Mediagazer: Newsweek held story about CIA/Mossad role in assassination of top Hezbollah operative for a year, at the CIA's request, then got scooped by the Washington Post (Hadas Gold/Politico)

6:25 PM ET, February 7, 2015

Top News:

Brian Williams / Inside NBC News:

Brian Williams taking temporary leave from NBC Nightly News for next several days — A Personal Note from Brian Williams — In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions.

Dylan Byers / Politico:

NBC News President Deborah Turness confirms probe into Brian Williams' story, working on “next steps” — NBC News breaks silence on Brian Williams — NBC News has finally broken its silence on the Brian Williams ‘Choppergate’ controversy. — In a memo to staff …

Corky Siemaszko / NY Daily News:

NBC to investigate Brian Williams about Iraq lie: sources — The ‘NBC Nightly News’ anchor is the subject of an investigation by NBC, which sources said will be headed by Richard Esposito, a former Daily News editor. Williams' reporting on Hurricane Katrina is now being questioned, too.

David Uberti / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at Stars and Stripes, the Pentagon-backed newspaper that broke the Brian Williams story

Discussion: New York Times, PRI, Fox News and Freedom of the Prez

Jay Rosen / Pressthink:
As leader of a news division, Brian Williams should be re-reporting his own war story

Discussion: Washington Post, Gigaom, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, New Yorker, CNNMoney, SPLICETODAY.com, Hollywood Reporter, @brianstelter, @jayrosen_nyu and @dangillmor

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Pilot who backed Brian Williams' story backtracks, questions his own memories

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Newsweek held story about CIA/Mossad role in assassination of top Hezbollah operative for a year, at the CIA's request, then got scooped by the Washington Post — What the CIA didn't want Americans to know — Agency brass tried to spike a story implicating the CIA in the killing of a top Hezbollah terrorist.

Discussion: @s_m_i, @jimpoco, @postbaron, @emptywheel, @joshuahersh, @paullewis, @hadas_gold, @a_w_gordon, @hadas_gold and @jasonleopold

Jeremy Barr / Capital New York:

NowThis scraps its website, goes all-in on social — NowThis, which was founded to try and reinvent the way video news is delivered, took another step in that direction Friday by scrapping its website of video content and establishing it as solely a repository of links to its presence on outside social media platforms.

Discussion: @ashishp, @versharma, @dhiyakuriakose, @snmrrw, @ashishp, @sarah_frank, Marketing Land, The Wrap and @raju

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Lucky magazine, spun off by Conde Nast last year into BeachMint shopping joint venture, lays off about 10 — Lucky Magazine Lays Off About 10 Staffers — Conde Nast Spun Off the Title Last Year — Lucky magazine, the women's shopping title that was once a blockbuster success for Conde Nast …

Discussion: Fashionista

Kelly J O'Brien / Columbia Journalism Review:

Why the secret criminal investigation of WikiLeaks is troubling for journalists — The media is overlooking the details of an investigation that could have implications for all news organizations — Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia began investigating WikiLeaks in 2010 …

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Pandora Readies Fight Against BMI's Royalty Claims — LOS ANGELES — On Sunday, the eyes of the music world will be on the Grammy Awards in the Staples Center. But shortly afterward, the industry's attention will shift to a much less glamorous location: a federal courtroom in Manhattan …

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

The best headline templates for maximizing readership can quickly become ubiquitous, over-familiar, and cloying to their own writers — It is my job to read the Internet, and that makes me weird. — Most people are not paid to follow, study, and theorize about web journalism …

Discussion: @theatlantic and New York Magazine

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Sling TV's $5/month sports bundle add-on: SEC Network, five ESPN channels, Univision Deportes, Universal Sports, and beIN Sports — Sling TV reveals plans for sports package including Universal Sports — Sling TV, the internet-based TV service operated by Dish, just gave us a look …

Discussion: Digital Trends, Multichannel News and Slate

David Folkenflik / NPR:

Huffington Post Bets People Will Read Good News — And Share It, Too — Listen to the Story — Greek-born author Arianna Huffington created a digital powerhouse in May 2005 on the back of two major elements: famous bloggers, and the relentless aggregation of stories from elsewhere on politics, pop culture and almost everything else.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and @ariannahuff

Jeremy Barr / Capital New York:

Washington Post has agreed to withhold certain pieces of information from the Snowden files at government's request because of national security — Dean Baquet, Marty Baron and Susan Glasser dish on national security reporting — The Washington Post has accommodated government requests …

Discussion: @james_pouliot, @apblake, @postbaron, @apblake, @postbaron and @postbaron