Mediagazer: News Corp executives mull chance James Murdoch may leave (Peter Lauria/Reuters)

8:30 PM ET, August 18, 2011

Top News:

Amelia Hill / Guardian:

First US-based NoW reporter is arrested — James Desborough arrested by police investigating UK hacking allegations, while Glenn Mulcaire sues News International — James Desborough, an award-winning former reporter at the News of the World, has been arrested by officers investigating the phone-hacking scandal.

Discussion: The Wrap, Media & Entertainment, NetNewsCheck Latest, Company Town, The First Post, The Wire, The New Yorker Blog, Deadline.com, Adweek, paidContent, Multichannel, Broadcasting & Cable, New York Magazine, FishbowlLA and Gawker

Peter Lauria / Reuters:

News Corp executives mull chance James Murdoch may leave — (Reuters) - News Corp's senior management is starting to think about what the company might do if James Murdoch stepped aside, sources inside and close to the global media empire said. — With Rupert Murdoch's younger son under …

Discussion: The Awl, Gawker, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, On Media's Blog and SAI

Lindsay Fortado / Bloomberg:

Ex-Investigator Mulcaire Said to Sue News Corp. Over Legal Fees — Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) — Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed in 2007 for intercepting voice-mail messages while working for News Corp.'s News of the World, sued the company. — The lawsuit against News Group Newspapers Ltd. …

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Sarah Lyall / New York Times:

Reporter Known for Scoops Is Held in Hacking Inquiry — LONDON — The British police arrested the Hollywood reporter for the defunct tabloid The News of the World on Thursday, according to a person close to the investigation. He is the 13th person to be arrested in the scandal over phone hacking.

Discussion: The Informer

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:

New York Press Is Dead, Long Live Our Town Downtown — As has been rumored for weeks, Manhattan Media is shutting down the New York Press and reviving Our Town Downtown, starting September 1. The weekly publication-a magazine/community newspaper hybrid, according to the press release-will focus on news …

Discussion: On Media's Blog, Poynter, FishbowlNY, Gothamist and AAN

Nick Bilton / Bits:

Ashton Kutcher Could Face Questions About Disclosure — Ashton Kutcher may not have much of a future in journalism. When he served as guest editor of an online-only version of Details magazine, he failed to fully disclose his investments in Internet companies profiled in the issue.

Discussion: Gawker, The Wrap, FishbowlLA, FishbowlNY, Techland, Adweek, New York Times and PSFK

Verne G. Kopytoff / New York Times:

That Remake of AOL? It's Still Being Written — SAN FRANCISCO — AOL hit a hard bump on its road to becoming a digital media company. — Last week it reported another loss and told Wall Street analysts it was not going to get much better: operating income for the year could be down as much as 20 percent because of weaker ad sales.

Discussion: Media Nation, The New York Observer and Fortune

Bloomberg:
AOL Discounted Gets Last, Best Hope in Private Equity

Discussion: Betabeat and The Business Insider

Steve Krakauer / CNN:

Christine O'Donnell and Howard Schultz — The former Senate candidate talks about the 2012 GOP field and her new book, and the Starbucks CEO on his plan to boycott campaign donations. — Set edition preference — READ about Piers Morgan's long career in journalism here.

Discussion: Guardian, CNN, The New York Observer, Guardian, Adweek, NY Daily News and Broadcasting & Cable

Daniel D'Addario / The New York Observer:
Christine O'Donnell On Her Piers Morgan Walk-Out: ‘It was fun.’

Discussion: Salon, Reuters, On Media's Blog, Gothamist and TPMDC

Bloomberg:

Guardian Loses Fight for Web Readers Even After Taking Out Murdoch Tabloid — The U.K.'s Guardian took down Britain's best-selling Sunday newspaper by exposing that the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid hacked a murder victim's voicemail. It may still lose an intensifying battle for British readers.

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Capital New York Snags Yahoo's Joe Pompeo In Mini Hiring Spree — NEW YORK — Capital New York, a website that promises to show readers “how New York works,” will soon have several more reporters working for it. — Launched in June 2010 by ex-New York Observer editors Tom McGeveran and Josh Benson …

Discussion: paidContent, @rafat, NYConvergence.com, New York Magazine and AdAge

Michael A. Memoli / Los Angeles Times:

In China, reporters covering Biden get the heave-ho — Only minutes into the vice president's remarks, Chinese officials began directing journalists toward the exits. Soon the shooing became shoving. — Reporting from Beijing— Vice President Joe Biden's famously loquacious style …

Discussion: The New Yorker Blog, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, TPMDC, Gawker and Political Punch

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google Hires Silicon Valley Tech Blogger Louis Gray as Google+ Evangelist — Notable Silicon Valley tech blogger and startup consultant Louis Gray is finally turning his passion for Google's products and services into a career. Gray has just accepted the position of Product Marketing Manager …

Discussion: Betabeat, louisgray.com, The Business Insider and Pulse2

Dylan Byers / Adweek:

Newsweek-Daily Beast Announces New Hires, Promotions — Tina Brown's Newsweek-Daily Beast Company got hit hard last week. First, editor-at-large Randall Lane left to become editor of Forbes, and then international general manager Alan Bone bounced to Bloomberg Businessweek. — This week brings better news.

Discussion: The Wrap and FishbowlNY

Adrianne Jeffries / Betabeat:

Soraya Darabi Steps Back at Foodspotting, Eyes Bigger Role at ABC — Soraya Darabi, public face and retroactively-named co-founder for the Bay Area start-up Foodspotting, has effectively left her daily role at the company. — Ms. Darabi, who has more than 429,000 followers on Twitter …

Robert Patrick / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Federal judge dismisses teen's sex trafficking lawsuit against website — ST. LOUIS • A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a teenage runaway against the newspaper and online classified ad website that she accused of running ads containing child porn and facilitating her entry into the world of prostitution.

Discussion: The New York Observer

Tom Grubisich / Street Fight:

Denver Post Unveils ‘New’ YourHub. But Is It New Enough? — Whatever happened to YourHub? — Six years ago it was major media's first big foray into hyperlocal. Created by the Rocky Mountain News, the flagship of the E.W. Scripps newspaper chain, YourHub called itself the …

Discussion: Poynter