Over the course of 2011, we covered an array of politicians, authors, entertainers, media mavens, and others as they discussed their crafts and their industries. (Here’s last year’s list.) We enjoyed most of the panels, lectures, and debates we took in, while some of them fell short. Here, a rundown of our 5 favorites, followed by the 10 quotes that defined the year in New York City media panels:

Who: Nicholas Lemann, Stephen B. Shepard, moderated by Myron Kandel
What: “More than Money with Myron Kandel: The Business of Money”
Where: JCC of Manhattan
When: October 5, 2011
Thumbs: Up

The bizarre case of New York photojournalist Phil Datz has taken a twist, with police on Long Island now saying they will work with prosecutors in an attempt to have charges dropped. Datz is the photog who was arrested Friday as he attempted to shoot video at the scene of a police investigation following a police chase. Datz, a stringer for an agency that sells video to commercial television stations, captured the confrontation with an angry Suffolk County Police officer on camera as he demanded that Datz “go away.” Datz ultimately moved a block away, only to be arrested–he insisted afterwards that he’d done absolutely nothing wrong, noting that he was shooting video from an area outside the police scene. “The street was open to the public. There were cars driving up and down the street, there were kids walking past the scene,” Datz told New York radio station WINS

With terrorist fiend Osama bin Laden finally dead, it appears that the American media has taken to the fun posthumous exercise of finding out just how many people saw the world the way bin Laden did. While CNN got the ball rolling on Ghost Osama by finding that most Americans believed the was burning in Hell, Fox News now investigated the converse: how many Americans believe bin Laden is now engaging in illicit behavior with 72 virgins?

Getting into a good university, as anyone will tell you, is hard work. Harder still is mustering up the confidence that your (often all too pricey) education will be put to good use, so that one does not find oneself spending an entire semester reading The Canterbury Tales in its original middle English (True. Effing. Story.) for nothing. It’s good to know ahead of time, then, that your degree has some sort of worth, that it will eventually lead to a well-paying job rife with opportunities for advancement. Which is exactly why I will dissuade my hypothetical children from majoring in journalism, and will instead force them gently urge them to consider a more potentially lucrative career path, like as becoming a Kardashian.

Arianna Huffington decided to respond to Bill Keller’s claims yesterday evening, calling his piece an “exceptionally misinformed attack.” Huffington echoed the snarky tone of Keller’s article in her response, and even managed to get in a dig at News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch in the process. Now that’s multi-tasking

“The world conspires to convince me of my significance,” writes The New York Times executive editor Bill Keller, running through the numerous “most influential” lists he’s made.

Keller elects to use this influence to weigh in on The Future of Journalism in a much-discussed op-ed piece, tackling a specific issue that keeps popping up in discussions on what tomorrow might hold for those who report on – and make – the news: Content aggregation. And he sets his sights squarely on a name that has become synonymous with this “style” of presenting news online.

As journalists, we just don’t cover suicides. It’s a rule. But as I learned early on as a reporter, there are always tons of exceptions. Oh, the person is threatening to jump from a highway overpass? We cover that. It affects traffic. Oh, the suicide was the son of the police chief? Um, I think we cover that. Hang on, let me check.

The suicide “rule” boils down to something like this: we don’t cover suicides (unless they’re visual, interesting, or we find some other compelling argument for doing so.)

On Monday, Friedman started Lady Journos, a project dedicated to aggregating the work of women writers and journalists in one place to once and for all answer the question “Where are all the women writers?”  Similar to projects like Longform.org and Longreads.com, Lady Journos is a Tumblr-based site that is dedicated to curating works of long-form writing and reporting by women across a variety of topics.

In the wake of Egypt’s uprising, covering moment-by-moment by international reporters positioned in Tahrir Square, the protests in Libya–and the government’s bloody efforts to squash them–have been reported furtively, by phone, YouTube and tweet. The BBC, having heard the criticism of Western news networks for failing to provide better coverage, explained its position on Libya in a letter to viewers posted to the BBC website Sunday night. “Reporting from Libya is tricky at the best of times – clearly, the situation there right now is anything but,” writes Jon Williams, BBC World News editor.

Yesterday CBS’ Katie Couric called into Reliable Sources to discuss the dangers journalists are facing in Egypt and to share some of her own scares. Coruic described the scene as a “turbo-charged street fair” and admitted she was a little nervous when the supporters of Egyptian President Mubarak began demonstrating great animosity towards the press and towards America.

