Mediagazer: New York Times Dismantles Its Environment Desk (Katherine Bagley/InsideClimate News)

4:00 PM ET, January 11, 2013

Top News:

New York Times Dismantles Its Environment Desk — Times says demise of the nine-person team, created in 2009, won't affect climate coverage. — The New York Times will close its environment desk in the next few weeks and assign its seven reporters and two editors to other departments.

Discussion: LA Observed, The Politics of Poverty, Capital New York, The Huffington Post and kottke.org

Andrew C. Revkin / Dot Earth:

The Changing Newsroom Environment — There's been a flurry of blog, Facebook and Twitter shock and anger following Katherine Bagley's exclusive report for Inside Climate News on the decision by The New York Times to shut down its standalone environment “pod” and redistribute that able team …

Discussion: mediabistro.com and FishbowlNY

Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal: Keeping Environmental Reporting Strong Won't Be Easy

Mathew Ingram / paidContent:

Why BuzzFeed's photo spat with Reddit could be just the tip of the iceberg — BuzzFeed's impressive growth — capped off by a recent $15.5-million venture-financing round — is a testament to the site's ability to find and package “viral” content on a range of topics, from heartwarming photos …

Alex Fitzpatrick / Mashable!: Redditors Accuse BuzzFeed of Photo Theft

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

In CBS Vs. Dish Network, CNET's Credibility Is The Loser — It's axiomatic in journalism that an appearance of a conflict of interest is as much to be avoided as an actual conflict. There may be perfectly valid reasons for putting the owner's wife on the cover, but trying to convince readers of it is a fool's errand.

Discussion: Kirk LaPointe's …

John Herrman / BuzzFeed:
Every Tech Journalist's Worst Nightmare

Discussion: paidContent, CNET, The Awl, Gizmodo, Boing Boing, Betabeat, New York Magazine, Trust But Verify, Talking Biz News and The Loop

Digits:
Dish Recorder Snubbed for CNET Award Over CBS Legal Scuffle

Discussion: The Verge, Bloomberg Tech Blog, Dish, TECHGEEK.com.au, Forbes, AllThingsD and Reuters

Joe Hagan / New York Magazine:

Major Shakeout Looms for Top New York Times Editors — The next two weeks are going to get tense inside the headquarters of the New York Times. — Last month, executive editor Jill Abramson told the staff she'd have to cut 30 positions from the news division to buffer against financial losses …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Politico, Poynter, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Talking Biz News and The Huffington Post

Guardian:

Times editor not expected to be appointed until next week at earliest — Meeting this week between paper's independent directors and John Witherow did not result in his immediate confirmation — A new editor of the Times is not expected to be announced until next week at the earliest …

Tim Carmody / The Verge:

Better than Nielsen: Twitter breaks down TV behavior by demographics, device, and genre — UK statistics show that tweeting about ‘Homeland’ is not like tweeting about ‘Downton Abbey’ or ‘X Factor’ — Twitter has released a twenty-page booklet for advertisers on trends in television viewing and Twitter use in the UK.

Discussion: BuzzFeed

Josh Sternberg / Digiday:

The New York Times' Plan to Save the Banner Ad — Like many publications, The New York Times has a banner ad problem. The problem is this: the Web is littered with banners and new computer-driven methods of buying discrete audiences is putting even further pressure on the display ad market.

Discussion: eMedia Vitals, Thanks:@steverubel

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

NBC has no qualms about using news unit as a marketing tool — Josh Gad and Jenna Bush Hager on NBC's newsmagazine “Rock Center.” (NBC) — NBC's symphony strategy is starting to hit a bad note. — When Comcast took over the network in 2001, NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke put …

Discussion: TVNewser

Ian Burrell / The Independent:

Fleet Street editors call for charitable trust to oversee new independent newspaper watchdog — Fleet Street editors are calling for a special charitable trust to be set up to oversee the new independent newspaper watchdog demanded by Lord Justice Leveson. The proposal has been advanced …

Charlie Warzel / Adweek:

Newsweek Unveils Its First Animated Cover — Freed from the chains of print, Newsweek is continuing its streak of digital firsts to raise eyebrows for its tablet edition, whose Jan. 11 edition will feature an animated cover image for the first time in the magazine's 80-year-history.