Top News:
Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:
Verizon-AOL deal gives Huffington Post an uncertain future: either a conservative corporate owner or a sale amid frothy media valuations — Huffington Post in Limbo at Verizon — Over the last couple of years, an array of media companies, venture capitalists and wealthy individuals …
Discussion:
FishbowlNY, Poynter, The Wrap, @rafat, @rafat, @rasmus_kleis and Wall Street Journal
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Gawker:
Anonymous ex-Huffington Post employee says Arianna Huffington spikes stories criticising friends and advertisers — Hell Is Working at the Huffington Post — Talk to someone who works at the Huffington Post these days and inevitably one word will keep popping up: “demoralized.”
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Quartz is trying to make its articles stickier on smartphones with a new “Read Full Story” button — Quartz tweaked its site design Sunday, mostly in ways even careful readers are unlikely to notice. But one change stands out on mobile. If you follow a link to an article — say …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, @joelcifer, @teruterubouzu, @jbenton and @ejimbo_com
Sam Biddle / Gawker:
Fusion's internal traffic metrics by Chartbeat show the site continues to battle low traffic — More People Work at Fusion Than Are Reading Its Most Popular Post — Since its official launch in 2013, Fusion has aimed to be a haven for sweet millennial clicks and a place for journalists …
Discussion:
Fortune, @alexismadrigal, @mathewi, @noahshachtman, bookforum.com, @newsmary, @digiphile, @jgfarb, @hunterw, @rossneumann, @trnels, @journodave and Politico
Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:
The Times Should Push Back Hard on ‘Background’ Sourcing — The all-too-common Washington practice of “background briefings” and “background press releases” brings to mind a quip often attributed to Mark Twain: Everybody complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it.
Discussion:
Poynter, Washington Post, Politico, The Huffington Post and Mediaite
AdAge:
BuzzFeed hires longtime PepsiCo executive Frank Cooper as its first chief marketing officer and chief creative officer — BuzzFeed Names Longtime PepsiCo Exec Its First CMO — Even Small Businesses Are Ready for Marketing Automation — BuzzFeed has hired longtime PepsiCo marketing …
Discussion:
The Drum, @s_m_i, @gaberivera, @peretti and FishbowlNY
Bloomberg Business:
Hollywood studios face EU antitrust complaint over licensing deals that may prevent cross-border competition — Hollywood In EU Spotlight as TV Probe Said to Escalate — Hollywood studios including 20th Century Fox as well as some of the European Union's biggest pay-TV companies face …
Discussion:
@senficon and Ars Technica UK
Michael E. Miller / Washington Post:
Profile of Andrew Jennings, the UK investigative reporter who exposed FIFA corruption — How a curmudgeonly old reporter exposed the FIFA scandal that toppled Sepp Blatter — The biggest news story of the year was breaking, but the journalist responsible was fast asleep.
Mark Sweney / Guardian:
Writers' Guild of Great Britain claims BBC pays writers single fee of £1,000 to produce potential scripts for soaps, wants it increased to £2,814 — BBC ‘paying prospective scriptwriters the equivalent of £2 an hour’ — Union chief claims writers are paid single fee …
Discussion:
@catalytikino and @ellardent
Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
Profile of Wesley Lowery, the controversial Washington Post reporter covering how law enforcement works with communities — Why Does Everyone Want Wesley Lowery to Shut Up? — The Washington Post rising star is a terrific reporter—and he's pretty good at driving his critics crazy, too.
Discussion:
@ryanjreilly, @schadenfraade, @boston2024news and @jayrosen_nyu
Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Andy Coulson cleared of perjury as Scottish court case collapses — Judge agrees with defence argument that Coulson's alleged lies about phone hacking were not material to main case at Tommy Sheridan trial — David Cameron's former director of communications, Andy Coulson …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, BBC, Telegraph, Guardian, Sky News, BBC, ITV, allmediascotland, Home on News and Home on News
Ben Geman / National Journal:
The New York Times, Vice News Slam Obama Administration Over FOIA Delays — A top attorney for The Times will tell Congress there's a “culture of unresponsiveness” when it comes to FOIA. — A top lawyer for The New York Times, journalists, and advocacy groups will pummel …
Discussion:
@ron_fournier, @ryanjreilly, @schultz44, @jfagone, @muckrock, Mediaite, The Hill, Washington Post, Washington Post and Washington Post
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
A digital focus led Florida's Sun Sentinel to better storytelling, fewer meetings, and more content to readers — Last year, The Sun Sentinel made digital a priority. So how's it going? … In October, the South Florida Sun Sentinel unveiled a site redesign, a newspaper redesign and a new plan to cover the news.
Discussion:
@kristenhare