Mediagazer: GoodReads' Recommendation Engine Acquisition Gooses The Publishing Game (John Biggs/TechCrunch)

3:45 PM ET, December 28, 2011

Top News:

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

Times Readers Inundated by False E-Mail on Subscriptions — Home-delivery subscribers to The New York Times and others received a mass e-mail notice on Wednesday erroneously saying that their delivery had been cancelled. — The e-mail, which the Times's spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said was spam …

Discussion: Poynter, The Huffington Post, GigaOM, TechCrunch, @megan and Top Digital Journal News, more at Techmeme »

Yuri Victor / @yurivictor:

@AntDeRosa @danielbachhuber Mine originated from 10.150.20.118 to 208.70.142.99, both owned by Epsilon.

Ben Popper / Betabeat:

We Got the New York Times Email Spam. Feeling Special — Holiday Mischief? — UPDATE: The email was from the NYT, but went to the wrong list, according to Times staffers. — We just got the email which the New York Times PR is saying “looks like spam.” It arrived from the succinct address: nytimes@email.newyorktimes.com

Discussion: 10,000 Words

Adam Clark Estes / The Atlantic Wire:

After Sale, New York Times Regional Employees Brace for Layoffs — ‘Layoff’ is an understandably dirty word around The New York Times newsroom(s) these days. As the company prepares to finalize the sale of its Regional Media Group to Halifax Media Holdings this week, both The New York Times Company …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Thanks:adamclarkestes

Jim Romenesko:
FAQ for NYT Regional Media Group employees

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, The Snitch and FishbowlNY

Tanzina Vega / Media Decoder:
Times Co. Agrees to Sell Regional Newspaper Group

Discussion: Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog, rbr.com, Guardian, Folio, mnilive.com, NetNewsCheck Latest, Media Nation, The New York Times Company, Forbes, Reuters, MediaPost, The New York Observer, The Boston Globe, New York Times, Beyond Search and FishbowlNY

Betsy Rothstein / FishbowlDC:

Was WaPo's Flock Forced on Vacation? — Like some reporters, WaPo's Elizabeth Flock was off last week — conceivably for the holidays. — But FishbowlDC sources are insisting that Flock was suspended last week for writing that post on GOP Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's using a KKK slogan in his speeches.

Julian Sanchez:

The New York Times on Ron Paul's Newsletters — With Ron Paul's now-infamous newsletters once again making headlines, I mulled whether I ought to revisit the issue, but ultimately decided that there wasn't much to add to the long piece Dave Weigel and I wrote for Reason back in 2008 …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Forbes, The Daily Caller and The Huffington Post

Dylan Byers / Politico:
NY Times challenges ‘lazy rewrite’ accusation

Discussion: PolitickerNY and CBS News

Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:

How Hulu's ‘Steamboat’ ads recommend new shows to users — Hulu, like all video services, has long been focused on growing its viewership, but also on keeping those viewers watching more and more shows. While it's mostly been building that audience by featuring popular new programming …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Kevin Lincoln / Business Insider:

After Hiring Gawker Founding Editor Elizabeth Spiers, The New York Observer Is Finally Profitable — Observer Media Group President Christopher Barnes says that the New York Observer and its associated products, after many years in the red, will finally turn a small profit in 2011, the New York Post reports.

Discussion: New York Post and FishbowlNY

Yahoo! News:

Yahoo News hires Steve Chaggaris as executive producer, elections — In the latest move to bolster Yahoo's original coverage of the 2012 presidential election, Yahoo News has hired Steve Chaggaris, the former Political Director of CBS News, as Executive Producer, Elections. Chaggaris will start on January 3, 2012.

Jeremiah Owyang / Web Strategy:

End of an Era: The Golden Age of Tech Blogging is Over — That's right. We're at the end of an important period. The tech blogosphere as we know it, is over. — Four Trends Show the End of this Era: — Like the film industry, the Golden Era is the emergence period, when fresh innovation in a new medium is born.

Discussion: Brian Solis, Joho the Blog and SarahLacy.com

Ingrid Lunden / paidContent:

Research: Internet Is UK's No. 2 News Source, But Only 3.8 Percent Pay — Online may be challenging TV to be UK consumers' primary news source - but only 3.8 percent pay for it, new research says. — In an annual media habits survey by the Oliver & Ohlbaum consultancy …

NPR:

Bahrain To Host Saudi Prince's News Network — DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain has been picked to host the headquarters for Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's new international Arabic news network despite months of unrest, according to the tiny Gulf kingdom's media oversight authority.

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Rebecca Shapiro / The Huffington Post:

CNN Under Fire After Uncut Version Of Ron Paul Interview Surfaces — An uncut version of Ron Paul's seemingly testy interview with CNN surfaced on Sunday, and has raised questions about whether or not the network may have unfairly edited the interview. — Paul was interviewed by CNN's Gloria Borger last week.