Mediagazer: The Danger of an Attack on Piracy Online (David Carr/New York Times)

8:55 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.

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:

This Month's Apple Event To Focus On Publishing And iBooks — Apple will be holding a product event later this month in New York, Kara Swisher is reporting, and we've confirmed independently with a source. — According to the source the event will not involve any hardware at all and instead …

Discussion: CNET, GeekWire, Gadget Lab, ZDNet, MacStories, 9to5Mac, Electronista, TUAW, Softpedia News and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »

Gordon MacMillan / The Wall:

Is the Sun looking at charging for content again? — Is News International looking again at charging for content from The Sun? I blogged last year that News International had ditched the idea of putting up a paywall for The Sun, but an archive website has now appeared offering access to historical Sun content for 50p an article.

Discussion: @leonwatson

Brian Stelter / The Caucus:

Taking to Twitter, Murdoch Signals Support for Santorum — The media mogul Rupert Murdoch signaled his support for Rick Santorum on Monday evening, calling him the “only candidate with genuine big vision” for the United States. — His comments were significant not only because Mr. Murdoch …

Discussion: New York Times, theweek.co.uk, The Huffington Post, Telegraph and New York Magazine

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.

Discussion: Erik Wemple

Katherine Rushton / Telegraph:

Murdoch hacking warning admission won't lead to review by BSkyB board — Murdoch hacking warning won't lead to review by BSkyB board — The BSkyB board does not regard James Murdoch's admission that he was warned of the extent of phone hacking in 2008 as “material”, sources at the company have claimed.

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, Iowa Caucuses, New York Times and The Huffington Post

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 …

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 …

Discussion: Erik Wemple

Justin Peters / CJR:

Movement Man — Meet Chris Faraone, Occupy reporter for the Boston Phoenix — The week before Occupy Boston changed Chris Faraone's life, grassroots revolution was already on his mind. Faraone, who covers rap music and social injustice for the Boston Phoenix, had filed a 2000-word story …

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Tom Freston's $1 Billion Revenge: Ex-Viacom Chief Helps Vice Become the Next MTV — Shane Smith is trying to order drinks. It's not going well. “There was a bottle of red wine that's kind of like a rosé that they chill down,” the CEO and cofounder of Vice Media tells the waitress …

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 …

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 »

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

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 …