Mediagazer: Pulling Out Weeds Online (Emily Steel/Wall Street Journal)

Roger Ailes Plays Nice — THE DAILY BEAST ON: — The Fox News honcho responds to a media drubbing. In the current issue of Newsweek, Howard Kurtz on the liberal antagonist's more complicated side. — Roger Ailes, the combative conservative behind Fox News, is sounding strangely reasonable these days …

Discussion: Adweek, New York Magazine, Mediaite, The Atlantic Wire, FishbowlDC, The Wire, TVNewser, The Daily Beast, Guardian, The Huffington Post and The Daily Caller

Debbie Galant / Baristanet:

Coffee With ... David Carr — In a town full of media stars, David Carr still stands out. Media columnist for The New York Times, Carr is also a prolific Tweeter with 324,431 followers and a Klout score of 66. In 2008, he came out with a memoir about his years as an alcoholic and drug addict …

Discussion: The Wire, Talking Biz News and Poynter

Evelyn M. Rusli / DealBook:

A Force Behind Lady Gaga Inc. — Soon after Apple started its music-centric social network Ping last year, Steven P. Jobs reached out to Lady Gaga and her business manager, Troy Carter, for feedback. — At the company's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., Lady Gaga peppered Mr. Jobs …

Discussion: Betabeat, CNET News, TechCrunch, Media Buyer Planner, thinq_, WebProNews, Stowe Boyd and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, more at Techmeme »

Bill Carter / New York Times:

For Couric, ABC's Pitch Proved Best — On Feb. 8, executives from NBC, including Steve Burke, the new chief executive, and Steve Capus, the president of news, made their way to the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan, prepared to make a pitch to bring their one-time news star, Katie Couric, back into the network fold.

Discussion: New York Post, Speakeasy, Broadcasting & Cable, TVNewser, Mediaite, The Atlantic Wire, Gawker, On Media's Blog, TVSpy, Adweek, ShortFormBlog and PopEater

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Online Video Start-Ups Seek to Carve Out a Place Beside YouTube — CHICAGO — For many Internet users, YouTube is synonymous with online video. But Mike Michaud and several friends who live in suburban Chicago are trying to change that. — Mr. Michaud co-owns Channel Awesome …

Discussion: SAI and eMedia Vitals

Chris Rovzar / New York Magazine:

Paul Begala to Join Newsweek — This week's Daily Intel-style Newsweek cover, in which Mitt Romney's head is Photoshopped onto the body of Elder Price from Book of Mormon. — Political commentator and Democratic strategist Paul Begala has joined Newsweek and Daily Beast as a columnist.

Discussion: mediabistro.com

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Quora effect? Hacks/Hackers weighs the future of the niche Q&A — The broad goal of Hacks/Hackers is to connect journalists and programmers so they can learn from each other. So it made sense for the group to provide, in addition to in-person meetups and hackathons …

Deseret News:

Missing faith: Getting religion in the newsroom — Selling heaven wasn't easy. — But in early 2005, ABC News producer Rob Wallace knew he had the perfect subject for a Barbara Walters television special. His idea was to examine the effect of belief in heaven on the way people lived their lives.

Ernesto / TorrentFreak:

Is YouTube Killing Music Piracy? — The music industry has witnessed some dramatic changes in recent years, even when piracy is left out of the picture. In just a decade the Internet and the MP3 revolution have redefined people's music consumption habits.

Discussion: ringtonia.com

Adweek:

Huffington Post Takes ‘Top Talent’ from NYT and BBC — On Monday, the Huffington Post will formally announce two recent additions to its team from the New York Times and the BBC that, executives say, confirm Huffpo's ability to attract top talent. — Jason Fields, former head of User Experience …

Discussion: Poynter and Jon Slattery

Emily Steel / Wall Street Journal:

Pulling Out Weeds Online — As Digital-Ad Techniques Proliferate, Specialists Aim to Simplify the Landscape — Seeking to milk the huge growth in online advertising, a rush of technology firms have emerged in recent years pitching an array of techniques for buying, targeting and measuring digital ads.

Adweek:

Advice From The Onion's Tech Team Hey editors, listen to your developers! By Erin Griffith — The Onion's tech team doesn't like Willy Wonka's model. — Too many publications approach their developers as though they were little more than Oompa Loompas, interchangeable drones …

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Ex-Clear Channel Digital Head Evan Harrison Lands At Billboard Giant Van Wagner — Evan Harrison, who left his post running digital for Clear Channel Radio in March, has a new job. He's now chief creative officer at Van Wagner, the privately held billboard giant.

Discussion: paidContent