Top News:
Michael Arrington / Uncrunched:
Why Heather Matters — TechCrunch CEO Heather Harde announced her departure today. — I'm so angry. — Drift back to the end of 2006. TechCrunch was a year and a half old. My hobby had turned into a business. Federated Media was selling our standard ads and sent a small check every month.
Discussion:
Change The Ratio, @sarahcuda and @paulcarr, more at Techmeme »
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Jay Yarow / Business Insider:
ARRINGTON: Arianna Destroyed TechCrunch Because She Was Jealous Of All The Attention It Was Getting — Here's why TechCrunch imploded earlier this year, according to founder Michael Arrington, who has suddenly gone public with his side of the story. — Basically, Arrington …
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch:
Goodbye, Heather — Heather Harde, the business brains behind TechCrunch, will be stepping down at the end of the year as general manager of AOL's technology properties (including TechCrunch, Engadget, Joystiq, and TUAW). AOL GM Jay Kirsch, who oversees Autos, Finance, and Industry on the business side …
Discussion:
Business Insider, parislemon, VentureBeat, MediaPost, Adweek, @arrington and WebProNews, more at Techmeme »
Adam Clark Estes / The Atlantic Wire:
Lawmakers Table SOPA and Say ‘Bring in the Nerds’ — Update (4:30 p.m.): Members of the House Judiciary Committee decided on Friday to table the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) citing the need for more research into the issue and the potential effects of a law with such radical as this one.
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David Kravets / Threat Level:
Stop Online Piracy Act Vote Delayed — Rep. Jason Chaffetz. Photo J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press — (This post was updated at 2:55 p.m. EST to reflect new hearing date set for Wednesday.) — The House Judiciary Committee considering whether to send the Stop Online Piracy Act …
John Cook / Gawker:
Christopher Hitchens' Unforgivable Mistake — The outpouring of grief, goodwill, and teary encomia that has attended news of Christopher Hitchens' passing would—if he was anything like the persona he presented in print—have turned his stomach. He loathed sentiment, welcomed combat, and delighted in inflicting hard truths.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, ArtsBeat, Washington Post, Slate and Business Insider
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Jolie O'Dell / VentureBeat:
Why did Universal get this video yanked off YouTube if it doesn't have a copyright claim? — Universal Music Group recently had a video removed from YouTube because... Well, that's a good question, actually. The video was removed without notice and without any copyright violations …
Discussion:
Media Decoder and Threat Level
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Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
UMG claims “right to block or remove” YouTube videos it doesn't own
Discussion:
Techdirt, The Verge, Plagiarism Today, Techland, Policy Blog, Electronista, Fast Company, Boing Boing and CNET News, more at Techmeme »
Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:
EXCLUSIVE: Now We Know AOL's Patch Revenue - And It's Tiny — AOL's local business, Patch, will lose at least $100 million this year and generate paltry revenues, according to documents we've obtained from a source. — During 2011, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong invested ~$140 million into Patch, a network of 850 or local news blogs.
Discussion:
Erik Wemple
Alex Sherman / Bloomberg:
Cablevision COO Rutledge's Resignation Spurs Privatization Talk — Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) — Cablevision Systems Corp. may try to go private or seek a buyer following the resignation of Chief Operating Officer Tom Rutledge, analysts said. — Rutledge announced his exit yesterday, effective later this month.
Discussion:
B&C
Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:
Al Jazeera English Launches ‘Inside Story Americas’ — Al Jazeera has launched a new TV show designed to both get people talking about the headlines in a different way and examine the news that has slipped through the cracks. Titled “Inside Story Americas,” the 30-minute debate show features interviews …
Discussion:
GalleyCat and eBookNewser
Michael S. Schmidt / At War:
Secret Military Documents, Straight From an Iraqi Junkyard — BAGHDAD — Several weeks ago, we heard that a local businessman had purchased some trailers from a closing American base. — We were told the trailers were parked at a nearby junkyard, so one afternoon I headed out with our security team to find them.
Discussion:
New York Times, NewsBusters.org blogs and Capital New York
Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
Getting Detained and Gassed — Nothing like getting pulled into a police car to glimpse, through a haze of tear gas, hints of a police state. — The royal family in this American ally of Bahrain deserves immense credit for turning a desert island in the Persian Gulf into a modern banking center.
Discussion:
The Lede
Scott Shane / New York Times:
Manning Hearing Halted as Investigator Considers Recusal Request — FORT MEADE, Md. — A defense lawyer for Bradley Manning, the Army private accused in the most famous leak of government secrets since the Pentagon Papers, began a frontal attack during Private Manning's first court appearance …
Discussion:
Fox News, CNN, Associated Press, Threat Level and Online NewsHour
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Somini Sengupta / New York Times:
Judge Dismisses Twitter Stalking Case — SAN FRANCISCO — In a case with potentially far-reaching consequences for freedom of expression on the Internet, a federal judge on Thursday dismissed a criminal case against a man accused of stalking a religious leader on Twitter …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, WebProNews, Gawker, Forbes, Techdirt, Digits, PC Magazine, Mashable!, Hillicon Valley, CNET News and Electronic Frontier Foundation
New York Times:
News Analysis: For Cable TV Clients, a Steady Diet of Sports — Are you ready for some football? — You are paying for it regardless. — Although “sports” never shows up as a line item on a cable or satellite bill, American television subscribers pay, on average, about $100 a year …
Discussion:
Media Decoder
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Defining journalism is a lot easier said than done — The ripples continue to spread from a recent Oregon court ruling involving a blogger who was sued for defamation, and argued she should be covered by the state's “media shield” law. The judge decided that she didn't qualify as a journalist …
Discussion:
Free Press and Groundswell
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