Mediagazer: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NEWS: Mainstream Media Staffers Agog At Huge … (Henry Blodget/Clusterstock)

2:40 AM ET, January 20, 2011

Top News:

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Relax, Everyone: Apple Isn't Bending Its Rules for Playboy — Hugh Hefner got a little over-excited. About the iPad, that is. Image via Wikipedia — Playboy founder Hugh Hefner touched off some excitement with a series of ebullient tweets yesterday, announcing that current and past issues …

Discussion: New York Magazine, TiPb, Apple Headlines, Techland, SAI, Mediaweek, msnbc.com, NetNewsCheck Latest and Runnin' Scared

Joe Pompeo / Yahoo! News:
Uncensored Playboy to hit iPad in March, says Hefner (The Cutline)

Discussion: FishbowlNY, The Daily Caller and Gizmodo

Vlad Savov / Engadget:
Playboy Magazine coming to iPad in its uncensored form in March …

Lois Beckett / Nieman Journalism Lab:

1.4 million fans can't be wrong: NPR's Facebook page — “They swear like sailors, but boy, they're smart.” — That's how NPR strategist Andy Carvin described the 1.4 million fans who comment and share stories through NPR's Facebook page. The page — originally created by an NPR enthusiast from the UK …

Discussion: Lost Remote and Future of Journalism

Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:

One Down: Spotify Signs Sony to U.S. Deal — This doesn't get them into the States, but it gets them a lot closer: Music service Spotify has finally signed with Sony for a U.S. distribution deal. Multiple sources tell me the deal, which has been very close since last fall, is now closed.

Discussion: hypebot, The Next Web, Mashable and ReadWriteWeb

Johnnie L. Roberts / The Wrap:
Executive Musical Chairs Won't Save Broken Record Business

Discussion: Communication Prof's News … and Company Town

MediaShift Idea Lab:

How Can We ‘Gamify’ the News Experience? — One of the biggest emerging conversations over the past year in Silicon Valley is around “gamification.” Simply put, this is the idea of applying game mechanics, particularly those found in videogames, to all sorts of non-game experiences.

Discussion: NetworkEffect and Future of Journalism

Jay Yarow / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:

AOL Is Launching A Flipboard-Killer, “Editions” — AOL is getting ready to launch its own iPad magazine called “Editions.” — The tag line for the magazine is “The Magazine That Reads You.” — We don't know much about it, but it sounds like it will be an app like Flipboard, using your interests to figure out what you like.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Nieman Journalism Lab and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »

Henry Blodget / Clusterstock:

THE GOLDEN AGE OF NEWS: Mainstream Media Staffers Agog At Huge Salaries Huffpo And Daily Beast Are Paying Big-Name Stars — Oh, the wailing! — A year or two ago, you couldn't spend five minutes online without seeing some mainstream media scribe bemoaning the death of journalism and the high-paying, cushy old jobs that went with it.

Discussion: New York Observer

New York Post:

Time Inc. execs huddling to move ball forward — Some 400 Time Inc. executives will be huddled in New York City tomorrow for the first quarterly management meeting since outsider Jack Griffin took over as CEO from Ann Moore last fall. — Since his arrival, Griffin has brought …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Nat Ives / AdAge:

Why It's Getting Harder to Find a Good Magazine Newsstand — Problem Partly Began When Convenience Stores Dropped Skin Titles — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Magazines had better hope they get a nice prominent digital newsstand on the tablets flooding the market, because their bricks-and-mortar retail outlets are continuing to disappear.

Discussion: Poynter

Journalism.org:

A SPECIAL REPORT ON THE MEDIA AND THE TUCSON SHOOTING — The aftermath of the January 8 shooting spree in Tucson dominated the American news media last week in a way events rarely do: the tragedy registered as the third-biggest story in a single week since PEJ began tracking coverage in January 2007.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, TVNewser and On Media's Blog

Fast Company:

What Is a Curator in Chief? — Neil Sanderson is the Chief Curator at Eqentia—a software platform service that enables professional users and organizations to easily aggregate, curate and republish the news that's important to them. — Eqentia's sites are both public and private …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Associated Press:

Greenblatt Set To Craft NBC Prime-Time Strategy — NBC, the peacock network, should get a full-scale preening at the hands of its new entertainment chief once the Comcast Corp. takeover is complete. — Comcast has said that it's appointing Bob Greenblatt, the programming executive …

Steve Myers / Poynter:
Nonprofit news orgs see validation, new funding in Comcast-NBC merger

Discussion: Future of Journalism, Comcast Voices, TVbytheNumbers, Post Tech, New York Times and paidContent, Thanks:myersnews

Glynnis MacNicol / The Wire:

WHOA: Piers Morgan Beats Fox's Sean Hannity In 9pm Demo — CNN may have a hit on their hands. — Early ratings numbers from Nielsen for Piers Morgan's second CNN show with Howard Stern reveal that (as he promised) he beat competitor Sean Hannity in the ever-coveted 25-54 demo: 551,000- 506,000.

