Mediagazer: Washington Post kills ‘Celebritology’ blog (Andrew Beaujon/Poynter)

11:05 AM ET, December 18, 2012

Top News:

Mike Brunker / World News:

Richard Engel and NBC News team freed from captors in Syria — NBC News' Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and members of his network production team were freed from captors in Syria after a firefight at a checkpoint on Monday, five days after they were taken prisoner, NBC News said early Tuesday.

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

How NBC News Kept Richard Engel's Disappearance Secret — “It is important not to spread this rumor/report.” Engel escaped his captors in Syria Monday night. — Shortly before 7:30 AM yesterday morning, reports came in the from Turkish media that NBC News Middle East correspondent Richard Engel …

Discussion: Poynter, Gawker, JIMROMENESKO.COM and The Atlantic Wire

Rhonda Roland Shearer / iMediaEthics:

CJR Reporter Lying, Exploiting a Source? What's happening at Columbia Journalism Review? — Bruce Porter, a retired Columbia University journalism professor and the author of the book-turned-movie Blow, decided in 2011 that he would find Marcy, the then-teen source he betrayed …

Discussion: @craigsilverman

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:

Trouble at The Columbia Journalism Review? — Rhonda R. Shearer, the widow of Stephen Jay Gould and proprietor of media watchdog site iMedia Ethics, just published an extensive article on her site investigating a Newsweek article from 1967-and a follow up article that was published last month by The Columbia Journalism Review.

Jack Shafer:

Newtown teaches us, once again, to discount early reports — “It's inevitable that some first reports will be wrong,” Dan Rather warned viewers on Sept. 11, 2001, as he and his colleagues at CBS covered terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in real time.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and BuzzFeed

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:
Errors in Newtown Shootings Coverage Reflect Growing Pressures

Discussion: Poynter, NPR, ZDNet and Softpedia News

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Connecticut shootings: Not a media story

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Media Decoder and College of Journalism feed

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Sandy Hook coverage: Is ‘good enough’ good enough?

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Erik Wemple, Forbes, PolicyMic, CJR, Mediaite, Yahoo! News, TVNewser and AdAge

Eric Deggans / Tampa Bay Times:
Understanding Newtown shooting coverage: Accepting errors in breaking news seems the biggest mistake

Discussion: New York Times

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

BBC to publish findings on Newsnight's Jimmy Savile report on Wednesday — Corporation readies Pollard report into handling of Newsnight investigation into child abuse by Jim'll Fix It presenter — The BBC is planning to publish on Wednesday the much-anticipated Pollard report into the handling …

Josh Halliday / Guardian:
BBC and ITV apologise to Lord McAlpine for sex abuse allegations

Discussion: PressGazette

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

In real-time journalism, declaring what you won't report can be just as important as what you will — It started with confusion at the scene of the crime. A source told CNN the killer was named Ryan Lanza. — Soon several news organizations published images from a Facebook profile belonging to a man with that name.

Discussion: Guardian and Yahoo! News

Michael Wolff / Guardian:
Did NPR's Andy Carvin overreach his Twitter calling on Newtown shooting?

Discussion: Poynter, @ckanal, @fieldproducer, @antderosa, @bradleydaviswsj, @mattseaton, @jayrosen_nyu, @tamerelg and @jayrosen_nyu

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Washington Post kills ‘Celebritology’ blog — In the six years it existed, The Washington Post's “Celebritology” blog was one of the site's most popular online properties. It will close for good Dec. 21, blog author Jen Chaney tells readers today. Chaney has resigned from the paper …

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Baron: It's ‘probable’ Washington Post newsroom will shrink

Discussion: The New Republic

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Nielsen Buys Arbitron, Radio Ratings Service, In $1.3 Billion Deal — The digital revolution is blurring the lines between different mediums to the point that having one company that monitors TV viewership and another that measures radio audiences doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Discussion: AdAge, MediaPost and AllThingsD

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google Helps Bring More Ancient Texts Online: Books Of Deuteronomy, Genesis And Others Offered In New Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library — Continuing its work to help scan and preserve ancient texts, this morning, Google announced that it has been working with the Israel Antiquities Authority …

Discussion: CNET and The Official Google Blog

VOA:

Sharp Increase in Number of Journalists Killed in Line of Duty — A U.S.-based group that promotes press freedom says combat-related deaths in Syria and “targeted” murders in three other countries have made 2012 one of the deadliest years on record for journalists.

Discussion: Committee to Protect … and FishbowlNY

Eileen Brown / ZDNet:

So Instagram can now sell your photos: Get over it — Summary: The Instagram community is complaining about the change to its terms and conditions which allows Instagram to generate revenue from your photos — without compensating you. — Eileen Brown — Instagram made a change …

Discussion: Guardian, BBC, The Atlantic Online, Wired, SlashGear, CNET and Softpedia News

Adam Poltrack / Digital Trends:

The Aereo Internet TV legal battle: What's happening, and why it matters — Not yet tuned in to the legal battle between Aereo and the big TV networks? We're here to catch you up and explain why the outcome may be so important. — “No cable required.” That's the battlecry that Internet startup, Aereo, foregrounds on its website.