Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
Dean Baquet: NYT will retire 'system of pitching stories for the print Page 1′ — This memo just went out to staffers from New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet:
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Awl and @chillmage
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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, WWD, AdAge, @chrisboutet, @mathewi, @jackshafer, investors.nytco.com, @langealexandra, Co.Design, Washington Post, New York Magazine, @joepompeo, @mtaeckens, @joepompeo, @courtneyreimer, @fordm, @raju and @rafat
Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
Politico's Rachel Van Dongen leaves for The Washington Post — Politico deputy managing editor Rachel Van Dongen is leaving for The Washington Post, where she'll “lead a new initiative for the National desk,” The Washington Post announced Thursday. — Van Dongen left the Post to join Politico …
Discussion:
Washington Post and @poynter
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:
@tbskyen, Beyond Devices, @brandonminiman, Tubefilter and The Overspill
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:
Business Insider, Marketing Land, SlashGear and The Next Web
Tim Baysinger / Broadcasting & Cable:
Exclusive: ABC News Launches on Xbox One — First U.S. news app on the gaming platform — ABC News has launched on the Xbox One, becoming the first U.S. news app to take residence on the gaming console. — The launch is tied to ABC's coverage of the 87th Academy Awards that will air live on Sunday night.
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Secret Media Makes Ad Blockers Useless To Display Those Sweet, Sweet Pre-Roll Video Ads — Chances are that you installed an ad blocking software to skip YouTube's pre-roll video ads. But now, many media companies suffer from these ad blockers and have no choice but to switch to a freemium model …
Discussion:
Digiday
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:
@mazmhussain, Telegraph, @rowaida_abdel, @rdevro and @the_intercept
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, @borzou, @arishapiro, @antderosa, Press Gazette and BuzzFeed
Agence France-Presse:
Celebrations in Burundi after radio journalist Bob Rugurika is released from jail ahead of elections — Thousands rally after Burundi journalist released — 2 hrs ago — Bujumbura (Burundi) (AFP) - Thousands marched through Burundi's capital Thursday in one of the largest demonstrations …
Discussion:
Reuters, Guardian, hrw.org/rss/news and South China Morning Post
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 …
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 …
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, Reuters, Associated Press, Zacks Investment Research, 24/7 Wall St. and Wall Street Journal