Mediagazer: Was NYT CEO's Golden Parachute Really That Excessive? (Jeff Bercovici/Mixed Media)

9:40 PM ET, January 9, 2012

Top News:

Kelvin MacKenzie: Guardian Was Protected By ‘Broadsheet Snobbery’ Over Milly Dowler Mistake — The Sun newspaper could have been shut down if it had got the facts wrong about the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone wrong in the same way the Guardian did, the tabloid's former editor has claimed.

Discussion: @benfenton, @dansabbagh, ITN, @benfenton and Guardian

Joel Gunter / Journalism.co.uk:

Mirror hacking jibe ‘purely a joke’, Mohan tells Leveson inquiry — Sun editor admits that 2002 comment in which he thanked 'Vodafone's lack of security' for the Mirror's showbusiness coverage was about hacking, but claims it was just a joke — Dominic Mohan, the editor of the Sun …

Discussion: Guardian and Journalism.co.uk

Guardian:

Kelvin MacKenzie: News International should be fined for ‘lying’ to PCC — Former Sun editor tells Leveson inquiry NoW publisher should pay ‘penalty’ for misleading watchdog over phone hacking — Kelvin MacKenzie, the former Sun editor, has told the Leveson inquiry that News International …

Discussion: Jon Slattery, Press Gazette and Guardian

Ben Popper / Betabeat:

BuzzFeed Raises $15.5 M Series C and Reunites HuffPo Dream Team — Cute, LOL, Fail...Politics? — Just a few weeks after poaching star political reporter Ben Smith from Politico and scooping CNN at the Repulican Primaries, Buzzfeed announced a big new round of funding to build out their operation.

Discussion: The Wrap, Gawker, Media Decoder, PC Magazine, Adweek, VentureBeat, Echo, TechCrunch, AllThingsD, FishbowlNY and The Awl, more at Techmeme »

Kevin Lincoln / Business Insider:
BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti: We Raised A Whopping $15 Million To Build A ‘Pure Social Site’

Discussion: Soup

Bobbie Johnson / GigaOM:

Netflix is about to discover that Britain bites back — It's been a tough few months for Reed Hastings. — Since announcing an unpopular price hike in October, the Netflix (s NFLX) CEO has presided over a grim cascade of events that has seen the company's prospects plummet.

Discussion: paidContent, Sky News, Bits, Guardian, Techland, Epicenter and The Next Web

Katherine Rushton / Telegraph: Netflix launch in UK starts price war

Richard Lawler / Engadget:
Netflix officially announces UK, Ireland launch

Discussion: Crikey, The Official Netflix Blog, TechCrunch Europe and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »

The Daily Beast:

NBC News and Newsweek / Daily Beast Team Up on 2012 Election Campaign Coverage — NBC News and Newsweek & The Daily Beast today announced a joint digital initiative that will focus on 2012 election campaign coverage. Under the agreement, the magazine and Web site will have access …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, NetNewsCheck Latest, TVNewser and Newsweek

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

News Corporation Hires New General Counsel — News Corporation has hired a new general counsel, filling a permanent position that has been vacant since June. — Gerson Zweifach, a partner at Williams & Connolly LLP with experience litigating media and first-amendment cases …

Discussion: Crikey, Company Town and Broadcasting & Cable

Eric Deggans / Tampa Bay Times:

New CBS This Morning offers brisk, substantive and businesslike debut — Is it a bad sign when your new morning anchor looks like he could use a few more hours sleep on the first day? — As the newly-retooled CBS This Morning debuted today, noting anchor Charlie Rose's seemingly red-rimmed eyes might not be entirely fair.

Discussion: TVNewser

Erin Carlson / Hollywood Reporter:
‘CBS This Morning’ Premiere Draws Mixed Reactions From Media Critics

Discussion: entertainment.time.com

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Dear WaPo: Innovating too quickly is not the problem — In a column about the launch of some recent digital projects from the Washington Post, the newspaper's ombudsman expressed concern there might be too much innovation going on at the paper, and all this change might be happening too quickly for some …

Discussion: Reportr.net, Strange Attractor, Washington Post and Melanie Sill

David Carr / Media Decoder:
Blackmon and Stecklow Join the Exit of Veterans From The Journal

Discussion: Maya Baratz

Julie Moos / Poynter:

Halifax requires former NYT regional employees to sign noncompete agreements — Employees at the 16 papers now owned by Halifax Media Group have until tomorrow to decide whether to sign an agreement that allows the company to fire them anytime but prevents them from working for media companies in any other city with a Halifax property.

Steve Myers / Poynter:

NY Times offers unpaid internships after reporting on their questionable legality — After Times staff tweeted about about the upcoming deadline for its unpaid social media internship, Pamela Drew responded, “Shame on NYTimes & every deep pocket corporation looking for UNPAID interns, experience shouldn't be free labor.”

Al Tompkins / Poynter:

As journalists file fewer lawsuits, citizens fight for open records — On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in what could be a pivotal First Amendment case: the FCC v. Fox. What the Court decides will affect what we see on TV and hear on radio for years to come.

Discussion: The Rural Blog

Benno Muchler / New York Times:

In a Fledgling Country, Perils for the Press — In a thatched hut in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, about 10 young men and women sat on lawn chairs made of brown plastic. They loudly typed on the computer keyboards on the tables in front of them. Two fans were blowing heavily.

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Technorati's invite to a conflict of interest — Technorati.com, which bills itself as “the leading blog search engine and directory,” wants to pay political bloggers to produce content that benefits their clients. From the email, sent by publisher Jill Asher:

Emily Bell / Guardian:

Colin Myler v the Murdochs: battle begins in New York — New York Daily News editorship reopens rivalry with New York Post — New York's media fraternity are a tough crowd, who are seldom impressed with anything apart, occasionally, from themselves. However, the relocation of the former News …

Discussion: Erik Wemple

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

Keith Olbermann Agrees to Anchor Current Election Coverage (Exclusive) — “I am pleased that I'll be running the election coverage on Current, following this Tuesday's New Hampshire primary,” said Olbermann in a statement on Sunday. “However, I don't think those participating in the New Hampshire primary will share my satisfaction.”