Mediagazer: WSJ names Alex Martin new page one editor (Chris Roush/Talking Biz News)

2:05 PM ET, December 21, 2012

Top News:

News Corp. Says Publishing Unit Lost Money — News Corp . said the publishing company it plans to spin off incurred losses last fiscal year and in the most recent quarter. — The media conglomerate, which plans to separate its entertainment businesses from its publishing businesses …

Discussion: Reuters

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

News Corp's head of demerged newspaper arm may take home £2.5m — • Robert Thomson will also receive £1.2m bonus as company hives off publishing division from TV and film business — • If ‘new News Corporation’ was running as standalone entity it would have reported net loss of £2.07bn in year to 30 June

Discussion: The Wrap, paidContent and The Wrap

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg: News Corp. Publishing Business Lost $2.1 Billion

Sayantani Ghosh / Reuters:
News Corp files with U.S. regulators to split company

Discussion: Deadline.com and Asiaone

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

The Wall Street Journal Signs Up for Apple's Subscription Service — It took a while, but they're in: The Wall Street Journal is now selling digital subscriptions via Apple's “Newsstand” service. — That means Dow Jones' business newspaper has joined thousands of other magazines and newspapers …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, The Next Web, CNET and NetNewsCheck Latest

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

‘Snow Fall’ Isn't the Future of Journalism — The New York Times' miraculous mega-multi-media feature “Snow Fall” is a triumph of reporting, design, and creativity. It was immediately hailed by much of the Internet as the “future of journalism.” It's not. And that's okay.

Discussion: PandoDaily and NetNewsCheck Latest

Rebecca Greenfield / New York Times:

What the New York Times's ‘Snow Fall’ Means to Online Journalism's Future — The New York Times debuted a new multimedia feature Thursday so beautiful it has a lot of people wondering — especially those inside the New York Times — if the mainstream media is about to forgo words and pictures for a whole lot more.

Discussion: Matters of Varying …

Emma Gardner / Lean Back 2.0:
The New York Times pushes the limits of online storytelling

Discussion: Poynter, FishbowlNY, New York Times and Gawker

Erik Wemple:

NRA boss blames media — In a news conference still in progress, National Rifle Association Chief Executive and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre is shredding the media. Speaking to a crowded room of reporters and cameras, LaPierre referenced the killer in the Newtown shootings in Connecticut …

Discussion: Gawker, The Wrap, Capital New York, Guardian, Mediaite, Erik Wemple, Speakeasy, AdAge, VentureBeat, The New York Observer, Politico, Gawker, The Atlantic Wire, msnbc.com and BuzzFeed

The Huffington Post:
Fox News Airs Partial Coverage Of NRA Press Conference

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg Tech Blog:

The New York Times Paywall Is Working Better Than Anyone Had Guessed — The New York Times instituted a paywall on its website last year, a controversial move that has yielded great results. — Ever since the New York Times rolled out its so-called paywall in March 2011, a perennial dispute has waged.

Discussion: paidContent, CyberJournalist.net and @zimbalist

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Michael Kinsley Returns To The New Republic As Editor-At-Large — NEW YORK — Michael Kinsley, who edited The New Republic for 20 years, is returning to the magazine in January as editor-at-large. Kinsley's return comes as the nearly 100-year-old politics and culture magazine relaunches …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Guardian price to rise by 20p — Price of weekday and Saturday editions to rise by 20p, to £1.40 and £2.30 respectively, from 12 January — The Guardian is to raise the price of its weekday and Saturday editions by 20p, to £1.40 and £2.30 respectively, from 12 January.

Wall Street Journal:

Hulu's Fork in the Road — As Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc. battle it out for dominance in online video, owners of the much smaller Hulu LLC, Hollywood's own online video service, are under pressure to decide which direction to go. — Jason Kilar, chief executive of Hulu …

Discussion: CNET, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, The Content Strategist, VentureBeat and NetNewsCheck Latest

Guardian:

Hugh Grant settles News of the World phone hacking claim — Actor will donate the sustantial damages he received from News International to Hacked Off campaign for press reform — Hugh Grant has received substantial damages from News International after settling his claim phone hacking by the News of the World.

Discussion: BBC

Manuela D'Alessandro / Reuters:

Google executives acquitted in Milan autism video case — (Reuters) - An Italy appeals court acquitted three Google executives of charges of having violated the privacy of an Italian boy with autism by letting a video of him being bullied be posted on the site in 2006.

Discussion: Betabeat, Wall Street Journal, The Verge and SocialTimes

Erik Maza / WWD:

Wal-Mart Turns to Condé Nast for Beauty Magazine — Wal-Mart's BeautyScoop. — Photo By Courtesy of Wal-Mart Photo By Courtesy of Wal-Mart — Buried within Wal-Mart's Web site, beneath the red sales banners and loud holiday graphics, is a magazine called BeautyScoop.

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

WSJ names Alex Martin new page one editor — Incoming Wall Street Journal managing editor Gerard Baker sent out the following staff announcement on Friday:

Discussion: Capital New York, Forbes and Capital New York

Hunter Walker / Politicker:

Herman Cain Compares New York Times to the KKK — Former Republican presidential candidate blasted the New York Times on the website of his online TV network today in a column that claimed the paper put on “a white sheet and hood” by publishing an editorial that was critical of black Republicans on Wednesday.

Discussion: Politico

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

CNN, Planning New Programming, Hires Jake Tapper From ABC — 8:57 p.m. | Updated CNN said on Thursday that it had hired Jake Tapper, the senior White House correspondent for ABC News, as new programming for the cable news channel was announced. — Mr. Tapper, widely seen …