Media Navel Gazing: January 24, 2011
The Week Unpeeled
Google named Larry Page its CEO, replacing Eric Schmidt and toppling the troika of chiefs. Page told reporters in the International Herald Tribune by phone that one of his new primary goals is to "get Google to be a big company that has the nimbleness and soul and passion and speed of a start-up." Schmidt told the world via Twitter that "day-to-day adult supervision is no longer needed." Two POVs for sure. Elsewhere:
- Sundance kicked off" in Sundance (kinda, sorta, more like Park City, right?);
- GE CEO Jeff Immelt was named head of President Obama's economic advisory board and reported strong fourth-quarter earnings of up 33 percent from year-ago levels;
- Keith Olbermann of MSNBC was terminated, pretty soon after the NBCU/Comcast deal announced, lighting up Twitter;
- President Obama prepped for his State of the Union on Tuesday, amid talk that focus will be on trade and jobs;
- Davos begins on Wednesday;
- A belated Happy Birthday (10 years) to Wikipedia; and
- The Dow ended Friday up 49 at 11,871.
News from the Gulf
Most news translates and it's interesting to compare newsfeeds while overseas (these from Doha): the Google reorg, GE earnings and Immelt's appointment dominated business pages of The Gulf Times and The Peninsula over the weekend, with Reuters and Financial Times dominating the coverage (an occasional byline from AFP or Bloomberg). Other big headlines here (more regional interest for some):
- German investment sentiment higher;
- Portugal recession concerns;
- Rising gas costs (pump prices posted on front pages);
- Nuclear program talks with Iran;
- A front page piece on how the world is running out of Internet addresses, "within weeks," quoting Google chief Internet evangelist, Vint Cerf; and
- NOTHING on Tiger Moms
