Top News:

Palin's publisher sues Gawker over book excerpts — NEW YORK (AP) — The publisher of Sarah Palin's forthcoming book filed a lawsuit against Gawker Media on Friday for leaking pages of “America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag” before its release next week.
Discussion:
MediaMemo, Runnin' Scared and Gawker

Washington Times editor out — Sam Dealey will be stepping down as editor of the Washington Times, following the sale of the paper to a group led by members of the paper's old guard who were ousted a year ago, sources close to the paper tell POLITICO. — Dealey was informed this afternoon.
Discussion:
Romenesko and FishbowlDC

Tribune Digital pares and prioritizes in reorganization — The reorganization of Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.'s interactive division, recently rechristened Tribune Digital, is continuing to take shape under its new management and, according to a staff memo sent this morning, under new marching orders.
Discussion:
WebNewser


MSNBC suspends Scarborough for campaign donations — MSNBC said Friday that it is suspending “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough for two days after he acknowledged giving eight previously unknown $500 contributions to friends and family members running for state and local offices during …
Discussion:
Media Decoder, Tuned In, Romenesko, Gawker, Mediaite, Media Nation, American Journalism Review, Chickaboomer, The Wire, On Media's Blog, New York Magazine, The Nation, FishbowlDC, Wonkette, main page collection, The Plum Line, The Huffington Post, OpenSecrets.org, msnbc.com, The Daily Beast, Gothamist, TPM LiveWire, New York Observer, Broadcasting & Cable, Deadline.com, PopEater and TVbytheNumbers


The Autocrat's Algorithm — Is Google News helping to spread propaganda? — On Nov. 18, I used the enormously popular news aggregator Google News to search for information about the Russian alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout, recently extradited from Thailand to the United States.


On the Media: The battle for NPR's public's funding — (Jennifer S. Altman, For The Times / September 28, 2006) — Republicans, who will control the House, have already tried one procedural gambit, with more likely to come. — “Dignified” is not a word often associated …

An Open Letter to Tavi Gevinson and Jane Pratt — First I just wanted to say the same thing that I imagine hundreds if not thousands of people have already said, which is that I am a big fan of both of yours. I've admired the way that Tavi has gracefully handled a lot of flak from jealous haters …


The National Post: How One Newspaper is Embracing Twitter [Interview] — The National Post is a large Canadian newspaper that's embracing social media as an extension of its newsroom. We had the opportunity to chat with Chris Boutet, the Senior Producer of Digital Media at the Post …
Discussion:
Cision


Mail Online is 2nd biggest newspaper website worldwide: is Facebook responsible? — It would be tempting to assume, especially given the unsurprising fact that the New York Times website ranks number one in terms of worldwide usage, that all of today's most viewed news websites have sprouted …

Bloggers and Libel Law — “So you've had a threatening letter. What can you do?” — A new guide to the libel laws for bloggers is being published today. — The guide, entitled 'So you've had a threatening letter. What can you do?', is published by Sense About Science in association …
Discussion:
Online Journalism Blog, consider, evaluate, act, ZDNet and Guardian


Covering a crisis more like molasses than quicksand — How do you cover a crisis that is not a crisis in the way we generally think of one — sudden, frenzied, tragic — but rather a tragedy that builds, slowly, over time? From the BP oil spill to Haiti's pre- and post-earthquake heartbreaks …