Mediagazer: Piers Morgan Struggles to Beat King's Ratings (Brian Stelter/Media Decoder)

9:45 AM ET, December 1, 2011

Top News:

Stan Schroeder / Mashable:

Spy Files: WikiLeaks Releases Surveillance Industry Documents — WikiLeaks on Thursday released the first 287 documents from a database containing “hundreds” of documents from contractors in what WikiLeaks calls the “mass surveillance industry.” — For this project, WikiLeaks teamed …

Wikileaks:

The Spyfiles — Mass interception of entire populations is not only a reality, it is a secret new industry spanning 25 countries

Aaron Barnhart / Kansas City Star:

For first time in history, TV ownership declines — Nielsen, the TV ratings people, are out with the 2012 edition of their Television Audience report. Much of this is a repackaging of data previously released by Nielsen. But as NBC used to say, it's new to me!

Discussion: Inside TV, /Film and Poynter

Sean Comer / Yidio: A Sign The Internet Has Won? TV Ownership Declining

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Amazon Has Some Kindle Book Rentals Beyond Textbooks — Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) has made some e-books in the Kindle store available for rental. This is a program different from Kindle Owners' Library Lending: Users can rent a book for a period of 30, 60, 90 or 120 days.

Ingrid Lunden / paidContent:
Amazon Widens Its Kindle Footprint With €99 Device On Sale In Spain, Italy

Discussion: Amazon.com, CNET News and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »

Cotton Delo / AdAge:

Foursquare Rolls Out New Buttons for Publishers — ‘Share’ Button Enables Foursquare Users to Add Venues to To-Do List While Reading Web Content — Foursquare is looking to increase its visibility on the web by introducing new sharing buttons for publishers that will appear side-by-side with the Facebook …

Discussion: VentureBeat

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Foursquare Teams Up With NY Mag, Time Out, Other Publishers — “Save to Foursquare” buttons now appear alongside web content at New York magazine, Time Out, and a variety of other publishers, allowing users to send places they want to go to their phones and get alerted when they're in the vicinity.

Discussion: Foursquare Blog, L.A. Times Tech Blog, ReadWriteWeb, FT Tech Hub, Marketing Pilgrim, Lost Remote and Electronista, more at Techmeme »

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

How 9/11 led to the birth of Google News — In a video explaining the evolution of Google search over the years, Google Fellow Amit Singhal tells the story of how Google News came to be:

Bloomberg:

Alibaba-Led Group Said to Prepare Yahoo Bid — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Softbank Corp. (9984) are in advanced talks with Blackstone Group LP (BX) and Bain Capital LLC about making a bid for all of Yahoo! Inc., said three people with knowledge of the matter.

Discussion: AdExchanger.com, CNET News, Business Insider, Electronista, Medacity and Forbes, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:
Silver Lake Bids $16.60 a Share for Yahoo Stake

Discussion: AllThingsD, DealBook, Business Insider, The Next Web, GeekWire, CNET News, Forbes, Deadline.com and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

New York Times overhauls comment system, grants privileges to trusted readers — The New York Times rolls out a new commenting system today that spotlights reader contributions and grants special privileges to some. — The Times will invite any reader whose comments are consistently approved …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, NetNewsCheck Latest and New York Times

Matt Seaton / Guardian:

Naomi Wolf: reception, responses, critics — Naomi Wolf's article about the police crackdown on Occupy went viral this weekend. Many ‘liked’ it; others, not so much ... When a single article is recommended on Facebook 235,000 times, tweeted nearly 7,000 times, gets close to 1,000 comments and is viewed …

James Robinson / Guardian:

The Leveson inquiry: what we've learned so far — From the ‘toothlessness’ of the PCC to Hugh Grant's middle name, we round up what 10 days of testimony has taught us — Over the past 10 days, a succession of famous faces, and some who are less well-known, have appeared at the Royal Courts …

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's …

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Alastair Campbell: phone hacking ‘possibly’ revealed Cherie Blair's pregnancy

Discussion: Editor's Blog and Guardian

Henry McDonald / Guardian:
‘Paisley family targeted for phone hacking’

Discussion: Press Association, Telegraph, Irish Independent News and Reuters

Telegraph: Leveson Inquiry: ‘News International tried to destroy my life,’ hacking lawyer claims

Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:

Barnes & Noble Reports Q2 Net Loss Of $6.6M, Says NOOK Is Now A $220 Million Business — Barnes & Noble this morning reported sales and earnings for its second quarter ended October 29, 2011, and they're a mixed bag. Total sales decreased slightly, from $1.9 billion to $1.89 billion, compared to the prior year.

Discussion: paidContent and Business Wire

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Pulitzer Prizes change breaking news category to emphasize ‘real-time’ reporting — The Pulitzer Prizes are doing away with paper for next year's awards. All entries must be submitted digitally. The Pulitzer Board is also changing the local breaking news award to emphasize real-time reporting.

Discussion: Mashable!, GigaOM, J-source.ca, NetNewsCheck Latest and The News About The News

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:
Could Pulitzer changes mean an award for live-tweeting?

Discussion: Poynter, The Pulitzer Prizes and Journalism.co.uk

Jeff Roberts / paidContent:

HBO To Cord Cutters: You'll Never See Our Shows — HBO is cementing its reputation as a trail-blazer with a new batch of hit shows and, more recently, a hugely popular mobile offering. But the company is determined to remain a traditionalist when it comes to its relation with tv distributors.

Discussion: Multichannel, Techland, The Verge and Deadline.com

Michael Cieply / Media Decoder:

Expect Some Toning Down of Antipiracy Bills, Says Movie Industry Supporter — LOS ANGELES — Look for changes in the proposed antipiracy legislation that has giants in the entertainment and technology industries squared off against each other, but nothing extensive enough to please all of the legislation's opponents.

Discussion: Techdirt and O'Reilly Radar

Ingrid Lunden / paidContent:UK:

Hearst's Carey: We Will Have One Million Paying Digital Subscribers In 2012 — On the heels of the Economist claiming one million monthly mobile readers of its magazine across Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Android devices, another magazine publisher is gearing up to join the seven-figure club …

Ben Fritz / LA Times:

Paramount Pictures sued by financing partner for fraud — This post has been updated. See note below for details. — Paramount Pictures withheld profit from such hit movies as “Mission: Impossible 3,” “Jackass 2” and the “Transformers” trilogy, according to a lawsuit filed …

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

Warner Said to Pick New Head of Time Inc. Magazine Unit — Time Warner Inc. has selected the head of a digital advertising firm to run its Time Inc. magazine unit, according to people with knowledge of the hiring. — The company is expected to announce later Wednesday that Laura Lang …