Mediagazer: Will Beats Music trump Spotify with its artist charm offensive? (Helienne Lindvall/Guardian)

1:00 AM ET, January 16, 2014

Top News:

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

He Was Fired: Here's Marissa Mayer's De Castro Buh-Bye Memo to Yahoo Staff — Here it is, the internal memo to Yahoo staff about the sudden — though it was not sudden, by any means — leave-taking today of its COO, Henrique De Castro, courtesy of one of my 10,563 sources left at Yahoo!

Discussion: VentureBeat, @danprimack, @alexia, @ashleymayer and Business Insider

Kara Swisher / Re/code:

Yahoo COO Henrique De Castro, Mayer's No. 2, to depart after failing to move lagging ad business — “Dead Man Walking” Walks: COO Henrique De Castro Out at Yahoo — As has long been rumored, Yahoo COO Henrique De Castro is departing Yahoo. — I had reported last week that he was in big trouble …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Forbes, Media Wire Daily, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, AdAge, CNET, Valleywag, Business Insider, The Wrap, GeekWire and Adweek

Tim Wu / The New Yorker Blog:

FCC's Wheeler can preserve net neutrality by taking back its authority over broadband — Closing Time for the Open Internet — Since 1970 or so, carriers like A. T. & T. and Verizon have been barred from blocking or degrading whatever is transported over their lines.

Discussion: Gigaom, The Switch, Crikey, Free Press Blog, The New Republic, Forbes, Globe and Mail, Salon, Ars Technica, TheHill, @superwuster, NYT Bits, @mathewi, Home Media Magazine, Verizon Public Policy, BuzzFeed, Bloomberg, Guardian, The Verge, Official FCC Blog and Digits

Josh Stearns / Free Press Blog:

Net Neutrality and the Future of Journalism — Tuesday's court decision, which struck down the FCC's Open Internet Order and threatened the future of Net Neutrality, has huge implications for the future of journalism and press freedom. — According to the Pew Research Center …

Discussion: Gigaom and Consumerist

Helienne Lindvall / Guardian:

Will Beats Music trump Spotify with its artist charm offensive? — Dr Dre and Trent Reznor are launching a US streaming service - but artists are likely to lose out again due to labels' royalty deals — The music streaming market is becoming a crowded place, but that hasn't stopped Beats Music getting in on the game.

Discussion: Pocket-lint

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Spotify introduces unlimited free music on the web just days before Beats Music launch — The nice thing about raising $250 million is that it lets you offer your customers services that few competitors can match. Spotify, which is riding high after completing a massive fundraising round in November …

Discussion: TechCrunch and The Next Web

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Capital New York to Introduce Monthly Print Magazine — Capital New York, the Politico sibling that covers politics and media in New York, is rolling out a small monthly print magazine starting this month, according to parent company Allbritton Communications.

Discussion: @joepompeo

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

AOL hands over control of Patch to investment fund Hale Global, keeps small stake — AOL Finds a Home — Off Its Books — For Patch — Patch isn't dead, and AOL isn't officially done with it. But Tim Armstrong's big bet on local news has come to an end: The AOL CEO is handing over Patch …

Discussion: New York Times, Business Insider, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Forbes, Poynter, Business Wire, AdExchanger, @pkafka, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Capital New York, CNET, @poynter and @edmundlee

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Top editors at Washington Post, Politico talk after Wemple scrutinizes Mike Allen's Playbook — Washington Post and Politico Talk About a Rift — Top editors at The Washington Post and Politico tried on Wednesday to mend a rift between the two news organizations.

Discussion: Poynter, @buzzfeedandrew, @erik_hayden, @ravisomaiya, The Huffington Post, Politico and The Dish

Michael Wolff / Slate:

The new Roger Ailes biography isn't just poorly written. It's telling the wrong story. — Gabriel Sherman is part of a group of young media reporters—many starting out at the New York Observer under the tutelage of then-Editor Peter Kaplan, an avowed media nostalgist—who have seen their subject …

Discussion: TVNewser, @joekeohane, Mediaite, @ewerickson, @buzzfeedben, @laurahelmuth, @michaelwolffnyc, @joneforeman, @ryanchittum, @adriennelaf, @michaelwolffnyc and @david_rosenberg

