Mediagazer: What if Tunisia had a revolution, but nobody watched? (Ethan/...My heart's in Accra)

4:45 PM ET, January 13, 2011

Top News:

Damon Kiesow / Poynter:

The first look at The Daily, Rupert Murdoch's iPad newspaper — An official introduction to The Daily, Rupert Murdoch's new iPad newspaper, is expected on Jan. 19, possibly at an event with Apple's Steve Jobs. — But peeking inside the source code of its recently-launched companion website …

Discussion: The Next Web, Guardian, 9 to 5 Mac, Electronista, MacStories, New York Observer, everythingiCafe, FishbowlNY, Epicenter, Flavorwire, Yahoo! News and CrunchGear, more at Techmeme »

Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:

How Media Will Relate to Facebook in the Future — All media will be personalized in three to five years, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said in September. One of the ways that's likely to happen everywhere just appeared on the UK Independent. — The site announced last night that it now offers granular subscriptions by Facebook.

Discussion: blogs.independent.co.uk, Poynter and Editors Weblog

Paul Bradshaw / Online Journalism Blog:

The Independent's Facebook innovation — The Independent newspaper has introduced a fascinating new feature on the site that allows users to follow articles by individual writers and news about specific football teams via Facebook. — It's one of those ideas so simple you wonder …

Discussion: Future of Media

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Business Columnist Joe Nocera Moving to NY Times Op-Ed Page? — Joe Nocera. Image by dsearls via Flickr — The New York Times op-ed page is about to get a big dose of financial intelligence to complement Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman. Business columnist Joe Nocera is set to move to the op-ed page …

Discussion: Gawker and Poynter

Douglas Quenqua / New York Times:

Lucky's Brandon Holley: Dressing for a Revolution — BRANDON HOLLEY, the new editor of the beleaguered shopping magazine Lucky, has a complicated relationship with clothes. — As a teenager in Great Falls, Va., Ms. Holley would cram Ralph Lauren outfits bought by her preppy mother …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, FishbowlNY, Poynter and New York Observer

Jay Yarow / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:

AOL'S NEW PROBLEM: Mike Arrington — When AOL bought TechCrunch last September, the first question on everyone's lips was, “How long could Mike Arrington possibly last as an AOL employee?” — Yesterday, four months after the deal, we may have begun to learn the answer to that question.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, NBC Bay Area, CNNMoney Tech Tumblr, SAI, Darren Herman and TechCrunch

Frank Reed / Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim:
TechCrunch, Engadget and AOL: Great Theater, Great Dysfunction or Both?

Discussion: SAI

Stuart Elliott / New York Times:

2 New Publishers Named at Condé Nast — Every January, speculation sweeps the halls of the Condé Nast Building that a “January surprise” is in the works, with major changes coming at the Condé Nast Publications magazines. — On Thursday, changes were made …

Discussion: Poynter, The Fix, Folio, MinOnline and WWD Media Headlines

Lacey Rose / Moneywood:

Piers Morgan Producer's CNN Goal: ‘More. Better. Now.’ — Piers Readies for his Close Up - via Flickr — With Larry King out and Parker Spitzer fizzling, CNN is pinning its prime-time hopes on British tabloid editor-turned-television personality Piers Morgan.

Discussion: The Big Picture and Inside Cable News

Chris Rovzar / New York Magazine:
Piers Morgan Debuts on the New York Cocktail Scene With Jabs at O'Reilly, Fox

Discussion: New York Observer, Media Decoder, The Huffington Post, WWD, Gretawire, The Awl, Mediaite, Inside Cable News and FishbowlDC

Read It Later Blog:

Is Mobile Affecting When We Read? — Printed media used to allow us to read in the places we found most comfortable. When you imagine yourself reading the newspaper it's probably in your favorite chair, at the breakfast table, or at the cafe with an orange mocha frappuccino in your hand.

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, Media Decoder, paidContent, TeleRead, Editors Weblog, eMedia Vitals, Yahoo! News and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »

Nick Summers / New York Observer:

Heffernan Out at New York Times Magazine — Slowly but surely, Hugo Lindgren is making The New York Times Magazine his own. And just as important as the big names he's bringing into the building are the voices he's letting go. — In December, the magazine's deputy editor, Alex Star …

Discussion: Poynter and Gawker

Peter Daboll / AdAge:

Celebrities in Advertising Are Almost Always a Big Waste of Money — Study Finds That Big Names Don't Pay Big Dividends — As the most significant event in advertising grows nearer, it will be interesting to see how many brands enlist the endorsement services of celebrities during the Super Bowl.

