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The Execution Will Be Videotaped, Not Necessarily Televised (CBSNews.com)
Iraqi officials have said that Saddam Hussein's execution, which could happen as early as this weekend, will be videotaped by the government. "We will video everything," National Security adviser Mouffak al Rubaie said. "All documentation will be videoed. Taking him from his cell to the execution is going to be videoed, and the actual execution will be documented and videoed." It's not clear whether the videotape will be broadcast on Iraqi television. TVNewser: What will U.S. TV do? B&C: Nets' plans for Ford funeral.

Ex-Gossip Editor Convicted on Sex Charge (AP)
Former Us Weekly gossip columnist Timothy McDarrah, arrested in New York last year by undercover federal agents, has been found guilty of charges related to soliciting sex with a minor. McDarrah, a former reporter at the Las Vegas Sun, was arrested after being charged with trying to seduce an undercover federal agent posing on the Internet as a 13-year-old girl.

Investors Back Jobs as Apple Stock Probe Widens (Independent)
Investors and Wall Street supporters of Steve Jobs rallied to defend the visionary founder of Apple Computer as a growing storm over manipulated share options and forged documents threatened to engulf him. Apple insisted yesterday that it stood by its October statement that no current board members were guilty of misconduct, but it has promised an update on the scandal before the end of today. BusinessWeek: Tough questions for Apple.

A Loud, Proud Send-Off for James Brown at the Apollo (NYT)
James Brown gave one last show in Harlem yesterday, three days after his death, in a golden coffin lined with white velvet, on the flower-bedecked stage of the famed Apollo Theater, before a crowd of thousands who had lined up for blocks to see him. FishbowlNY: Video wall of James Brown, Godfather of YouTube.

Can You Digg $8.5 Million? (VentureBeat)
Digg, the news site that lets users rank stories by voting, has raised $8.5 million in fresh financing from existing backers, putting to rest for now speculation that it might sell to a bigger media player.

Chávez Won't Renew TV Station's License (NYT)
President Hugo Chávez said his government would not renew the license of RCTV, Radio Caracas Television, a private station known for opposing his policies. The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders expressed concern this month that not renewing RCTV's license when it expires in March could curtail editorial diversity in Venezuela, where newspapers and television stations supporting Mr. Chávez have grown more powerful in recent years.

Why Was Google Immune To Asian Earthquake Internet Delay? (Poynter)
Fons Tuinstra: What keeps amazing me is that all Google services keep on humming as if there was no problem: Google search, blog search, Gmail, Gtalk, Google Reader, Adsense, Google Documents, Blogger.com ... Even the uncensored Google News is showing no delay. NYT: Repairs on network cables in Asia could take days.

Ford Gave Chevy Chase's 'Klutz-in-Chief' His Blessing (NYT)
"He was just so incredibly decent and good-natured about the skit," said Lorne Michaels, the longtime producer of Saturday Night Live. Mr. Ford sent a signal, Mr. Michaels said, that it was all right to be lighthearted about the presidency after the ordeal of the Watergate years. "You couldn't imagine Nixon signaling that this was O.K."

NYO Owner Plans Free Paper For NJ (NYP)
New York Observer owner Jared Kushner is planning to leap the Hudson and extend his fledgling media holdings into his native New Jersey. The plan is to make a big impact with a free circulation weekly of 200,000. It was New Jersey politics that originally helped to bring down Kushner's father Charles Kushner, who in August completed his sentence for tax violations and witness tampering.

The Return Of The Tech IPO? (BusinessWeek)
In 2006 only 35 tech companies sold stock to the public, about the same as 2005. Rather than taking years to build a solid business and cash out via IPO, the fantasy for many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and financiers has been to get snapped up by Internet kingpin Google. Now it looks as if that could change.

Fox to Allow Fans to Purchase Downloads of BCS Games (Mediaweek)
Fox Sports said it plans to offer college football fans the option to purchase downloads of full-length games from the upcoming Bowl Championship Series, including the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 8.

Studio 60: NBC's Ishtar About Show Business (NYT)
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, is the network's Ishtar about show business, with the jokes that don't quite land, and the master-of-the-obvious ideology. The series by wunder-self promoter Aaron Sorkin raises a troubling question: Why did we trust Mr. Sorkin to get the ambience of the White House right in The West Wing when his vision of a late-night comedy show — a world that must be easier for him to penetrate — is so off?

Revamp of Singles Chart by U.K. Record Industry to Include Digital Downloads (Guardian)
A shakeup of the singles chart will mean downloads of album tracks, older songs and digital-only releases will count toward the top 75 rundown compiled by the Official Charts Company. The change is the most radical in a series to make the top 40, once the highlight of any teenager's Sunday evening, essential listening once more. Guardian: MySpace generation boosts live music.

Ready to Get Weird, Advertisers? (BusinessWeek)
Jon Fine: To use a perilous form of columnist shorthand, in media terms 2005 was the year of MySpace, and 2006 was the year of YouTube. Or maybe 2006 was the year of virtual-world site Second Life. Of the many factors that will decide how the ad pie is split up in '07, perhaps the biggest is how quickly these next-generation Web platforms become mainstream ad vehicles and score sizable portions of marketing budgets.

Media Among Egregious Ethical Lapses in 2006 (San Diego Union Tribune)
In trying to find out who might be leaking information about their company, Hewlett-Packard executives engaged in "pretexting," which involved posing as someone else in order to gain access to the telephone records of some of their own board members, as well as those of journalists covering the company. As a result the company's reputation was tarnished and its former board chairwoman and others face criminal charges.