Paul Farhi / Washington Post: Q&A with author of book on Fox's Roger Ailes

Ira Teinowitz / The Wrap:

Rep. Waxman on Tribune Meeting: ‘My Concern About the Fate of the Los Angeles Times Was Not Alleviated’ — Rep. Henry Waxman said Wednesday that his staff had a “helpful meeting” with the general counsel and the chief financial officer of the Tribune Co., but his concerns remain …

Discussion: LA Observed and Politico

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Journalism Lab:

How a free email newsletter turned a computer programmer into a Newsweek columnist — Being on Twitter can sometimes feel a little like being in a high school cafeteria. — There's chatter all around you, and there's always a joke you're not in on. On Twitter, everyone's always mad about something …

Discussion: @mattbuchanan and Business Insider

Liz Goodwin / Yahoo! News:

Why isn't the media allowed to talk to Guantanamo detainees? — GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — It's now been more than 12 years since the first terror suspects arrived at what was then a makeshift, open-air military prison at Guantanamo Bay. Since then, thousands of journalists …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, @yahoonews, Latest News & Headlines, TheBlaze.com, @brianstelter, @lizcgoodwin and @stuartmillar159

The Wrap:

TheWrap Beats Deadline Hollywood and Variety's Web Traffic in December — TheWrap is pleased to announce that it has achieved its highest traffic month in the history of the site, surpassing both industry trades Variety and Deadline. — According to comScore, TheWrap scored 3.4 million unique visitors …

Richard Horgan / FishbowlNY: Scintillating TheWrap Stats Also Remind: comScore Counts It Differently [Updated]

Merrill Knox / TVNewser:

Jana Winter Voices Support for Bill Seeking to Strengthen Colorado Shield Laws — FoxNews.com reporter Jana Winter has submitted a written statement of support to the Colorado Senate Judiciary committee for a bill that would strengthen the state's media shield laws.

Discussion: Fox News and Poynter

Nicole Levy / Capital New York:

Vanity Fair launches Hollywood vertical — Last year, Vanity Fair hired Mike Hogan from The Huffington Post as digital director, and charged him with a familiar task at many legacy magazine publishers these days. — “The idea was to grow VanityFair.com over the course of the next year …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, @anastasiaashman, @ceodonovan, Columbia University …, Capital New York and @jbenton

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Viddy, the “Instagram for Video” That Wasn't, Acquired by Web Video Startup Fullscreen — Remember Viddy? — Back in 2012, the video-sharing app was growing like a weed, and lots of smart money bet that it would become an “Instagram for video.” Then Facebook, which had been fueling Viddy's rise …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter and The Verge

Alex Leo / Newsweek:

The New New Newsweek.com — I know the past couple years have been confusing—it seems like every time you turn around there's a new Newsweek.com. When IBT Media purchased Newsweek last year, it inherited a beautiful site designed by Huge that was launched less than a year ago.

Discussion: @niemanlab

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Journalism graduate laments the industry's shift to digital — The reality of digital newsrooms: ‘copy thrown online with a photo’ … It isn't just the old school, such as Brian MacArthur and Phil Moger, who lament the passing of the roar of the presses after the transition to the new digital world.

Discussion: @emilybell and @josephstash

Nathan Ingraham / The Verge:

Google brings Play Movies and TV to iOS — Google has been bringing more and more of its services to iOS over the years, and a new one just launched today: users can now play back movies and TV shows they've purchased from Google Play on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Discussion: Gizmodo

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Phone-hacking trial: judge admonishes police expert witness — Forensic engineer admits making mistakes in interpretation of data on mobile phone movements near Rebekah Brooks's home — The judge in the phone-hacking trial has admonished a police witness after he admitted to making three mistakes …

BBC:
Phone-hacking trial: Charlie Brooks CCTV released

Discussion: Daily Mail, ABC, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, Reuters, Telegraph and @richardvranch

Mark Stone / Sky News:

China Defends Blocking Some Western Websites — Video: Chinese Ambassador: ‘China Is Open’ — China's ambassador to the UK has defended his country's long-standing decision to block some Western media companies, in an interview with Sky News. — Speaking to Sky's Jeff Randall …

Discussion: Press Gazette