Mediagazer: Barrett Brown's Prison Time Raises Cybersecurity, Journalism Concerns (Tom Risen/US News)

10:20 PM ET, January 23, 2015

Top News:

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

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 — Modern Farmer Ceases Publication — Modern Farmer, the 100,000-circulation quarterly and website that tried to link effete urban farmers' market culture …

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Michael Bloomberg offered to buy the New York Times, Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said the paper not for sale — People Are Talking About Michael Bloomberg Buying the New York Times, Including Michael Bloomberg — If the former mayor tries, it won't be without its challenges.

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

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Bob Dylan Gives Away 50,000 Copies of His New Album to AARP The Magazine Readers — Kind of Like U2's iTunes Strategy — Bob Dylan is borrowing a page from U2's playbook to help promote his new album “Shadows in the Night” — although Mr. Dylan's approach is far more analogue than U2's …

Discussion: Mediaite, Hit & Run, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press

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: Multichannel News

Ken Doctor / Capital New York:

Cerberus, Apollo bidding for Digital First Media — After one cost-cutting private equity company has spent close to half a decade wielding the knife at Digital First Media, how many new “efficiencies” might a second P.E. buyer find? That's the question we may soon see answered …

Discussion: Media & Entertainment

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, Slate and Fact-Based, In-Depth News

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

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: The Verge, Engadget, Washington Post, Gigaom, Amazon.com, Variety, The Huffington Post, Digital Spy, Inside TV, GeekWire and Business Insider

USA Today:

Air catalog SkyMall seeks bankruptcy protection — The company that produces SkyMall, the in-flight shopping catalog that entices airline travelers with offers for iFetch ball launchers for dogs and mini clap-on alarm clocks, is bracing for a hard financial landing.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Wired, Fusion, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Poynter, Gizmodo, New York Times, Motherboard, @heyiamlex, Skift, The Verge, Mashable, Red Alert Politics, @usatoday, @philjimeneznyc, @ernestodmorales, @carlhancock, Refinery29 and Boing Boing

Gideon Lichfield / Quartz:

How The Economist chose its first female editor-in-chief — This post has been corrected. — Yesterday The Economist chose Zanny Minton Beddoes to be the first female editor-in-chief in its 171-year history. “About time,” you might say. — But among its peers, the venerable British publication …

Discussion: Guardian, @orskov, @tomstandage, @zseward and Economist Group