Mediagazer: Islam and Politics Dominate Religion Coverage in 2011 (Jesse Holcomb/Journalism.org)

10:00 AM ET, February 27, 2012

Top News:

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Is linking just polite, or is it a core value of journalism? — Late last week, TechCrunch writer MG Siegler broke the news that Apple was buying an app-discovery service called Chomp — although he didn't say where that news came from, just that it was a reliable source.

Discussion: The Buttry Diary, Guardian, Joho the Blog, One Man & His Blog and TeleRead

Felix Salmon:

Why journalists need to link — Jonathan Stray has a great essay up at Nieman Lab entitled “Why link out? Four journalistic purposes of the noble hyperlink”. I basically agree with all of it; links are wonderful things, and the more of them that we see in news stories …

Vikram Dodd / Guardian:

Brooks and Coulson ‘warned about widespread phone hacking in 2006’ — • Police source ‘told then Sun editor of around 100 victims’ — • Records ‘suggested NI had paid Glenn Mulcaire over £1m’ — • Lawyer's email briefs Andy Coulson about police investigation

Discussion: Guardian

David Leigh / Guardian:

Sun had ‘culture of illegal payments to sources’ — Sue Akers tells media ethics inquiry of newspaper's payment systems that hid identities of ‘network of corrupted officials’ — Read Sue Akers's full statement here (pdf) — Hours after Rupert Murdoch's defiant gamble of launching …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Press Association, Reuters, @arusbridger, Journalism.co.uk and Sky News

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:
Charlotte Church claim settled for £600,000

Discussion: Reuters, Journalism.co.uk, Journalism.co.uk, Associated Press and Telegraph

Anna Heim / The Next Web:

WikiLeaks starts publishing ‘The Global Intelligence Files’, with 25 media partners on board — WikiLeaks has begun publishing a new batch of revelations, ‘The Global Intelligence Files’, which contains information taken from 5 million emails belonging to Stratfor.

Discussion: Politico, thenation.com/blogs/180, Huffington Post Canada, WikiLeaks, Reuters, @jeffjarvis, Business Insider, WebProNews, Firedoglake, The Raw Story, Forbes and Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

Steve Huff / Betabeat:
[UPDATED] Anonymous Teams With Wikileaks To Publish Confidential Stratfor Emails in ‘The Global Intelligence Files’

Discussion: The Firewall, Journalism.co.uk, Guardian, Fast Company, Digital Journal, The New York Observer, Techland, ReadWriteWeb, The Huffington Post, CNET and Gizmodo

Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:

WSJ Pulls Back On What Google Searchers Can Read For Free — Are you used to using Google as a way around the Wall Street Journal's paywall? Think again. The WSJ has been holding back stories available through Google's “First Click Free” program, a move that I suspect other newspapers might soon emulate.

Discussion: The New York Observer and SEO Book.com

Paul McNally / Journalism.co.uk:

Murdoch claims three million sale for Sun on Sunday launch — Sunday title launches with ‘decency’ vow to readers - as media commentators describe first edition as ‘bland’ — News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch has claimed a launch day circulation of more than three million for the first edition of the Sun on Sunday.

Discussion: @rupertmurdoch, FishbowlNY, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, The Independent, Sands Media Services, Editor's Blog, Bloomberg and New York Times

Fred Wilson / A VC:

What's Wrong With Sensationalist Media — Check out this email I got from a major media company this past week: … Not interested in The Academy For Software Engineering, HackNY, TechStars NYC, or Angel List, which is where the money seems to be flowing (ie back into the startup ecosystem) …

Discussion: Betabeat, @nichcarlson, @antderosa and @jeffjarvis

Germain Lussier / /Film:

The 84th Annual Academy Award Winners — The 84th annual Academy Awards have now concluded and the biggest winners were The Artist, which took home three of the major awards including Best Picture, Hugo, which won several technical ones, and Meryl Streep, who pulled the biggest Oscar upset …

Discussion: Mediaite, Forbes, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Christian Science Monitor, Associated Press, Hollywood Reporter, Softpedia News, Fox News, /Film, Gawker and Guardian

Lucas Shaw / The Wrap:

Brian Williams' ‘Rock Center’ Hits a New Low — Why NBC Won't Budge — Brian Williams' “Rock Center” hit a new ratings low on Wednesday night, so how long can NBC leave it on the air? — As long as it takes to gain traction, according to the network. — “It's not a play to get a show …

Bill Braun / American Journalism Review:

Taking Over the Media Beat at Poynter — Andrew Beaujon moves into what he calls “a great perch.” Fri., February 24, 2012. — Bill Braun (billbraun711@gmail.com) is a student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. — Andrew Beaujon's new career path began …

Jordan Kurzweil / TechCrunch:

Print is Dead! Long Live Print? — Editor's note: Jordan Kurzweil is Co-CEO of Independent Content, an agency that helps media companies launch new digital products and businesses. Prior to starting Independent Content Jordan worked at AOL running original programming, and News Corp brining its traditional brands to digital.

Discussion: Street Fight, Independent Content and TeleRead