Top News:
Clay Shirky:
Wikileaks and the Long Haul — Like a lot of people, I am conflicted about Wikileaks. — Citizens of a functioning democracy must be able to know what the state is saying and doing in our name, to engage in what Pierre Rosanvallon calls “counter-democracy"*, the democracy …
Discussion:
Salon, Whimsley, ReadWriteWeb, The Wire, Boing Boing, mathewingram.com/work and Guardian, more at Techmeme »
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Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:
Some news outlets stop calling WikiLeaks a ‘whistle-blower’ — WikiLeaks' critics haven't been shy in their characterizations of the online document clearinghouse over the past week. The Senate's Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, blasted editor-in-chief Julian Assange on on …
Discussion:
Slate, News: News blog, Guardian, New York Times, Jon Slattery, Hit & Run and The Daily Caller
Josh Halliday / Guardian:
Julian Assange WikiLeaks - latest — • Lawyer announces Julian Assange to meet police — • WikiLeaks founder will fight any extradition attempt — • International pressure mounts as Assange account closed — • Follow latest developments live with Josh Halliday
Discussion:
Clusterstock, VentureBeat, Online NewsHour, newsfeed.time.com and http://www.Stinkyjournalism …
Sam Gustin / Threat Level:
Columbia University Reverses Anti-WikiLeaks Guidance
Columbia University Reverses Anti-WikiLeaks Guidance
Discussion:
Guardian, New York Times and TPMMuckraker
Kat Stoeffel / New York Observer:
Julian Assange Leads TIME Person of the Year Poll
Julian Assange Leads TIME Person of the Year Poll
Discussion:
The Nation and TechCrunch
Abraham Murray / The Official Google Blog:
Discover more than 3 million Google eBooks from your choice of booksellers and devices — Today is the first page in a new chapter of our mission to improve access to the cultural and educational treasures we know as books. Google eBooks will be available in the U.S. from a new Google eBookstore.
Discussion:
Gawker, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! News, MediaPost, The Book Bench, GigaOM, ReadWriteWeb, Search Engine Land, The Wrap, Ars Technica, Tech Trader Daily, Gizmodo, eBookNewser, Switched, Techland, App Advice, Kindle Review, Jacket Copy, O'Reilly Radar, Faster Forward, Publishing Perspectives, BGR, The Next Web, New York Observer, Engadget, Geekosystem, ResourceShelf, SAI and Hillicon Valley, more at Techmeme »
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Paige / IndieBound:
Independent Bookstores Selling Google eBooks
Independent Bookstores Selling Google eBooks
Discussion:
GalleyCat, Switched, App Advice and eBookNewser
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Google's New Bookstore Cracks Open the E-book Market
Google's New Bookstore Cracks Open the E-book Market
Discussion:
USA Today, Epicenter, New York Times, paidContent, MacStories, The Next Web and MediaMemo, more at Techmeme »
Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:
Dan Abrams Plans 3 Web Sites — After a successful run with his Web sites that cover media, sports, gossip and technology, Dan Abrams, perhaps best known not as an Internet entrepreneur but as an MSNBC personality, is expanding. — Mr. Abrams will start three online properties early next year …
Discussion:
WebNewser, On Media's Blog and Poynter
Nick Summers / New York Observer:
Exclusive: Dexter Filkins Poached by The New Yorker — Dexter Filkins, a star war correspondent for The New York Times, is heading to The New Yorker, a person familiar with the situation tells The Observer. — Mr. Filkins, who is in Istanbul today, declined to discuss the move, which he has been considering for two months.
Discussion:
WWD, Yahoo! News, The Wire, Gawker and The Huffington Post
Nadia Damouni / Reuters:
Exclusive: AOL mulls breakup, then merger with Yahoo — (Reuters) - AOL Inc, undergoing a radical transformation into the king of content on the Internet, is actively exploring a breakup involving a complicated series of transactions that may lead to a merger with Yahoo Inc, sources close to the plans told Reuters.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Hulu Orders Up a New Bite-Size Show. It's Going to Taste a Lot Like “Talk Soup.” — Hulu is a great place to see shows that just ran on TV. Is it a good place to see Internet shows that talk about shows that just ran on TV? — Stay tuned! — Plans are underway for a Hulu …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Next Web, Mixed Media, Fast Company and mediabistro.com, more at Techmeme »
Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:
Did Gawker's Attack on Barry Diller Go Too Far? — Barry Diller, left, sitting two seats away from known gay person Andy Cohen of Bravo, a network popular with gays. Draw your own conclusions. Image by Getty Images North America via @daylife — As a gossip site, Gawker has an acute interest …
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Alex Hillman / dangerouslyawesome:
Fear and Loathing in Phoenix - My 48 Hour Binge Experience at NewsFoo — I'm coming down from a 48 hour binge. Not one fueled by two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers …
Discussion:
krochmal's posterous and Timetric Blog
Andrew Wallenstein / paidContent:
How Mark Zuckerberg Fooled ‘60 Minutes’ — Leave it to 60 Minutes to pass off Facebook's utterly meaningless redesign of the site's profile pages as some kind of “exclusive” worth leading a segment on the company's founder, Mark Zuckerberg. It's not just that correspondent Lesley Stahl …
David Carr / New York Times:
To Beat ‘Today,’ Look to Tomorrow — When a sports team loses long enough, fans get restless and soon enough, the coach ends up getting the gate. After all, you can't fire the whole team, right? — Unless you work in television. Last week, every single member of the perennially last place “Early Show” on CBS was shown the door.
