Mediagazer: Romney's Huffington Post connection (Dylan Byers/Politico)

11:25 AM 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: 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: Mediaite, Storyful, Betabeat and Guardian, more at Techmeme »

Anthony De Rosa / @antderosa:

Looks like @rupertmurdoch joined Twitter and he's verified.

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

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

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, ZDNet, Guardian, Globe and Mail, The New York Observer and 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.

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: Bloomberg, PC Magazine and New York Times

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

Discussion: Reuters, Gothamist and NY Daily News

Dave Lee:

The Verge and The Kernel: Technology journalism's refreshing new face — “Hello humans,” he says, looking almost surprised that anyone has bothered to turn up. — “This is our first show. We have a million planned, literally.” — The scene resembles something from the mid-nineties …

Discussion: @mikepilarz

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 …

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:

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.

Nicholas Carr / Wall Street Journal:

Books That Are Never Done Being Written — Digital text is ushering in an era of perpetual revision and updating, for better and for worse — I recently got a glimpse into the future of books. A few months ago, I dug out a handful of old essays I'd written about innovation …

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: Future of Journalism

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

Ombuds pick their notable corrections of 2011 — At newspapers and other media organizations, it's often the ombudsman — aka public editor, aka readers' editor — who's charged with the (mostly) thankless task of receiving error reports from the public and staff, and writing any resulting corrections.

Discussion: On the Media