Facebook has set itself up as a huge source of visits to news sites and it now seems intent on establishing itself as a place where people not only find stories that friends “like” but those that other members are recommending too.

—CBS Interactive: Mary Hentges has been named CFO and EVP of CBSI, reporting to President Neil Ashe.

A weekly look at a story that is defining the news.

The Associated Press and Google (NSDQ: GOOG) finally came to terms on a new deal this week that lets Google News continue to host AP articles on its site.

Some of the stories people are talking about this morning:

»  Twitter’s Evan Williams says the company’s decision to launch its own mobile apps is paying off: mobile usage is up 62 percent since mid-April and 16 percent of all new Twitter users now start out on their phones, up from five percent before the company’s shift in strategy.

The connected-TV space is getting HOT. Manufacturer platforms like Samsung Internet@TV and Sony Internet TV are set to mix with Google TV and Yahoo Connected TV, while the UK’s Freeview TVs await connectivity upgrades through Dbook 7 and Canvas, and European broadcasters team for an industry-wide HbbTV standard.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) unveiled a connected TV running Google (NSDQ: GOOG) TV at the IFA show in Berlin.

Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and the Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) stepped to the precipice of blackout Armageddon—and wisely took a giant step back.

In the last year, generic searches for e-readers have doubled, while Kindle-related searches have increased eight fold.

Even if newspapers migrate every print reader to paying online, they will still face big losses, according to one analyst.

Is Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) changing its approach to online spending? The company, which had said as recently as a year ago that it was willing to invest 5 percent to 10 percent of its operating income on its search business for up to five years, wasn’t willing to spend enough to become AOL’s search partner.