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 Awl, The Huffington Post, The New York Observer, @crampell, @mlcalderone, @moorehn, @benmullin, @chillmage and @ellenbarrynyt
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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:
Gawker, New York Times, WWD, WWD, @chrisboutet, @jackshafer, @mathewi, investors.nytco.com, Poynter, Co.Design, AdAge, Washington Post, New York Magazine, @langealexandra, @joepompeo, @mtaeckens, @joepompeo, @courtneyreimer, @fordm, @raju and @rafat
Telegraph:
Telegraph defends coverage of HSBC, will write guidelines for how editorial and commercial staffs cooperate — The Telegraph's promise to our readers — Telegraph View: We are proud to combine journalistic excellence with commercial success and we will continue to do so
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Simon Bowers / Guardian:
Telegraph owners' £250m HSBC loan raises fresh questions over coverage — Barclay brothers secured loan for loss-making company shortly before Telegraph reporters were allegedly discouraged from running articles critical of HSBC — The owners of the Daily Telegraph secured …
Chris Cook / BBC:
More Telegraph writers voice concern
More Telegraph writers voice concern
Discussion:
Guardian, @borzou, @antderosa, @arishapiro, Press Gazette and BuzzFeed
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, Marketing Land, @tbskyen, Tubefilter, @brandonminiman and The Overspill
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Martin Beck / Marketing Land:
YouTube sees 50% annual growth in views for the last three years, despite Facebook's focus on video — YouTube Says Growth Is Still Strong Despite Push From Facebook — YouTube's head of content says the video giant has seen 50% annual growth in views for the last three years …
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.
Discussion:
LostRemote, ABC News, ABC News and The Wrap
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
Rob Price / Business Insider:
Ashton Kutcher's A+ is now one of 50 biggest US sites, with editorial staff of 10, Bacardi and Lenovo as sponsors, and a plan to add celebrity-controlled pages — Inside Ashton Kutcher's celebrity-powered viral media empire, which no one knows exists — Ashton Kutcher owns …
Thanks:@robaeprice
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.
Jennifer Weil / WWD:
Axel Springer-owned French firm Aufeminin buys Livingly, US publisher of Zimbio, StyleBistro, and Lonny, for $25M with earnout up to $50M — Aufeminin.com to Buy Livingly Media — DIGITAL DUO: European Web site Aufeminin.com, owned by Axel Springer AG, said it has agreed to buy Livingly Media Inc. …
Discussion:
Folio, PRWeb and Rude Baguette
Liam Corcoran / The Whip:
Five news sites that are seeing growth in Facebook engagement: NPR, Time, NatGeo, The Verge, and Manchester Evening News — News Sites Are Seeing Growth In Facebook Engagements Too — We look at the performance of five sites that don't feature in our monthly rankings …
Discussion:
@reckless and @sarahllester
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
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
BuzzFeed buys mobile “visual conversation” startup GoPop, previously called Zeega and part of media accelerator Matter's first class — BuzzFeed Expands Mobile Team By Acquiring “Visual Conversation” Startup GoPop — BuzzFeed just announced that it's acquiring San Francisco startup GoPop.
Discussion:
@cdirusso, @ceodonovan, @mikeisaac, @karaoehler, @jshapes, @niemanlab and @advancitcapital