Mediagazer: Cable Channels Like Current and Ovation Feeling Heat (Brian Stelter/New York Times)

9:55 PM ET, January 6, 2013

Top News:

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

When Reporters Get Personal — BILL GRUESKIN remembers being an editor at The Wall Street Journal in 2004 when Farnaz Fassihi's e-mail, meant for a few friends' eyes only, began to circle the globe. Ms. Fassihi, an Iranian-American, was a reporter for The Journal, and the exposure of her views …

Discussion: @antderosa, @digiphile, @andrewdonohue, @jayrosen_nyu and Kirk LaPointe's …

Jay Rosen / Pressthink:

Mounting costs for the default model of trust production in American newsrooms — The outlines of the new system are now coming into view. Accuracy and verification, fairness and intellectual honesty-traditional virtues for sure-join up with transparency, “show your work,” …

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Eliot Spitzer Ends His Show on Current TV — Eliot Spitzer, the former New York governor turned progressive television host, said Sunday that his show on Current TV is over. — The announcement comes a few days after Al Jazeera said it was acquiring Current TV.

Discussion: TVNewser, The Atlantic Wire, @brianstelter, New York Magazine and Forbes

David Westin / The Huffington Post:
Consider the Source — Peter Jennings would have loved it.

Discussion: Financial Times, Chickaboomer and CEPR

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Cable Channels Like Current and Ovation Feeling Heat — There are two kinds of cable channels in the United States: those operated by major media companies that have dozens of other channels, and those that are on their own. — The outlets in the second group, the independent channels, are feeling threatened these days.

Discussion: @pkafka

Agence France Presse:

Iran designing software for controlled social media access — TEHRAN — Iran is designing “intelligent software” that would give citizens restricted and controlled access to banned social networking sites, local media on Sunday quoted police chief Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam as saying.

Discussion: The Next Web, CNET, The Verge and Associated Press

Scott Shane / New York Times:

Former C.I.A. Officer Is the First to Face Prison for a Classified Leak — WASHINGTON — Looking back, John C. Kiriakou admits he should have known better. But when the F.B.I. called him a year ago and invited him to stop by and “help us with a case,” he did not hesitate.

Discussion: @krmaher and @shephardm

Peter Preston / Guardian:

The Financial Times needs to make a signal to the market — Is the FT for sale now that Dame Marjorie Scardino has retired? If not, hadn't someone at Pearson better say so, and quickly? — Uncertainty casts a blight on newspapering. When there's stability there's success: good people stay, good people want to join.

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

HBO Renews Universal Deal Through 2022 — HBO has renewed a pact with Universal Pictures, which will keep the studio's movies, like “Ted” and “Bourne Legacy” on the pay-cable channel through 2022. — HBO, which normally plays up the value of its original productions like “Game of Thrones …

Discussion: Media Decoder, Los Angeles Times, CNET, Engadget, The Verge and TechCrunch

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Following much dispute, Unity picks new name — Unity's board of directors has voted to officially change its name to Unity: Journalists for Diversity, Richard Prince reports. — Outgoing Unity President Joanna Hernandez told Prince that nine directors voted in favor with one opposed.

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

NFL viewership slides but still dominant in ratings race — Redskin star Robert Griffin III helped keep the NFL on top of ratings race. — The National Football League is still the most dominant programmer in television, but even it is not immune to shrinking audiences in an overcrowded media landscape.

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Yahoo's De Castro Begins Reorg of Ad Sales Unit — As I had previously reported, Yahoo's key business unit — its advertising sales force — is now getting details of a reorganization by its new leader, COO Henrique De Castro. — In making the changes, just weeks ahead of Yahoo's annual sales conference …

Reuters:

South Sudan holds journalists for failing to cover president speech — (Reuters) - South Sudan has arrested two state broadcast journalists for failing to ensure coverage of a crucial speech by President Salva Kiir, a government official said on Sunday, prompting an outcry from an international media watchdog.

Discussion: Big News Network.com and Committee to Protect …

Erik Maza / WWD:

New York Observer Taps New Editor in Chief — OBSERVING CHANGE: “Change is constant at the Observer.” That's how the editor in chief of the New York Observer, Aaron Gell, summed up his demotion during a 25-minute Friday afternoon staff meeting at the paper's West Side offices.

Discussion: Capital New York and Capital New York