Today on his radio show, Glenn Beck was angry with President Obama for praising protesters in Egypt, so long as they are peaceful, yet for being so dismissive in the past of peaceful Tea Party supporters in America. However, Beck was even angrier with mainstream journalists for failing to draw connections in their coverage of the Egyptian uprising and concluded journalists are “so dead inside.”

Village Voice editor Tony Ortega decided to pull an article written by contributor Rob Sgobbo, a Columbia student, after the paper discovered that sources Sgobbo quoted in his article had been fabricated. In his piece on for-profit colleges, “For-Profit Blues“, Sgobo quoted a woman named “Tamicka Bourges,” whom, he said, had accumulated massive debt while attending Berkeley College, without obtaining a degree.

Last night, former MSNBC host David Shuster broke his online silence of some five months to inform his Twitter followers that he would be acting as a substitute radio host for Jim Bohannon this week. Shuster was suspended by MSNBC back in April (before suspending anchors was en vogue) for having shot a pilot with [...]

Newsweek has officially been sold, but its problems are far from over. The $1 sale to Sidney Harman brought with it some mockery and jokes, and also revived some general criticism of the publication. The big question now looms: what will become of the troubled newsweekly, and what can help it survive? One particularly interesting take: could Newsweek‘s future be as a nonprofit?

Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle has an interesting relationship with the press. She’s been known for both running away from reporters, and generally sticking with Fox News and more conservative-leaning outlets.

In an interview with Fox News’ Carl Cameron, she explains why: because reporters should only ask the questions she wants to answer.

Anyone who has gone to J-school can recall countless lessons on unbiased reporting and avoiding conflicts of interest. Yet these ideas almost seem archaic when looking at the state of journalism — and least in this country — today. Or so argues Howard Kurtz in today’s Washington Post column.

Walter Cronkite is widely regarded as an icon — and, to many aspiring journalists, a role model. He and his coverage of the Vietnam War are often referred to as a highpoint in journalism even today. Jonah Goldberg of the Los Angeles Times has a vastly different opinion. In today’s column, he writes that Cronkite is “truly one of the most overrated national icons of the 20th century” who misreported aspects of the Vietnam War.

If readers feel like online publications (or the online counterparts to print publications) are often poorly edited or have an unusually large number of typos, they aren’t imagining things. In entering the digital age, copy-editing standards seem to have become more lenient. The Atlantic‘s Alexis Madrigal makes the case for why copy-editing might make a comeback. For journalism’s sake, let’s hope he’s right.

ohn Nichols and Robert McChesney, this was a book promotional event and an opportunity to outline their recommendations to save traditional journalism. It was a setup for a predictable night full of previews of what’s contained inside yet another “save journalism” solution book. Yet, thankfully, David Carr took a topic that has been spoken about to death and breathed new life into the discussion.

CNN’s amazing reportage from Haiti continues, though sometimes its too difficult to bear to watch. Earlier today Ivan Watson broadcast a live rescue attempt of a little girl still trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building — a stark and dramatic display of just how dire the situation is in the earthquake ravaged country. Heart-wrenching video to follow.

Twitter has taken an increasingly prominent role in reporting on huge-but-far-flung breaking news stories, often acting as a modern day foreign news bureau. While this has been a net positive, there are also some serious hiccups. Daily Dose contributing editor Billie Hill notes that bad, but well intentioned, information on American Airlines’ offer to fly doctors and nurses to Haiti for free caused some to report that the offer was a hoax. It was not.

Last night CNN demonstrated what they do best — perform outstanding journalism in moments of crisis. With jaw-dropping imagery and seat-of-the-pants reporting under the most unimaginably difficult of circumstances, Anderson Cooper reminded viewers what real journalism is all about. Cooper demonstrated the right balance of dispassionate reporting and empathetic action while reporting/taping the rescue of a 15 year-old girl trapped under rubble. Video after the jump.

The New York Times Magazine this weekend features a profile about three generations of the comedic Elliott family. But one aspect of the writing of the story seems a bit funny: Chris’s father is Bob Elliott, one half of the legendary radio comedy team Bob and Ray. Bob’s wife’s first husband was Raymond Knight, a [...]

According to a recent Rasmussen poll, there’s a strong connection between individuals’ political leanings and their attitudes towards the media overall. “While 58% of Democrats view journalists favorably, 70% of Republicans and 55% of unaffiliateds do not.” Rather than pontificate about what we think this means, we’d rather hear from you. Thoughts?