Happy TWENTY12, ladies and gents! While you were off making merry, there were some important new stories you probably missed—like this look back at 2011’s best (worst?) local news bloopers.



Did you hear the news that Rupert Murdoch is on Twitter and already causing an uproar? The infamous media mogul tweeted: “Maybe Brits have too many holidays for broke country,” to which his wife replied—also through the social network—“RUPERT!! Delete tweet!!”

But wait! Turns out that wasn’t his wife, but an impostor. The mysterious part is why Twitter bestowed “verified” status upon the fake account.

Murdoch’s presence on Twitter has been met with mixed reviews from Twitter users and sparked the inevitable parody account @RupertMurdochPR, who wrote, “The first 30 tweets from @RupertMurdoch are free, then the paywall goes up.”

For the entrepreneur who’s more digitally savvy than Rupert, this infographic from Udemy provides some social media marketing tips for startups in the new year.

Here’s a social media tip for young professionals joining the workforce: Treat your updated Facebook Timeline profiles like you would your résumé.

Combine all those guidelines with these gems from Fast Company and you can prepare for 2012 to be your banner year.

Entertainer Rihanna ended 2011 on top, but make no mistake, it wasn’t Advertising Age that put her there. A variety of media outlets (among them, the Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, StyleBistro, the International Business Times, and others) reported that the Barbadian songstress won last year’s sexiest ad crown for an Armani campaign. Media outlets are crediting Ad Age as the poll’s creator. Problem is, the trade publication says it had nothing to do with the poll.

While that might be false, reports that men can’t sell women’s lingerie in Saudi Arabia are true. Guess that’s why they don’t call it Victor’s Secret.

It also true that every PR exec has his or her work cut out for them when it comes time for crisis management. Laurie Goldberg, the top spokesperson for television’s TLC, knows this all too well. From “Sister Wives” and Sarah Palin to the network’s most recent bump in the road with “All-American Muslim,” there’s much to be learned from Goldberg’s career.

Scoff as you may, but another career to watch is that of Ryan Seacrest. Yes, we really just said that. CNN explains why the “American Idol” and “E! News” host is the future of media. It’s probably the hair.

We imagine it’s Ryan Seacrest who’s driving America’s sustained interest in text messaging. You know, all that “Idol” voting. Meanwhile, in other countries, the service is experiencing a decline.

Something else that might need some explaining today is the true importance of the Iowa caucuses. Businessweek says that the event doesn’t so much predict the GOP’s presidential nominee as determine which candidates will call it a day.