Mediagazer: Murdoch's Daily: post-Web innovation or CD-ROM flashback? (Scott Rosenberg/Scott Rosenberg's …)

2:25 PM ET, February 4, 2011

Top News:

Elizabeth Spiers Taking Over As Editor In Chief of The New York Observer — Elizabeth Spiers is taking over as Editor-in-Chief of The Observer today, overseeing both the print and digital content. — “I am very excited to be working with Elizabeth to further build on the great progress we have made over the past few years.

Discussion: Media Decoder, FishbowlNY, The Wire, Mediaite, WWD Media Headlines, Gawker, @nicknotned, @rafat, The Awl, @joepompeo, @real_kaplan, @maura, New York Magazine, @caro, @rovzar, @behrle, @lock, @timnyc, @dvnjr, @zekeft, @romenesko, @penenberg, @weareyourfek and @katierosman

Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:

EXCLUSIVE: New York Observer Editor Out After ‘Tension’ With Top Brass — The New York Observer's editor, Kyle Pope, is stepping down after clashing with his bosses over the direction of the paper, the Huffington Post has learned. — The paper announced Pope's exit on Friday.

Tom McGeveran / Capital New York:

The meaning of Elizabeth Spiers at The New York Observer — So what does everyone think of the news that just broke, that Elizabeth Spiers is to be the editor of The New York Observer? — In some ways there is an inevitability here. From the mists of time, Nick Denton's original manifesto for Gawker:

World News:

We've compiled a list of all the journalist who have been in some way threatened, attacked or detained while reporting in Egypt. When you put it all into one list, it is a rather large number in such a short period of time. (UPDATED - send us more stories if you get them)

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Network Anchors Leave Egypt Amid Crackdown — Two of the most prominent television news anchors covering the protests in Egypt this week, Brian Williams and Katie Couric, have exited the country. — The anchors' departures came on a day of increasing violence and intimidation directed at journalists in Egypt.

Discussion: The Wrap, Journalism.co.uk, mediabistro.com, Broadcasting & Cable, Gawker, Speakeasy, The Wire, Company Town, On Media's Blog, New York Times, Yahoo! News and New York Observer

Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:
Egyptian VP criticizes ‘unfriendly TV stations’

Discussion: Swampland, MediaShift and AOL News

New York Times:
Gangs Hunt Journalists and Rights Workers

Scott Rosenberg / Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard:

Murdoch's Daily: post-Web innovation or CD-ROM flashback? — A decade ago, if you were a “digital” person — if you were interested in how computer technology was changing our culture and economy — then you were a Web person. The Web, built on top of the Internet and ultimately eclipsing its source …

Discussion: AdAge, Poynter, Nieman Journalism Lab and Reason

Waxy.org:
The Daily: Indexed — Anybody else think it's weird that The Daily …

Matt Kinsman / Folio:

Media Dealmakers Summit: “The Web Is Dead” — Panelists say torch has passed to the “app Internet.” — New York—There was a question during the morning session today at the DeSilva + Phillips Media Dealmakers Summit that crystallized what a lot of people are thinking about the future.

Kat Stoeffel / New York Observer:

Exclusive: Deborah Solomon Out at New York Times Magazine — Deborah Solomon will no longer interview, transcribe, condense and edit the “Questions For” page of The New York Times Magazine in its Hugo Lindgren incarnation. She wrote to The Observer:

Discussion: Gawker, The Awl and New York Magazine

Wall Street Journal:

Billboards Get Wired — Billboards and posters are one of world's oldest forms of advertising. Now, some marketers and start-ups say wireless technology could revamp outdoor advertising by bringing interactivity and pay-for-performance models. — Super Bowl Fans Sing Same Song

Discussion: THINQ.co.uk

Sam Gustin / Threat Level:

Times Editor Alarmed By Prospect of WikiLeaks Prosecution — NEW YORK — New York Times executive editor Bill Keller may not regard Julian Assange as a journalistic peer, but he made clear Thursday that he doesn't think the WikiLeaks founder should face criminal prosecution in the United States.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Poynter, Future of Journalism and News: News blog

Zeke Turner / WWD Media Headlines:
Debating Wikileaks and the Law

Discussion: The Wire

Nick Bilton / Bits:

A Race Between Digital and Print Magazines — This morning I decide to try a little experiment: I opened up my iPad, clicked on the little Wired icon and purchased the magazine's latest digital issue. After I agreed to fork over $4, it began downloading. For the next phase of the experiment …

Discussion: NewsGrange and MacStories

Nat Ives / AdAge:

Magazines' Newsstand Struggles Continue, but Not Without Bright Spots — An Average of 27,000 iPad Edition Sales Helped Wired Improve ‘Newsstand’ 28% — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Rolling Stone increased newsstand sales nearly 19% in the second half of last year as its story on Gen. Stanley McChrystal …

Discussion: New York Observer and Poynter

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:

Too Lazy Or Busy To Read? Topicmarks Summarizes Long Texts For You — Ever come across a lengthy Malcolm Gladwell New Yorker essay that all your unemployed friends will probably be talking about later, but you simply don't have time in between working to read?

Discussion: technosociology, The Awl and The Wire

Oliver Luft / Press Gazette:

Supreme Court allows reporters to use Twitter — Tweeting is allowed from hearings in the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, it was announced yesterday. — Supreme Court justices are “content” for journalists, members of the public and legal teams to use “live text based communications” …

Joe Flint / Company Town:

TMZ names new general manager, forgets to mention what happened to old general manager — TMZ loves to get all the dirt on bad-behaving celebrities. But when it comes to its own operations, full disclosure is not always standard operating procedure. — Take the release Warner Bros. …

Discussion: The Wrap

Gabriel Snyder / @gabrielsnyder:

Pageviews look like they're down 25-33% in Gawker Media's new format. Jalopnik: http://t.co/tEGQo4M io9: http://t.co/ZfKOHas

Discussion: Fimoculous, tag me with a spoon, The Wall Blog and Soup

Choire Sicha / The Awl:

‘The Daily’ Really Is the “New York Post Goes to College” — As you know if you have been near the Internet, everyone is discussing The Daily, the Rupert Murdoch iPad publication that launched yesterday. You can meet the man who runs it, much-beloved of the Murdochs! The reviews are... all over the place.

Discussion: Story Lab, The Daily, Poynter and New York Magazine