Mediagazer: NBC has no qualms about using news unit as a marketing tool (Joe Flint/L.A. Times)

2:45 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, mediabistro.com, Capital New York, The Huffington Post, FishbowlNY and kottke.org

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

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.

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

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

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

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 …

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

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.

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 …

Sara Morrison / CJR:

Maura Johnston's new song — The former Village Voice music editor is back with a magazine app — After Maura Johnston was let go from the Village Voice in September, she decided that, after six years as a full-time writer, it was time to “prove myself on a grand scale.”

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Joe Flint / L.A. Times:

NBC has no qualms about using news unit as a marketing tool — 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 an emphasis on using one entertainment property to promote another.

Cyndi Stivers / CJR:

Huey, Luce, and the news — At year-end, Time Inc. editor in chief John Huey quietly announced plans to head to a fellowship at Harvard after an 11-year run (six in the top job) on the Mount Olympus of magazine journalism. On his way up, he ran Fortune, coauthored Sam Walton's autobiography …

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

Pay TV will shrink for first time in history, study says cable watching peaked in 2011 — It's finally happening. The number of Americans who pay for cable-like TV products is declining, says a research forecast that claims subscriptions peaked at nearly 101 million in 2011 but will decline to less than 95 million by 2017.

Discussion: GigaOM