Mediagazer: Costolo is Right: Wikipedia's SOPA Blackout is a Terrible Idea (Paul Carr/PandoDaily)

7:00 AM ET, January 17, 2012

Top News:

Drew Olanoff / The Next Web:

Wikipedia will shut down for 24 hours on Wednesday to protest against SOPA — Today, founder of the non-profit behind information archive Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, announced that the site will go dark for 24 hours on Wednesday in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Paul Carr / PandoDaily:

Costolo is Right: Wikipedia's SOPA Blackout is a Terrible Idea — Earlier today, Radar correspondent Alex Howard asked Twitter CEO Dick Costolo if he had the ‘cojones’ to black-out Twitter in protest of SOPA. Howard was referring to Jimmy Wales' plan to close down Wikipedia for 24 hours this coming Wednesday.

Discussion: Softpedia News, Computerworld, MacStories, Boing Boing and The Next Web

Matthew Panzarino / The Next Web:
Twitter's Dick Costolo calls Wikipedia's SOPA blackout ‘foolish’ [Updated]

Discussion: GeekWire, GigaOM, New York Magazine and Future of Journalism, more at Techmeme »

Guardian:

Tom Mockridge gives Leveson evidence — Full coverage as the Private Eye, Guardian and Times editors appear at the inquiry into media standards and phone hacking — 11.17am: Mockridge is asked if News International's use of search agents has ceased, and says he is “completely confident” that it has.

Discussion: Jon Slattery and The Times

Shara Tibken / Wall Street Journal:

Apple to Give a Lesson About Textbooks — Apple Inc. fans should have something new to cheer this week, but it's not likely to be the latest iPad or a TV. — While the notoriously secretive Apple remains mum about its education announcement Thursday at New York's Guggenheim museum, observers aren't expecting a new gadget.

Discussion: Ars Technica, ZDNet, Electronista, MacRumors, Pocket-lint, TUAW, CNET, iDownloadBlog.com, The Verge, 9to5Mac and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Ryan Tate / Gawker:

Tech Industry Buys Itself a Mouthpiece — How did Silicon Valleys bigwigs react when their favorite trade publication adopted strict new conflicts of interest policies? They banded together to pay someone else to cover them. — Former TechCrunch reporter Sarah Lacy today launched PandoDaily …

Discussion: SiliconFilter, PandoDaily and Future of Journalism, more at Techmeme »

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Sarah Lacy Debuts New Tech Site, PandoDaily — $2M+ in Funding and Guess Who's Working for Her? (Video) — As has been widely reported, well-known TechCrunch columnist and Silicon Valley journalist Sarah Lacy has a new gig: Running her own new tech news site, which debuts today.

Discussion: Guardian, parislemon, The Wall Blog, PandoDaily, GigaOM, VentureBeat, AdAge, WebProNews and Editors Weblog, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Lacy / PandoDaily:
Why I Started PandoDaily — Several months ago I became obsessed …

Discussion: The Next Web, danielbachhuber, Scobleizer, The Jane Dough, TechCrunch, Talking Biz News, DealBook, Business Insider and Uncrunched, more at Techmeme »

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Tribune offers newsroom voluntary buyouts — Looking to reduce costs as it continues to grapple with a changing media landscape and challenging economy, the Chicago Tribune told employees Monday it will offer an undisclosed number of voluntary buyouts in the newsroom.

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Nick Denys / The Kernel:

Why The Huffington Post UK Failed — The Huffington Post's UK operation has not been a rousing success. Nick Denys investigates why, concluding that a lack of editorial leadership and mediocre hires may be to blame. — On the day that AOL purchased the Huffington Post, for a reported $315 million …

Simon Dumenco / AdAge: Ad Age Reports That HuffPo Reports That Hollywood Life Reports That Us Weekly Reports ...

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Trinity Mirror's Sly Bailey: ‘No evidence our journalists hacked phones’ — Chief executive of Trinity Mirror Sly Bailey tells Leveson inquiry there is ‘no evidence’ to support allegations of phone hacking, as she stood by her decision not to investigate the matter internally

Discussion: Digital Spy, Press Gazette and Media Week

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Murdoch rant claims are untrue, says Brown

Discussion: Press Gazette and Guardian

BBC:
Leveson Inquiry: Mirror phone hacking possibly hidden - editor

Discussion: Tangerine, Journalism.co.uk, @benfenton, @hackinginquiry, @dansabbagh, @lisaocarroll, Press Gazette, @dansabbagh, @keirsimmonsitv, @skymarkwhite, @benfenton, @dansabbagh, @lisaocarroll and @benfenton

Christian Davenport / Washington Post:

As demand for e-books soars, libraries struggle to stock their virtual shelves — Kindles, Nooks and iPads can do many amazing things, but they can't bump you ahead in line at the Reston Regional Library. In fact, if you want to borrow a book, it may be quicker to put down your sleek new device and head into the stacks.

Discussion: TeleRead

Owen Bowcott / Guardian:

Press regulation ‘needs state support’ — Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt says Press Complaints Commission needs state help but stops short of direct regulation — “Statutory underpinning” may be required to bolster the authority of a revived Press Complaints Commission, the culture secretary has suggested.

Discussion: Press Gazette and Future of Journalism

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:

‘The Salad Days Are Over at Bloomberg:’ Dispatches From Inside America's Most Paranoid Media Company — Last week, we brought you some firsthand cries of rage, despair, and frustration from inside Bloomberg headquarters. The most paranoid headquarters in all of the New York media world?

Discussion: Inside Cable News and Talking Biz News

Greg Sandoval / CNET:

Google calls Murdoch's piracy allegations ‘nonsense’ — News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch is talking nonsense, according to Google. — Google cofounder Sergey Brin. — Murdoch, a Twitter user for only the past several weeks, used the service to fire a barrage of accusations Saturday night …

Discussion: Pocket-lint, MediaPost, DCist, paidContent, Business Insider, Digital Spy, ZDNet, Daily Dot, Softpedia News, Crikey, VentureBeat, AllThingsD and eMedia Vitals

Joe Flint / Company Town: Calemzuk exits as CEO of News Corp.'s Shine Americas

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Murdoch shows he doesn't understand how content works

Discussion: Techdirt and TVNewser

David Carr / New York Times:

Hollywood Techniques at Play in Politics — Hollywood came early to the 2012 presidential race in the unlikely form of “When Mitt Romney Came to Town,” the 28-minute documentary-style attack film that opens with the word “capitalism” and comes to an end with chants of “Wall Street greed.”

Discussion: The Caucus and The Wrap