Mediagazer: BBC Whitney Houston coverage criticised (John Glenday/The Drum)

10:05 AM ET, February 22, 2012

Top News:

Michael Rundle / The Huffington Post - UK:

Syrian Minister ‘Unaware Foreign Journalists Were In Country’ After Deadly Shelling — Syria has said they were unaware foreign journalists were in the country after an American and French journalist were killed on Wednesday. Marie Colvin, a veteran correspondent for the Sunday Times …

New York Times:

Two Western Journalists Killed in Syria Shelling — CAIRO — Two Western journalists, one American and one French, were killed early Wednesday as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad pursued a deadly bombardment of the central city of Homs, according to activists and officials.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Guardian, Telegraph, CNN, msnbc.com and ShortFormBlog

Reuters:

U.S., French journalists killed in Syria — (Reuters) - Two Western journalists were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday when shells hit the house they were staying in, opposition activists and witnesses said. — They were named as Marie Colvin, an American working …

Discussion: @pdanahar, @fieldproducer, Digital Spy, Press Gazette, @laurapitel, @jessradio, @billneelyitv, @katz, @nytjim, Jon Slattery and The Staggers

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

John Witherow: ‘Marie was extraordinary figure in the life of the Sunday Times’ — Editor of the Sunday Times pays tribute to foreign correspondent Marie Colvin, after ‘reliable reports’ that she was killed in Syria — Marie Colvin, who has been killed in Syria.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Guardian and The Times

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Marie Colvin killed in Syria — Marie Colvin, the award-winning Sunday Times journalist, has been killed in Syria. It is reported that she died alongside a French photographer in Homs when a house they were staying was shelled. — News agencies say she and the photographer, Remi Ochlik …

Discussion: Telegraph, The Awl, Press Gazette, BBC, TVNewser, Charlie Beckett and The Journalism Foundation

Laura Pitel / @laurapitel:

According to @Avaaz, seven activists trying to get medical aid to injured journalists were stopped outside #BabaAmr and executed #Syria

Ahmed Al Omran / NPR:
Rami Al-Sayed, Syrian Citizen Journalist, Is Killed During Attack On Homs

Discussion: The Lede

Bill Neely / ITV: Marie Colvin — And so another witness, one more of the band …

Jim Roberts / @nytjim: Anderson Cooper interviewed Marie Colvin by phone yesterday on deaths of children in #Homs. http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/... via @jonathanwald

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Whitney Houston Funeral Drew Millions on TV and Online — Millions of television and Web viewers spent time Saturday afternoon watching the funeral service for Whitney Houston, the pop music icon who died a week earlier. — CNN was the biggest beneficiary of the viewer vigil, according to Nielsen ratings.

Discussion: Mediaite and Chickaboomer

John Glenday / The Drum:

BBC Whitney Houston coverage criticised — The BBC has been forced to defend its saturation coverage of Whitney Houston's funeral on the BBC news channel after receiving 118 complaints about the channel's coverage of the four hour service on Saturday. — In a statement the broadcaster asserted …

Ryan Lawler / GigaOM:

Comcast gives subscribers one more reason to quit Netflix — Updated. Comcast is rolling out a new streaming on-demand offering called Xfinity Streampix, which will bring more library content to subscribers that pay for its high-end double- and triple-play packages.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Home Media Magazine, Adweek, PC Magazine, Forbes, Variety and CNET, more at Techmeme »

Tim Carmody / Epicenter:
Comcast's ‘Mini-Hulu Plus’ Offers Full TV Seasons to Go for $5/Month

Discussion: Comcast Voices, Comcast and VentureBeat

Jim Romenesko:

Zach Seward leaves WSJ for Atlantic Media — Zach Seward, who left Nieman Journalism Lab to join the Wall Street Journal's web team in December of 2009, has been named a senior editor for Atlantic Media's new global business brand, which launches later this year.

Discussion: @sdkstl

Elana Zak / 10,000 Words:

Storify Launches iPad App To Bring Storytelling To Your Fingertips — Storify, the popular drag-and-drop storytelling tool, is coming to an iPad near you in the form of a brand new, free app, the company announced today. The iPad application makes Storify available on mobile devices for the first time.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Featured stories, eMedia Vitals and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »

Tonya Garcia / PRNewser:

Former ‘NY Times’ CEO, Janet Robinson, Joins F-H Board — Janet Robinson, who stepped down from her post as president and CEO of The New York Times in December, has joined Fleishman-Hillard's International Advisory Board. Her departure from the newspaper was one of many that cut across …

Discussion: TVNewser

Jim Romenesko:

NYT reporter defends Forbes writer accused of ‘stealing’ his work — O'Neill said that Forbes writer Kashmir Hill took the New York Times Magazine excerpt of Charles Duhigg's new book, “cut out the crap and got to the real shocker of the story,” which resulted in “a mind boggling 680,000 page views …

Discussion: @markarms and Neuromarketing, Thanks:@forrestkoba

Maureen O'Connor / Gawker: NYT Writer to Blogger: ‘What Do You Want to Do With Your Life?’

Ben Fritz / Company Town:

Netflix discussing deal with ex-HBO Films chief Colin Callender — Netflix is discussing a partnership with former HBO Films president Colin Callender to produce original content, including mini-series and movies, for the online video service, according to three people with knowledge …

Discussion: PC Magazine

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Sun on Sunday ad campaign to launch at Brit Awards — News International to launch advertising campaign as part of £3m marketing push — The Sun on Sunday press campaign will launch in Wednesday's Sun newspaper — News International is to use the UK music industry's biggest night …

Discussion: Gawker, Speakeasy and The Wrap