Mediagazer: Memo: 'Gawker tech team didn't adequately secure our platform' (Jim Romenesko/Poynter Online)

12:00 AM ET, December 19, 2010

Top News:

Jim Romenesko / Poynter Online:

Memo: 'Gawker tech team didn't adequately secure our platform' — “On several fronts — technically, as well as customer support and communication — we found ourselves unprepared to handle this eventuality,” says Gawker chief technology officer Thomas Plunkett's memo to staff.

Discussion: Runnin' Scared

Keach Hagey / The Politico:

Larry King producer joins D.C. firm — NEW YORK — “Jimmy Fallon canceled. I'm freaking out.” — It's a little more than an hour before the last show of “Larry King Live” Thursday night, and the show's Washington, D.C.-based senior political producer, Eleanor McManus, has got a situation on her hands.

Discussion: Poynter.

Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:

Google To Expand And Market Movie Streaming Service In 2011 — Google is expanding its feature film streaming service, says a source who's been briefed on the product. The service will likely be an expansion of the current movie rental/streaming test launched by Google earlier this year.

Discussion: Electronista, SAI and GigaOM

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Study: Some Viewers Were Misinformed by TV News — News organizations can educate voters about public policy and economic conditions, but they can also misinform voters. As if to prove the point, a study released Friday found that “substantial levels of misinformation” …

Discussion: TPM LiveWire, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, Gawker, The Informer, TVWeek.com, The Wire and Inside Cable News

Kit Eaton / Fast Company:

Amazon Brings Newspapers, Magazines to Kindle Apps, Starting With Android — Amazon's expanding the capabilities of its Kindle apps, starting with Android, to include digital newspaper and magazines singly or in subscription form. Just in time for the iPad “Daily” newspaper.

Discussion: Gawker, The Next Web and Engadget

Deborah Potter / NewsLab:

Data journalism central — The folks at the Guardian have been doing inspired work with data for several years. Now, they've added a new data store-one stop shopping for anyone interested in making data more meaningful. In addition to the data blog that highlights the British newspaper's own analysis …

Discussion: Editors Weblog

Andrew Wallenstein / paidContent:

Exclusive: Another Executive Exits Disney Digital: Paul Yanover — It's over for Paul Yanover at Disney (NYSE: DIS) Online. The chief architect behind the rebuilding of Disney.com is leaving to “pursue new opportunities outside the company,” as he told staffers Friday morning in an internal e-mail (full memo below).

Discussion: MediaPost, Company Town and The Wrap

Michael Miner / Chicago Reader:

$180 Million Is Not Chump Change If You've Got to Give It Back — In the past few days I've twice been forwarded a document that my Tribune sources find pretty astonishing. It's a list of 209 Tribune Company managers and former managers who came into quite a bit of money when Sam Zell took …

Discussion: Poynter and The Wrap

Howard Kurtz / The Daily Beast:

Mike Bloomberg's New Megaphone — The New York City mayor is going into the op-ed business. Howard Kurtz on what Bloomberg wants—and how his new venture will keep hope alive for fans who want to see him in the White House. — Michael Bloomberg is already fabulously wealthy …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Jason Fry / Nieman Journalism Lab:

A blow to content farms, Facebook's continued growth, and the continued pull of the open web — Editor's Note: We're wrapping up 2010 by asking some of the smartest people in journalism what the new year will bring. Today, our predictor is Jason Fry, a familiar byline at the Lab.

Frederik Joelving / Reuters:

When the news breaks the journalist: PTSD — (Reuters Health) - Chris Cramer, 62, was a fledgling war correspondent when one spring day 30 years ago he got much closer to the battle than he'd ever intended. — Just back from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, his boss at the BBC had asked him to fly to Tehran …

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Research firm offers cash for journalists' opinions — News reporters are supposed to keep their opinions out of their copy. They certainly aren't supposed to sell them back to the people they cover. — Yet now there's a hush-hush way for journalists to turn their innermost thoughts into cold hard cash.

Discussion: New York Observer and mediabistro.com