Mediagazer: Stephen Glover: Who would want to buy The Times? (The Independent)

5:10 AM ET, December 20, 2010

Top News:

Google TV Faces Delays Amid Poor Reviews — Google TV has just enacted its first programming cancellation. — The Consumer Electronics Show next month in Las Vegas was meant to be the great coming-out party for Google's new software for televisions, which adds Web video and other computer smarts to TV sets.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CNET News, Guardian, SlashGear, VentureBeat, Examiner, ConceivablyTech, Electronista, Daring Fireball, Engadget, SAI, MediaMemo and Technologizer, more at Techmeme »

John Naughton / Guardian:

Publishers take note: the iPad is altering the very concept of a ‘book’ — If the success of Amazon's Kindle has made print publishers relax, they're in for a nasty surprise — One of the glories of our print culture is the Economist, a magazine that combines eccentric …

Discussion: TeleRead and Personanondata

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

Rebooting Web Publishing Design — Let's start by reviewing the basic ingredients of a successful online publishing operation: — 1 / Quick load. — 2 / Ease of operation and update — 3 / Consistent visual identity — 4 / Platform independence — 5 / Open to the rest of the web

Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:

CNN's New Chief Dives In — As Network Loses Ground, Ken Jautz Moves to Inject ‘Passion and Personality’ — Ken Jautz, the new head of CNN's U.S. network, is getting his hands dirty. — Since taking over in late September, Mr. Jautz has started shuffling programming and personnel …

Katy Bachman / Mediaweek:

(Ad) Apocalypse Soon — The Federal Trade Commission wants to take out the mashers and grifters it sees lurking in online ads, but in the process it might slaughter that business in its crib. — Evoking the Do Not Call telemarketing program, the FTC's Do Not Track concept has goosed Congress …

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Afghan War Just a Slice of U.S. Coverage — As the Obama administration conducted an Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy review this month, the news media did too, and the coverage came peppered with question marks. — The same week that ABC News scheduled a series of segments titled “Afghanistan …

Mike Shields / Mediaweek:

Murdoch's iBlunders — When it comes to the Internet, it would be hard to call News Corp. timid. The conglomerate has as rich a history of online business endeavors as any other media company out there. Unfortunately, it's a prolonged history of failure.

The Independent:

Stephen Glover: Who would want to buy The Times? — Media Studies: The Times has been shedding sales faster than its rivals — There are rumours flying around that in return for being allowed to buy the 61 per cent of BSkyB he does not already own, Rupert Murdoch will be required to sell The Times and Sunday Times.

Ben Fritz / Los Angeles Times:

In Hollywood, a tougher climb to studio executive ranks — Aspiring future studio executives who start at the bottom hoping to climb to the top find themselves stuck in the middle as economic pressures squeeze the industry. — Matthew Cohen, a former director's assistant who wanted to be a movie producer …

Liz Shannon Miller / GigaOM:

5 Questions With...Boxee CEO Avner Ronen — For this week's Five Questions With..., we've got someone who's never been afraid to speak his mind about the industry. As the CEO of Boxee, Avner Ronen has become a fierce advocate for the viability of streaming content (not to mention a vocal critic of other companies).

Russell Adams / Wall Street Journal:

Online Ads Pull Ahead of Newspapers — This year, for the first time, advertisers will have spent more on Internet ads than on print newspaper ads, according to new estimates from eMarketer. — The digital-marketing research firm says U.S. spending on online ads will hit $25.8 billion …

Discussion: VentureBeat

Andrew Alexander / Washington Post:

Post's problems with anonymous-source rules get worse online — Post readers constantly complain about the excessive use of anonymous sources in the newspaper. But the problem is even worse online. — Staff-written news blogs are replete with violations of The Post's long-established …