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

7:00 PM ET, January 2, 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.

Discussion: The Verge, ZDNet, MacStories, The Next Web, TUAW, Engadget, MacRumors, Electronista, Business Insider and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

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

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

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 — 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.

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, New York Times, Big News Network.com, Iowa Caucuses and msnbc.com

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: The Week, Mediaite, ZDNet, Storyful, AllThingsD, Boing Boing, themediablog.typepad.com, Guardian, CNN, theweek.co.uk, Wonkette, Chickaboomer, Lost Remote, Betabeat and The Huffington Post, more at Techmeme »

Jim Romenesko:

San Diego Union-Tribune staff told told to dress up, work longer hours — “Employees will transition to a 40 hour work week effective January 2, 2012,” from the old 37.5-hour work week. “Standard office hours will be, 8:30 - 5:30, with an hour for lunch,” says a memo to staff. About the dress code:

Discussion: Future of Journalism

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

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 …

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.

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

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, TechCrunch, Search Engine Journal, ReadWriteWeb, Search Engine Land, SiliconFilter and The Atlantic Wire, 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 and Bloomberg