Top News:
Ben Popper / The Verge:
Reddit launches a video division to create original content — The social news service Reddit has grown to a truly massive size, garnering 170 million monthly visitors and 6.7 billion pages view this January, while maintaining a fairly bare-bones service. It helps elevate obscure material …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, CNNMoney, PC Magazine, Silicon Republic, FishbowlNY, VentureBeat, Business Insider, Engadget, @spgreenwood, @jordanoplinger, @mikeisaac, The Next Web and Mashable
John Koblin / New York Times:
Al Jazeera America faces staff morale issues, a lawsuit, an exodus of top executives, and poor ratings — Al Jazeera Network, in Turmoil, Is Now the News — Nearly two years ago, Ehab Al Shihabi, the chief executive of Al Jazeera America, took the stage at the Aspen Ideas Festival …
Discussion:
TVNewser, JNS.org, CNNMoney, Mediaite, Algemeiner.com, The Times of Israel, Sacramento Bee, @nytimes, @tomgara, The Daily Beast, Poynter, @ggreenwald, Deadline, The Wrap, @buzzfeedandrew and @drewharwell
Julia Greenberg / Wired:
Snapchat rolls out update letting users embellish Discover clips with text and drawings, share them with friends — SNAPCHAT ALLOWS USERS TO (FINALLY!) SHARE NEWS — It's hard being a media company. We get it. And now Snapchat gets it too. — Today, the ephemeral messaging company rolled …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Engadget, Los Angeles Times, @daliaezzat_, Business Insider, The Next Web, Mashable and ClickZ
Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
Tribune Publishing Q1 earnings down 75%, total revenues down 5% to $396M on advertising decline — Tribune Publishing earnings drop on advertising decline — Get unlimited digital access to chicagotribune.com. Try it today for ONLY $0.99.
Discussion:
Capital New York, @megmacpr, Associated Press, bizjournals, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, StreetInsider.com and Talking New Media
Jackie Spinner / Columbia Journalism Review:
Chicago Tribune finds Instagram offers limited revenue opportunity, requires a cumbersome workflow, but a burgeoning audience makes it a “no-brainer” — Illinois photo editors seek to tap into Instagram's popularity — Ten months ago, the Chicago Tribune simultaneously launched …
Discussion:
@cjr, @cward1e and @mediadissector
Vox Product Blog:
The evolution of the editorial products team at Vox Media; what worked, what didn't, and why — Building a team to scale storytelling while fostering experimentation — The editorial products team at Vox Media is the one responsible for projects like SB Nation's live draft tracker …
Discussion:
Poynter
Tim Wu / New Yorker:
Consumers want a la carte internet TV, but cable-like bundles make more economic sense for channels — The Dreaded Bundle Comes to Internet TV — When a man named Herb MacDonald pioneered the pay-one-price, all-you-can-eat buffet in Las Vegas sometime in the in the middle of the last century …
Dawn Chmielewski / Re/code:
OpenTV files lawsuit against Apple alleging iTunes software violates five streaming patents — Interactive TV Pioneer OpenTV Sues Apple, Alleging Patent Infringement — Interactive television pioneer OpenTV has sued Apple, alleging that the Cupertino technology giant infringed on its patents.
Discussion:
MacRumors, Engadget, AppleInsider and 9to5Mac
Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Conde Nast in first digital-only launch with website for ‘alpha geeks’ Ars Technica UK — Magazine publisher Conde Nast has launched its first digital-only title - the technology website Ars Technica UK. — The site has been published in the US since 1998.
Tony Haile / Chartbeat Blog:
Chartbeat raises $15.5M in Series C funding, launches tools to test headline and ad engagement — Two New Products, Two New Partners, $15M New Dollars — Last month, Chartbeat celebrated its sixth anniversary. Over those six years, we've worked with thousands of incredible partners …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, TechCrunch and AdExchanger
Mark Joyella / TVNewser:
BBC Prepares U.K. Elections Coverage for Wider U.S. Audience — As Americans, we tend to be more interested in the names of newly-born British royals than the names of candidates running in U.K. elections. Still, the BBC plans comprehensive coverage of tomorrow's election for a global audience.
Emily Steel / New York Times:
After collapse of Comcast-TWC deal, regulatory spotlight turns to AT&T-DirecTV merger — Now, Spotlight Turns to AT&T-DirecTV Deal — Just three months after Comcast announced its $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable last year, its rival AT&T announced a $48 billion takeover of DirecTV.