Top News:
Ted Bridis / Associated Press:
In 2014 US censored or denied access to 39% of FOIA requests, with unanswered requests up 55% — US sets new record for denying, censoring government files — 1 photo — WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second consecutive year, the Obama administration more often than ever censored government files …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Verge, Guardian, Hit & Run, @tbridis, @trevortimm, @dangillmor, @attackerman, @onekade, @aliwatkins, @gtconboy, @propublica, @ap, The Week and sunshineweek.rcfp.org
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Josh Hicks / Washington Post:
A Sunshine Week surprise: White House exempts executive office from records requests — The White House on Tuesday removed a longstanding government-transparency rule that the George W. Bush administration first opposed, exempting President Obama's Office of Administration from records requests.
Discussion:
Bloomberg Business, Guardian, The Rural Blog, Poynter, USA Today and Gawker Politburo
Mark Sweney / Guardian:
Guardian, FT, CNN, Reuters, and Economist launch new programmatic advertising alliance Pangaea to take on Facebook and Google — Guardian, FT, CNN and Reuters in ad deal to take on Facebook and Google — Pangaea Alliance initiative will give brands access to more than 110 million online readers using programmatic advertising system
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Guardian, Capital New York, Mashable, Digiday, Wall Street Journal, Beet.TV, @ylichterman, Business Insider, PerformanceIN, mUmBRELLA, Mediatel, The Drum, Financial Times and @heathat
Jeremy Barr / Capital New York:
New York Times adding 20 online opinion writers — The New York Times is bringing on 20 new online-focused writers as contributors for its op-ed and Sunday Review sections, editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal and op-ed/Sunday Review editor Trish Hall announced in a Wednesday afternoon memo.
Discussion:
Politico, @mollyworthen, @meganstielstra, @logandobson and @jbouie
Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:
Most millenials are ‘accidental news junkies’, learning about current affairs by spending a lot of time on social media, but not purposefully seeking news — Journalism in the Age of the Accidental News Junkie — Young Americans care about the news, honestly they do …
Discussion:
INMA and @heyheyesj
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
Gigaom's challenges: poor leadership, spending beyond means, inattention to longterm problems — Digital Media Darlings Unfazed by the Fall of the News Site Gigaom — In the week and a half since the technology news site Gigaom stopped publishing, it has been held up as a cautionary tale for media in a go-go era.
Discussion:
The Trichordist, @rafat, @dangillmor, @fmanjoo, Boing Boing, @ravisomaiya, @mathewi and @jayrosen_nyu
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
Mitra Kalita leaves Quartz to join Los Angeles Times as managing editor for editorial strategy — S. Mitra Kalita heads to the L.A. Times to ‘develop and refine new styles of journalism’ — S. Mitra Kalita, executive editor-at-large at Quartz, will join the Los Angeles Times as managing editor …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, The New York Observer, LA Observed, @palewire and @raju
Kyle Russell / TechCrunch:
Ustream opening up its internal SDK and API to developers, enabling anyone to build Meerkat-like apps, by invitation only for now — Ustream's New Live-Broadcasting SDK Lets You Build Your Own Meerkat — Call it a sign of the times: hot on the heels of Meerkat's sudden boom …
Sarah Ellison / Vanity Fair:
Inside New York Times Reporter James Risen's Seven Year Fight Against the Government — For seven years, Risen lived under the threat of jail for refusing to reveal a confidential source. When the government backed off, some saw a victory for freedom of the press.
Discussion:
@cgasparino, @michaeloreskes, @cressman, @peacockc and The Newspaper Guild
Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:
Public editor on push notifications as spoilers, when to honor embargoes, and disclosure of reporters on TV — Spoilers, Embargoes, Disclosures and ‘Jinx’ — For some of those enthralled with HBO's documentary series “The Jinx,” the Sunday night news alert from The Times was the very definition of a spoiler.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Curbed NY and NOLA River
Sydney Ember / New York Times:
Kantar report: Biggest advertisers cut spending by 4.2% in 2014 amid shift to digital media — Biggest Advertisers Are Sending Their Dollars to Digital — The country's largest marketers are slashing their advertising budgets as they shift a larger portion of their spending to digital …
Jeremy Barr / Capital New York:
Viral content upstart Playbuzz raises $16 million funding round — Viral content publisher Playbuzz, having mastered the Internet—to the tune of 80 million monthly unique visitors—is taking on New York City and the rest of the world. — The company, founded in 2012 by Shaul Olmert …
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Xbox Music can now play music stored in OneDrive — Want to listen to your personal music collection through Xbox Music? Microsoft has just unveiled its take on an online music locker, allowing people to store their personal music files in OneDrive and then listen to them over on Xbox Music.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Pocket-lint, Engadget and xboxmusic.uservoice.com
Alex Weprin / Capital New York:
Discovery Channel founder launches nonfiction on-demand streaming CuriosityStream for $3-$6/month — Discovery Channel founder enters the streaming fray — Video streaming services are no longer avant-garde. With HBO Now joining Netflix, Hulu and others like Sling TV …
Discussion:
LostRemote, Los Angeles Times, VideoInk, StreamDaily and StreetInsider.com
Laura Slattery / The Irish Times:
Losses at UTV Ireland will be €8.4m this year — Operating profit at UTV Media fell 2 per cent in 2014 after investment in new TV channel — Losses at UTV Ireland, the new television channel set up by UTV Media, will be in the region of £6 million (€8.4 million) this year …
Discussion:
Independent.ie, Guardian, Reuters, UTV News, RTÉ and Yahoo! Finance
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Nine broadcasters petition FCC to change disclosure rules for paid programming from spoken on air, to written online — Radio Broadcasters Seek Changes in Disclosure Rules for Paid Programming — A group of radio broadcasters has asked for changes to federal rules about how stations …
Discussion:
@paulgla, @gsterling, @tvnewslab, AdAge and Future of Music Coalition
Natasha Lennard / Fusion:
The NYPD's subtle changes to Wikipedia entries make black victims seem more threatening — NYPD officers editing the Wikipedia pages of black men killed by police conjures a dystopian picture. From within the brutalist edifice of Manhattan's 1 Police Plaza, cops logged in to the online encyclopedia …
Discussion:
Mashable