Mediagazer: Lots of Newspaper Deals, But Not Much Hope (Erik Sass/MediaPost)

4:50 AM ET, January 3, 2012

Top News:

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Not the iPad 3 or New TV — But Apple Planning Media-Related Event in the Big(ger) Apple This Month — According to sources close to the situation, Apple is planning an important — but not large-scale — event to be held in New York at the end of this month that will focus on a media-related announcement.

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Buzzfeed: The New Species at Iowa's Media Watering Hole — At the zoo that is the Iowa Caucus, the lobby bar in the downtown Des Moines Marriott is like a communal watering hole where roving packs of reporters, political hacks and even candidates assemble nightly to drain drinks and exchange political gossip.

Discussion: CJR and Vanity Fair

Julie Moos / Poynter:
Des Moines Marriott a ‘Star Wars’ bar scene for journalists covering Iowa Caucus

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Via Meadia, msnbc.com, New York Times and Iowa Caucuses

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.

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Dylan Byers / Politico: Romney's Huffington Post connection

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

An annotated field guide to the Campaign 2012 press corps — According to the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, there are some 1,500 of what they call “media visitors” in Iowa right now, attracted by the run-up to the Iowa caucuses beginning formally tomorrow.

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

Three trends from 2011 that will reshape digital news in 2012 — If you're like me, by now you've read more than enough uninspired recaps of what happened in 2011 or wild guesses at what's in store for 2012. So here's something a little different. — I looked back at the world …

Peter Preston / Guardian:

If you choose your own news, you'll be less well read — Digital news offers customers the choice of what they want to read. But print offers something extra: stories that people didn't know they wanted to read until they had read them — Last year it was paywalls …

Paddy Manning / Sydney Morning Herald:

What if public-interest journalism had a white knight: a media start-up is born, packed with pedigree — Paddy Manning — PLENTY of people are worried about the future of quality, independent media in the internet age. Not many can do something about it.

Discussion: The Independent

Erik Sass / MediaPost:

Lots of Newspaper Deals, But Not Much Hope — The last three months of 2011 brought a sudden flurry of deals in the newspaper industry, with a number of fair-sized metropolitan and regional dailies trading hands. But the increased pace of deal-making doesn't reflect improved fundamentals …

Jim Romenesko:
San Diego Union-Tribune staff told told to dress up, work longer hours

Discussion: Future of Journalism

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: The Official Google Blog, VentureBeat, Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, ReadWriteWeb, TechCrunch, The Atlantic Wire and SiliconFilter, more at Techmeme »

Sara-Ellen Amster / The Huffington Post:

Journalism Needs Plenty of Tintins to Invigorate Field — As I watched the latest Spielberg movie this week with my wide-eyed 7-year-old son, I could not help thinking that the brave new world of journalism, both virtual and real, still holds cosmic power for millions of young people.

Adam Smeltz / StateCollege.com:

Daily News' Response to Conlin Allegations Sets Bar for Penn Staters — Immediately, the Pennsylvania newspaper's disgust and outrage were palpable. — No hint of hesitation. No qualifications or excuses. Just pure outrage and undiluted disgust. — Those are gut reactions you'd expect …

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 …

The Independent:

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: Mashable!, The Raw Story and Jon Slattery