Discussion: Mediaite, AdAge, Moneywood, MediaPost, omg!, The Wrap, On Media's Blog and Broadcasting & Cable

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

The Dead Source Who Keeps on Giving — Fortune joins the WSJ in putting Jerome York on the record after his death — Back in March, I noticed The Wall Street Journal appearing to burn an off-the-record source a few days after he died. — Now it's Fortune's turn to put the same source on the record posthumously.

Discussion: Poynter, TechCrunch, Talking Biz News, Fimoculous.com, Pulse2, Gawker, The Wrap, Fortune and SAI

Stephen Heyman / New York Times:

Nice-Guy Bloggers Needn't Finish Last — THE glittery party for the Hollywood jeweler Lorraine Schwartz last November drew a small mob of carat-starved celebrities to Lavo in Midtown. Kim Kardashian held court by the dance floor, dressed in black velvet and satin.

Nick O'Neill / All Facebook:

The Washington Post Enters The Facebook Advertising Business — This week The Washington Post formally announced the launch of SocialCode, the latest company to enter the hot market of third-party Facebook advertising solutions. — The social network connection for The Washington Post is deep rooted.

Discussion: paidContent, TechCrunch, Inside Facebook and rbr.com, more at Techmeme »

Dylan Stableford / The Wrap:

Magazines Still Struggling With This Social Media Business — The future of magazines is still in the 20th century, admits the Association of Magazine Media. — The message from publishing executives and their resident social media gurus at the MPA's inaugural Social Media conference …

Discussion: The Next Web

Lois Beckett / Nieman Journalism Lab:

“Gee, you guys are spending an awful lot of money”: The Bay Citizen editor on funding quality news — Seven months into its bid to reinvent the metro newspaper, The Bay Citizen, the San Francisco-based nonprofit news site, has so far raised a total of $14.5 million in philanthropic gifts …

Discussion: rbr.com, Poynter and Future of Journalism

Mark Stephens Warrior / Media News International:

Robert Bakish Named President and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks — New York : Viacom Inc. has announced that it has appointed Robert Bakish to the newly created position of President and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks. — Mr. Bakish was previously President of MTV Networks International.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel and The Wrap

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Suzanne Malveaux Tapped to Anchor ‘CNN Newsroom’ — CNN has tapped White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux to anchor the 11 AM to 1 PM block of “CNN Newsroom.” Malveaux will start her new assignment January 31, and will relocate to CNN's headquarters in Atlanta.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable and FishbowlDC

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Times Names New Metro Editor — Carolyn Ryan, who helped lead The New York Times to a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the downfall of Eliot Spitzer when he was governor of New York, has been named the paper's metropolitan editor. — Ms. Ryan, 46, has worked at The Times for three and half years.

Discussion: Gawker

Russell Adams / Wall Street Journal:

Consolidation Weighed for Newspaper Publishers — MediaNews Group Inc., publisher of more than 50 daily U.S. newspapers including the Denver Post, is eyeing a merger with Freedom Communications Inc. and possibly several other newspaper companies, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Recovering Journalist, San Francisco Peninsula …, Gannett Blog, paidContent and BrauBlog

Ken Doctor / Newsonomics:
The Demise of Lean Dean Singleton and the Rise of Private Equity

Discussion: Poynter, bizjournals and BrauBlog

The Wrap:

Will Tribune Co. Sell its Newspapers Post-Bankruptcy? — What will be the fate of the Tribune Company's flagship newspapers when the giant media company emerges from bankruptcy later this year? — While a judge is expected to approve a reorganization plan in March to clear away …

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline.com:

Weinstein Co. Plans To Launch TV Division With Meryl Poster In Talks To Run It — EXCLUSIVE: Harvey and Bob Weinstein are plotting a big re-entry into television and are talking to an old pal, producer Meryl Poster, to run the new Weinstein Co. TV arm. Poster worked with the Weinsteins …

Discussion: MediaPost and Company Town