Mediagazer: Top Album, Low Sales (Ethan Smith/Wall Street Journal)

11:20 AM ET, January 20, 2011

Top News:

Tim Radford / Guardian:

A manifesto for the simple scribe - my 25 commandments for journalists | Tim Radford — Former Guardian science editor, letters editor, arts editor and literary editor Tim Radford has condensed his journalistic experience into a handy set of rules for aspiring hacks

Discussion: blogs.journalism.co.uk, Thanks:fredericl

Henry Blodget / The Wire:

DAILY BEAST: We're Not Paying Howard Kurtz $600,000 A Year! — Yesterday, we wrote about the rumors of astronomical salaries being paid to mainstream media stars who have jumped ship and joined new-media outfits like the Huffington Post and Daily Beast. — We said that we had been unable …

Discussion: Poynter and PE Hub Blog

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

Discussion: New York Observer

Joe Pompeo / Yahoo! News:

New Year brings delays for expected media launches — For the media-obsessed, 2010 was largely spent looking ahead to 2011. — This January was to bring four major launches or relaunches. In the waning days of December, it still seemed reasonable to expect that each debut might happen before the second calendar month of the year.

Discussion: Poynter

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: FishbowlNY

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: Fast Company, TechCrunch, Electronista, Nieman Journalism Lab, NetNewsCheck Latest and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Amazon Buying Lovefilm To Build European Movie Rentals Business — Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) has finally confirmed it's buying the 58 percent of Lovefilm it doesn't already own - its bid to become a major European online movie subscription business. There's no price disclosed …

Discussion: VentureBeat, TechCrunch Europe, The Next Web, Guardian, CNET News, Index Ventures Blog, GigaOM, ReadWriteWeb, The First Post, MediaMemo, Neowin.net and SAI, more at Techmeme »

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

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: Media Decoder, Techland, hypebot, The Next Web, Mashable and ReadWriteWeb, more at Techmeme »

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Comcast's Biggest Regulatory Win? What The FCC And DOJ Didn't Do — Sure, there are plenty of conditions attached to the regulatory approval of Comcast's buying 51 percent of NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), including losing a say in Hulu, Some will govern many of the merged company's actions for as long as seven years.

Discussion: DealBook

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

Discussion: Editors Weblog, Future of Journalism, New York Times and paidContent, Thanks:myersnews

Associated Press: Greenblatt Set To Craft NBC Prime-Time Strategy

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

Laurie Sullivan / MediaPost:

Joost Video Network Becomes Stand-alone Business Unit — Adconion Media Group plans to announce Thursday the spinoff of the Joost Video Network into a stand-alone business unit. The newly launched digital media company will provide premium branded solutions for advertisers and brand marketers seeking …

Ethan Smith / Wall Street Journal:

Top Album, Low Sales — This Week's Top Seller Marks Low Point, Underscoring Waning Sales of Music — In the latest sign of waning consumer demand for recorded music, the Billboard 200 album-sales chart just registered a dubious distinction: The No. 1 position was held by an album …

David Kaplan / paidContent:

CNNMoney.com Integrates LinkedIn To Keep Readers On Site Longer — CNNMoney, the online face of Fortune magazine, is integrating business social network LinkedIn the Time Inc. (NYSE: TWX) mag's annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. The is the first real test of LinkedIn's new …

Discussion: Talking Biz News, NetNewsCheck Latest and Denver Post

Julie Bosman / Media Decoder:

Barnes & Noble Fires Executives — Barnes & Noble dismissed several executives on Thursday, including Robert Wietrak, the director of merchandising, a longtime employee who was responsible for key book-buying decisions for the company. — Mary Ellen Keating, a spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble …

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.

Discussion: The Corsair

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

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 …