Mediagazer: A GarageBand for ebooks: Simplifying publishing could mean a flood of new content (Joshua Benton/Nieman Journalism Lab)

11:15 AM ET, January 18, 2012

Top News:

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Huffington Post Set to Launch Live Web TV ‘Network’ — Arianna Huffington has made no secret of her ambition to build a news organization that can rival The New York Times in reach and prestige. But right now, she has her sights set on a different target: CNN.

Discussion: mediabistro.com, Wall Street Journal, FishbowlNY, The Jane Dough, The New York Observer and Beet.TV, Thanks:beet_tv

Eric Pfanner / New York Times:

Strauss-Kahn's Wife to Edit Huffington Post in France — PARIS — The Huffington Post has named Anne Sinclair, the wife of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, as editor of its French edition, which it is setting up in partnership with the newspaper Le Monde.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, New York Magazine and Gawker

Guardian:

Leveson inquiry: Rosie Nixon, Lucie Cave, Lisa Byrne - live — Full coverage as magazine and local newspaper editors give evidence at inquiry into media standards and phone hacking — 10.04am: Three celebrity magazine editors are giving evidence together.

Discussion: Press Gazette and @hackinginquiry

David Folkenflik / NPR:

In Britain, Calls To Regulate A Freewheeling Press — The 168-year-old British tabloid, News of the World, was closed last July after a widespread scandal that involved phone and voice mail hacking. Now there's a debate about placing new regulations on the British press.

Press Gazette:

Scotsman editor tells Leveson of ethical dilemma that ended in suicide — Scotsman editor John McLellan recalled an interesting anecdote in his written witness statement to the Leveson Inquiry that's certain to cause debate among journalists. — Asked for his thoughts on ethics within …

@skynewsbreak:
Sky sources: Number of high-profile phone hacking cases against News of the World close to being settled

Discussion: @benfenton, @benfenton and @dansabbagh

David Beard / Washington Post:

Wikipedia Blackout: An #altwiki Band-Aid — When Wikipedia goes dark on Wednesday, The Washington Post is joining several other media organizations, including the Guardian and NPR, to encourage a one-day crowdsourcing solution for those left searching for answers: #altwiki. — That's basically it.

Discussion: Forbes, The Huffington Post, Poynter, Innovation in College Media, Media Decoder, PSFK, Daily Dot, Bits, Digital Trends, Guardian and Telegraph, more at Techmeme »

Julie Moos / Poynter:

What the SOPA blackout really looks like — Wikipedia and some other large websites are “blacking out” Wednesday to protest legislation that would limit online activities. (Learn more about that legislation in our guide to what journalists need to know about SOPA and PIPA.)

Discussion: Media Decoder, The Official Google Blog, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, St. Petersburg Times and @jayrosen_nyu, more at Techmeme »

Jeff Roberts / paidContent:
SOPA Rep Blasts Wikipedia Blackout, Says Law To Go Forward In Feb.

Ingrid Lunden / paidContent:
Wikipedia Is Dark, But Mobile Site/Apps Stay Bright In SOPA Protest

Discussion: Guardian and @fishbowlny

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Sources: Four More Board Members Will Be Following Yang Out the Door — According to sources close to the situation, Yahoo Co-founder Jerry Yang is just the first shoe to drop in what is shaping up to be what looks like a large exodus of board members from the Silicon Valley Internet company.

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Jerry Yang Leaves Yahoo

Discussion: Forbes, Yahoo! Inc., @karaswisher, AdExchanger.com, PandoDaily, MediaNama, Guardian, Pocket-lint, CNET, Business Insider, GigaOM, TechCrunch, Adweek, Bigmouthmedia Search …, Future of Journalism and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Anatomy of an Error: The Bain of CNBC's Existence — After poring over some government documents, CNBC's Eamon Javers reported that Bain & Company, Mitt Romney's former firm, was one of the consulting companies that took part in the auto bailout. Javers' CNBC.com report Thursday seemed …

Discussion: Talking Biz News and Inside Cable News

Joshua Benton / Nieman Journalism Lab:

A GarageBand for ebooks: Simplifying publishing could mean a flood of new content — It's not just the platform — it's the tools. — That's the line that kept coming to mind this morning as I read this Ars Technica scoop on what Apple has in store for its press event in New York Thursday.

Discussion: MediaShift, paidContent, GigaOM, TeleRead, Business Insider, AllThingsD, Fox News and The FJP, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Lacy / PandoDaily: Confessions of a Publisher: “We're in Amazon's Sights and They're Going to Kill Us”

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Is Politico gaining much insight with Facebook data? — Based on data provided exclusively by Facebook through a new partnership, Politico reports that attacks on Mitt Romney's time with Bain Capital “may be affecting his standing, at least among Facebook users.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:
What Politico's Beltway cash cow, its print edition, wants from New York (and what it doesn't)

Discussion: Politico, Future of Journalism, Adweek and Poynter

Chris O'Shea / FishbowlNY:
Politico Comes to New York

Discussion: FishbowlDC, GalleyCat and 10,000 Words

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

The Times Plans Social Sharing Upgrade, Real-Time iPad News — News International's The Times may shed its social media invisibility cloak by letting subscribers gift paywalled articles to friends. — It is also considering introducing micropayments and may add rolling news to mobile editions.

Discussion: The Wall Blog

Dylan Stableford / Yahoo! News:

Sarah Palin slams Newsweek for giving ‘conspiracy kook writer’ Andrew Sullivan cover story — Like many conservatives, Sarah Palin is up in arms over this week's controversy-baiting Newsweek cover story by Andrew Sullivan, who asks, “Why Are Obama's Critics So Dumb?”

Discussion: The Hollywood Gossip

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Tina Brown and the Newsweek covers

Discussion: Gawker, The Huffington Post and The Daily Dish

Dylan Byers / Politico:

‘Gentlemen, please,’ New York media edition — New York Magazine reporter Gabriel Sherman suggested via Twitter that Fox News was “using” the New York Times to promote itself. New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters cried foul, and countered with a jealousy charge. (#FF!: @gabrielsherman, @jwpetersnyt)

David Margolick / Vanity Fair:

National Public Rodeo — When most people hear “NPR,” they think Cokie Roberts, Nina Totenberg, Robert Siegel, and for some on the far right, all that is wrong with the mainstream liberal media. But beneath the veneer of the “Minnesota nice,” a simmering battle has been waged …

Discussion: The Corsair