Top News:
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
BBC launches Taster, a new website to test early concepts and experiments — BBC Launches Taster to Incubate Content, Technology Ideas — The BBC on Monday unveiled BBC Taster, a new web site that it described as “a space to develop its latest ideas for digital content and emerging technology.”
Discussion:
Journalism.co.uk, Guardian, Digital Spy, BBC, The Drum, Gizmodo UK, Prolific North, Engadget, Pocket-lint and The Next Web
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Digital TV Europe:
Lena Dunham, creator of HBO drama Girls, partners with BBC to test new material on Taster — Girls creator in BBC digital experiment — The writer of HBO drama Girls, Lena Dunham, is among names attached to BBC Taster, an experimental new platform for digital content and emerging technology.
Austin Smith / Mediashift:
Why It's Risky Business for Publishers to Build Their Own CMS — The following piece is a guest post. Read more about MediaShift guest posts here. — 2014 was a crazy year for news technology. A new wave of publishers running custom software gained traction, while established news …
Discussion:
@pmaiorana
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Sling TV, Dish's $20 Web TV Service, Rolls Out Today. Here's What It's Like. — This is the first week in history that Americans can get subscription TV, over the Web, without having to sign up for cable. I don't think it's the end of traditional pay TV, but I do think it's a very big deal.
Discussion:
Gigaom, TechCrunch and The Next Web
Kara Swisher / Re/code:
In response to rise of programmatic advertising, AOL drastically restructures ad sales staff — As Ad Business Shifts to Machines, AOL Restructures Its Sales Staff in a Major Reorg — According to numerous sources, AOL is now initiating long-planned changes to drastically reorganize …
Discussion:
@mdudas, @waltmossberg and @jayrosen_nyu
Lisa Campbell / The Bookseller:
blinkbox Books to close after Waterstones talks fail — Tesco will close its e-books service blinkbox Books at the end of February after talks with Waterstones to buy the platform broke down. — All 60 core staff who work on the blinkbox Books platform are now expected to enter …
Discussion:
blinkbox News, Gigaom, TechCrunch, Engadget and The Next Web
Guardian:
WikiLeaks demands answers after three staffers notified Google handed their emails to US government in 2012 — WikiLeaks demands answers after Google hands staff emails to US government — Search giant gave FBI emails and digital data belonging to three staffers
Discussion:
Guardian, Gigaom, Gizmodo UK, WikiLeaks, @emilybell, @evacide, Gizmodo, The Inquisitr News, Raw Story and Sydney Morning Herald
Hank Green / Medium:
Hank Green defends his and other YouTube stars' interviews with Obama after media mockery — Holy S**t, I Interviewed the President — Bethany Mota, Glozell Green, and I got an opportunity that a lot of people don't think we deserved. — Bethany ended our interview by asking for a selfie with Obama.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
11 of 14 projects in Sundance Film Festival's experimental showcase use virtual reality — How virtual reality ate the Sundance Film Festival — The future of independent film may not be film at all — The most buzzworthy feature of 2015's Sundance Film Festival isn't a film at all …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @verge, · Beats of Bits, @kickstarter, Engadget and /Film
Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:
Since his return, Michael Bloomberg has been deeply involved in company strategy and plans — Michael Bloomberg Shakes Up Newsroom Side of His Company — Things have changed at Bloomberg since its founder, Michael R. Bloomberg, returned to the office. — Some of the changes are small.
Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:
Why the NYT gave more attention to the murders at Charlie Hebdo than Boko Haram's massacre in Baga, Nigeria — When Calculus of Loss Doesn't Add Up — IF you start from the premise that every human life is of equal importance, then the judgments of news organizations will often be confounding.
Discussion:
@andrewmwenda, @deggans, @ffrf, @elitereporter, @hofrench, @sisonkemsimang, @ambikakandasamy, @nickfoxnyt, @reformedbroker, @brianstelter, @sulliview, @moorehn, @moorehn and @dangillmor
John Jurgensen / Wall Street Journal:
Catch-up technology lets shows build audience and buzz slowly, which is leading to more second seasons of unproven shows — The Rise of TV's Second Season — Changing viewing habits are leading to more second seasons for unproven shows
Quinn Norton / Medium:
Barrett Brown's sentence shows the increasing dangers of security journalism, and why reporters should step back until laws are fixed — We Should All Step Back from Security Journalism — I'll Go First — I started studying the computer underground back when I worked in tech, as an early web developer, in the mid 1990s.
Discussion:
@martin_v, @kegill, @stevewerby, @douglaslucas, @douglaslucas, @rsingel, @adambanksdotcom, @eldang, @sammikes, @biellacoleman, @eldang, @emilybell, @lalaurenista and Boing Boing
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Tom Risen / US News:
Barrett Brown's Prison Time Raises Cybersecurity, Journalism Concerns
Discussion:
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