Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC refusing to read the Paris Hilton story – I’m sure you’ve seen it. There have been thousands of comments of support, so there’s some here…

Technorati Tags: TV

Google has acquired beta phone service GrandCentral. The service allows users (currently only in the US) to have one number which can be used on all their phones –  and a host of other services.

The New York Times has a fairly long piece about Sue Decker, the Yahoo! executive who has just been made president following the departure of Terry Semel.

Yahoo! has applied for a patent for its new SmartAds that deliver display ads to people across the web based on their demographics or behaviours. SearchEngineLand reports that the idea is to take templates containing advertiser-generated  content (logos, copy, graphics) and assemble them dynamically depending on who’s seeing the ads.

Following its acquisition by Google, FeedBurner has announced that previously paid-for services will now be free. The first off the blocks are FeedBurner Pro (using your own domain for feeds instead of their’s) and TotalStats (detailed and granular feed stats).

AOP reports on Informa research indicating that UK mobile content was worth £661m in 2006, half coming from 25-34 year olds.

So says Carat in its latest advertising forecast which is predicting growth of 4.1% growth for 2007 and 3.9% next year. Almost all of which will be driven by the growth of online, reports the AOP story.

A post from Jeff Jarvis came to mind when I heard the excellent news that BBC correspondent Alan Johnston had been released in Gaza. In this post Jeff reported on a BBC report on its own impartiality. It emphasised both the legal obligtion for impartiality and the moral imperative. There are 12 principles listed but this one sets the tone:

Impartiality is and should remain the hallmark of the BBC as the leading provider of information and entertainment in the United Kingdom, and as a pre-eminent broadcaster internationally. It is a legal requirement, but it should also be a source of pride.

What doesn’t quite gel, though, is the BBC’s own reporting of the kidnapping. Every morning on the Today Programme there has been a news item about some aspect of Alan Johnston’s plight. It was heart-warming to see the BBC mobilize on behalf of a colleague, but hardly “impartial”. In this morning’s story about the release Today mentioned in passing the five British hostages held in Baghdad since late May. I’m ashamed to say I’d forgotten about them.

A price rise on the New York Times is changing veteran journalist and media commentator Jeff Jarvis’ reading habits. Then he thinks about it some more and has some advice for the Times: push up the price a lot more. Then more of the audience will be forced online which is where they will end up anyway. Grasp the nettle, he says…

Technorati Tags: newspapers, online

I missed this controversy from a couple of weeks ago. Federated Media, founded by Search author John Battelle caused upset by enlisting A-list bloggers to quote in ads for Microsoft’s “people ready business” campaign. Jeff Jarvis gives a comprehensive account and one strong message: don’t blur advertising and editorial.

Technorati Tags: advertising, editorial, media