Mediagazer: Chelsea Manning writes bill to protect journalism and curb Espionage Act (Ed Pilkington/Guardian)

1:00 PM ET, May 8, 2015

Top News:

Richard Sandomir / New York Times:

Bill Simmons' ESPN contract will not be renewed, Grantland said to be unaffected by departure — Bill Simmons and ESPN Are Parting Ways — Bill Simmons, who built a personal empire at ESPN and is one of America's most influential sports personalities, will leave the media giant when his contract expires in the fall.

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Grantland Publisher David Cho Is Leaving, Too — Bill Simmons isn't the only one leaving Grantland and ESPN. — David Cho, who has been publisher of the sports + pop culture site since Simmons started it in 2011, gave his notice to ESPN last week, according to a person familiar with the site.

Discussion: Awful Announcing

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Tribune Publishing to buy U-T San Diego for $85 million — Tribune Publishing has entered into an agreement to buy San Diego's flagship newspaper for $85 million. The deal, confirmed Thursday evening, includes $73 million in cash and $12 million in Tribune Publishing common stock …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, UT San Diego, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, UT San Diego, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Poynter, CNNMoney, Associated Press, Politico, FishbowlNY, XETV - Local News, Times of San Diego, KPBS Public Media, U-T San Diego and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Michelle Castillo / Adweek:

Snapchat debuts 10-second video ads for Discover publishers that cost two cents per view — Snapchat Debuts Video Ads for 2 Cents a View — Snapchat wants companies to know its not just for millennials: Advertisers can find a home there as well. At the Daily Mail/Elite Daily Digital …

Discussion: AdAge, The Drum and mUmBRELLA

Christian Sandvig / Social Media Collective:

Facebook's news polarization study is flawed because it only counted users self-reporting their ideological affiliation — The Facebook “It's Not Our Fault” Study — Today in Science, members of the Facebook data science team released a provocative study about adult Facebook users in the US …

Discussion: Crooked Timber, Cyborgology, Medium, @mathewi, @herrhorn, Engadget, @jayrosen_nyu, @snurb_dot_info, @digiphile, Joho the Blog and USA Today

Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Facebook study: our News Feed algorithm makes you just 5-8% less likely to see news from the opposing political side

Discussion: New York Times, Medium, Mashable, Bloomberg Business, Science, @verge, @mikebutcher, Pacific Standard, CBS News, NBC News, Guardian, Rachel Metz, BBC, Co.Exist, Gizmodo, TIME and Engadget

Cora Currier / The Intercept:

U.S. Government Designated Prominent Al Jazeera Journalist as “Member of Al Qaeda” — The U.S. government labeled a prominent journalist as a member of Al Qaeda and placed him on a watch list of suspected terrorists, according to a top-secret document that details U.S. intelligence efforts …

Discussion: WebProNews

Lisa Beilfuss / Wall Street Journal:

E.W. Scripps Q1 revenue up 5.3% to $214.5M, digital ad revenue up 21% to $5.3M, newspaper revenue down 7.1% to $91.5M — E.W. Scripps Loss Widens on Higher Expenses — Media company expects flat television revenue for current quarter — Media company E.W. Scripps Co. said its loss widened …

Discussion: Associated Press

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

London Live to backtrack on promise to increase original programming — Evgeny Lebedev's struggling TV service to drop commitment to do more original, local programming after getting Ofcom go-ahead for cutbacks — Evgeny Lebedev's London Live has secured Ofcom's permission to backtrack …

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

News Corp hacking scandal costs rise to $512m — The cost to News Corp of dealing with the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World has risen to $512m (£332m). — The figure is included in the latest quarterly results for the US-based owner of News UK, which publishes The Sun, Times and Sunday Times.

Discussion: Press Gazette

Liana B. Baker / Reuters:

Bright House Networks plans to drop merger with Charter-sources — Bright House Networks, the sixth largest U.S. cable operator, is preparing to abandon a $10.4 billion deal to be acquired by larger peer Charter Communications Inc, according to people familiar with the matter.

Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:

Inside the upcoming life sciences newsroom from Boston Globe Media, headed by ex-editor of Politico, Rick Berke, and based in Boston and DC — Inside the upcoming life sciences newsroom from Boston Globe Media — Shortly after Rick Berke resigned from his post as executive editor of Politico …

Discussion: Media Nation

Ed Pilkington / Guardian:

Chelsea Manning writes bill to protect journalism and curb Espionage Act — The US soldier imprisoned for leaking state secrets in 2010 seeks to reform laws used to prosecute journalists and whistleblowers in the name of national security — Chelsea Manning, the US soldier serving …

Discussion: @jesselynradack, @runasand and Chelsea Manning Support …