Discussion:
FishbowlNY and TVNewser
Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:
Cosmo Sets Sights on Mongolia — Coming to a newsstand most likely not near you: Cosmo Mongolia. — Cosmopolitan, which has been helping women all over the world unlock the secrets to better sex, tighter tushes and the enigmatic male psyche for four decades, will begin to sell a Mongolia edition this week.
Discussion:
Mediaite, New York Observer and New York Magazine
New York Times:
Comcast and NBC — Television is undergoing a wrenching change. Companies like Netflix and Google TV are lining up to offer movies and TV online. Cable systems are developing online bundles as they add broadband customers but lose TV subscribers. Broadcast networks are still figuring …
Discussion:
TVNewser, Post Tech, WebNewser and Stop Big Media News
Amy Larocca / New York Magazine:
Planet Monocle — Tyler Brûlé ushered in a design revolution with Wallpaper magazine. His new global media strategy is equally rarefied, and only occasionally ridiculous. Listen to him for a while, and the world seems positively aglow with possibility.
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, TVNewser and Das Krapital
Wall Street Journal:
No Longer Tiny, Netflix Gets Respect—and Creates Fear — As Rivals Look to Counter Its Online Movie-Streaming Service, Hollywood Cautiously Cuts Deals to Provide Some Content — After years as a bit player in entertainment, Netflix Inc. is being eyed for a new role by Hollywood: industry hulk.
Discussion:
SAI, ReadWriteWeb, GigaOM, VentureBeat, Tech Trader Daily, Engadget and DSLreports
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
ESPN Says Study Shows Little Effort to Cut Cable — Seeking to understand the cutting of cable cords, ESPN has waded into the Nielsen Company's audience sample and concluded that the cancellations are currently a “very minor” phenomenon. — The sports network's study provides a new answer …
Discussion:
The Next Web, Company Town, Techland and Online Video News
Lucia Moses / Brandweek:
Apps as Money Pit — Magazine publishers are pouring money into apps, seduced by the notion that tablet computers can open a new avenue to make money from their content. But will they ever make it back? Certainly not in the near term and, perhaps, never.
Lucia Moses / Mediaweek:
Salon's Swan Song? — Popular site seeks buyer amidst tough market — Who will buy Salon.com? The site's search for a buyer has drawn attention to its troubled business model as a standalone news site, but its content and audience could be valuable to a company willing to assume its losses.
Julie Bosman / New York Times:
Web Site for Teenagers With Literary Leanings — When Jacob Lewis helped create the beta version of the Web site Figment with Dana Goodyear, a staff writer at The New Yorker, Mr. Lewis envisioned it as a sort of literary Facebook for the teenage set. — “I really went into it and thought …
Discussion:
LA Observed, FishbowlNY and New York Observer
Jim Romenesko / Poynter Online:
Newsday redesigns website, offers free access through Jan. 7 — Newsday editor Debby Krenek says that “perhaps the most noticeable change is our new, fresh look, with a lighter color scheme and darker text, as well as a faster load time.” The one month of free access is sponsored by Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
eMarketer:
Online Ad Spend Continues Double-Digit Growth — Large brand marketers and SMBs are major contributors to ongoing increases — The economy may be on an upward trajectory, but continued caution among advertisers will lead to a continued shift toward online advertising, eMarketer forecasts.
Discussion:
paidContent, NetNewsCheck Latest, GigaOM, MarketingVOX, TechCrunch and AgencySpy, more at Techmeme »
Greg T. Spielberg / Nieman Journalism Lab:
“An art brand”: Gawker Artists looks at the image beyond the display ad — Five years ago, Chris Batty, until this week Gawker's vice president of sales and marketing, was looking to fill un-purchased ad space on the site. He wanted to forgo the “horrendous creative” of ad networks …