Mediagazer: Guardian's Emily Bell named director of Tow Center for Digital Journalism (Columbia University Graduate School …)

2:35 PM ET, April 21, 2010

Top News:

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

Mike Allen, the Man the White House Wakes Up To — Before he goes to sleep, between 11 and midnight, Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, typically checks in by e-mail with the same reporter: Mike Allen of Politico, who is also the first reporter Pfeiffer corresponds with after he wakes up at 4:20.

Discussion: CJR, Gawker, The Huffington Post, The Awl, Romenesko, The Wire, Vanity Fair, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Wonkette, The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, Gothamist and FishbowlDC

Jim Romenesko / Romenesko:

Politico announces hires from NYO, NYP, Newsweek, other news outlets — We have lots of exciting staff moves, so let's get straight to the news: — Hillary Frey, formerly of the New York Observer, is our new media and style editor. Hillary can flat-out write — and her mission is simple …

Discussion: Strupp and The Wire

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism:

Guardian's Emily Bell named director of Tow Center for Digital Journalism — Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism today announces that Emily Bell, Director of Digital Content for Britain's Guardian News and Media, has been named the Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism.

Discussion: paidContent, Guardian and Romenesko

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

8M iPhone Gawker(s) — The next-generation iPhone that fell into the hands of an editor at Gawker Media's tech Web site Gizmodo has been returned to Apple, likely putting to rest questions about whether Gawker might be on the hook for being in possession of stolen property.

Discussion: BNET

Jeff Bercovici / DailyFinance:
Why Apple Should Sue Gawker Over ‘Lost’ iPhone Story

Discussion: Inquirer, The Atlantic Online, Slate, The Awl, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Charles Apple, Technovia, NowPublic.com, Gizmodo, Doc Searls Weblog, PC Magazine, Edible Apple, The Moderate Voice, PC World, Oddly Together, The Wire and CJR

Greg Sandoval / Media Maverick:
Did lost iPhone lead to blog bidding war?

Discussion: Gawker and eBookNewser

Joel Johnson / Gizmodo:
Apple Didn't Leak the iPhone—and Why That Matters

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Risky Business: Omidyar's Hawaiian News Startup Civil Beat Comes With Steep Price Tag — It sounds as idyllic as the scenery: an online civic square launching May 4 where Hawaiians can, as founder Pierre Omdiyar explains, “learn about and better understand our home, the challenges we face …

Discussion: Romenesko, Star Bulletin, Fitz & Jen, civilbeat.com, Groundswell, LocalNewser, Black Web 2.0 and Biz Bites

Pierre Omidyar / civilbeat.com:

Welcome to Honolulu Civil Beat — Welcome to Civil Beat! We're glad you're here. We are building a new civic square for Hawaii, and we hope you'll join us. — One thing I've noticed since moving back here four years ago is that Hawaii is blessed to have many people who are committed to making our Islands a better place to live.

Discussion: Business Week

Media Week:

Reuters to overhaul website and hints at charging for content — LONDON - Reuters is set to relaunch its UK website, reuters.co.uk, this week and has hinted at the possibility of charging for elements of its content. — Reuters: overhauls website — The revamp of its website comes as Reuters …

Discussion: Editors Weblog and paidContent

Craig Newmark / The Huffington Post:

Trust, Factchecking, and the News Media Landscape To Come — What's Your Reaction: … Okay, you hear me talking “trust is the new black” and that power and influence will shift dramatically to the people and groups with the best reputations and largest networks.

Discussion: The Wire and NewsLab

Alexandra Fenwick / CJR:
Checking In On “This Week's” Fact Checking

Discussion: The Huffington Post and WebNewser

Wayne Friedman / MediaPost:

TV Stations Record Rev Gains In Web Sites, Digital Efforts — TV stations' Web businesses fared better than newspapers' declining digital efforts in 2009, but TV is still behind in overall advertising share of media dollars. — According to new data from the Television Bureau of Advertising …

NetNewsCheck Latest:
Local TV Grew Web Sales Faster Than Papers

Discussion: rbr.com and Broadcasting & Cable

Carl DiOrio / Hollywood Reporter:

‘Sex and the City 2’ tickets already a hot item — Sales ‘brisk’ even though sequel doesn't open for six weeks — Talk about hot to trot: Tickets to presumed summer sizzler “Sex and the City 2” began selling just over six weeks before the start of Warner Bros.' May 27 opener.

Discussion: /Film, New York Magazine, Gothamist and Gawker

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

On the Media: KCBS ads masquerade as news — TV stations may call it “added value” advertising, but viewers are not the beneficiaries. — You would have to forgive viewers like the one who e-mailed me last month for being a bit confused about a news segment he saw on KCBS Channel 2.

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:

Late Nights at Disney Over Miramax: At $625M, Deal Close to Done — The Weinstein brothers' five-day negotiating window to try and seal the deal to buy the Miramax library from Disney expires on Wednesday, and it's not done yet. That said, the architecture of a final agreement has come into place …

Discussion: Blogs and Stories

MediaPost:

Bank of America Sponsors History's ‘America’ — Cable network History is getting some unusual advertising/programming help for its massive 12-hour series “America: The Story of Us” from Bank of America. — Bank of America is not only the presenting sponsor of the series — it will produce …

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

Gibbs: I Love the Press — Hungry Beast Giving Beast Women in the World — Blogs and Stories — Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs tells Lloyd Grove that he loves, really loves the White House press corps. He also talks about losing weight, keeping a White House diary, and whether he'll ever run for office.

Discussion: Strupp, Blogs and Stories, Romenesko and The Huffington Post

John Koblin / New York Observer:

On Newsday's Sports Page, It's All Good — Newsday has a new policy for its sports page. The paper's editors have told their writers there has to be a new, softer tone. They don't want loaded words. They don't want name-calling. They don't want stories to be unnecessarily harsh.

Discussion: The Awl and Romenesko

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Maria Bartiromo Takes ‘Enduring Success’ to the Empire — Maria Bartiromo greets the crowd at her book party tonight. As CNBC president Mark Hoffman, correspondent Scott Wapner and anchor Trish Regan look on. — We're just back from the Empire Hotel on Manhattan's Upper West Side …

Alexei Oreskovic / MediaFile:

Google unveils new ads in bid to tap into local merchant market — Google is revamping its efforts to court local merchants, as the Internet search giant faces a growing band of rivals aiming for a piece of the lucrative small business market. — On Monday, Google introduced …

Joseph Tartakoff / paidContent:
Google Tunes Up Its Pitch For Local Ad Dollars

Discussion: TechCrunch and The Official Google Blog

Sam Bayard / Citizen Media Law Project:

Breaking News: Dow Jones Files “Hot News” Case Against Briefing.com — A Dow Jones press release on BusinessWire announces that the financial media giant filed a lawsuit today against Briefing.com, alleging that the subscription-based financial site misappropriated its headlines and articles.

Discussion: Business Wire and Fitz & Jen