Mediagazer: Washington Post letter writers plea for coverage of uprisings around the world (Steve Myers/Poynter)

3:10 AM ET, December 14, 2011

Top News:

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Amanpour to Leave ABC's ‘This Week’ and Rejoin CNN — Updated Christiane Amanpour is leaving the anchor chair of ABC's “This Week” and returning to her old network home, CNN, as the anchor of an evening newscast on CNN International. — The changes, confirmed Tuesday evening …

Discussion: Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable, Business Insider, Gawker, Multichannel, Erik Wemple, The Atlantic Wire, Inside Cable News and The New York Observer

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Amanpour Leaving ‘This Week’ for New ABC Role, CNN International Show — NEW YORK — Christiane Amanpour will soon step down as host of ABC's “This Week” to take on a new role at the network, where she'll host about six primetime specials a year and appear on ABC News programs …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, TVNewser, FishbowlDC and Poynter

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Brian Stelter accidentally tweets tip about Amanpour leaving ‘This Week’ — Brian Stelter had an awkward Twitter moment this afternoon when he accidentally tweeted to his 97,000 followers that he had heard that Christiane Amanpour would be departing as host of ABC's “This Week.”

Discussion: Mediaite, Gawker and Future of Journalism

Christopher Goffard / Los Angeles Times:

Russ Stanton steps down as Times editor — Managing Editor Davan Maharaj will assume the top newsroom job. Stanton, 52, has led the news organization for four years, a period in which the paper won three Pulitzer Prizes, including the Public Service Award for exposing corruption in the city of Bell.

Discussion: Media Decoder, The Wrap, Nieman Reports, Poynter, MarketWatch, LAist, New York Times, Adweek, The Huffington Post, JIMROMENESKO.COM, LA Observed, MediaPost, Gawker, Future of Journalism, LA Observed and Talking Biz News

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Trump Bows Out — This just in: Donald Trump has bowed out of moderating the NewsMax debate in Iowa later, announcing his decision in a statement saying he will not give up the option of running for president as an independent. Trump:

Discussion: TVNewser, Media Decoder and New York Magazine

Bobby Bank / ABCNEWS:
Donald Trump Backs Out of Debate, Floating Independent Bid

Discussion: entertainment.time.com

Cory Doctorow / Guardian:

The Pirates of Youtube — The real villains of YouTube are the multinational companies cashing in on public domain footage they claim is their own — When you hear about “piracy” in connection to YouTube, perhaps you think of the billion-dollar lawsuit brought by Viacom against the Google division …

Discussion: Hillicon Valley, VentureBeat and WatchingTV Online

Gautham Nagesh / Hillicon Valley:

Dodd on piracy bill: ‘Hollywood is pro-Internet’ — Former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), now the head of the Motion Picture Association of America, pushed back at criticism his industry is backing an online piracy bill that would lead to censorship online during a speech on Tuesday. — “Hollywood is pro-Internet.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Deadline.com and VentureBeat

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Lamar Smith Proposes New Version Of SOPA, With Just A Few Changes

Discussion: Media Decoder, Hillicon Valley, The Huffington Post, Home Media Magazine, Betabeat, Multichannel, TechCrunch, Gawker, CNET News, Electronic Frontier Foundation and TorrentFreak

David Leigh / Guardian:

Milly Dowler and the tabloid: trail that led to phone-hacking story — Senior NoW executive wrote to Surrey police specifically admitting Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked — The disappearance of Milly Dowler in March 2002 was a time of excruciating anguish for her family, as Surrey police hunted for clues to her fate.

Discussion: Press Gazette

James Robinson / Guardian:
Phone hacking: lawyer knew ‘rogue reporter’ defence was untrue in 2008

Discussion: Crikey, Press Gazette and Company Town

Richard Allen Greene / CNN: James Murdoch warned over phone hacking, e-mail shows

Sam Marsden / The Independent: Leveson Inquiry: News International ‘tried to influence prosecution’ of jailed royal editor

The Huffington Post:
Dowler Family Insist Police Told Them NotW Journalists Deleted Milly's Voicemails

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire and Guardian

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

AP Launches Strategy To Go Beyond Breaking News, Become More ‘Distinct’ — NEW YORK — The Associated Press has been getting it first and getting it right for the past 165 years. — But as traditional rivals like Bloomberg and Reuters ramp up opinion and analysis — and as competition increased …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Poynter, Future of Journalism and Gawker

Bloomberg:

Verizon ‘Very Serious’ About Making Bid for Netflix, Banker Says — Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), the second-largest U.S. phone company, is “very serious” about a bid to acquire online movie provider Netflix Inc. (NFLX), an investment banker said. — Verizon may kick off a bidding war …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Electronista, B&C, Bloomberg and Tech Trader Daily, more at Techmeme »

Will Richmond / paidContent:
If Netflix Is In Play, Here's Some Companies That Would Be In The Hunt

Discussion: VideoNuze and TheStreet.com

Andrew Albanese / Publishers Weekly:

Authors Guild Files for Class Certification in Google Case — The Google Book Settlement may be dead, but the litigation lives on. On December 12, attorneys for the Authors Guild filed a motion for class certification, hitting the deadline set forth by Judge Denny Chin at a September 15 status conference …

Discussion: Melville House Books, GalleyCat, Electronista and TeleRead

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Video of ‘Times’ photographer's confrontation with police touches off another exchange between NYPD and local media — An attorney for The New York Times sent an email yesterday afternoon to Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne expressing “disappointment” after officers interfered …

Discussion: Salon, Forbes, Runnin' Scared, Betabeat and New York Magazine

Josh Stearns / Save the News: NYPD: Elmo Safe, Journalists Not So Much

Lynne Marek / Chicago Business:

Chicago Tribune subscriber sues over rate hike — (Crain's) — A Chicago Tribune reader upset that her credit card account was charged for a subscription rate increase without prior notice called to complain, but didn't get any satisfaction from the Philippines-based call center — so she's suing the newspaper company.

Alessandra Stanley / ArtsBeat:

The TV Watch: Chelsea Clinton Finally Embraces Her Celebrity — Chelsea Clinton gave a perfectly honed and utterly unsatisfying explanation on Monday for why she made her debut as a special correspondent on NBC's magazine show, “Rock Center with Brian Williams.”

Discussion: St. Petersburg Times, Gothamist, The Week, Washington Post, newsfeed.time.com, The Daily Beast, Media Decoder, Chickaboomer, The Wrap and rbr.com

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Washington Post letter writers plea for coverage of uprisings around the world — Since uprisings began in the Middle East and North Africa earlier this year, messages pleading for coverage of pro-democracy movements have dominated ombudsman Patrick Pexton's email inbox …

Discussion: The Wrap and Washington Post

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Byliner Has Sold Over 100,000 Original E-Singles — Longform journalism site Byliner has sold over 100,000 of its “Byliner Originals” since launching the program in April, says CEO John Tayman in the newest issue of Nieman Reports. The issue, which is focused entirely on writing and book publishing …

Discussion: Nieman Reports and Nieman Journalism Lab

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

NoW's Ian Edmondson asked Glenn Mulcaire to hack phones, court is told — Mulcaire's lawyer says private detective was instructed by News of the World's news editor to intercept voicemail messages — Glenn Mulcaire told the chief lawyer at the News of the World in 2007 that he was instructed …

The Daily Record: Glenn Mulcaire's breach of contract case against News International begins