Top News:
Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
Pandora testing a message service that lets artists send audio messages to fans — Pandora to Let Music Artists Like Lenny Kravitz Send Audio Messages to Fans — Even Pandora wants in on the messaging boom. — The music streaming service is launching a pilot test this week …
Discussion:
Marketing Land, Business Insider, The Next Web and SlashGear
Eric Blattberg / Digiday:
YouTube prohibits sponsored overlays to keep creators from cutting Google out of ad revenues — YouTube makes a move against brand-sponsored videos — YouTube is putting down the clamps on video creators who work directly with brands, nudging them instead to rely on Google's sales team for deals.
Discussion:
Beyond Devices, Tubefilter and The Overspill
Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:
The new New York Times Magazine launches Sunday with 220 pages, up 33 pages over previous year; eBay bought all digital ad inventory — The new New York Times Magazine — At the end of 2013, six months before her executive editorship of The New York Times came to a screeching halt …
Discussion:
New York Times, Poynter, AdAge, WWD, @jackshafer, investors.nytco.com, Co.Design, Washington Post, @mtaeckens, @fordm, New York Magazine, @joepompeo, @langealexandra, @raju, @rafat, @courtneyreimer and @joepompeo
James Doleman / The Drum:
Jury banned from watching BBC Royal family doc during trial of Sun journalists — An Old Bailey jury was told today that watching a BBC documentary about the Royal family and the media could lead to them being sent to prison. — Mr Justice Saunders, who is presiding over the trial …
Murtaza Hussain / The Intercept:
Out on Bail, Al Jazeera Journalist Mohammed Fahmy Speaks from Cairo — In December 2013, Al Jazeera English Bureau Chief Mohammed Fahmy was arrested in Cairo, alongside colleagues Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed, on charges of supporting the banned Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Discussion:
Telegraph, @the_intercept and @rdevro
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
DirecTV Q4 misses estimates with $778M earnings, 149K new subscribers — DirecTV Reports Lower Fourth-Quarter Profit, Improved U.S. Subscriber Growth — DirecTV on Thursday reported lower fourth-quarter earnings, but exceeded Wall Street expectations, and said it added more U.S. subscribers …
Roy Greenslade / Guardian:
The Independent expands its digital presence to the States — Newspaper creates ‘web office’ in New York as online traffic increases — The Independent has opened a “web office” in the United States. Andrew Buncombe, the paper's former Washington correspondent, has become US digital editor.
Chris Cook / BBC:
More Telegraph writers voice concern — Daily Telegraph journalists have said they felt discouraged from writing uncomfortable stories about a range of advertisers and commercial partners. — These included the governments of Russia and China, a film distributor and RBS, BBC Newsnight has learned.
Discussion:
Guardian, Press Gazette and BuzzFeed
Jon Boone / Guardian:
Dissenting voices silenced in Pakistan's war of the web — YouTube is banned and tweets are censored, while pornography thrives and foreign Islamist militants have their say — Pakistan already goes further than most in digitally shielding its citizens from the outside world.
Discussion:
@mustafa_qadri
Australian Associated Press:
Fairfax profits fall 86% due to restructuring; firm plans to buy back about 5% of shares — Fairfax first-half profits slide 86% as restructuring plan takes its toll — Chief executive Greg Hywood says the media group's transition strategy is progressing as planned, despite huge hit to its bottom line
Discussion:
Business Insider Australia and mUmBRELLA
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Entertainment firm Whalerock creates online and app-based channels for celebrities to supplement traditional media with paid and free programming — Coming Soon: Celebrity Web Networks From the Media Company Whalerock — SANTA MONICA, Calif. — An under-the-radar media company …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Daily Mail, Radio Ink Magazine, HotNewHipHop.com, Variety and VideoInk