Mediagazer: Google News fastest-rising searches rank Occupy high, Casey Anthony low (Julie Moos/Poynter)

12:05 PM ET, December 16, 2011

Top News:

Juli Weiner / Vanity Fair:

In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011 — Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died today at the age of 62. Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the spring of 2010, just after the publication of his memoir …

Christopher Buckley / The New Yorker Blog:

Postscript: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011 — We were friends for more than thirty years, which is a long time but, now that he is gone, seems not nearly long enough. I was rather nervous when I first met him, one night in London in 1977, along with his great friend Martin Amis.

Discussion: The Wrap, Speakeasy, New York Magazine, Slate, entertainment.time.com, BBC, FishbowlDC, Guardian, LA Observed and FleetStreetBlues

Julie Moos / Poynter:

New York Times did not need to stop the presses for Hitchens obit — New York Times Communications Director Danielle Rhoades Ha reports the paper did not need to stop the presses to include a story about Christopher Hitchens' death of cancer Thursday; “The story broke and was confirmed …

Discussion: Erik Wemple, Adweek, Business Insider, J-School Buzz, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Online, The New York Observer, @palafo, @joepompeo and Poynter

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

Janet Robinson, Chief Executive of Times Co., to Step Down — Janet L. Robinson, who served as chief executive of the New York Times Company during a time of rapid change and uncertainty in the newspaper industry, will step down at the end of the month, the company announced Thursday.

Jim Romenesko:

Newspaper Guild of New York blasts Robinson's $4.5M consulting fee — The Times contract expired on March 30, “and we have not had serious negotiations for months now. Our last official bargaining session was in June.” — The union chief adds that subcommittees have been meeting with the Times …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Julie Moos / Poynter:
Next New York Times CEO could come from the tech sector

Discussion: AllThingsD and AdAge

Henry Blodget / Business Insider: NYT NEWSROOM CHATTER: Andrew Ross Sorkin In Running To Become CEO

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

E-Book Readers Face Sticker Shock — Cheap new e-readers are expected to be one of the hottest gifts this holiday season. But new owners of Kindles and Nooks may be in for sticker shock on Christmas morning: The price gap between the print and e-versions of some top sellers has now narrowed …

Discussion: paidContent, Digital Book World, GigaOM, msnbc.com, The Consumerist, eBookNewser and GalleyCat

Declan McCullagh / CNET News:

SOPA votes derailed by politician's ‘offensive’ tweet — A marathon debate today in the House of Representatives on the Stop Online Piracy Act wasn't derailed by procedural questions, even though not one hearing had been held on how the law would actually work.

Discussion: Betabeat, Techdirt, @stevekingia, WebProNews, Deadline.com and WatchingTV Online, more at Techmeme »

Grant Gross / Computerworld:
House committee appears headed toward approving SOPA

Discussion: Threat Level and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »

Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
Meet SOPA author Lamar Smith, Hollywood's favorite Republican

Discussion: Technology Liberation Front, paidContent, Fortune, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Naked Security

Jack Shafer:

Are you reading the best magazine in America? — My original commitment to Bloomberg BusinessWeek was so small it was almost negative. — About this time last year, US Airways, Delta, or some other crappy airline notified me that my soon-to-expire frequent flyer miles could be exchanged …

Discussion: Media Nation and CJR

Ingrid Lunden / paidContent:

More Digital-First Downsizing: The Guardian's Print Edition Shrinks Again — We've been covering already how the Guardian's digital-first strategy has resulted in some sections of the printed newspaper shrinking. Today brings a fresh wave of downsizing moves, with the sports and film …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk and Guardian

Ed Pilkington / Guardian:

Bradley Manning hearing - updates — Continuing coverage from Fort Meade, Maryland, where a pre-trial hearing is taking place for the Wikileaks suspect Bradley Manning — At Forte Meade: Ed Pilkington (EP) and Matt Williams (MW) — At the Guardian in New York: Matt Wells

Discussion: Guardian

Patrick Gavin / The Politico:

No debate: Fox gets glowing reviews — Given that some of those dastardly “mainstream media” reporters within the Beltway have been known to rib Fox News' journalism from time to time, it's been notable to see a clear trend emerge from the Republican debates in 2011: The faceoffs hosted …

Discussion: TVNewser and Erik Wemple

Jon Slattery:

How Lord Hunt wants to tame bloggers and online — Online publications and blogs would be regulated under radical proposals by the new chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, according to the Exaro website — Lord Hunt, PCC chairman since October, told Exaro in an interview with David Hencke …

Tom Parfitt / Guardian:

Newspaper chief's murder in Dagestan adds to toll of Russian journalists — Hundreds attend funeral of Khadzhimurad Kamalov, who was shot dead outside Chernovik's offices in the North Caucasus — The prominent founder of an independent newspaper in the volatile Dagestan republic has been shot dead …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, BBC, New York Times and VOA

Dorothy Pomerantz / Forbes:

Why Howard Stern is a Terrible Choice for NBC — Click for full photo gallery: Howard Stern - The Celebrity 100 — NBC announced today that Howard Stern is taking over from Piers Morgan as a judge on the show America's Got Talent. To accommodate Stern (who will continue to do his Sirius/XM radio show) …

Discussion: EW.com, The Wrap, Company Town and TVbytheNumbers

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

ProPublica.org goes responsive to better serve mobile readers — In what some like to think of an age of apps — smartphone, tablet, or otherwise — it might seem hard to get worked up over a mobile redesign. But last week ProPublica rolled out a new look for small screens that's pliable …

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Knight funds collaborative reporting center in Georgia — The Knight Foundation is launching a new program at Mercer University designed to prepare journalists, both aspiring and employed, how to perform their craft in an increasingly interdependent industry.

Discussion: Future of Journalism, Knight Foundation, NYConvergence.com, Macon Telegraph and Poynter

Guardian:

Julian Assange can appeal against extradition, supreme court rules — The supreme court says the WikiLeaks founder's appeal raises questions of general public importance on extradition law — The highest court in the land has granted permission for Julian Assange to appeal against his extradition …

Discussion: Rolling Stone

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Google News fastest-rising searches rank Occupy high, Casey Anthony low — Among the many year-end lists is Google's Zeitgeist, which ranks searches that reflect “the spirit of the time.” This year's list for fastest-rising news terms shows a significant difference between U.S. Google News searches …

Discussion: Future of Journalism, The Official Google Blog and Epicenter

Politico:

Newt Gingrich and Arianna Huffington: A '90s story — Arianna Huffington and the liberal online juggernaut bearing her name have been tough on a lot of Republican presidential candidates, but when it comes to Newt Gingrich, the knife has cut a little deeper.

Maurice Chammah / The Huffington Post:

The Springborg Affair: A Censorship Debacle Reflects Egypt's Future — It began on Monday, December 5th, when English newspaper readers in Cairo learned that a new paper, the Egypt Independent, had disappeared from newsstands. They learned about the disappearance from the British press …

Discussion: Guardian

Alex Pham / Company Town:

Viewers watching more streaming video on game consoles — Video game consoles aren't just for gaming anymore. — Increasingly, people are using their Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii devices to stream movies and TV shows, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Nielsen Co.

Discussion: paidContent:UK, Engadget, CNET News, Softpedia News, Forbes, Online Video News, The Verge and ZDNet

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

‘Ellen’ Producer Says Fans Targeted In Facebook Scam (Exclusive) — An anonymous individual is said to be phishing personal info by pretending to be DeGeneres' manager Eric Gold. — Pretty much everyone with an e-mail account is familiar with the type of scam wherein a person with connections …

Discussion: Softpedia News, Naked Security and TVWeek.com