Mediagazer: Piers Morgan Emerges as A Staunch Defender of Murdoch (D.M. Levine/Adweek)

1:55 PM ET, July 20, 2011

Top News:

Murdoch and His Critics — Regarding the scandal that has roiled Rupert Murdoch's global media empire, a few things seem clear. The phone-hacking scandal in London is deplorable. Journalists have violated the privacy of ordinary citizens and, it is alleged, the law of the land in the United Kingdom.

D.M. Levine / Adweek:

Piers Morgan Emerges as A Staunch Defender of Murdoch — Rupert Murdoch has an increasingly outspoken defender on TV: Piers Morgan. After a week of relative silence on the subject of the ballooning hacking scandal, the CNN primetime host and one-time Murdoch tabloid editor has taken …

Discussion: On Media's Blog, TVNewser, The New York Observer, The Wire, Future of Journalism, GalleyCat, ThinkProgress and Mediaite

Bloomberg:

Murdoch's Refusal to Take Responsibility May Undermine Credibility as CEO — Rupert Murdoch's refusal to take responsibility for the hacking scandal that has slashed $5.89 billion from the market value of News Corp. (NWSA) may undermine his credibility as chief executive officer.

Discussion: Telegraph, Los Angeles Times, Guardian and ThinkProgress, Thanks:beet_tv

Guardian:

Glenn Mulcaire legal payments terminated by News International — Private investigator at centre of News of the World phone-hacking scandal was still having certain legal fees paid — News International has terminated “with immediate effect” its arrangement to pay the legal fees of Glenn Mulcaire …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Media & Entertainment, Associated Press, Media Week, Crikey and TheMediaBriefing

Jay Rosen / Guardian:

Phone hacking row shows News Corp is no ordinary news company — Rupert Murdoch's news organisations are not in the news business. What they crave is influence — Watching the phone hacking crisis crack wide open over the last few weeks has left me puzzled about its ultimate causes …

Discussion: BuzzMachine, Poynter, Wall Street Journal, Company Town, New York Times, Mixed Media, Adweek and paidContent

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Jon Stewart on Rupert Murdoch, Wendi Deng, and The Pie. And, of Course, Fox News (Video). — Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems as if Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have gone quite ... easy on News Corp.'s PhoneGate scandal, which seems like a story tailor made for them.

Discussion: Mediaite, Guardian, Poynter and Softpedia News

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
Wall Street Journal Staffers Push Back: We're Not ‘Fox-ified’

Discussion: Bloomberg, Poynter, CJR, ProPublica, Wall Street Journal and Stop Big Media News

Farrah Bostic / Mediaite: An American Watches The NewsCorp Hearings In London

John Cook / Gawker:
Rupert Murdoch Has Left the Building

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Times, Guardian, Forbes.com, Gothamist, The Awl, The Wire and paidContent

John Plunkett / Guardian:
Brooks: hacking payments not my remit

Discussion: BBC, Media News, Advertising …, Crikey, Media Week, Jon Slattery, The Huffington Post, The Lede, Press Gazette, Future of Journalism and On Media's Blog

Dominic Rushe / Guardian:
News Corp's independent directors hire own legal team over phone hacking

Discussion: Erik Wemple, MediaPost, Hillicon Valley and Press Gazette

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Scandal Stirs U.S. Debate on Big Media — Progressive activists and public interest groups that have long blasted Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation for political biases now have a new and much more tangible reason to call for the revocation of his TV licenses and the breakup of his company.

Discussion: TVNewser, Editors Weblog, Chickaboomer, The Huffington Post, Free Press, Future of Journalism, The Nation and The Wire

Paul Ford / New York Magazine:

Facebook and the Epiphanator: An End to Endings? — I do not enjoy Facebook — I find it cloying and impossible — but I am there every day. Last year I watched a friend struggle through breast cancer treatment in front of hundreds of friends. She broadcast her news with caution …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, The Technium, Future of Journalism and The Awl

Leena Rao / TechCrunch:

Amazon Lands CBS Licensing Deal To Stream TV Shows To Instant Video Offering — Amazon has just announced a deal with CBS to allow Amazon Prime customers to stream television shows from CBS's library of content. Financial terms of the non-exclusive deal were not disclosed.

Discussion: paidContent, AllThingsD, Home Media Magazine, mediabistro.com, Adweek, rbr.com, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Techland and GigaOM, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:

Microsoft Said to Drop Out of Hulu Auction — Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is dropping out of the bidding for Hulu LLC, the online video service put up for sale by its media-company owners, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. — Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington …

Discussion: Online Video News, CNET News, Fortune, The Business Insider, Electronista, Future of Journalism, The Next Web, The Wire, Seattle Times and FT Tech Hub

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:

Topic [B]? The Daily Beast Prepares for Chat Shows and Cable Spots — Tina Brown is planning to launch an online talk show for The Daily Beast, according to former Newsweek staffers apprised of the company's plans. The Newsweek Daily Beast company recently hired several network television producers …

Discussion: Mediaite, FishbowlNY, The Wire and mediabistro.com

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:

Paging NYT! Your iPad app doesn't work — Romenesko Misc. — For three weeks now I've been trying to read the New York Times from its iPad app without any luck. It tries to load for about 30 seconds, then crashes. I deleted the app and reinstalled it; that didn't work.

Nitasha Tiku / The New York Observer:

Condé Nast Is Experiencing Technical Difficulties — While other media rushed online, Condé Nast dug int its Louboutin heels. Now, with its much ballyhooed iPad play stalling out—so 2010!—the knives are out for digital wonder boy Scott Dadich.

Matt Kinsman / Folio Stories RSS: B2B:

BREAKING: Schofield Media Shutters U.S. Operations — Company folds after lender pulls financing. — B-to-B publisher Schofield Media is shutting down its U.S. operations after “unexpectedly” losing its bank financing. Employees were informed when they came into the office on Monday, July 18.