Mediagazer: This News Story Is Brought to You By... (Steven Waldman/CJR)

1:55 PM ET, January 2, 2012

Top News:

Gordon Brown's Downing Street emails ‘hacked’ — Police investigating computer hacking by private investigators commissioned by national newspapers have uncovered evidence that emails sent and received by Gordon Brown during his time as Chancellor were illegally accessed.

Discussion: Future of Journalism, The Raw Story and Jon Slattery

Cahal Milmo / The Independent: Scale of email hacking is set to be this year's biggest story

Dylan Welch / Sydney Morning Herald:

New to Twitter: the tweet Murdoch took down ... fast — “Either @rupertmurdoch is genuinely now on Twitter, or some disgruntled ex-NOTW journo just won the hacking Olympics.” — Less than two days after joining Twitter, media mogul Rupert Murdoch appears to have had his first brush …

Discussion: Lost Remote, Storyful, Mediaite, AllThingsD, CNN, Guardian and Betabeat, more at Techmeme »

Anthony De Rosa / @antderosa:
Looks like @rupertmurdoch joined Twitter and he's verified.

Discussion: @jack, @johnprescott, The Huffington Post, @paulcarr, @mattderienzo, @piersmorgan, @brianstelter, Mediaite, @fromedome, @anildash, @jeffjarvis, @ethank, @rupertmurdoch, @ivankatrump, @felixsalmon and @annielowrey

Matt Brian / The Next Web:
Rupert Murdoch joins Twitter, immediately comes under fire

Discussion: Globe and Mail, Hollywood Reporter, Guardian, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Future of Journalism

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Tim Armstrong trumpets AOL successes, urges ‘kaizen’ spiritual-business approach on employees in New Year's Eve missive — AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong closed out 2011 with a 2,000-word motivational memo emailed to his several thousand staffers around 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve.

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Romney's Huffington Post connection — Something The Huffington Post didn't mention when it published its exclusive interview with Mitt Romney last Thursday: AOL CEO Tim Armstrong gave $2,500 — the maximum campaign contribution — to Romney earlier this year, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:

Wikimedia Foundation Raises $20 Million From 1 Million+ Donors — Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia and other sites, this morning announced that they've raised $20 million from more than a million donors, shattering a record once again.

Discussion: VentureBeat, Future of Journalism, Wikimedia blog, VatorNews and Wikimedia Foundation, more at Techmeme »

Mike Reynolds / Multichannel News:

Time Warner Cable: MSG Offered No ‘Credible Explanation’ For License Fee Hike — MSO Offers Subscribers January Freeview of Sports Package, As Two RSNs Are In Dark — Time Warner Cable, maintaining that a deal had been in reach before the programmer demanded a “whopping” …

Discussion: PC Magazine, Bloomberg and New York Times

Matt Jarzemsky / Wall Street Journal:
Time Warner, MSG Fail to Reach Agreement Ahead of Deadline

Discussion: Reuters and Gothamist

Jim Romenesko:

No mention of WP editor Brauchli in publisher's letter — The person who forwarded this year-end memo from Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth points out: There are roughly one kajillion people acknowledged in this Weymouth note — including Zaleski and Narisetti on the digital side …

Sarah Kessler / Mashable:

Google Launches New Site With Resources for the 2012 Presidential Election — Google will officially announce its online information hub for political elections on Monday, a day before the Iowa Caucuses. It is the first website Google has dedicated exclusively to elections.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Search Engine Journal, The Atlantic Wire and ReadWriteWeb

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

PBS Takes On the Premium Channels — In an effort to freshen its image and lift revenue, the Public Broadcasting Service is trying to be more like HBO — without the monthly cable bill. — Emboldened by the success of the British period drama “Downton Abbey,” one of the most critically acclaimed shows …

Discussion: The New York Observer and Media Buyer Planner

Om Malik / GigaOM:

Shifting reading habits boost Read It Later in 2011 — Nate Weiner is one of those accidental entrepreneurs who make Silicon Valley somewhat of a magical place. Back in 2007, when he was working at a design shop in Minnesota, he was so busy that he didn't have time to read or see videos that he came across the web.

Steven Waldman / CJR:

This News Story Is Brought to You By... Shouldn't TV news outlets admit that they offer pay-for-play? — One of the most disturbing trends in local TV news is the persistence of “pay for play”—when local TV newscasts allow sponsors to dictate content. — The Federal Communications Commission …

Discussion: Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog and Future of Journalism

statesmanjournal.com:

Post-apocalyptic journalism — Happy New Year's, everyone! Hope you're enjoying yourselves because apparently we only have 355 days left until the world ends. Make the most of them, gang. — Juuuust kidding. Even I, the kind of person who interprets getting someone's voicemail …

Discussion: Gannett Blog