Mediagazer: The Top Political Stories On Facebook In 2011 Were Sensationalized, Polarized And Mostly Mainstream (Eric Eldon/TechCrunch)

4:00 PM ET, December 14, 2011

Top News:

Adrianne Jeffries / Betabeat:

ReadWriteWeb's Acquisition, as Seen By a Former Employee [UPDATED] — This morning AdWeek broke the news that ReadWriteWeb had been acquired by SAY Media (which also bought Dogster and Six Apart) and appointed Dan Frommer to the editor seat. The price was not disclosed.

Discussion: VentureBeat, Afterthoughts and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:

The Price For ReadWriteWeb Was Around $5 Million — Tech blog ReadWriteWeb was acquired today by SAY Media, as was previously reported. I've found out a few more details. The price SAY paid out was under $5 million, after the assumption of ReadWriteWeb's liabilities, according to a source privy to the details.

Discussion: Poynter and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:
Say Media Eyes IPO, Buys ReadWriteWeb

Discussion: Forbes and ReadWriteWeb, more at Techmeme »

Aaron Gell / The New York Observer:

Peter Braunstein, WWD Writer Turned Tabloid Monster, Still Has Issues — One day in October 2010, Peter Braunstein's monthly subscription copy of W magazine arrived right on time. It was one of the first under the direction of a new editor, Stefano Tonchi, and the cover featured Ryan Gosling …

Joel Gunter / Journalism.co.uk:

Tom Crone denies knowing Webb was private investigator — Former News of the World legal manager claims he does not remember emails between himself and other executives referring to Webb as ‘silent shadow’ — Former News of the World legal manager Tom Crone has denied being aware that Derek Webb …

Discussion: Guardian

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk: Mail: Dowler question was ‘perfectly legitimate inquiry’

David Leigh / Guardian: Leveson: Milly Dowler case is not the only reason for inquiry

BBC: Leveson Inquiry: Prosecute NoW criminality, ex editor says

Mark Sweney / Guardian:
What James Murdoch said about the ‘for Neville’ email

Discussion: Guardian and CNN

Andrew Pugh / Press Gazette:
Guardian faces Fleet Street backlash over changing story on Milly Dowler message deletions

Discussion: Daily Mail and The Sun

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

Chuck Todd: NBC's new politics site is for armchair viewers, political junkies — NBC has just launched a new politics site that provides readers with a place to track political news, dig deeper into polls and make their own predictions about the outcome of the 2012 elections.

Discussion: Mashable!, NetNewsCheck Latest and The Wrap

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Kristen Welker Named NBC White House Correspondent; Network Sets 2012 Politics Coverage — After several months of covering the beat, this morning NBC News has named Kristen Welker White House correspondent. The announcement comes as NBC announces their plans for covering the 2012 primaries …

Discussion: 10,000 Words, Broadcasting & Cable, mediabistro.com and FishbowlDC

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:
A web-first politics site for NBC News: Vivian Schiller on the launch of NBCPolitics.com

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable

Eric Eldon / TechCrunch:

The Top Political Stories On Facebook In 2011 Were Sensationalized, Polarized And Mostly Mainstream — Facebook has released a list of the most popular US political news stories among its users over the past year. It's a pretty depressing read if you're idealistic like me …

Discussion: VentureBeat and L.A. Times Tech Blog

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

Huffington Post dominates Facebook's most-shared politics stories of 2011 — On Facebook's list of the 40 most-shared political articles of 2011, the most frequently appearing sources are The Huffington Post (10), CNN (7), MSNBC (6) and Fox News (5). The Washington Post had only one story on the list …

J. David Goodman / Media Decoder:

Times of London Cancels Comedy Podcast That Mocked Murdoch — BUGLE NEWS ALERT: The Bugle will be leaving Times Online in the near future. We will do everything we can to keep The Bugle going... The Bugle — hellobuglers — The Times of London, the British daily owned …

David Carr / Media Decoder:
Is James Murdoch Running Out of Denials?

Discussion: New York Times and Bloomberg

Bloomberg:

Hollywood Said to Court Amazon in Bid for Online Film Sales — Hollywood studios, working to spur purchases of films and TV shows, are in talks to bring Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) back into their online system called UltraViolet, people with knowledge of the situation said.

Discussion: Deadline.com

Caroline Davies / Guardian:

Judge tells reporters: tweet as you wish — Guidance from lord chief justice means journalists no longer have to make application to tweet, text or email from courts — Journalists no longer have to make an application to tweet, text or email from courts in England and Wales following guidance issued …

more at Techmeme »

Keach Hagey / Politico:

Christiane Amanpour proves to be wrong fit — The Arab Spring. The killing of Osama bin Laden. The WikiLeaks dump of U.S. embassy cables. — If there ever was a time to try injecting more international news into the tried-and-true, Washington-based Sunday public affairs talk show format, these last 18 months were it.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Company Town

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
Amanpour Leaving ‘This Week’ for New ABC Role, CNN International Show

Discussion: TVNewser, Adweek, The Corsair, Poynter, The Huffington Post, FishbowlDC, Mediaite, Business Insider, The New York Observer, Media Decoder and The Atlantic Wire

Lucas Shaw / The Wrap:

L.A. Times Rocked by More Turmoil: Top Editor Quits With Cuts Looming (Updated) — The Los Angeles Times was rocked by more turmoil Tuesday when editor Russ Stanton resigned in advance of another round of cutbacks. — Stanton, whose last day is Dec. 23, has presided over a tumultuous period …

Discussion: Poynter, Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Editors Weblog, LA Observed, Media Decoder and Los Angeles Times

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

$1.5M Knight grant to NPR will fund digital training at 70 local stations — The Knight Foundation is giving NPR $1.5 million to bolster the digital skills of local member stations and fulfill visions of a national-local collaborative news network. — The grant announced today builds upon …

Discussion: Editors Weblog, rbr.com and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

Media and Entertainment Companies Add Support to Proposed Antipiracy Legislation — Big media companies have ratcheted up the pressure on Washington to support legislation that would protect online content. — On Tuesday, dozens of entertainment, sports and media companies …