Top News:

New SEC rules allow film fans to invest in Hollywood productions rather than donate via crowdsourcing — SEC Ruling Changes Game for Hollywood Film Financing — The rules for movie financing were radically redrawn Wednesday by a landmark Securities and Exchange Commission ruling that opens …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @emilybest, @tygiordano, @patricktosborne, @lafavealan, @grking, SeedInvest Blog, bizjournals and Washington Post

Daily Telegraph under Murdoch MacLennan: digital gurus, multiple top editors, and advertiser influence on stories — Tumult at the Daily Telegraph — From colonels to clickbait - Henry Mance on the identity crisis of an establishment newspaper — Tony Gallagher descended to his office — defeated.
Discussion:
@peterjukes, @raju and @ravisomaiya

News of the World reporter's conviction for paying for leaks overturned — Prison officer in same case is cleared as court of appeal rules that Judge Charles Wide misdirected the jury — The controversial police investigation into journalists paying for leaks from public officials …
Discussion:
BBC, Poynter and Press Gazette

Loudr launches platform for $15 licenses that allow artists to monetize cover songs on iTunes, Spotify, others — Loudr Launches New Mechanical Licensing and Distribution Service
Discussion:
RAIN News and Digital Music News
Chris Ip / Columbia Journalism Review:
Columbia J-school professor Howard French wants to change media's stereotypical Africa narrative of immense catastrophe, white protagonists, or wildlife — 60 Minutes' Africa ‘problem’ — The media's narrative in Africa typically falls into at least one of three narrow categories …
Discussion:
@sctwea, @hofrench, TVNewser, The Huffington Post and New York Post

As sports teams move press away from the action and into press boxes, reporters say coverage suffers — NCAA tournament: Sportswriters getting pushed out of the good seats — When Tyler Hansbrough led North Carolina to the national title in 2009, Dana O'Neil left her seat on the floor …
Discussion:
The Newspaper Guild

Google partners with Mummy producer Sean Daniel Co. to make its augmented reality game Ingress into a TV show — Google Takes Its Web Game to TV — When Google launched a gaming studio five years ago, it was largely an effort to keep a valued employee. Now, the first game developed by the studio …
Discussion:
Telegraph, AndroidHeadlines.com, CNET, The Verge, Pocket-lint, Engadget, Ubergizmo, SlashGear and Beyond Search

Clean Reader: New app will ‘clean up’ bad language in e-books — Lady Chatterley's Lover and Trainspotting may never be read in quite the same way again. To the fury of authors, a new app has been introduced for e-books that can cover up the rude words in electronic versions of novels and offer a “politer” alternative.
Discussion:
Boing Boing, Daily Mail, @roseedmunds, Daily Mail, Guardian and CNET

Independent Yemeni news outlets sacked, journalists kidnapped — I just got off the phone with Sameer Jubran, editor and co-founder of the independent Yemeni newspaper and website, Al Masdar. According to Jubran, the news organization's headquarters was just sacked by Houthi militants.
Discussion:
Guardian

Mexico Press Freedom: Attacks On Journalists Surged 80% Under Peña Nieto, Report Finds — Every 26 hours, a journalist in Mexico gets attacked, according to statistics released this week by a London-based rights organization. That figure is part of a lengthier report detailing intimidations …

Jonah Peretti says NYT should make print edition more expensive before going online only — One Way to Phase Out Newspapers: Make Them a Luxury Good — There will eventually come a day when The New York Times ceases to publish stories on newsprint. Exactly when that day will be is a matter of debate.
Discussion:
@jbenton

Snapchat's US audience profile from ComScore explains why media is obsessed with the company: 45% 18-24-year-olds, 26% 25-34-year-olds — Here's the Chart That Explains Why Media Companies Are Obsessed With Snapchat — Why are media companies and advertisers clamoring to work with Snapchat?
Discussion:
@navybook, @sandeepish and @edsuh