Mediagazer: HuffPost Streaming Network Taps Al Jazeera English Host (Jason Del Rey/AdAge)

12:45 PM ET, February 19, 2012

Top News:

Old Dogs New Tricks and Crappy Newspaper Executives — (Speaking notes for an address to the Canadian Journalism Foundation — Good evening. — I'm old media. — This is my 36th year as a newspaper man - apologies - my 36th year as a multi-platform news executive.

Discussion: @cressman

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Reporter's Death Puts Focus on Difficulties of Covering a Secretive Syria — The conflict in Syria has become, for journalists, one of the most difficult and dangerous assignments in many years, with at least five having died while covering the uprising that began there last March.

Discussion: Poynter, msnbc.com, The Nation, The Huffington Post and Media Decoder

Steve Coll / The New Yorker Blog:

Postscript: Anthony Shadid, 1968-2012 — Anthony Shadid's third book, “House of Stone,” is due to be published in several weeks. It is described by the publisher as a “a memoir of home, family and a lost Middle East.” The project, when Shadid talked about it occasionally …

Discussion: host.madison.com, Washington Post and NPR

Erik Wemple:
Should the White House stay mum on Shadid?

Discussion: VOA, Speakeasy and Poynter

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:
‘Times’ staffers gather for bullpen memorial for Anthony Shadid; his final piece published today

Discussion: The Huffington Post, New York Times, WWD, PRNewser and ABCNEWS

Darren Rovell / @darrenrovell:

ESPN fires employee for ESPN Mobile that made Lin slur & ESPN anchor Max Bretos has been suspended a month http://frontrow.espn.go.com/ ...

Discussion: CNN, ESPN, Outsports and Deadspin

Chris Greenberg / The Huffington Post:

ESPN Racist Jeremy Lin Headline: Network Apologizes For Insensitive Headline For Knicks Loss — The unexpected emergence of Jeremy Lin from the depths of the New York Knicks' bench has been a dream for headline writers and just about everyone who loves puns.

Discussion: ESPN, The Daily What, SBNation.com, ESPN MediaZone, The Week, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Bleacher Report, Charles Apple, Outsports and Deadspin

Jason Del Rey / AdAge:

HuffPost Streaming Network Taps Al Jazeera English Host — Arianna Huffington Looks To Young Talent For Its Nascent TV Network — In The Huffington Post's early days, its hiring strategy focused on attracting scrappy, up-and-coming journalists whose hustle and familiarity with the way news spread …

Rasmus Kleis Nielsen / Nieman Journalism Lab:

The Rendell Inquirer? The specter of the instrumentalization of American news media — The possible sale of the Philadelphia Media Network — publisher of the Inquirer, the Daily News, and Philly.com — has sparked a debate over editorial independence. That's because the potential buyers …

Discussion: mediabistro.com, Philly.com, Naked Philadelphian, Philadelphia City Paper and Poynter

Julie Moos / Poynter:
Inquirer, Daily News to share content, raising questions about future of separate Philly papers

Discussion: American Journalism Review and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Is the AP suing an aggregator or a search engine in the Meltwater case? — The Associated Press is heading into court to defend its copyright, but its leaders swear they're not on a crusade against aggregators. How the case evolves could pivot on how a court considers the site AP is suing …

The Week:

Is Fox News shifting to the Left? — Conservatives are grumbling that Fox isn't speaking their language anymore. Did Fox chief Roger Ailes take his “course correction” too far? … Fox News chief Roger Ailes ordered a “course correction” at the network last year, parting ways with Glenn Beck …

Joseph Erbentraut / The Huffington Post:

Report: Chicago News Cooperative To Shut Down — The Chicago News Cooperative, a non-profit public-interest journalism organization launched in the fall of 2009, will reportedly cease operation Feb. 26. — The Chicago Reader reported Friday that CNC founder James O'Shea …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Business, Chicago Reader and @jeffjarvis

Ryan Chittum / CJR:

Cops in the Newsroom — The News Corp. fiasco imperils press protections in the UK — I noted this yesterday about News Corporation's Management Standards Committee, set up over the summer to handle the company's internal investigation into the hacking scandal, but wanted to explore it a little more today.

Greg Sandoval / CNET:

Microsoft mulls plan for new music service (exclusive) — The software maker has discussed with some of the major record companies about creating a music service to serve Xbox as well as an upcoming Windows-based phone. — Microsoft is in talks with some of the major record companies …