: Walmart starts selling its Vudu Spark streaming stick for $25 (Janko Roettgers/Gigaom)

5:35 PM ET, January 24, 2015

Top News:

Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:

How Vox is rethinking presidential election coverage — When Vox launched in April, it was led by an article from co-founder Ezra Klein that seemed to lay out his ambitions for the new site. — Titled “How politics makes us stupid,” it explained that debates are often intractable …

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu and @poynter

Kim Severson / New York Times:

Modern Farmer's future in doubt as editorial staff leaves; PR firm says magazine will be published again in summer with new staff — As Last Paid Editors Depart, Modern Farmer's Future in Doubt — Modern Farmer, the 100,000-circulation quarterly and website that tried …

Donald R. Winslow / NPPA:

Sports Illustrated Lays Off All Staff Photographers — The remaining six staff photographers at Sports Illustrated magazine were all laid off yesterday. — Staff photographers Robert Beck, Simon Bruty, Bill Frakes, David E. Klutho, John W. McDonough, and Al Tielemans were informed …

Discussion: Poynter, Capital New York, USA Today, Folio, @romenesko, Mediaite, Media & Entertainment, Mashable, JIMROMENESKO.COM, LA Observed, Awful Announcing, @mathewi, FishbowlNY, The New York Observer and The Huffington Post

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Sony, Google, Apple Hit With Lawsuits Over Pre-1972 Music — The lawsuits have the potential of wiping out much older music from the Internet. — All of the leading providers of streaming music are now in the scorching hot legal zone involving pre-1972 music after seven lawsuits were filed …

Discussion: Gigaom, Wall Street Journal, AppleInsider, Electronista, Patently Apple, Rolling Stone, RAIN News, The Next Web, Music Times and MacRumors

Mario Aguilar / Gizmodo:

Music artists who refuse YouTube's aggressive Music Key terms lose all YouTube monetization options — Why Google Is Strong-Arming Artists Into Signing With YouTube Music Key — Cello rock n' roller Zoë Keating is really upset that Google is trying to force her to sign over the rights …

Discussion: Zoë Keating, Music Industry Blog, The Register, @marcoarment, Tubefilter, Music Week, The Drum, Guardian and Billboard

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Amazon To Stream Golden Globe Winner “Transparent” For Free On Saturday, While Offering Discounted Prime Membership — Fresh off the heels of its first Golden Globes win, Amazon is taking advantage of the increased exposure its Netflix-like video streaming service, Prime Instant Video …

Discussion: Forbes

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Redstone's Pay Cut by Two-Thirds at Viacom as Dauman Gets Raise — Viacom Inc. lowered the total compensation of Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone, its controlling shareholder, by almost two thirds to $13.2 million. — Philippe Dauman, chief executive officer, got a raise to $44.3 million …

Discussion: The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter

Committee to Protect Journalists:

Imprisoned Russian journalist sentenced to new three-year jail term — The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the conviction and three-year sentence handed to critical reporter Sergei Reznik in Russia today and calls on authorities to overturn the verdict on appeal.

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio … and Reporters Without Borders

Tom Risen / US News:

Barrett Brown's Prison Time Raises Cybersecurity, Journalism Concerns — The sentencing of an online writer and activist raises new questions about the nature of journalism in a digital age. — Members of Anonymous take part in the Million Mask March in front of the White House on Nov. 5 …

Discussion: Medium, Fact-Based, In-Depth News and Slate

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

Is Times Vulgarity Policy Wise? Or Full of ‘Slop’? — When Jonathan Martin jumped through hoops last week to avoid using a vulgarity in the lead anecdote of his story, some readers let me know they didn't like it. — The first two paragraphs of his story on Republican options for 2016 went like this:

Discussion: Poynter, Washington Post, Mediaite, @richarddeitsch, @deanpwright, @joumana_khatib, @sapinker, @picardonhealth, @mlcalderone and @jayrosen_nyu

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Walmart starts selling its Vudu Spark streaming stick for $25 — Remember Walmart's very own HDMI streaming stick, which I spotted in the FFC's online database two months ago? Turns out Walmart already started selling it for just $24.95, and is now getting ready to make it more widely available.

Discussion: TechRadar.com, PC Magazine, Liliputing, Zatz Not Funny!, Gizmodo, Engadget, Electronista, SlashGear and Multichannel News

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Filmmakers are finding more buyers at Sundance as digital firms join traditional buyers — Sundance goes digital: Why it's a great time to be a filmmaker — You've made a spellbinding drama or a heart-wrenching documentary. Now what? — Now you try to sell it to distributors, at the Sundance Film Festival.