Mediagazer: Rupert Murdoch's make-or-break venture: the new News Corp (Michael Wolff/Guardian)

3:11 AM ET, January 2, 2013

Top News:

2012: The year Irish newspapers tried to destroy the web — This is not a joke. I have started with that clarification, because as you read this you will find yourself asking “Is this some kind of a joke?” I thought I would be helpful and put the answer right up at the start, so you can refer back to it as often as you require.

Discussion: Guardian and @georgeprof

Myles Tanzer / Gawker:

The Newspaper That Published Personal Information of Local Gun Owners Now Has Armed Guards — The saga of the Journal News' decision to publish the names and addresses of gun owners in Rockland County now has another chapter. — Earlier this week, the competing Rockland Timeswent ahead …

Discussion: The Rockland County Times, Daily Mail and Politico

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

‘Journal News’ advertisers face boycott over gun map — The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association is calling for a nationwide boycott of the advertisers of the suburban New York newspaper that published online maps revealing names and addresses of people with pistol permits.

Discussion: Gannett Blog and The Huffington Post

New York Times:

Times Reporter in China Is Forced to Leave Over Visa Issue — BEIJING — A correspondent for The New York Times was forced to leave mainland China on Monday after the authorities declined to issue him a visa for 2013 by year's end. — Chris Buckley, a 45-year-old Australian who has worked …

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, Epoch Times, Guardian and The Huffington Post

John Garnaut / Sydney Morning Herald:

China expels journalist after Wen revelations — AN AUSTRALIAN journalist with The New York Times has been expelled from China in an apparent act of retaliation for a news report about the family wealth of the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao. After 15 years in China, including 12 as a reporter …

Discussion: Guardian and Business Insider

Bill Maurer / Seeking Alpha:

Netflix Gives Reed Hastings Huge Raise: Why? — After the bell on Friday, Netflix (NFLX) announced that it was giving CEO Reed Hastings a huge raise. Mr. Hastings will get a $2 million salary along with $2 million of compensation through stock options, the ultimate value of which depends on how Netflix's shares perform.

Associated Press:

Netflix CEO pay: Hastings' gets 100 percent raise — Netflix CEO pay will double after he took a 43 percent pay cut this past year for management missteps. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings will be paid $4 million in salary and stock options for the coming year. — LOS ANGELES

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:

Apple reportedly expanding Japanese iBookstore in January after finally striking deals — According to a report at Nikkei, Apple will finally begin selling Japanese ebooks in the iBookstore soon. Although it launched iBooks in Japan alongside the iPad in 2010, it hadn't secured agreements …

Michael Wolff / Guardian:

Rupert Murdoch's make-or-break venture: the new News Corp — As the octogenarian mogul marshals his ailing newspaper group, he faces the sternest test of his business acumen to date — In my world, one of the great sports of the New Year is going to be watching Rupert Murdoch de-hitch his newspapers from his entertainment companies.

Discussion: @tom_watson

Reuters:

Tribune, out of Chapter 11, set to begin makeover as TV company — (Reuters) - Tribune Co, which started by publishing the Chicago Tribune on a hand press in 1847, sees a future in broadcasting, one not likely to include the major newspapers that made it a force in the news business.

Discussion: NPR, Associated Press and Los Angeles Times

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

New Tribune Board to Include Peter Liguori, Other Entertainment Veterans — Ex-News Corp. and Yahoo exec Ross Levinsohn and former Disney exec Peter Murphy will also join the board as the media company emerges from bankruptcy. — Former top executives of Hollywood conglomerates …

Discussion: Politico, Los Angeles Times, LA Observed and Chicago Tribune

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Among Top News Stories, a War Is Missing — Look closely at the end-of-the-year lists of 2012's top news stories. What's missing? The 11-year-old war in Afghanistan and American-led counterterrorism efforts around the world. — The Pew Research Center's weekly polling on the public's interest …

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's … and Gawker