Mediagazer: Meet Circa, The Stealthy ‘News Experience’ Startup From Ben Huh And SimpleGeo Founder Matt Galligan (Leena Rao/TechCrunch)

3:35 PM ET, December 23, 2011

Top News:

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:

Over 40 Internet Companies Come Out Publicly Against SOPA (Including Us) — Since the list of 120 or so SOPA supporting companies hit the Internet yesterday, the lines have been drawn; People are publicly promising to pull thousands of domains from domain registrar Godaddy after it appeared on the list as a supporter.

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Prominent Rightwing Blogger Promises To Work Hard To Defeat Any Rightwing SOPA Supporters In Congress — One of the more interesting things about the whole SOPA/PIPA debate (and, as I've pointed out for many years, about any of the intellectual property policy fights) is how non-partisan they are.

Discussion: Hit & Run

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

How Amazon is helping to sustain long-form journalism — Amazon has been taking a beating recently for what some see as its attempt to cut in on the business of independent booksellers, and for its ongoing disruption of the e-book market via its Kindle lending library and other moves.

Discussion: PC Magazine, Bits, Poynter, NetNewsCheck Latest, TeleRead, Joho the Blog, The FJP and Forbes

Jason Del Rey / AdAge:

Former TechCrunch Staffer Sarah Lacy Set to Close Funding Round for PandoDaily — Netscape Co-Founder Marc Andreessen Joins Michael Arrington and Other Investors In Tech News Site — Former TechCrunch Senior Editor Sarah Lacy is expected to close a round of funding in the next two weeks …

Discussion: Future of Journalism and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Journalists complain the White House press office has become overly combative — The White House's relationship with the reporters who cover it has blown hot and cold throughout history. And this year, some reporters say, things have taken a decidedly frosty turn.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and @poynter

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Maybe Apple's Newsstand Really Was a Present for Publishers — When Apple launched its Newsstand feature in iTunes this fall, the idea was that giving newspaper and magazine publishers their own dedicated shelf space — for those who signed on to Apple's subscription program - would boost sales.

Discussion: @pkafka, MacRumors, Electronista and Business Insider

Julie Moos / Poynter:

WUSA removes story from website after discovering parts of it came from the Post — WUSA President and General Manager Allan Horlick says the station has removed a story from its website after learning that portions of it were taken from a Washington Post piece on the same subject.

Discussion: @mathewi, Gannett Blog, Fairfax News and Washington Post

Mona Eltahawy / Guardian:

Bruised but defiant: Mona Eltahawy on her assault by Egyptian security forces — Mona Eltahawy's tweets about her assault in Cairo made global headlines. Here she tells her full, extraordinary story for the first time — The last thing I remember before the riot police surrounded me was punching a man who had groped me.

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Meet Circa, The Stealthy ‘News Experience’ Startup From Ben Huh And SimpleGeo Founder Matt Galligan — As we heard in August, SimpleGeo founder Matt Galligan left the company to pursue other interests. SimpleGeo was then bought by UrbanAirship in November, and fellow co-founder Joe Stump left …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

The Huffington Post:

Piers Morgan's Phone Hacking Testimony Has Little Impact — CNN's Piers Morgan was in the position few television interviewers like to be this week: on the other side of the microphone. He testified by video link about his past life as a London tabloid editor before a British panel looking into media ethics.

Discussion: Guardian and The Independent

Jesse Solomon / CNN:

New York Times files lawsuit seeking info on targeted killings — NEW YORK (CNN) — The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice charging that the government failed to release information under the Freedom of Information Act on records surrounding questions …

Chicago Tribune:

Sun-Times' new owners envision highly digital delivery, products — Chicago technology entrepreneur Michael Ferro and former Newsday Publisher and CEO Timothy Knight lead the group. Knight says flagship tabloid newspaper will remain an integral part of the portfolio.

Rainey Reitman / The Nation:

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.