Mediagazer: Apps Are Media (Erick Schonfeld/TechCrunch)

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

An Election Year Dawns Without Keith Olbermann — Keith Olbermann, who came to Current TV this year to remake the channel and compete against his old home, MSNBC, is sitting out the biggest political nights of the season. — Despite being the biggest star on the fledging channel …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Inside Cable News

Cable Channels Set to Begin Election Year Coverage — America's trifecta of cable news channels, Fox News, MSNBC and CNN, are just about ready to show off their election year staffs. — Each channel plans to cover the one-night Iowa caucus for a stretch of several days …

Discussion: Mediaite, Hollywood Reporter, The Huffington Post, TVNewser and Beet.TV

Frances Martel / Mediaite: It Begins...NY Times Report Suggests Tension Between Olbermann And Current TV

Lens:

From North Korea, an Altered Procession — The funeral of Kim Jong-il on Wednesday called to mind the best stage-managed Communist state productions: the falling snow, the wailing mourners, the perfectly spaced limousines and rows of chest-beating men. — So perhaps it was because the scene …

Discussion: iMediaEthics, PetaPixel, Mediaite, Gawker, Poynter, PhotoBlog and msnbc.com

Arthur Bright / Christian Science Monitor: North Korea not the only offender: 6 official photo fudgings

Charles Apple: North Korean news operation engages in second Photoshopping incident of the year

The Huffington Post:

CNN's New Morning Show Gets Name And Debut Date — Update: CNN announced the names of its new morning shows. The 5-7 a.m. show will be called “Early Start.” Soledad O'Brien's 7-9 a.m. program will be titled “Starting Point.” — CNN will debut its new morning show led by host Soledad O'Brien on January 2, 2012.

New CNN Morning Show to Launch Jan. 2 — Soledad O'Brien will anchor first days from Iowa Caucuses — CNN will debut its new morning show team of Soledad O'Brien, Ashleigh Banfield and Zoraida Sambolin on Jan. 2, the day before the Iowa Caucuses, the network said Wednesday

Discussion: Inside Cable News and TVNewser

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

ID's ‘On the Case’ Hires Letterman Extortionist, Former CBS News Producer Joe Halderman — TVNewser has learned that Investigation Discovery's “On the Case with Paula Zahn” has hired Joe Halderman, the CBS News producer who attempted to blackmail David Letterman in 2009.

Discussion: Deadline.com, Mediaite, NY Daily News, The Wrap, Gawker, Media Decoder and The Huffington Post

The Independent:

Murdoch's £100m plan to settle hacking cases before they get to court — Rupert Murdoch's News International is thought to have prepared a legal fund of £100m to settle civil litigation actions brought by victims of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal ahead of a High Court showdown in the new year.

Adam Clark Estes / The Atlantic Wire:

At Least a Few Local Journalists Just Experienced an End of Year Miracle — News emerged Tuesday night that the new owners of the New York Times Regional Media Group would mostly likely be laying off a number of employees on Thursday. This Atlantic Wire tipster made the cut.

Discussion: Poynter

Discussion: FishbowlDC

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Times' grumbles grow

Discussion: Forbes

Storify:

Storify Story Of The Year: A detailed inventory of reporter arrests at Occupy protests — The Free Press' Josh Stearns combines the craftsmanship of traditional journalism with the latest tools of new media to contribute an important and lasting piece of enterprise journalism.

Discussion: Capital New York

Economist:

Blogs are blamed for cheapening debate in some fields. Yet they have enriched economics — Blogs are blamed for cheapening debate in some fields. Yet they have enriched economics — from the print edition — “LET Truth and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse …

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPM:

Romney: I'm Going To Fix The Budget By Bringing Ads To Sesame Street — Here's a tangible, fundamental change to the American cultural landscape that will come with a Mitt Romney presidency. Under President Romney, Sesame Street will be brought to you by more than “The Letter Q.”

Discussion: Wonkette

Dylan Byers / The Politico:

MSNBC now disclosing Bain Capital connection — Starting on last night's Ed Show with Ed Schultz, MSNBC anchors are now disclosing their parent company's ties to Bain Capital, the buyout firm co-founded by Mitt Romney. — In July 2008, NBC Universal, Bain Capital and Blackstone Group bought …

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Lamar Smith, Against Regulating The Internet... Until Hollywood Became His Biggest Campaign Funder — Well, well. Via Julian Sanchez, we learn that SOPA's official “sponsor” and chief supporter, Lamar Smith, spoke out in 2006 about how Congress shouldn't regulate the internet:

Discussion: Techdirt, Betabeat, Future of Journalism and 10,000 Words

Nicholas White / Daily Dot:

From the Trenches: The best and worst moments of building the Daily Dot — When you're climbing a mountain, you don't realize how high you've gotten until you stop to look back. Almost exactly one year ago, there was nothing more to the Daily Dot than a full-time CEO (me) and two part-time cofounders …

Thanks:owenthomas