Top News:
Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:
Sources: Comcast is partnering with digital publishers like Vox, BuzzFeed, Mic, Vice, NBC Sports, and others to launch digital video platform called Watchable — Comcast is about to launch a major video platform called Watchable to rival Facebook and Google
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Consumerist, @stevekovach, @digitalshields, @jackmarshall, The Next Web and @mattrosoff
Miranda Ward / mUmBRELLA:
News Corp CEO lashes Google for piracy, zealotry and kleptocracy at Lowy Institute event — News Corp CEO Robert Thomson has accused Google of “piracy, zealotry and kleptocracy”, labelled LinkedIn a “pretender” and described the redistribution of content created by journalists as “unnatural”.
William Branigin / Washington Post:
U.N. human rights experts call for ‘immediate release’ of Post's Jason Rezaian — U.N. human rights experts expressed grave concern Friday about Iran's continued detention of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and called on authorities in Tehran to release him immediately.
Discussion:
@postbaron, @katz and Poynter
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Saudi Arabia to require online media to have commercial registration and office space, while editors-in-chief need college degrees and Saudi citizenship — Saudi Arabia announces more restrictions on online media — The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns new restrictions …
Mark Stevenson / Associated Press:
Reporter Juan Santos Carrera killed in bar attack along with a reputed gang boss and four others in Veracruz; two other reporters fired for being at scene — Reputed gang leader, reporter, 4 others killed in Mexico — MEXICO CITY (AP) — Five gunmen burst into a bar early Thursday …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, KRGV-TV, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, VICE News and RYOT News
Bloomberg Business:
Sources: Apple's live TV streaming service now slated for 2016 launch as licensing talks stall — Apple Said to Delay Live TV Service to 2016 as Negotiations Stall — Apple Inc. customers waiting for the company to revolutionize live television as it did for music and phone service …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Variety, Light Reading, Engadget, Business Insider, FierceCable, Featured Articles, Consumerist, Digital Trends, Digital TV Europe, AppleInsider, Fortune, Pocket-lint, Ars Technica UK, Multichannel News, SlashGear, Tech Insider, 9to5Mac, The Verge, MacRumors, @tomwarren and App Advice
Ruma Paul / Reuters:
Bangladesh says arrests two Islamists over killing of secularist blogger — Bangladesh police said on Thursday they had arrested two members of a banned Islamist group for alleged involvement in the killing of a blogger, the latest attack on critics of religious extremism in the Muslim-majority nation.
Discussion:
Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, New York Times, BBC, Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera America
Shalini Ramachandran / Wall Street Journal:
Turner Broadcasting acquires majority stake in online video company iStreamPlanet for nearly $200M — Time Warner's Turner Cable Unit Acquires Majority Stake In iStreamPlanet — Time Warner Inc.'s Turner Broadcasting cable unit said it has acquired a majority stake in online video specialist iStreamPlanet …
Discussion:
Variety and Sports Video Group
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Russian censors remove Reddit from their registry of banned websites after Reddit deletes offending post — Reddit Responds After Being Threatened, Banned And Unbanned By The Russian Government — Reddit has had a pretty bizarre last few days in Russia.
Discussion:
Meduza.io News, Washington Times, Business Insider, Engadget, Newsweek, GlobalPost, SlashGear, The Next Web, Beyond Search and Telegraph
Jonathan Peters / Columbia Journalism Review:
Why the charges against Wesley Lowery and Ryan Reilly in Ferguson are absurd — Earlier this year, Huffington Post reporter Ryan Reilly and Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery bet on whether St. Louis County prosecutors would file charges against them after their arrests last summer in Ferguson, Missouri.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Reporters Without Borders, @brentajones, @maggiejordanacn and The Newspaper Guild
Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times:
Mongolia has 3M inhabitants, 138 TV stations, 111 newspapers, 90 magazines, and 72 radio stations — Mongolia is awash in media choices with even a remote yurt hooked up to 60 channels — Deep in a desolate, rocky canyon, about 10 miles from the nearest paved road and even farther from any power line …
Discussion:
@juliemaklat, @latimes and @gbaterdene
James Warren / Poynter:
Q&A with Lowell Peterson, executive director of the Writers Guild of America East, on dealing with traditional vs. new media companies like Gawker and VICE — Who's the leader behind the union moves at Gawker, VICE and Salon? — Journalists at Gawker Media, VICE and Salon are now brothers …