Mediagazer: Antitrust: Commission opens formal investigation into Amazon's e-book distribution arrangements (EU Press Room)

1:15 PM ET, June 11, 2015

Top News:

David Faber / CNBC:

Rupert Murdoch to step down as CEO of 21st Century Fox, will remain executive chairman; Lachlan Murdoch to become executive co-chairman, James Murdoch to be CEO — Rupert Murdoch preparing to step down as CEO from 21st Century Fox — Rupert Murdoch, the 84-year old CEO and controlling shareholder …

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EU Press Room:

Antitrust: Commission opens formal investigation into Amazon's e-book distribution arrangements — The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation into certain business practices by Amazon in the distribution of electronic books ("e-books").

Discussion: Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, Digital Book World, TechCrunch, PCWorld, GeekWire, VentureBeat, The Verge, The Next Web, Engadget, @sarahw, Ink, Bits, & Pixels, SlashGear and Tech.eu

Brett Zongker / Associated Press:

CEO Jarl Mohn says NPR is set to break even for the first time in six years, podcast revenue up 200% since 2013 — NPR chief says network positioned for growth after struggles — 4 photos — WASHINGTON (AP) — After years of leadership changes and funding deficits …

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:
Public radio is seeing a shift in digital listening: Live streaming is slowing, on-demand is growing

Discussion: Reynolds Center and NetNewsCheck Latest

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Wall Street Journal to relaunch European and Asian editions as global weekday broadsheet in September — Wall Street Journal to revamp European and Asian editions in broadsheet format — News Corp-owned paper to relaunch foreign versions in September after going compact a decade ago

Discussion: WWD, FishbowlNY, Dow Jones, Poynter, Capital New York, Business Standard, The Standard, Wall Street Journal and Politico

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

CEO Virasb Vahidi leaves Otter Media, AT&T and Chernin Group's joint venture for web video, including Fullscreen and Crunchyroll — CEO of AT&T, Chernin's Web Video Joint Venture Leaves — The CEO of Otter Media, the Web video joint venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group, is leaving after less than a year on the job.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Multichannel News and Variety

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

A blow for mobile advertising: The next version of Safari will let users block ads on iPhones and iPads — It didn't get a mention in Apple's big keynote announcements Monday — which already had plenty of interest to publishers — but deep within Apple's developer documentation lies perhaps …

Shaun Walker / Guardian:

Azerbaijan bans Guardian from reporting on Baku European Games — The government of Azerbaijan has banned the Guardian, along with a number of media outlets and human rights activists, from entering the country to cover the inaugural European Games which begin on Friday.

Madalina Ciobanu / Journalism.co.uk:

How the FT used wearables to open up the reporting process — The newspaper's employment correspondent spent four days being tracked with devices in order to report on a story — Credit: Screengrab from the FT Wearables Facebook page — When you consider wearable technology …

Julia Greenberg / Wired:

Tech companies need to tread carefully as they become the stewards of news or risk alienating content producers and consumers — WHEN TECH GIANTS DELIVER THE NEWS, THEY DECIDE WHAT NEWS IS — So Apple's got its very own newsreader app, aptly called News.

Discussion: @jacksmithiv, @marcmenen, @thedanwells and The Awl

Joshua Hunt / Reuters:

Messaging firm Line launches streaming service in Japan, Line Music, with 1.5M songs initially, unlimited access for 1,000 yen/month, 20 hours for 500 yen/month — Japan messaging app Line launches music streaming business — Messaging app operator Line Corp launched its music streaming service …

Discussion: The Verge, The Next Web, TechCrunch, SlashGear, The FADER and FACT Magazine

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Media companies avoid “advertising” when labeling native ads, favor “sponsored”, “promoted” — Media Brands Shy Away From the A-Word, When It Comes to Labeling Native Ads — An Analysis of Two Dozen Companies Found A Variety of Terms Is Used

Peggy McGlone / Washington Post:

Librarian of Congress James Billington to retire in January — James H. Billington, the brilliant but mercurial head of the Library of Congress, will retire after 28 years at the helm of an institution that has expanded its reach across the country but struggled to stay ahead in a rapidly changing digital world.