Mediagazer: The importance/irrelevance of news ombudsmen (John Robinson/Media, disrupted)

4:05 AM ET, January 8, 2012

Top News:

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

Patrick Buchanan's Future at MSNBC Is Murky, Network's Chief Says — PASADENA, Calif. —The days of Patrick J. Buchanan as a commentator on the news channel MSNBC may be over. — Phil Griffin, the president of the network, said in an interview here on Saturday that Mr. Buchanan might …

Discussion: Inside Cable News, Deadline.com, TVNewser, Mediaite and The Huffington Post

John Robinson / Media, disrupted:

The importance/irrelevance of news ombudsmen — If you aren't a publisher or the editor, is there a better position than ombudsman to improve the reader experience? — As Dan Kennedy points out, an ombudsman has the time, the access and the platform, to say nothing of the independence …

Discussion: Future of Journalism, Washington Post, @mathewi and @jimbradysp

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Dow Jones Digital Departure: WSJ.com Head to Atlantic Media for New Project — According to sources close to the situation, Dow Jones is losing its top online editor. — Kevin Delaney, managing editor of The Journal Online — or WSJ.com, as it is better known — is taking a job at the Atlantic Media Company, sources said.

Discussion: Future of Journalism and Talking Biz News

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Atlantic Media Launching Global Business Site — Atlantic Media's stop-and-start plans to launch a new digital brand centered on business news are once again moving ahead. The company has begun hiring in preparation for a mid-2012 launch. The site doesn't yet have a name, but …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Saeed Kamali Dehghan / Guardian:

Iran clamps down on internet use — Restrictions on cybercafes and plans to launch national internet prompt fears users could be cut off from world wide web — Iran is clamping down heavily on web users before parliamentary elections in March with draconian rules on cybercafes and preparations to launch a national internet.

Discussion: Future of Journalism, Wall Street Journal, Index on Censorship and The Next Web

Foster Kamer / The New York Observer:

Dylan Goes Eclectic: As ‘An Advocate Who Hosts a Show,’ Can MSNBC's Ratigan Broadcast Nuance to the Masses? — Cable loudmouth Dylan Ratigan is ditching anger for Deepak, paddleboarding, and compassion (even for bankers). Has the stark raving madman found enlightenment, or gone off the deep end?

Discussion: TVNewser

Steven Bertoni / Money Talks:

Spotify's Daniel Ek: The Most Important Man In Music — Click for full photo gallery: Daniel Ek — This article appears in the January 16th, 2012 issue of FORBES magazine. — Spotify's Daniel Ek created a free, Facebook-enabled platform that could save the recording industry from piracy-and iTunes.

Philip Bump / Mediaite:

What BuzzFeed's New Politics Team Is Doing Right — Several months ago, Politico reporter Ben Smith lamented that his blog at the site was being trumped by his Twitter feed. Where once people would refresh his blog for updates, now they could simply follow him on Twitter and know what he was going to post before he posted it.

Discussion: Poynter

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

NewsRight: A carrot, or a stick to beat aggregators with? — The Associated Press newswire service has just launched a “news registry” and licensing service it calls NewsRight, along with a group of traditional media chains and outlets such as Hearst Newspapers and the New York Times.

Discussion: Beet.TV, Fimoculous.com, Editors Weblog and FishbowlNY, more at Techmeme »

Adam Clark Estes / The Atlantic Wire:

HuffPost Science Is a Platform for Critics of ‘Pseudoscientific Quackery’ on HuffPost — Given her site's controversial history of handling scientific topics, Arianna Huffington's thoughtful and excited-sounding announcement about the new Huffington Post Science section left at least …

Thanks:adamclarkestes

Steve Kovach / Business Insider:

WARNING: All That Free Spotify Music You've Been Enjoying Is Going To End Soon — Spotify made its big U.S. debut on July 14, 2011. — In one week, we'll be marking the streaming music service's six-month anniversary. — And in one week, all those users who signed up for the free …

Discussion: ZDNet, WebProNews, TechCrunch and Gizmodo

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

New Yahoo CEO's $27M Pay Package for 2012 = Lotsa Lettuce — Here's the deal for new Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson, who left a job running eBay's PayPal: — Annual pay: $1 million. — Bonus (if he's very, very good): $2 million. — Bonus (even if he's not): $500,000 — Stock grant: $11 million.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg and Business Insider