This Monday will see TechCrunch Disrupt kick off once again in San Francisco. Leaving aside the recent brouhaha about TechCrunch (get yourself caught up , here and here here), it remains one of the most important and influential tech conferences around, lining up top-notch speakers, panels and attendees, making news and generating an epic number [...]

Wow. The rumors are true: AOL is buying TechCrunch, and it’s going down at TechCrunch Disrupt right now, with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong taking the stage to announce the purchase.

More details TK. In the meantime, here’s the press release announcing the purchase: (yoinked from MediaMemo)

Here’s the thing: A headline on TechCrunch reading: “Women in Tech: Look Around the World and Stop Complaining” is meant to be inflammatory. I get it. I certainly would not have clicked on just the URL: http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/14/how-did-i-get-more-bullish-on-chinese-innovation-than-kai-fu-lee. No offense to Kai Fu Lee, but that’s not sexy, controversial, muscle-flexy, bird-flippy. HEY YOU UNGRATEFUL WOMEN, STOP [...]

The following is a post I wrote on ChangeTheRatio.com in response to this by Pownce’s Leah Pulver at the Daily Beast responding to TechCrunch’s MichaeI Arrington responding to Shira Ovide‘s piece in the Wall Street Journal quoting me. If that hasn’t already driven you away, read on.

Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz is known for telling it like it is. For those wondering, that means she drops the F bomb a lot. Good for her. If only more CEOs used gutter talk instead of PR talk, the world would probably be a much better place. It’s no surprise then that a discussion between Bartz and TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington in New York today ended up getting a little blue.

This week, TechCrunch fired Daniel Brusilovsky, an intern in the throes of his Senior year of high school, for requesting a Macbook Air in exchange for writing a post about a start-up–after he’d already received one computer for the same thing.

The year 2009 had many media bright spots, break-out stars, dominating networks and game-changing technologies. The Mediaite 50 collects the finest, most exemplary innovators and influencers of the year, defining a media moment in time and setting the agenda as we move forward. See the full list after the jump:

Apparently shifting the media landscape in record time isn’t enough to keep you busy — there’s free time to plan somewhat elaborate pranks on one another! Yesterday TechCrunch‘s Jason Kincaid noticed a “fax” icon on the photos on his Facebook account and, after confirming with this new feature with his cohorts, he promptly filed a post titled Facebook Now Lets You Fax Your Photos. I Have No Idea Why Anyone Would Want To Do This. Turns out that it was a joke!

Seven years after its founding, Gawker Media is getting more online traffic than the LA Times and nearly as much as the New York Times — and with a staff a fraction of their sizes. Need evidence of their influence? They are now effectively running the state department. A look at their growth and impact after the jump.

In a fascinating Washington Post column this week, TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington described how AOL is scooping up some of the best print reporters from short-sighted print publications. Is racking up writing talent part of Tim Armstrong’s vision for preparing the massive online entity for spin-off?

The newest addition to the raging debate over “how can we save media!” is Michael Arrington’s suggestion today that the New York Times top journos should wise up, depart the (sinking) mother-ship and launch their own Politico-esqu news organization. But isn’t he missing the point?

The story currently making waves in the online media fishbowl is that Twitter has been hacked. Not only that, the hacker sent TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington the documents, some of which Arrington published causing yet another stir to occur regarding the ethics of publishing information that was obtained illegally. Even more amazing? Twitter’s choice of passwords.

Media mogulet (mogulito?) Michael Arrington has chimed in on Sun Valley’s ongoing, Illuminati-esque gathering of media panjandrums — and the result is more or less a geyser of envy and vituperation. Pity the poor TechCrunch founder peering over the windowsill, one thumb hooked thorough the shoulder of his overalls, wanting nothing more than to go [...]