exclusive CPAC hasn't even officially started and already its making news. Mediaite has learned that leading center-right web site Hot Air has been acquired by Salem Communications for an undisclosed sum. Sources close to the deal claim that Michelle Malkin, the conservative pundit and sole owner of Hot Air, has been in talks with Salem for some time, but the announcement was timed to coincide with the Conservative Political Action Conference, which opens tomorrow in Washington D.C. (more...)

and the winner is Newspapers are dying, magazines are dying: this is the story of 2009 where the media is concerned. However, the future of media, such as it is, does not look quite so dim. Or dim at all, really. Obviously, the brave new media world that we are slowly moving into (some at a quicker pace than others!) will look entirely different in twelve months' time; something that will likely be in large part due to the efforts of the folks we listed on our online editors of the year poll. So who gets the final nod as our online editor of the year? Our picks below: feel free to add yours in the comments section. (more...)

VOTE! If 2009 was a tough year for magazines and newspapers -- and boy, was it ever -- it was a bang-up year for the editors of the blogs listed below. Somewhere between these varied and influential websites lies the future of journalism and media. Whether that scares you or excites you probably depends on whether you still get your news in print or are accustomed to starting your day via the Twitter app on your iPhone or Blackberry. Below is a list of online editors who have manned the helm in 2009 and ushered in the brave new media world with the most success, vision -- and yes, traffic. Some you will be familiar with; some might be new names. Either way, we are asking you, our loyal, smart, and attractive readers to share your thoughts on who had the biggest year in the Online Editor category (scroll down for poll): (more...)

Robert Gibbs answer to David Corn of Mother Jones' last question at Friday's briefing is getting considerable attention from the right. Corn asked Gibbs about House Republican leader John Boehner's declaration that the House health care bill was the "greatest threat to freedom" he's ever seen. Gibbs' response was worth a slight chuckle, but they ignore his larger point. (more...)

The saying goes "Dying is easy, comedy is hard," but what about combining the two activities? A new video from the Onion News Network features the kind of dark, irreverent humor and high production values that have become their stock-in-trade, but with an added twist: a quasi-death wish for Glenn Beck. The clip is called "Victim In Fatal Car Accident Tragically Not Glenn Beck," and it has some people (including our own Rachel Sklar) wondering if The Onion has crossed even its own far-flung line. (more...)

As online writing becomes increasingly a part of the mainstream dialogue in America, "blogger" is no longer a dirty word. Some of the best writers and reporters of our time operate exclusively on the internet, and millions regularly read their work. Matt Drudge, Arianna Huffington, even Perez Hilton; these are big, newsmaking names that many people have heard before.  (more...)

Somebody call Gossip Cop. As theories about the fate of NBC Universal rages on, one eyebrow-raising potential bidder has popped up in press accounts: Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Before you schoolgirlishly giggle and assemble a Shep Smith/Ann Curry/Greg Gutfeld/Mika Brzezinski news anchor dream team in your mind (or darkly fantasize, as HotAir's AllahPundit has, about Keith Olbermann having to report to Murdoch), it's worth asking: how likely is this? More importantly, what's in it for both parties to keep this speculation alive? (more...)