Mediagazer: Boston Hack Day Challenge: An open door to Boston.com (Justin Ellis/Nieman Journalism Lab)

8:00 AM ET, January 22, 2011

Top News:

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

Olbermann Leaves ‘Countdown’ on MSNBC — Updated Keith Olbermann, the highest-rated host on MSNBC, announced abruptly on the air Friday night that he is leaving “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” immediately. — The host, who has had a stormy relationship with the management of the network for some time …

Jeff Pearlman / CNN:

Tracking down my online haters — Editor's note: Jeff Pearlman is a columnist for SI.com. He blogs at jeffpearlman.com. — (CNN) — Matthew is a college student from a small suburban town in Missouri. He loves the Kansas City Chiefs and spending Sundays in front of the TV watching football.

Discussion: Soup

Joe Coscarelli / Runnin' Scared:

Nick Summers Out at New York Observer, Returning to Newsweek For Tina Brown — Just one big, local item on this slushy Friday for the reincarnated Press Clips column: New York Observer media reporter Nick Summers, on the job less than three months after the departure of John Koblin …

Discussion: Poynter, FishbowlNY and @mlcalderone

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

NewsBeast in Final Talks With Union About Merger — Union reps some 90 Newsweek edit staffers — Newsweek and The Daily Beast are in final talks with the Newspaper Guild about staffing issues related to their merger, Adweek has learned. — The union, which represents …

Matt Cutts / The Official Google Blog:

Google search and search engine spam — January brought a spate of stories about Google's search quality. Reading through some of these recent articles, you might ask whether our search quality has gotten worse. The short answer is that according to the evaluation metrics that we've refined …

Tom Krazit / CNET News:
Google ready for action against content farms

Discussion: New York Magazine, New York Observer and paidContent

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Boston Hack Day Challenge: An open door to Boston.com — Count The Boston Globe among the growing number of organizations that want hackers to come in from the cold. On the weekend of Feb. 25 they're holding a three-day event called the “Boston Hack Day Challenge” where developers …

Discussion: Scripting News

Casey Ross / Boston Globe: Taylors back local bid to buy Globe

Tim Molloy / The Wrap:

Antoine Dodson, of ‘Bed Intruder’ Fame, Gets Reality Show Pilot — Hide your kids, hide your wife: Antoine Dodson — star of the viral smash “Bed Intruder” — is shooting a reality TV show pilot. — The pilot, produced by Entertainment One, will follow Dodson and his family as they relocate …

Discussion: New York Observer

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

Bloomberg's New D.C. Operation Gets Showcase — Insert in Businessweek debuts Friday — Bloomberg LP has big plans for BGOV, the government reporting arm it quietly started last year in an effort to compete with established Beltway players. Now the extent of those plans is becoming a little clearer.

Andy Plesser / Beet.TV:
Seeking “Influence,” Bloomberg Beats, AOL, CNN, MSN, Forbes …

Discussion: WebNewser

Media Week:

Matthew Dearden brings a ‘can-do’ culture to Clear Channel — Matthew Dearden, chief executive of Clear Channel UK, tells Media Week how his experience client-side at BT has shaped his strategy and investment plans for the outdoor advertising business — Matthew Dearden, chief executive, Clear Channel UK

Lauren Kirchner / CJR:

Google News is “The Most Efficient System” — Krishna Bharat on how Google helps journalists stay focused — On Wednesday, Google News product manager Krishna Bharat spoke to Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism students about how Google News can help journalists to do what they do best …

Dan Sabbagh / Guardian:

Rupert Murdoch set to arrive in UK with News Corp mired in crisis — News Corp chief's London visit next week is timely because no significant decision can be taken at company without him — Rupert Murdoch is due in London next week, just as his company's attempts to close down the phone hacking crisis are in tatters.

Matt Wells / Guardian:
Andy Coulson resigns over phone-hack claims

Discussion: BBC, New York Times, The Daily Beast, Journalism.co.uk, Press Gazette, Media Week, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Guardian, The Lede, The New Yorker Blog, Yahoo! News, Gawker, Guardian, New York Magazine and The Wire

Lois Beckett / Nieman Journalism Lab:

“There's a lot of pressure to play for the short term”: The Bay Citizen's editor on its $15 million future — Seven months into its bid to reinvent the metro newspaper, The Bay Citizen has built a staff of nearly 30 people, built a strong traffic base (200,000 uniques in November) …

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Are Harper's Directors on Board with Publisher's Feuds? — Eric Foner. Image via Wikipedia — Harper's publisher John “Rick” MacArthur may want to check with his board next time he's about to pick a public fight to see if they have his back. MacArthur is currently at odds with his staff …