Mediagazer: CEO of Daily Mail North America says greatest challenge to news reporting is advertisers not willing to place ads next to real, hard news (Jon Steinberg/Medium)

2:20 PM ET, May 19, 2015

Top News:

Dan Bilefsky / New York Times:

Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Luz, who co-wrote Le Monde editorial questioning the magazine's direction, is to leave, says pressure is too much to bear — Charlie Hebdo Cartoonist Who Depicted Muhammad After Attack to Leave — LONDON — The cartoonist known as Luz, who drew the polarizing cover …

Discussion: Poynter, NPR, The Independent and The Newspaper Guild

Shawn W. Crispin / Committee to Protect Journalists:

Cartoonists increasingly facing same threats as journalists in countries where free speech is restricted; assaulted, disappeared, often on government orders — Drawing the line: Cartoonists under threat … Zunar's trial is emblematic of the risks faced by cartoonists worldwide …

Discussion: New York Times, @lalehsr, PRI, @schism_schasm, @jessicajerreat and Guardian

David Heinemann / Index on Censorship: Malaysian cartoonist Zunar trial to begin May 20, faces nine charges and 43 years in prison

Daisuke Wakabayashi / Wall Street Journal:

After nearly a decade of research, Apple shelved plans over a year ago for the TV set that Carl Icahn expects it to release in 2016 — Behind Apple's Move to Shelve TV Plans — Apple had dropped its TV plans, but investor Carl Icahn sees the firm entering the market next year

Discussion: Mashable, Business Insider, Variety, iDownloadBlog.com, Reynolds Center, AppleInsider, The Verge, USA Today, ZDNet, BGR, @gte, App Advice, 9to5Mac, Digital Trends, MacRumors, PandoDaily, Bloomberg View, Talking New Media, Fortune, @craigmod, @daiwaka, @nickbilton and @tomgara

David Lieberman / Deadline:
In open letter to Tim Cook, Icahn trumpets big market for Apple in television, for hardware and streaming

Discussion: Quartz

Brian Murphy / Washington Post:

Trial of Washington Post's Teheran bureau chief Jason Rezaian, detained in Iran for 10 months, begins next week — Lawyer: Trial of Post reporter held in Iran set to begin next week — Jason Rezaian's journey has taken him from a childhood in San Francisco to his father's native Iran.

Discussion: Washington Post, FishbowlDC, Poynter, @adampopescu, Associated Press, @jimsciutto, @anupkaphle and @dabeard

John Plunkett / Guardian:

Jeremy Paxman: BBC TV licence fee clearly can't last — Former Newsnight presenter says the fee is unsustainable in the long term but there are currently no alternatives — Former Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman has said the TV licence fee “clearly can't last” but said there was no alternative funding model for the BBC at present.

Valerie Vande Panne / Columbia Journalism Review:

As the archives degrade for the Boston Phoenix, publisher hopes to announce a deal soon with a university to save them — Can the Boston Phoenix's digital history be saved? — It's always hard when a newspaper dies. But when the alt-weekly Boston Phoenix passed away …

Discussion: E&, Boston Globe, Mediashift, Media Nation, @coreyhutchins and @cjr

Jay Rosen / Pressthink:

When candidates stonewall, political reporters must go beyond whining about their own role in campaigns; they should report, answering voters' questions — Campaign reporters: you are granted no “role in the process.” It is your powers against theirs. — Forget it: there is no guaranteed “role.”

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, @jayrosen_nyu, @nicdawes, @jayrosen_nyu, @digidave and @jayrosen_nyu

Alex Kantrowitz / AdAge:

Inside Google's secretive anti-fraud team battling the bots that siphon billions of digital ad dollars — Inside Google's Secret War Against Ad Fraud — Cable News Wars Rage as New Players Join the Battle — In a conference room nine floors above London's St. Giles High Street …

Discussion: Business Insider and AdExchanger

Micah Singleton / The Verge:

Contract between Sony Music and Spotify shows how streaming rates are calculated plus yearly advances and most-favored-nation clause for Sony Music — This was Sony Music's contract with Spotify — Over the last year the music industry has been in flux as artists, labels …

Discussion: TIME, @poptastic, @crablin, @eriqgardner, @jimcarrollotr, @mattwatkajtys and Business Insider

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

MixRadio, the streaming music service sold by Microsoft to Line last year, launches iOS and Android apps — MixRadio Finally Brings Its Music Service To iOS And Android — MixRadio, the radio music service that was transferred from Nokia to Microsoft and then bought by messaging app company Line …

Discussion: The Verge, SlashGear and Engadget

Jon Steinberg / Medium:

CEO of Daily Mail North America says greatest challenge to news reporting is advertisers not willing to place ads next to real, hard news — News is Not Porn or File Sharing — Years back, native digital media operations got a hard time from traditional or mainstream media for not doing enough hard or real news.

Discussion: Digiday, @brie, @tabithagold and @jyarow

John Plunkett / Guardian:

Capital and LBC owner Global Radio advised stations to drop HSBC story — UK's largest commercial radio group cited ‘editorial reasons’ for pausing coverage of how bank's Swiss banking arm helped wealthy customers dodge taxes — The UK's largest commercial radio group, Global Radio …

Discussion: @matthewwells

Stuart Dredge / Guardian:

Streaming music service Deezer adds 20,000 podcasts and radio shows — New CEO hints at further move into sports and says Deezer can survive against well-funded competition from Apple and Spotify — Streaming music service Deezer is beefing up its spoken-word content …

Discussion: Music Ally, Engadget, Associated Press, Variety, International Business Times, CNET, hypebot and The Next Web

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

Kik creates new “Services” division, hires ex-Accuen exec Josh Jacobs as president as it works toward more publisher and brand deals — Kik joins Facebook in hunt for more publisher, brand deals — While Facebook is courting publishers, millennial-focused messaging app Kik …