Discussion: Adrants, New York Observer, PAPERMAG, AdScam/The Horror! and Gawker

Ethan / ...My heart's in Accra:

What if Tunisia had a revolution, but nobody watched? — On December 17, a 26 year old Tunisian man named Mohamed Bouazizi reached the end of his rope. An unemployed university graduate, Bouazizi had become a seller of fruits and vegetables in the southern Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Global Voices in English, ReadWriteWeb, New York Times and Guardian

Michael Miner / Chicago Reader:

Waiting for the Web — The Chicago News Cooperative launched with the promise of a pathbreaking online site. When will it arrive? — The Chicago News Cooperative owes its existence to the New York Times, but its future hangs on a website it still hasn't unveiled.

Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Newsonomics of 2011 news metrics to watch — [Each week, our friend Ken Doctor — author of Newsonomics and longtime watcher of the business side of digital news — writes about the economics of the news business for the Lab.] — In the digital business, the old aphorism …

The Wire:

THE WIRE 50: The Most Influential People In Media This Year — It has been a roller coaster ride in media this year. — A jaw-dropping trip of high highs, low lows, and twists and turns that left many people feeling like they'd been turned entirely upside down — sometimes all in less than a week.

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Why Is Mayor Bloomberg Mixing Business and Philanthropy? — Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has a lot on his plate: He's mayor of America's largest city, owner of one of the world's largest and fastest-growing news organizations and patron of a $1.75 billion charitable foundation.

Discussion: Poynter, Salon, mediabistro.com and FishbowlNY

MediaShift:

Social Media Grows at NY Times, But Home Page Remains King — Social Media content on MediaShift is sponsored by the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships, a program offering innovative and entrepreneurial journalists the resources of Stanford University and Silicon Valley. Learn more here.

Discussion: Poynter

Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:

Google Acquires eBook Technologies — Google has just acquired eBook Technologies, according to a notice that is currently appearing on the company's homepage. — Google confirmed the acquisition, with a spokesperson giving us this statement: … So what exactly is eBook Technologies?

Discussion: InformationWeek, Kindle Review, Softpedia News, PC World, Electricpig.co.uk, CNET News, SlashGear, ReadWriteWeb and eBookNewser

Ellie Behling / eMedia Vitals:

Publishing staffs adjust to address mobile workflow — In many ways, it seems like the iPad was plopped down on the desks of editors and production staff with a note that said, “Congratulations! Please factor this into what you're already doing.” — While support for mobile devices …

Discussion: Poynter

Kim Severson / New York Times:

Reporter on Quest to Close 1964 Civil Rights Case — ATLANTA — Stanley Nelson writes for a small weekly newspaper in the Louisiana delta. For the past four years, he has been obsessed with one story: who threw gasoline into a rural shoe repair and dry goods shop in 1964 and started the fire that killed Frank Morris?

Discussion: The Concordia Sentinel, The Rural Blog, Free Press, NPR Topics and CIR: All New Content

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

YouTube Brings More Ads To Your Phone, Next To Justin Bieber and Lady GaGa — YouTube on your phone is popular, but until now it hasn't made Google much money. The search giant has only been able to slap ads on the home page of its mobile version, and on search results.

Discussion: paidContent, GigaOM and TechCrunch

Greg Sandoval / CNET News:

Bye-bye, physical media? Sony closes CD plant — Sony Corp., the company that brought us the Walkman and the parent company of music label Sony Music Entertainment, plans to shut down a CD-manufacturing plant in South New Jersey in March. — About 300 employees will be laid off once …

Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:

Harvard Undergrads Launch Newsle To Find News About Your Friends (Beta Invites) — Social news has many flavors. Twitter and Facebook function as social news feeds with your friends pushing out stories they find interesting. But what about news about your friends or other people you care about?

Discussion: Editors Weblog

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

Like Web Video, but With a Budget and People You've Heard of-Kiefer Sutherland Jumps From “24″ to “The Confession” — Remember when Internet video was going to be like TV and movies, only on a smaller screen? During the first tech boom, a lot of folks thought Web video would look …