Kevin: Simon Collister has a truly fascinating and rigorous look at how political parties in the UK track online influencers and engage with key political bloggers and with the public at large through digital networks. Simon "also tried to fit these findings into a critical framework based on the work Manuel Castells has completed in mapping and analysing the Network Society". Castells categorises actors as programmers or switchers. In the UK, Simon believes that Conservatives are programmers and Labour are switchers. Well worth a read.

Kevin: The New York Times' David Carr stole the show at last night's Intelligence Squared debate on the merits of the mainstream media, when he pulled out a print out of fellow debater Michael Wolff's Web site Newser all full of holes. Carr had cut out every story on Newser that came from the main stream media to prove his point: new media couldn't exist without venerable mainstream pubs like the Times.

Kevin: Another step from outsider political blog to member of the political establishment: "The White House released November's intown pool schedule for media outlets that cover the president this morning, and for the first time, Talking Points Memo is on the list. "

Kevin: Gannett's daily newspapers are being urged to improve watchdog journalism, reposition web sites for breaking news, and better engage young readers and Sunday readers, according to a list of priorities issued last month during a meeting of some 40 newspaper editors."

Kevin: From INMA and Online Publishers Association (OPA) Europe’s annual conference Outlook 2010, former ContentNext research director and media analyst Lauren Rich Fine opened her conference presentation with a potentially ‘heretical’ question: “Is it possible that there’s too much news?”

Kevin: Starsuckers was a documentary showing how easy it was to plant celebrity stories in the British tabloids. "Atkins and his team called up British tabloids with made-up frivolous celebrity stories, and they 'just printed anything', he says." Director Chris Atkins decries the media's "toxic effect on society".