Mediagazer: Rupert Murdoch ‘is a megalomaniac twister’ - ex-Times director (Roy Greenslade/Guardian)

12:40 PM ET, July 26, 2010

Top News:

Jay Rosen / PressThink:

The Afghanistan War Logs Released by Wikileaks, the World's First Stateless News Organization — “In media history up to now, the press is free to report on what the powerful wish to keep secret because the laws of a given nation protect it. But Wikileaks is able to report on what the powerful wish …

Nick Davies / Guardian:

Afghanistan war logs: Story behind biggest leak in intelligence history — From US military computers to a cafe in Brussels, how thousands of classified papers found their way to online activists — Julian Assange on the Afghanistan war logs: ‘They show the true nature of this war’

New York Times:

Piecing Together the Reports, and Deciding What to Publish — The articles published today are based on thousands of United States military incident and intelligence reports — records of engagements, mishaps, intelligence on enemy activity and other events from the war in Afghanistan …

Discussion: Guardian, The Wrap, The Wire, George's Bottom Line, Vanity Fair, Editors Weblog, Online NewsHour, Fast Company, Associated Press, FP Passport, CNN, Daily Kos, Embargo Watch, Journalism.co.uk, Hot Air, Mediaite, At War and The Politico

Alexis Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:

Wikileaks May Have Just Changed the Media, Too — The website Wikileaks has published more than 90,000 leaked U.S. military records about the war in Afghanistan. Marc Ambinder has a lot more about the content of the classified archive, but there's another fascinating aspect to the story …

Discussion: Guardian, Danger Room, New York Times, Riptide 2.0, The Caucus, BBC News, BAGnewsNotes, broadstuff, Journalism.co.uk, Fast Company, The Daily Beast, Threat Level, Wonkette and FM Blog

Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:

NYT defends publishing leaked military records — The White House condemned Sunday night's leak of more than 90,000 secret military records covering the Afghanistan War by WikiLeaks, an organization that posts secret documents online. — National Security Adviser Jim Jones, in a statement …

Discussion: WebNewser, New York Times, The New Yorker Blog, New York Observer, BBC News, The Awl, The Politico, Guardian, On Media's Blog and The Atlantic Online

Daniel Lyons / Newsweek:

Arianna's Answer — The Huffington Post may have figured out the future of journalism. But it's going to be a very difficult future. — Arianna Huffington at her home in July. — If you had to declare a winner among Internet media companies today, the victor easily would be Arianna Huffington.

Discussion: Romenesko and tag me with a spoon

David Carr / New York Times:

The Media Equation: The Provocateurs as Journalists in the Sherrod Case — Journalism, even in its most traditional forms, is not always neutral. Did reporters and editors at The Washington Post spend two hard years coming up with its “Top Secret America” series, a comprehensive pat …

Discussion: Romenesko, Washington Post, Detroit Free Press, Glass House, Inside Cable News, On Media's Blog, Politics Daily and The Hillman Foundation

Shira Ovide / Wall Street Journal:

At Tribune Co., Leaving Behind Bankruptcy and Old Ways — Tribune Co. Chief Executive Randy Michaels wants to remake the 163-year-old media company. But first he has to steer it out of bankruptcy. — Mr. Michaels, a veteran radio executive, was hired by investor Sam Zell to run Tribune's Internet …

Discussion: Gawker, Romenesko, eMedia Vitals and Company Town

Nancy Franklin / New Yorker:

SNAPPED CABLE — The comings and goings at CNN. — It's a truism in the news business that reporters and their employers should avoid becoming the story. It used to be a truism, anyway, but in the new world of technology and transparency that's not possible.

Discussion: Romenesko

Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:

Waking Up a Sleepy Journal — For years National Journal has been perfectly content as an insider's handbook to Washington, a sleepy weekly magazine written primarily for lobbyists and lawmakers that marched to its own beat. — Its owner, David Bradley, said that he had always found National Journal …

Discussion: On Media's Blog

Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:

Tallying Up Viewers — Industry Group to Study How a Mobile Nation Uses Media — Some of the nation's biggest media companies and advertisers, seeking to develop new ways of measuring audiences, could make Apple Inc.'s iPhone the vehicle for a study of how Americans consume media on a range of devices …

Discussion: Search Engine Watch, mocoNews and Electronista, more at Techmeme »

Mike Shields / Mediaweek:

NBCU Creates Its Own Ad Network — NBCU has created its answer to an online ad network—though one comprised solely of its owned-and-operated sites. — Called Universal Audience Platform (UAP), the group, which will have its own logo and staff, will be headed by Nick Johnson, svp, NBCU Digital Media Sales.

Discussion: paidContent and TVWeek.com

Mike Shields / Mediaweek:

Meebo Toolbar Gaining Popularity With Publishers — When Meebo launched five years ago, the plan was to create a Web destination where users could aggregate all of their instant messaging communications in one place. — But over the past year, the company has rolled out an increasingly popular toolbar …

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:

President Obama to Appear on ABC's ‘The View’ — Will Become First Sitting U.S. President to Visit Daytime TV Talk Show — President Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit a daytime TV talk show when he tapes an interview Wednesday with ABC's “The View.”

Discussion: Associated Press, NY Daily News, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, Gothamist and The Atlantic Online