Mediagazer: Proof by Mask — Web design is in bad shape. (Frédéric Filloux/Monday Note)

2:55 PM ET, October 31, 2011

Top News:

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

A Year of Tina Brown and Newsweek Still Needs a Savior — When the merger between Newsweek and The Daily Beast was announced almost a year ago, it seemed like it might, at least, have the makings of a good story: charming nonagenarian audio tycoon teams up with a media mogul and celebrity editor …

Discussion: The Wrap and Poynter

James Robinson / Guardian:

Phone hacking: Milly Dowler police investigation may have been targeted — Lawyer for Surrey police tells Leveson inquiry there is evidence officers' phones were hacked — Several police officers who investigated the disappearance and murder of schoolgirl Milly Dowler in 2002 …

Discussion: Media & Entertainment

Katherine Rushton / Telegraph:

James Murdoch gets pay rise despite News Corp row — Fury over James Murdoch's chairmanship of BSkyB did not stop him accepting a £1,300 pay rise as the broadcaster took a £16m hit for its aborted takeover by News Corporation, where he is deputy chief operating officer.

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Injunctions furore has calmed, editors tell select committee — UK newspaper, magazine and news wire editors tell the joint committee on privacy and injunctions that the industry did face a ‘spate of injunctions’ but that the situation has since calmed — The issue of privacy …

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:
Editors due to give evidence on privacy and injunctions

Discussion: Editors Weblog

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Disney Double Dips: Renews Netflix Deal for ABC Shows, Adds Amazon — Another example of why the Web video boom is (currently) a great boon to Big TV: Disney has announced not one but two deals to sell digital copies of its reruns. — Disney has re-upped a two-year-old deal with Netflix …

Discussion: Forbes, Business Wire, AdAge, Media & Entertainment, Fast Company, New York Post, Company Town, rbr.com, Home Media Magazine, Broadcasting & Cable, Online Video News, CNET News, Epicenter, Between the Lines Blog, VatorNews, GeekWire and NetNewsCheck Latest, more at Techmeme »

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Former Myspace Music Head Holt Lands as COO at Maker (Plus Cool Video!) — Courtney Holt, who stepped down as president of Myspace Music early this year, is taking a new job as COO of Maker Studios. — Holt has been an adviser to the Venice, Calif. new-generation production company …

Tim Molloy / The Wrap:

NBC-Owned Stations Enhancing News Coverage, Hiring 130 People — NBCUniversal plans to enhance local news at its 10 owned television stations, hiring more than 130 people to cover more local news. — The company is making a “major investment” to ensure that its stations have …

Discussion: Lost Remote

Lucas Shaw / The Wrap:

Hearst Hires Former Conde Nast COO, Promotes Digital Exec — David Carey, President of Hearst Magazines, announced two executive hires on Monday in the company's U.S. magazine division, bringing on Debi Chirichella as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Grant Whitmore as Vice President, Digital Media.

Discussion: MediaPost

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Something New From Nook, Coming in a Week — Barnes & Noble will be announcing ... something at a New York City press conference in a week. — About what? The oblique invitation I just got in my inbox doesn't say a word, other than promising that it will be a “very special announcement.”

more at Techmeme »

Benjamin Gottlieb / Neon Tommy:

LA Weekly Owner Names Ex-Girlfriend As Editor-in-Chief — The alternative weekly juggernaut Village Voice Media is notorious for promoting journalists from within its own network to the upper echelons of its editorial cadre. — But appointing an editor-in-chief who used to date …

Jeremy Bloom / Red, Green and Blue:

Reporter videos his own arrest at Occupy Nashville — Back in the good ol' days, you could arrest someone and charge them with disorderly conduct or resisting arrest, maybe even charge them with being drunk in public. And you were the police - it was your word against theirs.

Discussion: Poynter and Red, Green, and Blue

Lauren Indvik / Mashable!:

Conde Nast Traveler's iPad App Has a Size Problem — The inaugural iPad edition of Conde Nast Traveler has arrived at Apple's Newsstand — and it's hefty. — The issue is 784 megabytes — substantially bigger than even Wired's first issue, which attracted a fair number of comments …

Thanks:laureni

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Rachael Ray Magazine Counts One Issue as Two — The November issue of Every Day With Rachael Ray is a bounty of Thanksgiving goodness: 322 ideas, 121 recipes and 40-plus bonus pages. — But in one sense the publisher was a bit stingy. — Waiting inside the polyurethane wrapping …

Discussion: Adweek, Gothamist and Gawker

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Interview: Zinio CEO Not Threatened By Apple's Own Newsstand — Apple's iOS 5, with new features like background downloading and the Newsstand folder, seems like it poses a threat to the 11-year-old digital magazine newsstand Zinio. — But CEO Richard Maggiotto tells paidContent: “If you measure by revenue, it hasn't had any impact.