Mediagazer: US politician crowdsources web freedom bill on Reddit (Liat Clark/Wired UK)

3:00 AM ET, November 20, 2012

Top News:

David Lieberman / Deadline.com:

Lionsgate In Advanced Negotiations To Sell TVGuide.com — EXCLUSIVE. The online TV navigation site could go for about $20M — possibly as much as $25M I'm told — and would enable Lionsgate to cash in on a property that's considered peripheral to its main production and TV networks businesses.

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Yahoo Is Among Those Mulling a TVGuide.com Bid for About $20 Million — According to sources close to the situation, Yahoo is among the companies taking a serious gander at TVGuide.com, the online entertainment listings, video and news site and mobile app. — Earlier today …

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

GetGlue + Viggle Is a Big Bet Based on Small Numbers — Viggle, which pays users to “check in” to TV shows, says it will shell out more than $70 million for GetGlue, which lets users “check in” to TV shows, but doesn't pay them. — The combined company, according to a Viggle press release …

Discussion: TechCrunch and Lost Remote

Tim Molloy / The Wrap:
GetGlue Acquired by Viggle for $25M, Stock

Discussion: Business Wire, mediabistro.com, Forbes, CNET, App Advice, Lost Remote, GigaOM, Multichannel.com, Mashable!, Hollywood Reporter, AdAge, TechCrunch and VentureBeat

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: Viggle's Deal To Buy GetGlue Hinges On $60M Of Financing ‘From 2 Strategic Investors’, Expected To Close In Next 30 Days

Journalism.org:

The Final Days of the Media Campaign 2012: Final Weeks in the Mainstream Press — Throughout most of the general campaign period, President Obama received slightly better coverage in the mainstream press than Governor Romney did. An earlier PEJ report showed that from August 27 to October 21 …

Discussion: Journalism.org, Poynter and TVNewser

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:
Fox & MSNBC Became More Extreme As Election Day Neared, Reports Pew

Discussion: Cable Television News and Mother Jones

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

Emerging From Scandal, News Corporation Looks at Potential Acquisitions — News Corporation is starting to look like its old self again. — The media conglomerate, which had been on its heels for more than a year because of the phone hacking scandal in Britain, is looking to make acquisitions again.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Poynter

David Pierce / The Verge:

Why TV news matters in the age of information overload — “And that's the way it is.” — For two decades, whenever Walter Cronkite said those words to end his nightly CBS newscast, people believed him. Cronkite was the most trusted man in America, the person we tasked with telling us …

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

Mark Regev, Israeli Spokesman, Spars With Al Jazeera Over Strikes On Media Buildings (VIDEO) — An Al Jazeera host had an extremely contentious conversation with a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister over a series of attacks on a media building in Gaza over the past two days.

Discussion: Mediaite and Reuters

Sarah Marshall / Journalism.co.uk:
Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza answers questions on Reddit

Discussion: @pdanahar and Reuters

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:

LEAKED: MySpace's Master Plan To Raise $50 Million And Relaunch As A Spotify Killer — The parent company of MySpace is trying to raise $50 million in order to re-launch MySpace as a direct competitor to Spotify and Pandora in 2013. — This is according to documents obtained by Business Insider, which we have included in this post.

Discussion: VatorNews, PandoDaily, TechCrunch, hypebot, VentureBeat, CNET and The Next Web

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Lord McAlpine and ITV near settlement over Phillip Schofield blunder — Former Tory party treasurer understood to be negotiating six-figure sum with broadcaster following child abuse allegations — Lord McAlpine was on Monday night close to reaching a six-figure settlement with ITV …

Jeff John Roberts / GigaOM:
Twitter is safer in America: lessons from two sex scandals

Discussion: Telegraph and New York Post

Dominic Ponsford / PressGazette: Journalists among 10,000 who could face legal action over McAlpine Twitter messages

The Hollywood Reporter:

The Hollywood Reporter, After 65 Years, Addresses Role in Blacklist — Billy Wilkerson was nervous. it was July 1946, and The Hollywood Reporter owner, editor and publisher was preparing to embark on a landmark campaign that would expose communists working in Hollywood.

Discussion: The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter and Pressing Issues

Liat Clark / Wired UK:

US politician crowdsources web freedom bill on Reddit — A US politician plans to take to Reddit to help formulate a bill that will protect websites accused of copyright violations from government shutdowns without trial. — Zoe Lofgren, democrat and representative for California's 16th …

Discussion: Complex, The Next Web, Geekosystem, CNET and WebProNews

Guardian:

Operation Elveden: CPS to decide whether to bring charges — Prosecutors due to announce decision on criminal charges after investigation into payments by journalists to public officials — Prosecutors will announce on Tuesday if they believe they have enough evidence to bring criminal charges following …

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian: Leveson inquiry: press intrusion victims to meet party leaders

Dan Sabbagh / Guardian:

Saddam Hussein underpants photos defended by News Corp — Rupert Murdoch's company stands by decision to publish pictures in 2005, despite claims of payments made to US troops — Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has aggressively defended the publication of pictures of Saddam Hussein …

Peter Jukes / The Daily Beast: Did News Corp. Illegally Purchase Saddam Hussein Photos from U.S. Officials?

Dominic Patten / Deadline.com:

Disney Pulls Plug On Online Movie Service — Disney Movies Online will cease to exist at the end of the year, Disney announced today. The little-known Internet movie service will close as of December 31, said the company in an email to users and on the site.

Discussion: CNET and The Next Web

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Tom Rosenstiel to leave Pew's PEJ for API — Project for Excellence in Journalism director Tom Rosenstiel is leaving the organization to become executive director of the American Press Institute. API and the Newspaper Association of America announced in January they would merge.

Discussion: @vivianschiller and CJR

Guardian:

Sky magazine tax loophole saved broadcaster up to £40m a year — A magazine for satellite TV customers published by BSkyB was used as a tax avoidance scheme that saved the company up to £40m a year. The broadcaster had been saving millions in VAT by charging satellite customers …

Discussion: Digital Spy