Mediagazer: Richard Branson's Project app launched without a lifeboat (Peter Preston/Guardian)

2:55 AM ET, December 6, 2010

Top News:

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Like It or Not, WikiLeaks is a Media Entity — The past week has seen plenty of ink spilled — virtual and otherwise — about WikiLeaks and its mercurial front-man, Julian Assange, and the pressure they have come under from the U.S. government and companies such as Amazon and PayPal …

Discussion: Jay Rosen, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Mediaite, mathewingram.com/work, New York Times, jdgalarneau.tumblr.com, Salon, The Wire, broadstuff, Scripting News, Gothamist, Newsroom Law Blog, Pulse2 and Hit & Run, Thanks:hblodget

Arthur S. Brisbane / New York Times:

What if the Secrets Stayed Secret? — I READ the Monday New York Times with what can only be described as a sinking feeling. — Here on display, based on yet another WikiLeaks release, was the breathtaking disclosure of American diplomats' highly sensitive internal communications about friends and enemies.

Discussion: Mediaite, CJR, CNBC and Gothamist

Misha Glenny / T Magazine: The Gift of Information — Julian Assange and WikiLeaks …

Nikki Usher / Nieman Journalism Lab:
Why WikiLeaks' latest document dump makes everyone in journalism …

Discussion: Search Engine Land and Guardian

Guardian:
WikiLeaks fights to stay online after US company withdraws domain name

Lauren Kirchner / CJR:
Why Amazon Caved, and What It Means for the Rest of Us

Discussion: The Firewall, Guardian, Mashable!, Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Journalism.co.uk, Threat Level, Boing Boing, paidContent and Tableau Software blogs

Nadia Damouni / Reuters:

Exclusive: AOL mulls breakup, then merger with Yahoo — (Reuters) - AOL Inc, undergoing a radical transformation into the king of content on the Internet, is actively exploring a breakup involving a complicated series of transactions that may lead to a merger with Yahoo Inc, sources close to the plans told Reuters.

Discussion: Techland, VentureBeat, The Next Web, AfterDawn.com and SAI

Alan English / The Augusta Chronicle:

Chronicle is launching subscriptions for digital access — Free for a limited time. — Digital access to The Augusta Chronicle's news stories - also available in a nifty iPad format in the coming weeks - is moving from being completely free to a subscription-based model.

Discussion: yelvington.com, paidContent and WebNewser

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:
Times of London Paywall Paying Off Already!*

Discussion: Poynter and eMedia Vitals

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:

Yahoo's Big Video Plans: New Business Show, Scripted Entertainment and News Verticals — NEW YORK — Yahoo will significantly increase its original video offering in 2011 with a new business show on Yahoo Finance, scripted entertainment programming and with news video in a number of vertical areas …

Discussion: AdPulp

Matt Rosoff / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider: Yahoo IS Focused: “We're A Content Company”

Peter Preston / Guardian:

Richard Branson's Project app launched without a lifeboat — The Virgin boss says his iPad magazine will have to sink or swim on its own merits - at a time when some venerable web publications are sinking — Richard Branson is a master of publicity (including self-publicity).

Eric Pfanner / New York Times:

French Publishers Fight Back With a Communal Digital Newsstand — PARIS — With sales of newspapers and magazines flagging at the ornate kiosks that adorn the boulevards of Paris, French publishers hope that a planned “digital kiosk” can help revive their fortunes.

Robin Abcarian / Los Angeles Times:

Sidney Harman: Man of all trades — The businessman who recently bought Newsweek and merged it with the Daily Beast founded an audio company, was a federal appointee and served as a college president. He's now putting the finishing touches on a new academy at USC.

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

Measuring the Nomads — The more diverse and ubiquitous the internet gets, the harder it becomes to measure. Especially with the mobile version's rapid growth. A few weeks ago, my friends from the International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA) asked for a presentation discussing …

Lewis DVorkin / The Copy Box:

At Forbes, we believe in the “continuum” of media and content — When you've been in the media business as long I have, it's fascinating to watch how all of a sudden “old” becomes “new” again and “dead” springs back to “life.” — Barry Diller, who left the old (broadcast TV) for the new …

Richard Rogers / Guardian:

Virgin claims to cross final frontier with TV that taps the internet — Richard Branson unveils set-top box that puts him a terabyte ahead in online television race — Every few years comes a development in the technology that brings moving pictures into our homes invariably accompanied …

Terry Heaton / Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog:

Warning to local TV: unbundled distribution is upon you — My friend Holly hasn't had a TV in years. She was also the first friend of mine to give up a land line telephone, and I can't even remember how long ago that was. So she's “one of those.” She's been without TV or cable for many years …

Eric Pfanner / New York Times:

British Newspaper Finds Readers Flocking Online — PARIS — For daily, or even hourly, updates on the life of Cheryl Cole, a British television talent-show judge and sometime pop singer who used to be married to a soccer star, there may be no better resource than the Web site of The Daily Mail.

Foster Kamer / Runnin' Scared:

A Very Special Announcement: Changes at The Village Voice — Hello Runnin' Scared readers! We have a special programming announcement for you all! Are you ready? You look ready. Here we go: — Effective, like, the first week in January, Joe Coscarelli - our indomitable …

Thanks:ceelew

David Saleh Rauf / American Journalism Review:

Dispatches from the Last Frontier — An aggressive Web site covers Alaska and searches for profitability. — David Saleh Rauf (drauf@ajr.umd.edu) is an AJR editorial assistant — As the Deepwater Horizon rig began gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico in late April …

Discussion: The News About The News and Poynter

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Apple, Publishers Still Miles Apart on iTunes Subscriptions — Magazine publishers used to salivate over the iPad. Now they're a lot more reserved. They make hopeful noises about Google's Android tablets instead. — That's because Apple and the publishing industry haven't been able …

Discussion: Poynter, New York Observer and Tech Trader Daily

Will Richmond / VideoNuze:

With Widevine Acquisition, Google is Poised to Go Hollywood — Just as the week is wrapping up, Google has announced its acquisition of Widevine, a provider of digital content protection and video optimization technologies. Widevine was a private company that had raised over $50 million to date.

Discussion: TechCrunch and MediaPost

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:

Tim Arango Is Next NYT Baghdad Bureau Chief — In your jobby Friday media column: Rebecca Dana to Newsweek, Foster Kamer to Esquire, Tim Arango to Baghdad, and Barry Diller to the easy life. And, Emily Brill. — We hear that veteran-but-still-young former media reporter Tim Arango …

Discussion: Talking Biz News

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

On the Media: Is Perez Hilton's conversion for real? — Only time will tell if the snarky blogger, who built a career by being mean-spirited, is a changed man. — There he was on national television, the self-styled “Queen of Mean.” Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton sat bolt upright in an almost-conservative jacket and tie.

Discussion: The Big Picture