In Media Res: Power couples; Reuters gets social; Bulger’s e-books; Swisher’s scoops

Media porn: The New York Observer loves coming up with "power lists," and the paper's latest such undertaking raises a glass to "New York Media Power Couples." The slideshow-friendly feature is the talk of the Twitter today among a certain set of navel-gazing industry folk who tend to openly deride, yet secretly delight in, such gratuitous displays of ego-stroking. Some observations: The entries range from cherubic pairings such as the recently announced Brian Stelter and Nicole Lapin to veteran connubials such as Christiane Amanpour and James Rubin, though it purposely excludes all-too-obvious husband-wife duos such as Gay and Nan Talese and Tina Brown and Sir Harry Evans. The words "New York" appear to be applied rather liberally here, as some of these power couples definitely work and reside in the nation's capital. (Oh, hi there, Cutline editor Chris Lehmann and GQ Washington correspondent Ana Marie Cox!) By our count, eight of the people on the list used to either work at or write regularly for the New York Observer. (Former Observer editor-in-chief Peter Kaplan and girlfriend Lisa Chase of Elle did not make the cut, although they weren't the only ones apparently overlooked.) "All I'm getting from this ... is that really attractive women date way less attractive men," one Twitter commentator was moved to remark. (Her words, not ours.) And, yes, the list is overwhelmingly white. Go form your own judgments at the full listicle, here.

Reuters takes a tumble: Reuters will soon join the ranks of news and media outlets that have built up a presence on the influential blogging community Tumblr. As part of the news service's ongoing staff and digital expansion, Anthony De Rosa has been appointed social media editor. He makes the jump to the editorial side of the operation from a somewhat ambiguous role as "API product manager"--which evidently means that he will now officially be paid to do what it appears he spends the majority of his days doing anyway: tweeting and tumbling. "In his new role, De Rosa will integrate what he calls the 'ambient wire' that exists on social networks, where news now breaks before anywhere else, into Reuters platforms," said Reuters digital executive editor Jim Impoco in a staff memo announcing the move. "As part of his mission, he will help our journalists and editors use social media tools to monitor news, report news, and find leads." In response to a comment on Twitter from Reuters colleague Felix Salmon about the launch of a Reuters Tumblr, De Rosa, who the New York Times once called "the undisputed king" of the platform, replied: "imminent." Meanwhile, Reuters.com is expected to unveil a new beta site tomorrow that will solicit feedback on a redesign scheduled to go live on July 26.

Bulger e-books: The Boston media went into paroxysms over the arrest several weeks ago of James "Whitey "Bulger, having tirelessly tracked the career of its 81-year-old hometown crime king and FBI most-wanted man. The Boston Globe has channeled that excitement into an e-singles series, republishing three of its past investigative pieces about the infamous mobster. The special reports, originally published in 1988, 1995 and 1998, are now available for download on the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook and in the iTunes store for $2.99 a piece. "Boston Globe reporters have long been the leading chroniclers of Whitey Bulger, his gang and his clan," said Martin Baron, editor of The Boston Globe, in a statement. "These e-books will deliver the Globe's powerful, authoritative narratives to readers in a popular new form."

Breaking news: How does AllThingsD's Kara Swisher get all those scoops--especially the many pertaining to the company that owns the website you are currently reading? "Someone asked me this the other day," she tells Beet.tv's Andy Plesser, "and I'm like, I work harder than you. I call more people. I follow-up. I'm kind of relentless in terms of making calls, building sources, creating relationships. ... There's no trick to great reporting. It's just being curious, following things up, developing sources and not just putting up whatever idle rumor is around." For all the j-school applicants out there, the video is below.