Mediagazer: New Circa CEO John Solomon describes new focus on video, independence in journalism, funding support from Sinclair TV, and plans for staffing and crowdsourcing (Mathew Ingram/Fortune)

2:00 AM ET, December 9, 2015

Top News:

Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:

Sources: Yahoo won't move forward with Alibaba spinoff, will instead examine a deal involving its core business — Yahoo will not move forward with Alibaba spinoff: Sources — Yahoo is announcing it will not move forward with plans to spin off its stake in Alibaba, reports CNBC's David Faber.

Discussion: Re/code, Fortune, New York Times, Business Insider, BuzzFeed, The Wrap, Re/code, Forbes, Deadline, Variety, ZDNet, USA Today, VentureBeat, Telegraph, CNNMoney, TechCrunch, Washington Post, Engadget and Bloomberg Business

Oliver Darcy / The Blaze:

Leaked Memo: BuzzFeed Editor-In-Chief Says It's ‘Entirely Fair’ to Call Trump a ‘Mendacious Racist’ — BuzzFeed Editor-In-Chief Ben Smith wrote in an email to his editorial staff Tuesday that calling Republican frontrunner Donald Trump a racist on social media does not violate the company's ethics guidelines.

Discussion: @buzzfeedben, Mediaite, Politico, @davidfolkenflik, @azi, @davidfolkenflik, @ggreeneva, @mattbors, @elongreen, @mattyglesias, @jmsummers and Business Insider

Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:
Arianna Huffington announces The Huffington Post will no longer relegate Trump to its entertainment section, noting his impact on other candidates

Hannah Karp / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Spotify to test allowing some musicians to temporarily withhold music from ad-supported version of the service — Spotify to Allow Some Musicians to Withhold Music From Free Service — Last year Taylor Swift pulled her entire catalog from Spotify because the streaming service …

Discussion: AppleInsider, TechHive, AllAccess.com, BuzzFeed, Engadget, Canadianreviewer.com, TIME, The Verge, Gizmodo, Forbes, Mashable, Music Business Worldwide and Business Insider

Agence France-Presse:
Coldplay will put latest album on Spotify starting Friday, a one-week delay from official release; last album had a 4-month delay before Spotify availability

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Billboard and The Verge

Bloomberg Business:

CBS CEO Les Moonves says Apple puts live TV plans on hold; source says media firms want more money for their programming — Apple Said to Suspend Effort to Develop Live TV Service — Focus instead will be on App Store as platform for others — Media companies resist channel package at $30 to $40 a month

Discussion: Business Insider, Gizmodo, Engadget, VentureBeat, AppleInsider, The Verge, @jyarow, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, Variety, App Advice and MacRumors

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Diane Rehm, host of her self-titled news show that aired nationally on NPR for two decades, plans to retire after 2016 election — Diane Rehm, an NPR staple, eyes retirement from broadcasting — Diane Rehm, the host of one of public radio's longest-running and most popular news discussion programs …

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Radio & Television …, CNNMoney, @brianstelter and Politico

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Apple News app updates with a “Top Stories” tab curated by editors and adds Comscore integration so publishers can get credit from advertisers for traffic — Apple Updates Its News App to Make It More Like a ... Newspaper — Apple is tweaking its News app …

Discussion: 9to5Mac, MacRumors, App Advice, Forbes and The Next Web

Rick Gladstone / New York Times:

Iran Editor Is Charged With Defying Ban on Covering Ex-President — Iran's conservative judicial authorities indicted the managing editor of a prominent daily newspaper on Tuesday, saying that he had violated prohibitions on the coverage of Mohammad Khatami, a reformist-minded former president they now describe as a seditionist.

