Top News:
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Gigaom struggled with significant debt for years, recently spent $400K/month on rent and interest; unprofitable research arm became a drag on the company — The Long Story Behind GigaOm's Sudden Demise — When GigaOm's managers announced the tech news publisher was laying off …
Discussion:
Guardian, Medium, @moorehn, @thekarami, @reformedbroker, @pkafka, @dangillmor, @mathewi, The Wrap and Beyond Search
RELATED:
Michael Wolf / Medium:
Gigaom's former VP of Research on how venture capital and the growth expectations that come with it contributed to Gigaom's demise — Gigaom: The Life and Death of a Venture Funded Media Startup — As most know, we lost Gigaom last week. It was a sudden passing of a widely beloved tech media company …
Discussion:
@mobilemaggie, @jowyang, @pkafka, @johnhcook, @bmorrissey, @carnage4life, @gsterling and @raju
Jasper Jackson / Guardian:
David Cameron interview will help BuzzFeed win advertisers' vote — Like Vice's Barack Obama coup, site's grilling of the prime minister is aimed at not just boosting traffic, but gaining commercial credibility — David Cameron is to be interviewed live on Monday afternoon …
Alex Hern / Guardian:
The dual personality of Reddit: a problem for CEO Ellen Pao should she try to cleanse the site — Reddit: can anyone clean up the mess behind ‘the front page of the internet’? — The social news site is almost as famous for its never-ending supply of creepy subforums as it is for memes, pictures and assorted lols.
Discussion:
@howtogeek and @adrianchen
David Kushner / Rolling Stone:
Chris Poole hopes to sell 4chan, says Fappening and Gamergate stress triggered his departure — 4chan's Overlord Christopher Poole Reveals Why He Walked Away — His website made him an unlikely teenage celebrity — then it spun out of control — At 11 a.m. on January 21st …
Discussion:
@hakantee and @ballardian
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
ESPN's Bill Simmons Talks Podcasts, Grantland and His Next Contract — Bill Simmons, ESPN's popular and controversial multimedia star, is in Austin this weekend at the annual South by Southwest interactive festival, taping a series of podcasts — a longtime focus for him — for his Grantland site.
Discussion:
@laceyvrose, @timmarchman, @awealthofcs, @si_chrisstone and @richarddeitsch
Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
Watchup app woos millennials with custom-curated news streaming — TV news has a problem with younger viewers: It doesn't have enough of them. — It's why some outlets have signed on with tech entrepreneur Adriano Farano, who is betting he can bring video journalism to young viewers …
Rex Sorgatz / Medium:
How The Daily Show triumphed: by enabling disruptive technology and embracing media inventions — How The Daily Show Triumphed — (By Enabling Disruptive Technology and Embracing Media Inventions, But Only When It Made Sense, Which Was Less Often Than One Might Think; — Also: Some Luck)
Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:
Guardian US CEO Eamonn Store aims to double traffic, triple revenue to be profitable in three years — Guardian U.S. profitability ‘looks very realistic’ within three years — AUSTIN, Tex.—The Guardian's U.S. operation is on track to be profitable within three years, according to a company executive.
John Jurgensen / Wall Street Journal:
Adult Swim: How to Run a Creative Hothouse — The offbeat cable network is moving into prime time — On a wall outside the headquarters of Adult Swim, a block-long mural painting presents a timeline of the TV shows that built one of the most popular—and by far strangest—networks on cable.
Discussion:
@adultswim
Henry Mance / Financial Times:
Final shortlist for new Guardian editor to be named on Friday: US EIC Katharine Viner and BBC Newsnight editor Ian Katz — Guardian set to name new editor to succeed Alan Rusbridger — The Guardian will name its new editor on Friday, having decided to overlook the bookmakers' favourite for the role …
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Netflix's war with Internet service providers is over, but Comcast and AT&T still have congestion issues with Internet backbone operators GTT and Zayo — Netflix war is over, but money disputes still harm Internet users — AT&T won't upgrade network without payment; Comcast is working to fix congestion.