In terms of high-impact news stories, 2013 had its fair share. But how were these stories covered online by leading news outlets and what lessons were learned, and noted for the future? Journalism.co.uk asked digital news experts to define the stories of 2013 which were particularly significant in terms of digital journalism.

A new report by gaming audio brand Turtle Beach has revealed also that the average Brit will play for about two-and-a-half hours of games per week, with one tenth of them playing seven hours on their devices, which is equal to a full conventional day's work time. The report also added that one in five 'tweenies' start playing soon after their dinner at home, with several of them turning to gaming again after hitting the bed.

7thingsmedia has exited tracking technology company Fashion Traffic,having only just purchased a 35.75 per cent stake in the company in March. The agency has released a statement to explain that the decision have been made by "mutual consent" to allow 7thingsmedia to scale its offering, despite already having offices in New York and Singapore, as well as London.

MPs have accused the BBC Trust chairman, Lord Patten, of "obstruction and secrecy" for stopping the corporation publishing key documents about a failed GBP100m IT project. Patten ordered the corporation not to disclose sensitive material in response to a freedom of information request from the Guardian, warning its release would cause damage and prompt a "trial by media".

PR director Justine Sacco, fired over a tweet on AIDS and race sent as she was flying to Africa from London, issued a grovelling apology today, saying she was "ashamed" of her insensitivity to the millions of people living with the virus. Sacco, formerly a PR executive for the Internet giant InterActive Corp., which owns popular websites like Match.com, Dictionary.com, and Vimeo, was fired over a tweet that came from her account on Friday.

Last week, @FT reached 1 million followers, so we spoke to the Financial Times communities editor, Sarah Laitner, to get some advice on providing the best experience for readers and the organisation. First thing: Write in clear language. This may seem obvious, the need to be clear and concise is a given for journalists especially when dealing in 140 characters, but it is not always so simple.

Pop star Ian 'H' Watkins of Steps fame has again been wrongly linked by a news organisation to convicted paedophile Ian Watkins of the Lostprophets. He received an apology at the High Court from US company E! Entertainment after the site E! Online wrongly used a picture of 'H' to illustrate a story about the conviction of Lostphrophets frontman Watkins. But now, the singer has tweeted his anger after his photograph wrongly appeared next to a report about the sentencing of other Ian Watkins.

Earlier this month it emerged that a German law firm had been sending thousands of threatening letters to people it accused of watching streaming video on the porn platform RedTube, demanding that these people pay up to EUR250 ($344) per clip on the basis of copyright infringement. Well, for now, Germans can happily watch free streaming video again - porn included - without worrying they're breaking the law. On Friday, the Cologne district court, which originally allowed law firm Urmann + Collegen to send out the letters on behalf of Swiss rights-holder firm The Archive, said it had changed its …

Times Newspapers has been ordered to pay GBP60,000 in damages by a High Court judge in relation to an online article not being updated to reflect the findings of an investigation by police. The case, Gary Flood v Times Newspapers Ltd, started with a libel claim in 2009 by Flood, a police officer, in response to an article published by the Times in print and online in June 2006, which contained allegations of bribery.

News Corp has bought Dublin-based Storyful, described as a "social news agency," for about GBP15 million - $25 million.It is the first acquisition by News Corp since separating from 21st Century Fox. Five-year-old Storyful discovers, verifies and distributes user-generated news and video content to its partners using both technology and journalistic tools.