Discussion: Agence France-Presse

Mathew Ingram / Fortune:

New Circa CEO John Solomon describes new focus on video, independence in journalism, funding support from Sinclair TV, and plans for staffing and crowdsourcing — Circa's New Owner Says the App Will Have Video at its Core — Circa didn't build up much of user base before it closed its doors …

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, GeekWire and Washington Post, Thanks:@mathewi

Liz Hoffman / Wall Street Journal:

Media General Rebuffs Sweetened Takeover Bid From Nexstar — Nexstar privately raised bid to about $16.30 a share — Media General Inc. has rebuffed a sweetened takeover bid from Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc., leaving the two TV station owners at a negotiating impasse, according to people familiar with the matter.

Jessica Hullinger / Fast Company:

New “Arctic Deeply” Site Will Detail The Ramifications Of Melting Sea Ice — Almost three years after launching its first single-topic news site covering the crisis in Syria, media startup News Deeply is today unveiling its next project: Arctic Deeply. Like its predecessors …

Discussion: Nieman Lab

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Amazon Starts Building Its Own Bundle by Selling Showtime, Starz and More With Amazon Prime — Amazon has a new weapon to boost its video streaming service against competitors like Netflix and YouTube: Other people's streaming services. — Starting today, Amazon will give its Amazon Prime subscribers …

Discussion: Fast Company, Ad Age, Digital Journal, Mashable, Home Media Magazine, Broadcasting & Cable and The Wrap

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

AT&T launching OTT mobile service in January, is considering developing original content — AT&T to Launch Mobile Entertainment Service, CEO Says — Randall Stephenson at the UBS media and communications conference in New York also discusses hopes to create more original content …

Discussion: VideoNuze Analysis, The Wrap, SlashGear, Light Reading, Engadget, App Advice, TechCrunch, VatorNews, VentureBeat, The Verge, @jonsteinberg and The Wrap

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EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

South Reporter, GA/Remote — ProPublica

Private Capital Reporter, London — FT

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Articles Editor, CA — SF Standard

Pharma Reporter, Remote US — Endpoints

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Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Business Reporter, TX — Fort Worth Report

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

News Correspondent, MS — Magnolia Tribune

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Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

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Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Disney raises its ownership stake in Vice to 10% or about $400M

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Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:
Refinery29 promotes EVP of Programming Amy Emmerich to chief content officer, a newly-created role at the company

Discussion: WWD and Variety

Joan E. Solsman / The Wrap:
MGM Leads $18.2 Million Investment in Video Start-Up Interlude

Discussion: VentureBeat, Variety and Deadline

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:
Josh Rucci, general manager of Bloomberg Content Service, talks about video, global licensing, and distribution

Thanks:@talkingbiznews

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Sun admits ‘6 days to terror’ story over lax Europe border controls was wrong and issues apology

Discussion: New Statesman, The Independent, UK - The Huffington Post, themediablog.co.uk and Guardian

Earlier Picks:

Sarah Sluis / AdExchanger:
Guardian US CEO Eamonn Store says if he didn't work for the company, he'd block ads; says ad tech not good at identifying unsavoury advertisers and ads

Discussion: @mattpointblank and @mrdrewhuening

Noah Kulwin / Re/code:
GoPro launches channel on Amazon Fire TV, with in-house and curated user-generated content

Discussion: Variety, Fortune, Adweek and Forbes

Axel Springer SE:
Axel Springer's venture arm leads $16M round in NowThis Media, producer of short videos about topical stories

Discussion: TechCrunch and @jaspjackson

Saul Elbein / The California Sunday Magazine:
The assassination of Gerry Ortega shows why the Philippines is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist

Discussion: @eggheader, @akianastasiou, @anatotitan and @leighpa

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:
In places where data is more expensive, ad blockers help manage the cost, for customers and carriers

Discussion: @roi

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using its technology to power some features in iOS 18; talks with Google on using Gemini remain ongoing

Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
Alphabet closes above a $2T market cap for the first time, reaching a valuation of $2.15T after rising 10% on April 26, its biggest one-day jump since July 2015

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, and others join a board for advising the DHS on deploying AI safely within US critical infrastructure

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