Mediagazer: Jonathan Franzen: e-books are damaging society (Anita Singh/Telegraph)

3:55 AM ET, January 31, 2012

Top News:

Anita Singh / Telegraph:

Jonathan Franzen: e-books are damaging society — Jonathan Franzen has launched a passionate defence of the printed book, warning that our desire for the instant gratification of e-books is damaging for society. — Jonathan Franzen, author of Freedom, is being hailed as one of America's greatest novelists

Discussion: Guardian, The Vook Blog, CNET, Runnin' Scared, Slate, The Daily Weekly, GalleyCat, Jacket Copy and eBookNewser

Lance Ulanoff / Mashable!:

Jonathan Franzen Is Wrong: Ebooks Are Good for Everyone — Mashable OP-ED: This post reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of Mashable as a publication. — I love books, especially old ones. Recently I learned a simple dinner table trick from a 110-year-old magic book.

Discussion: Future of Journalism

Nick Davies / Guardian:

Mysteries of Data Pool 3 give Rupert Murdoch a whole new headache — The arrest of four Sun journalists threatens to open a fresh phase of the scandal surrounding News International — On Saturday morning, the police arrested four journalists who have worked for Rupert Murdoch.

Discussion: CJR, Times of India and Business Insider

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:
Sun arrests show that News Corp is now at war with itself

Discussion: Guardian

Business Wire:
Teri Everett to Exit as News Corporation's Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communications

Discussion: @brianstelter, Media Decoder, Variety, FishbowlNY, @michaelwolffnyc, Bloomberg, Reuters, Hollywood Reporter and The New York Observer

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

BuzzFeed Bulks Up Again, With a Tech Section Run by Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan — Do we need more Web sites writing about tech? Yes, yes we do. — Which is good, because here's another one: BuzzFeed, the online publishing start-up that's the toast of people who like to write …

more at Techmeme »

Steve Myers / Poynter:

Former Cosmo editor gives $30 million to establish media innovation center at Stanford, Columbia — Stanford's engineering school and Columbia's journalism school will use the $30 million gift to establish the bi-coastal David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation.

Ingrid Lunden / paidContent:

Three Founders Are Out At Demand Media — Demand Media is known for churning lots of content through its sites, but today it's notable for another churn, of the executive kind: three of the people who helped found and build up the company are leaving. — Larry Fitzgibbon, Joe Perez …

Discussion: Future of Journalism, AdExchanger.com and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Ingrid Lunden / paidContent:UK:
All Change At Content Farm Demand Media: Three Of The Founders Are Out

Discussion: The Wrap

John McQuaid / Forbes:

The Yale Rhodes Scholarship Quarterback Story Is Not About Sexual Assault — There's been a backlash against the New York Times story on Yale quarterback Patrick Witt (which I wrote about last week). Kathleen Parker denounced the Times, saying Witt has been unfairly indicted in the public eye …

Discussion: National Review

Kelly McBride / Poynter:
Yale Daily News, New York Times both make wrong call on Patrick Witt sexual assault complaint coverage

Discussion: Yale Daily News, National Review, NESN.com and SBNation.com

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Is it good for journalism when sources go direct? — In a piece in the New York Times on the weekend, media writer David Carr took a look at News Corp. billionaire Rupert Murdoch's use of Twitter, and how the media mogul has used it as both a bully pulpit and a soapbox.

Discussion: blogs.forbes.com/peterhimler, Future of Journalism, Mixed Media, Erik Wemple and New York Times, Thanks:@ak2webd3

Jim Romenesko:

Tribune bankruptcy bill hits $231 million — Tribune's financial results appear to be improving. The monthly operating report filed on Jan. 24 shows the Chicago-based company increased its cash balance to $2.05 billion as of Dec. 25 from $1.78 billion a year earlier.

Discussion: Chicago Business and LA Observed

Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:

As Anonymous protests, Internet drowns in inaccurate anti-ACTA arguments — After the Internet's decisive victory over the Stop Online Piracy Act earlier this month, online activists have been looking for their next target, and a growing number of them have chosen the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement …

Discussion: ZDNet, Policy Blog, GigaOM and WatchingTV Online, more at Techmeme »

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Newt's promise: No reporters as moderators — Newt Gingrich lashed out at the media today during a rally in Pensacola, Florida, suggesting that all reporters are in the tank for President Obama: “As your nominee, I will not accept debates in the fall in which the reporters are the moderators …

Discussion: Poynter, msnbc.com and The Huffington Post

Jon Mitchell / ReadWriteWeb:

Why Goodreads Gave Up on Amazon — Goodreads, the social network for reading and reviewing books, had to make a change this month. It moved away from its main source of book data, the Amazon Product Advertising API, citing its “many restrictions.” It completed the transition …

Discussion: LA Observed

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

SnagFilms Grabs $7 Million to Share Indie Movies Online — It's easy to find blockbusters like “Transformers” online. What about movies like “Casino Jack and the United States of Money”? — That's where SnagFilms comes in. The start-up has distribution rights to more than 3,000 indie movies …

Discussion: paidContent, VentureBeat and TVexchanger.com

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:

Citing Concerns About Backpage.com, Film Forum Pulls Advertising from Village Voice — The independent Manhattan movie house Film Forum has decided to pull its advertising from the Village Voice, citing concerns about Backpage.com, the classifieds site owned by Voice parent company Village Voice Media.

Jim Romenesko:

Philly newspapers boss responds to NYP story — Philadelphia Media Network CEO Greg Osberg has responded to the New York Post story about Alden Global selling its stake in the Inquirer and Daily News. “A single minority owner does not have the right to sell the entire company, only their percentage of ownership,” he writes.

Discussion: Poynter

Mike Armstrong / Philly.com:
Inquirer, Daily News could be headed for sale

Discussion: New York Post and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Michael Brendan Dougherty / Business Insider:

Drudge Fights Back Against The Charge He Is In Romney's Pocket — On the top right corner of the Drudge Report, the master of the news-cycle links to a story from Politico in which former Senator Fred Thompson alleges Drudge is in Romney's pocket. — And just below that link …

Discussion: WebProNews and FishbowlDC