The U.K.'s biggest regional newspaper, Express & Star, just put most of its content behind a paywall with bundled print-Web subscriptions, reports Robert Andrews at Paid Content. The Express & Star is among the first regional newspapers to take the paid Web step first pioneered by national papers like News Corp.'s The Times.

Tweet! MyMediaInfo's Jane Hamilton nicely analyzes how this social media phenomenon is affecting our TV viewing experience, doing everything from providing instant feedback on shows to turning TV into a multi-dimensional experience.

Fishbowl NY's Chris O'Shea provides a quick overview of the just-relaunched Atlantic Wire, the daily news site from The Atlantic magazine. O'Shea approves the new layout and explains what else is available on-site.

The Atlantic's John Hendel dissects the plusses and minuses of Kachingle, a two-year-old company that allows readers to donate money to a news site or blog displaying a special widget. Kachingle also opposes (somewhat confusingly in our eyes) subscription-based paywalls such as the one the New York Times will soon be implementing. So Kachingle wants readers to pay something for content -- just not a specific fee mandated by the content provider? Hendel says the Kachingle "tip jar" model sounds great on paper, but "the reality doesn't lend much confidence. Behavioral, branding and design hurdles likely stand in the way …

The first product placement on British TV just made its appearance: a Nescafe coffee machine on a daytime program. Price for the plug was reportedly £100,000. This was just the beginning of what Product Placement News reports will be "three months of relaxed product placement rules for UK television."

Though we found this year's actual ceremony as boring as everybody else did, we're still a sucker for Oscars tidbits -- most of which are, admittedly, fluff news. Consider, for example, director Tom Hooper's admitting his astonishment at how often viewers say his Oscar-winning The King's Speech" "has changed their lives." Then there's The Atlantic's fun roundup of the silliest things celebrities said on the red carpet. We especially liked this one: "She's pushing boundaries now, and I applaud her for it," which Kelly Osbourne noted about "Scarlett Johansson wearing purple." There is an odd …

Frank Rich, a mainstay at The New York Times for 31 years -- formerly as a drama critic and now as a columnist -- will leave the paper to become an essayist and editor-at-large for New York magazine, starting in June. In a statement, Rich noted one of his goals was "to stretch the definition of a magazine column."

TV Land just renewed its highest-rated show ever, "Hot In Cleveland," (starring Bettty White et al) for a third season. And in a print-TV promotion, Valerie Bertinelli's character will take a summer job as columnist for Woman's Day magazine -- and also "write" a real column to appear in the actual magazine.