Mediagazer: Cables Show Delicate U.S. Dealings With Egypt's Leaders (New York Times)

10:05 AM ET, January 28, 2011

Top News:

The New York Times, Demand Media Edition — Demand Media — widely described as a “content farm” — went public yesterday and quickly racked up a valuation higher than the New York Times. I figured the news might cause some at the New York Times to wonder if they needed to be more Demand Media-like.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals, Poynter, TechCrunch and Future of Journalism

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Is Demand Media Doing Enough to Prevent Plagiarism? — My post from yesterday on the staggering dumbness of so much of the how-to content produced by Demand Media generated a lot of response, much of it positive, but some from readers who thought I was unfair.

Discussion: B2B Memes, The Informer, The Social, paidContent, Deal Journal and MediaMemo

Felix Gillette / Business Week:
Demand Media's Planet of the Algorithms

Discussion: virtualeconomics, paidContent:UK, Folio, Poynter and SAI

New York Times:

Seizing a Moment, Al Jazeera Galvanizes Arab Frustration — By ROBERT F. WORTH and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK — The protests rocking the Arab world this week have one thread uniting them: Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite channel whose aggressive coverage has helped propel insurgent emotions from one capital to the next.

Discussion: Renesys Blog, The Atlantic Online, ReadWriteWeb, The Huffington Post, Yahoo! News, @jeffsonstein, New York Magazine and msnbc.com, more at Techmeme »

Cory Bergman / Lost Remote:

NYT interviews Egyptian blogger via Skype — It looks like much of Egypt is without internet access at this hour, but earlier the NY Times interviewed Gigi Ibrahim (@Gsquare86), an Egyptian blogger and activist, who's been sending out a steady stream of tweets from Cairo. And they did it via Skype:

Discussion: The Lede

Brad Stone / Business Week:

Larry Page's Google 3.0 — The company co-founder and his star deputies are trying to root out bureaucracy and rediscover the nimble moves of youth — Every Monday afternoon at the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif., more than a dozen of Google's (GOOG) top executives gather in the company's boardroom.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Fortune, Engadget, Search Engine Land, broadstuff, GigaOM, Gizmodo Australia, TiPb, New York Magazine, Electronista and 9 to 5 Mac, more at Techmeme »

Jon Friedman / MarketWatch:

Will Olbermann replace Parker-Spitzer? — Commentary: CNN may decide to re-recruit Olbermann — NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Keith Olbermann, who on Jan. 21 exited his “Countdown” show on MSNBC without warning, needs a job. — And CNN needs a spark at the 8 p.m. hour. — So, is it a matter of supply and demand?

Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:
MSNBC's Sarah Palin Sickness

Discussion: Mediaite

New York Times:

Cables Show Delicate U.S. Dealings With Egypt's Leaders — WASHINGTON — It was Hillary Rodham Clinton's first meeting as secretary of state with President Hosni Mubarak, in March 2009, and the Egyptians had an odd request: Mrs. Clinton should not thank Mr. Mubarak for releasing an opposition leader from prison because he was ill.

Discussion: Guardian, Associated Press, Firedoglake, Runnin' Scared, msnbc.com, ShortFormBlog, Boing Boing and The Page

Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:

Google Testing Display Ads In Gmail — Google appears to be testing display ads in Gmail. I have not spoken to anyone at the company but discovered the following image ad in my own Gmail account this morning: — Image ads have made their way into paid search on Google.com and various other properties on Google.

Discussion: MediaMemo, Bits, AdExchanger.com, Nieman Journalism Lab, Erictric, The Next Web and The Atlantic Online, more at Techmeme »

Adam Sorensen / The Page:

O, Mark Salter!! — McCain wordsmith revealed as “anonymous” author of “O” the novel. — Confirmed by sources, but there were lots of in-plain-sight clues that led to Salter's Maine door. — (Flashback: Page Six touted Salter.) — Read them here. » — Tweet — FAN - FOLLOW - FEED

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

Guild, Newsweek pact clears way for Daily Beast merger — Romenesko Misc. — Under the agreement, non-supervisory editorial employees who produce the Daily Beast will be covered by the same contract that now covers many of Newsweek's journalists. — The Newspaper Guild of New York today announced …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Caroline McCarthy / CNET News:

News Corp.'s iPad magazine launching Feb. 2 — News Corporation has chosen Groundhog Day for its launch of The Daily, a digital publication designed for tablet devices—and it's chosen New York, not the previously rumored San Francisco, for the Feb. 2 event.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Mixed Media, Media News, Crikey, Apple Bitch, Ars Technica, NetNewsCheck Latest, The Wrap, FishbowlNY, NYConvergence.com and The Wire

Jim Dalrymple / The Loop:
Apple, News Corp to hold event to launch The Daily

Nick Summers / @nicksumm: Rupert's The Daily now set to launch at the Guggenheim in NYC next Wednesday. Steve Jobs looking like a no-show.

Sharon Feder / Mashable!:

Introducing Mashable's First San Francisco Bureau Chief: Chris Taylor — We are thrilled to announce that Chris Taylor, formerly of FastCompany.com, will be joining Mashable as our first-ever San Francisco bureau chief. — As bureau chief, Taylor will manage Mashable's San Francisco team and oversee our reporting there.

The Fix:

White House picks Jay Carney as new press secretary — President Obama has chosen Jay Carney to serve as his new press secretary, replacing longtime loyalist Robert Gibbs who is leaving his post in mid February, according to a senior Administration official.

Discussion: Mediaite, Political Punch, CNN, USA Today, Fox News, The Huffington Post, The Caucus, NPR and PostPartisan

Anthony De Rosa / @antderosa:
New White House press secretary Jay Carney was one of the first mainstream journalists to take up blogging.

Discussion: NationalJournal.com and CBS News

Shira Ovide / Deal Journal:

Meet the Microsoft Earnings Leaker: Selerity — The biggest shocker from Microsoft's earnings this afternoon wasn't the numbers — which were ok — but the uncharacteristicly early release of the results during market trading. — A Microsoft statement pinned the blame on “one or more media sources” …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

Gillen named New York Times Sunday Business editor — David Gillen joined the Times as finance editor in November 2007, and was promoted to a deputy business editor position a year ago. “He has a magical touch with copy, even when things are flying fast and furious,” writes business editor Larry Ingrassia.

Matt Kinsman / Folio:

No Dead Ends: Creating the Modern Web Site — How InternetRetailer.com improved performance by double digits. — While magazine Web sites are starting to take a back seat to other channels that reach readers on a daily basis (such as Facebook and Twitter) they remain the centerpiece for many publishers' digital strategies.