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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 …
Discussion:
New York Times, About.com Journalism, FishbowlNY, New York Times, Media Decoder, Slate, ArtsBeat, The New Yorker Blog, Slate, Jacket Copy, The Atlantic Online, Guardian, Gothamist, @jayrosen_nyu, The Huffington Post, Vanity Fair, FishbowlDC, Reuters, NPR, Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day, Melville House Books, Mother Jones, newsfeed.time.com, Chickaboomer, Omnivoracious, Big Journalism, The Daily What, MediaVidea, Digital Spy, GalleyCat, Mediaite, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Publishers Lunch, US Politics and Naked Politics
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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:
Adweek, Business Insider, J-School Buzz, Slate, The Atlantic Online, The Huffington Post, The New York Observer, @palafo, @joepompeo and Poynter
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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.
Discussion:
Forbes, Wall Street Journal, The Future of Capitalism, The Wrap, MinOnline, paidContent, MediaPost, @michaelwolffnyc, Guardian, NetNewsCheck Latest, The Next Web, Gawker, Gannett Blog, Associated Press, Capital New York, WWD Media Headlines, FishbowlNY, Thomson IR, JIMROMENESKO.COM, The New York Observer, The Jane Dough, New York Magazine, Media & Entertainment, The Huffington Post, Adweek, DigiDave and AllThingsD
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Newspaper Guild of New York blasts Robinson's $4.5M consulting fee
Discussion:
JIMROMENESKO.COM
Julie Moos / Poynter:
Next New York Times CEO could come from the tech sector
Next New York Times CEO could come from the tech sector
Discussion:
AllThingsD and AdAge
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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
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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, WatchingTV Online and CNET News, more at Techmeme »
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Grant Gross / Computerworld:
House committee appears headed toward approving SOPA
House committee appears headed toward approving SOPA
Discussion:
Threat Level and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 …
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NPR stations see big growth for Argo blogs as the pilot winds down — How much of an impact can one blogger make? — A little more than a year ago, 12 public radio stations set a goal: Hire a reporter, teach him or her how to blog, and create the most authoritative local source of news on a single topic — a vertical.
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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
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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
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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 …
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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
Jim Romenesko:
Marilyn Thompson leaves WP for Reuters — “We have been fortunate to have Marilyn in our newsroom twice,” says the Post memo announcing her departure. “Before returning in 2008, after detours reporting at the New York Times, editing at the Los Angeles Times and running the Lexington Herald-Leader …
Discussion:
The Politico and @bobbymacreports
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
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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
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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