Mediagazer: Phone hacking: full text of statement issued by Dowler family lawyer (Guardian)

12:10 PM ET, December 12, 2011

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Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

BuzzFeed Adds Politico Writer — BuzzFeed, a site where the editors and algorithms sift the Web in search of viral articles elsewhere, has decided that it needs articles of its own. — In a move that is sure to surprise the political and journalistic classes, the site is hiring Ben Smith …

Discussion: FishbowlDC, Nieman Journalism Lab, Mediaite, The New York Observer, Gawker, The Corsair, New York Magazine, JIMROMENESKO.COM, The Awl, @benpolitico and @peretti

Steve Myers / Poynter:
Politico's Ben Smith becomes BuzzFeed editor

Discussion: FishbowlDC

Chris Velazco / TechCrunch:

Steve Jobs Biography Is Amazon's Best-Selling Book Of The Year — Move over, Tina Fey — Amazon has just released the list of their ten best-selling books of the year, and Walter Isaacson's thoughtful biography of Steve Jobs has come out on top. — The biography's appearance at the top …

Discussion: CNET News, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Amazon.com and GeekWire

David Carr / New York Times:

When Truth Survives Free Speech — Last week, a story came across my desk that seemed to suggest that a blogger had been unfairly nailed with a $2.5 million defamation award after a judge refused to give her standing as a journalist. A businessman who was the target of the blogger's inquiries brought the suit.

Discussion: Media Nation, Poynter and Future of Journalism

Guardian:

Phone hacking: full text of statement issued by Dowler family lawyer — Mark Lewis of Taylor Hampton Solicitors has issued a statement on behalf of Bob and Sally Dowler — It has been reported that contrary to what the Metropolitan police had said to the Dowler family earlier this year …

Discussion: Press Gazette, The Huffington Post, Press Gazette, The Independent, newsfeed.time.com, Deadline.com, Daily Mail and Journalism.co.uk

Nick Davies / Guardian:

What police now know about Dowler hacking — Operation Weeting investigation confirms most of original phone hacking story, but it is no longer clear what prompted initial deletion that gave Dowler family false hope Milly was still alive — A week ago, I discovered that the police had found …

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Huffington Post to launch a version in Spain, to be called El Huffington Post — The Huffington Post has just signed a deal with Spanish newspaper El Pais to produce a new version of the caffeinated news brand Arianna Huffington has made famous in the United States.

Discussion: paidContent, The Awl, mediabistro.com and MediaPost

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Newt Gingrich Spokesman Outs Candidate As Anonymous Source — The New Hampshire Union Leader recently quoted “a senior aide in the [Newt] Gingrich campaign” pushing hard, and at length, against criticism from former Governor John H. Sununu, an outspoken surrogate for Mitt Romney's campaign.

Discussion: New York Times, The Caucus and ABCNEWS

Dylan Byers / Politico: On ‘Gingrich aide,’ a heated no comment from McQuaid

Dylan Stableford / Yahoo! News:

Ratings: ABC/Yahoo News Republican debate drew biggest audience of 2012 race so far — The ABC News/Yahoo News Republican presidential debate drew 7.58 million total viewers on Saturday night, making it the most-watched GOP debate of the 2012 campaign season so far.

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

With Netflix For Nook Color, Barnes & Noble Fights Against Kindle Fire — Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) is blurring the lines between the $199 Nook Color and $249 Nook Tablet with a major update for the Color, adding access to streaming video through Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX).

Discussion: TechCrunch, CNET News and Pocket-lint, more at Techmeme »

Ingrid Lunden / paidContent:
Under Fire, Amazon Says Kindle Fire Is Getting An Update Within Two Weeks

Discussion: New York Times, TechCrunch and AllThingsD, more at Techmeme »

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Geraldo Rivera Gets Talk Deal on WABC Radio — Geraldo Rivera's been called a lot of names in his life. Here's a new one: radio talk show host. — In a deal to be announced Monday, Mr. Rivera will host the 10 and 11 a.m. hours on WABC in Manhattan, one of the nation's biggest stations.

Discussion: rbr.com, FishbowlNY, TVNewser, The Huffington Post and Inside Cable News

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Pearson to sell FTSE stake for £450m — Financial Times and Penguin owner Pearson to sell 50% stake in FTSE International group in shift from financial data — Pearson is to sell its 50% stake in the FTSE International group to the London Stock Exchange for £450m in cash.

Discussion: Media Week

Voice of San Diego:

Changes at VOSD — Today was a difficult day of change for voiceofsandiego.org. — Last year, we raised more than $1.1 million and drew up a budget for 2011 at $1.2 million. We're projecting lower revenue for the coming year and set the budget at $1 million. — There's no one cause for the change.

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Time Warner Revises $1.3 Billion Bid for Endemol to All-Cash Offer … NEW YORK - Time Warner revised its 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) bid for Dutch reality TV powerhouse Endemol, the producer of Big Brother, Deal or No Deal and others to an all-cash offer, the New York Post reported.

Discussion: Company Town and New York Post