Steve Jobs named most powerful media figure

Steve Jobs is deemed the most powerful person in media

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has been named by The Guardian as the most powerful person in media.

Jobs was given the top spot in the paper's MediaGuardian 100 2010 ranking of the top figures in media, media business, advertising and public relations.

The Apple co-founder had risen from fourth to first place for the success of the iTunes and iPhone platforms, and the potential of the iPad to influence the print media markets.

Apple sold three million iPads in its first three months on the market, and the tablet has drawn interest from newspapers and publishers as a possible medium for digital books and periodicals.

Second on the MediaGuardian 100 list are Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The pair were knocked from the top spot last year in part due to privacy concerns and troubles with the Chinese government.

Also making the top five was Twitter co-founder Evan Williams. The chief executive of the micro-blogging service moved up from the number nine spot as the service continued to grow as a communication and social networking tool.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg rounded out the list of technology heads in the top 10.

Among the biggest falls was that of Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer. The paper cited Microsoft's dwindling influence in the market and its inability to keep up with Apple and Google in emerging media technologies in dropping Ballmer's ranking from five to 29.