Verizon has announced it plans to buy AOL for $4.4 billion in an effort to drive the provider's mobile and over-the-top (OTT) video strategies.
In a press release, Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO, said “AOL has once again become a digital trailblazer, and we are excited at the prospect of charting a new course together in the digitally connected world. At Verizon, we’ve been strategically investing in emerging technology, including Verizon Digital Media Services and OTT, that taps into the market shift to digital content and advertising. AOL’s advertising model aligns with this approach, and the advertising platform provides a key tool for us to develop future revenue streams.”
Mike Shields & Thomas Gryta, Wall Street Journal: “Verizon to buy AOL for $4.4 billion”
Heidi Moore, Mashable: “Verizon will buy AOL for $4.4 billion”
Ingrid Lunden, TechCrunch: “In big media push, Verizon buys AOL for $4.4B [Memo from AOL CEO Tim Armstrong]"
Dennis Berman, Wall Street Journal: “Verizon-AOL: A war of all against all”
Kara Swisher, Re-Code: “AOL has been in talks to spin off HuffPost as part of Verizon acquisition deal”
Verizon Press Release: “Verizon to acquire AOL”
The Price of Nice Nails
The New York Times got America talking about the high price of cheap manicures. We’ll talk about the blockbuster investigation, the near-immediate regulatory changes it’s already brought to the industry and the paper’s decision to roll it out online days before it appeared in print to create buzz.
Sarah Maslin Nir, New York Times: “The price of nice nails”
Sarah Maslin Nir, New York Times: “Perfect nails, poisoned workers”
Erika Allen, New York Times: “Something rotten in New York City nail salons”
Allie Conti, Vice: “The women working in NYC’s nail salons are treated more terribly than you can imagine”
Lene Bech Sillesen, CJR: “Why a New York Times nail salon expose is published in four languages”
Margaret Sullivan, New York Times: “’More like a book launch’ – The Times’s push to build buzz for its nail salon series”
Sarah Maslin Nir, New York Times: “Cuomo orders emergency measures to protect workers at nailsalons”
Hersh’s bin Laden Conspiracy Theory
Seymour Hersh is known for his groundbreaking investigations, including blowing open the My Lai Massacre and the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison. But, his latest, about the assassination of Osama bin Laden has some questioning his credibility.
Seymour M. Hersh, London Review of Books: “The killing of Osama bin Laden”
Matthew Cole, Richard Esposito, Robert Windrem & Andrea Mitchell, NBC News: “Pakistanis knew where bin Laden was, says US sources”
Erin Fuchs, Business Insider: “HERSH: The White House is lying about the killing of Osama bin Laden”
Seth Maxon, Slate: “Seymour Hersh in London Review of Books: Obama lied about bin Laden raid”
Max Fisher, Vox: “The many problems with Seymour Hersh’s Osama bin Laden conspiracy theory”
The End of 'Deflategate'
With the release of the Wells Report, and the NFL's suspension of New England Patriots' Tom Brady, one might think "Deflategate" is over... or is it?
Bob Kravitz, WTHR: “KRAVITZ: Brady needs to come clean onDeflateGate”
Jill Martin & Steve Almasy, CNN: “Tom Brady and Deflategate: A timeline”
Jimmy Golen, AP: “Brady’s agent says ‘Deflategate’ investigation flawed”
Frank Sesno, CNN’s Reliable Sources: “Deflategate& investigative journalism in the world of sports”
Bill Simmons, ESPN Part Ways
ESPN cut controversial columnist Bill Simmons loose Friday after he made some comments about the air about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
James Andrew Miller, Vanity Fair: “Inside the shocking, abrupt divorce of Bill Simmons and ESPN”
Richard Sandomir, New York Times: “ESPN is splitting with Bill Simmons, who offers and uncharacteristic word count: zero”
Dave McKenna, Deadspin: “Bill Simmons cribbing an old WWE catchphrase was the last straw for ESPN”
Justin Peters, Slate: “SaveGrantland”
Inside the ‘Traffic Factories’
How does the constant flow of audience metrics affect newsroom morale? Pretty negatively, according to a report from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism.
Caitlin Petre, Tow Center for Digital Journalism: “The Traffic Factories: Metrics at Chartbeat, Gawker Media and The New York Times”
Alexis Sobel Fitts, Columbia Journalism Review: “When metrics drive newsroom culture”
The End for 'American Idol'
FOX announced the competition show's 15th season will be its last.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7baJsj9I1Q
Chris Isadore, CNN Money: “’American Idol’ canceled after 15th season”
James Hibberd & Natalie Abrams, Entertainment Weekly: “’American Idol’ to officially end next year”
Tony Maglio, The Wrap: “Fox chiefs on ending ‘American Idol’ after 15 seasons: ‘It was not an easy decision’”
