Mediagazer: Why the media insists on publishing year-end lists before the year's end (Dylan Stableford/Associated Press)

Ginger Thompson / New York Times:

Hearing in Soldier's WikiLeaks Case Ends — FORT MEADE, Md. — The military hearing against Pfc. Bradley Manning closed on Thursday, with lawyers and onlookers alternately portraying him as a premeditated traitor or an accidental hero with emotional troubles.

Discussion: Threat Level, Future of Journalism and Guardian

Government Blocks Access to Bradley Manning's Hearing — The WikiLeaks saga is centered on issues of government transparency and accountability, but the public is being strategically denied access to the Manning hearing, one of the most important court cases in our lifetime.

David Dishneau / Associated Press: Defense says Manning victim of military overreach

Foster Kamer / The New York Observer:

TechCrunch Writer, Blogging on TechCrunch: 'I'm Beginning to Feel Stupid for Still Being Here' — Ms. Tsotsis, Freedom Fighter (or something like it). — Alexia Tsotsis was a well-liked and popular tech blogger before she was at TechCrunch, back when she was at SF Weekly.

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:

Aol Shareholders Freak Out Over Exec Departures — As They Should — More than a fair amount of business success hinges on telling stories about the future. The reason Yahoo's market cap is down to $19.83 billion from a high of $55 billion is because shareholders don't believe that it has a future.

Discussion: Future of Journalism and paidContent:UK

Tom Cheredar / VentureBeat:

Louis CK's digital distribution experiment clears $1M in 12 days — Comedian Louis CK's recent digital distribution experiment to sell his latest standup performance independently has generated over $1 million, he announced in a statement on his website yesterday.

Discussion: Techdirt, The Huffington Post, TeleRead and AfterDawn.com, more at Techmeme »

Discussion: PC Magazine, Electronista, CNNMoney.com, kottke.org, Rolling Stone and Business Insider

Bill Adair / PolitiFact:

Fact-checking in the Echo Chamber Nation — At a Republican campaign rally a few years ago, I asked one of the attendees how he got his news. — “I listen to Rush and read NewsMax,” he said. “And to make sure I'm getting a balanced view, I watch Fox.” — My liberal friends …

Discussion: Pressthink, The Huffington Post, Washington Post and Mediaite

Michael Warren / Associated Press:

Argentine government wins control of newsprint — BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The paper used to produce newspapers came under government control in Argentina on Thursday, in a long-sought victory for President Cristina Fernandez in her dispute with the country's opposition media.

John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:

More Picture-Takers Are Phoning It In — No big surprises here. The single-purpose camera is in decline, the smartphone camera on the rise. — New research from NPD finds that smartphones are now responsible for more than a quarter of the photos and videos people take in the U.S …

Discussion: MediaPost, SlashGear, CNET News and Future of Journalism, more at Techmeme »

Dylan Stableford / Associated Press:

Why the media insists on publishing year-end lists before the year's end — Barbara Walters' choice of the Kardashian clan as one of her “10 Most Fascinating People of 2011” drew extended ridicule when her annual primetime television special aired on ABC on Dec. 14.

Russell Adams / Wall Street Journal:

News Corp. in Talks to Hire Gerson Zweifach as General Counsel — News Corp. is expected to name veteran Washington attorney Gerson Zweifach as its next general counsel, filling what is likely to be a sensitive role as the media conglomerate deals with the fallout of the phone-hacking scandal that erupted this summer.

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Why Netflix Customers Who Haven't Bailed Probably Won't — Netflix screwed up so badly this summer and fall that some of its subscribers left in a huff. So how do the ones who stuck around feel? — They're less happy than they used to be. But they don't seem to be going anywhere.

Discussion: paidContent and Business Insider

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Critics of HuffPo news “theft” are missing the point — The Huffington Post is routinely accused by other media outlets of engaging in what some call “over-aggregation”: excerpting stories from newspapers and other sources without enough attribution or original content.

Discussion: Future of Journalism, Riptide 2.0 and The Huffington Post

Discussion: Random Pixels and Loose Talk, Future of Journalism and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Dylan Stableford / Yahoo! News:

Fox News zings CNN and MSNBC on holiday card, just like last year — In what's becoming an annual media tradition, Fox News used its holiday card to wish friends and family well this holiday season—and take a swipe at CNN and MSNBC. — The front of Fox News' 2011 card …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Verizon To Launch a Home Media Server In 2012, Plans To Eliminate Set-Top Box — Verizon will be rolling out a new Media Server product for its FiOS customers later next year, which will be a single hardware device that will eventually eliminate the need for a set-top box altogether.

Discussion: The Verge and Electronista

Victor Fiorillo / The Philly Post:

Bill Conlin Is Innocent — And so is Jerry Sandusky for that matter — Yesterday at 1:40 p.m., a colleague rushed into my office to share the awful news: The Inquirer was about to print child molestation allegations against Daily News sportswriter Bill Conlin. Deadspin had the scoop.

Discussion: Deadspin

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Patriot-News, Slate, Deadspin and Philly.com

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Mail Online tops 80m monthly online browsers — UK's most popular newspaper website hits new high, as guardian.co.uk's monthly users rise to more than 63 million — Mail Online topped 80 million monthly online browsers for the first time in November in a busy news period when guardian.co.uk also broke new traffic records.

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Leveson inquiry receives more than 200 submissions from outside media — Inquiry says it has been sent 411 submissions of evidence in total, including 93 from those claiming to be victims of the press — The Leveson inquiry into phone hacking and media ethics has received more than 200 submissions …

Discussion: BBC