Mediagazer: US journalist, AFP contributor, kidnapped in Syria (AFP)

3:15 PM ET, January 2, 2013

Top News:

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

New Year, New Dish, New Media — When I first stumbled into blogging over 12 years ago, it was for two reasons: curiosity and freedom. I was curious about the potential for writing in this new medium; and for the first time, I felt total freedom as a writer. On my little blog, I was beholden to no one but my readers.

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:
Andrew Sullivan Declares Independence, Leaves The Beast

Discussion: The Daily Dish and Mashable!

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Why Gawker honored news blackout for James Foley but not Richard Engel — Gawker reporter Adrian Chen found out in December that journalist James Foley was missing in Syria but didn't report on his disappearance “at the request of Foley's family and the GlobalPost,” he writes.

Discussion: Free James Foley

AFP:

US journalist, AFP contributor, kidnapped in Syria — A freelance American reporter who contributed videos to Agence France-Presse (AFP) in recent months was kidnapped in war-torn Syria six weeks ago and has been missing since, his family revealed on Wednesday.

Discussion: Gawker, Guardian, UPI, Capital New York, Reuters and Big News Network.com

Simon McGarr / McGarr Solicitors:

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: @georgeprof, Media Nation and Boing Boing

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Hearst: “Nearly 800,000″ monthly digital U.S. subs, short of 1 million goal — In a New Year's letter to employees, Hearst Magazines president David Carey writes that the company has nearly 800,000 monthly digital subscribers in the U.S. “across iPads, Nooks, Kindle Fires and Android devices-the highest in the industry.”

Discussion: MinOnline, Adweek, mediabistro.com, FishbowlNY and NetNewsCheck Latest

Jim Romenesko:
Hearst Magazines digital subscriptions now generating profits

Discussion: @maryfitzger

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:

Journalism Is Not Narcissism — Every year, thousands of fresh-faced young aspiring journalists flood our nation's college classrooms, in order to learn how to practice their craft. What should we tell them? This, first: journalism is not about you. — Susan Shapiro, an author …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, @carr2n and Opinionator

Source:

How We Made Snow Fall — A Q&A with the New York Times team — A Q&A with the New York Times team — The New York Times' astonishing Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek, launched in the final days of 2012, capped a year of extraordinary work in interactive journalism, both at the Times and in newsrooms around the world.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

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, Poynter, Daily Mail, mediabistro.com, Mediaite, FishbowlNY, Politico and NetNewsCheck Latest

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
‘Journal News’ advertisers face boycott over gun map

Discussion: lohud.com, Gannett Blog, @johnjcook and The Huffington Post

Elliot Spagat / Associated Press:

Orange County Register Owner Aaron Kushner Defies Trend To Shrink Costs — SANTA ANA, Calif. — New and expanded sections to cover business, automobiles and food. A nearly five-fold increase in community news pages and more investigative reporting. Even daily color comics.

Discussion: Poynter

John Paczkowski / AllThingsD:

Apple's iBookstore Headed to Japan This Year — Apple is preparing to take a serious run at the Japanese e-book market. The company is negotiating deals with a handful of Japanese publishers to supply a local version of its iBookstore with their e-book catalogs.

Discussion: The Verge, paidContent, iDownloadBlog.com, Bookseller news and App Advice

Patricia Sauthoff / Mediagazer News:

Mediagazer's biggest stories of 2012 — It's always fun for journos to argue about which news story was the story of the year. Of course, everyone has different criteria and therefore a different answer. At Mediagazer we decided to look at the data and choose visually.

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Belgian media planning shared digital content passport — Fresh from apparently wrangling online content fees from Google last month, Belgian newspaper websites will, in 2013, launch an industry-wide platform to take back their readers. — Major Flemish- and French-language newspaper publishers …

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