These are some of the things that have caught my attention lately. It’s a more eclectic mix than just the news business, but then so’s life:

• Is the Media to Blame for the Bailout Bust? | TIME – "Where there's a vacuum of information, the loudest voices fill the gap. As does confusion. As does suspicion. If those things are hobbling us from making vital decisions right now, then it's time for the business press to step up."
• Al-Jazeera execs face challenges | Variety – "The international dimension has always been a key part of Al-Jazeera English's appeal, which lays claim to 120 million viewers in more than 100 countries. The channel was, after all, originally dubbed Al-Jazeera Intl. before its name was changed shortly after launch. That in itself would point toward an identity crisis that the net has yet to fully resolve."
• The Future Of Media: Journalism | MediaPost – "At 'The Carbondale Miner' and 'Mid Valley Gazette', the ethos was as follows: Entertainment trumped information; opinion trumped objective reporting; and photos of kids and pets and brides trumped all. Readers loved reading about themselves, even more so when they had written the piece. Of course, they had to buy the paper to see themselves in print…"
• The Future Of Media: Interview With Gaby Darbyshire, VP, Gawker Media | MediaPost – Gawker VP describes the world as it is now, not as it will be: "Reporting of base facts will be produced centrally by agencies like Reuters, AP, etc., the brand papers will distinguish themselves by the insight they provide in analyzing the facts, and producing in the in-depth editorial pieces specific to their brand. And the best of the writers will be measured and become stars, and the workaday hacks who are interchangeable will be reduced to working anonymously for the big agencies, without the bylines and the perks."
• Top 10 YouTube Videos of All Time, 2008 Edition | RWW – We prefer shop-made: "While YouTube became famous from user-generated content, this year's top 10 list shows that professionals still create the most popular content. Of the 4 non-music videos, 2 are comedy (professional comedians), 1 is a sappy foreign love story, and the last is a cute baby video. Only the baby video seems to be an amateur one."
• ITV News to axe 400 jobs | Press Association – "ITV News plans to axe over 400 jobs, including journalists and broadcast staff, under plans to save millions of pounds, workers were told on Tuesday.
  A letter sent to employees across the country said current staffing levels of 1,075 would be reduced to 646, a cut of 429 jobs."