Mediagazer: Bethany Usher, 31, now lectures in journalism at Teeside University. Worked at News of the World 2006 to 2007 in Manchester (Martinbrunt/@skymartinbrunt)

5:25 AM ET, November 30, 2011

Top News:

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Leveson inquiry liveblog: Alastair Campbell and Alec Owens give evidence — Full coverage as the former No 10 spin chief and ex-policeman appear at the inquiry into phone hacking and press standards — 10.17am: We've got more on Bethany Usher, the 31-year-old former News of the World reporter believed …

Guardian:
Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson are ‘scum of journalism’, Leveson told

Discussion: Future of Journalism, Gawker, The Huffington Post and Journalism.co.uk

BBC:
Leveson Inquiry: Journalist talks of culture of bullying

Discussion: Telegraph and Guy Fawkes' blog

Martinbrunt / @skymartinbrunt:

Bethany Usher, 31, now lectures in journalism at Teeside University. Worked at News of the World 2006 to 2007 in Manchester

Guardian:

Woman arrested in hacking investigation — Operation Weeting detectives have arrested a 31-year-old woman in connection with phone hacking at News International — Detectives investigating phone hacking at News International have arrested a 31-year-old woman.

Joel Gunter / Journalism.co.uk:

Paul McMullan defends Milly Dowler phone hacking — Former News of the World deputy features editor tells Leveson inquiry that hacking of missing teenager's voicemail was ‘honourable’ and done by ‘well-meaning journalists’ — Former News of the World deputy features editor Paul McMullan arrives at the Leveson inquiry today

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Tara Conlan / Guardian: Jeremy Hunt hints at demise of PCC

Robert Dex / The Independent: Jeremy Hunt: Police ended hack inquiry

Joel Gunter / Journalism.co.uk:
Former Daily Star reporter: I was hacked after resigning

Discussion: CJR, FleetStreetBlues, Poynter, Press Gazette, Guardian, Crikey, Media Week and Journalism.co.uk

Matt Rosoff / MattyDread:

On slideshows... I'm flattered MG Siegler would take the time to single out one of my slideshows for SAI as being interesting enough to read, but annoying when formatted as a slide show. — So. A few ideas to think about. — Bad slideshows are horrible, agreed.

Discussion: @erickschonfeld

MG Siegler / parislemon:

ANNOYING: The Article As A Slideshow — Matt Rosoff's thoughts on Google becoming more like Microsoft should have been a provocative and effective article. Instead it's a slideshow. Why? I have no clue. — Well okay, pageviews, clearly. But it's still weird to see this type of story formatted this way.

Discussion: Business Insider and @mattrosoff

David Cohn / digidave.org:

Spot.Us has Merged with Public Insight Network — Spot.Us + PIN = Rocking — Spot.Us launched in November of 2008. Counting the months of planning (and applying for the Knight News Challenge) that went into the launch and I've been working on Spot.Us for almost four years.

Discussion: MediaShift Idea Lab, rjionline.org, News for Digital Journalists and Poynter

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

Magazines Pull Back on Tablet Bells and Whistles — When the iPad launched, magazines rushed to shovel expensive rich-media features into their tablet editions. But now that they have to create editions for the new Kindle Fire and Nook Color and their ilk, some are downplaying the need for often-expensive enhancements.

Discussion: Macworld, FishbowlNY, eMedia Vitals and magCulture.com/blog

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Parenting Fills Facebook's Most Shared Articles of 2011 List — Articles about natural disasters and parenting advice from CNN, Yahoo! News, the New York Times, and Huffington Post topped Facebook's new list of the most shared articles in the US for 2011. Facebook measured which articles were Liked …

Discussion: Forbes, Future of Journalism, Gawker and Lost Remote, more at Techmeme »

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

How CNN Landed Herman Cain Interview On New Allegations — NEW YORK — When CNN producers booked Herman Cain on Sunday to appear on “The Situation Room” the following day, they couldnât have expected that the Republican presidential candidate would be on air denying allegations …

Discussion: Iowa Caucuses, Erik Wemple, Economist, MyFox Atlanta, The Caucus, Business Insider, Slate, ABCNEWS and Capital New York

Steve Myers / Poynter:
Media inquiries pushed Ginger White to go forward with story of Cain affair

Discussion: MyFox Atlanta

Alex Weprin / TVNewser:

Former ‘CBS Evening News’ Producer Dick Meyer Tapped to lead BBC News, America — The BBC has tapped former CBS news producer and executive Dick Meyer as its executive producer of BBC News, America. Meyer was most recently executive editor of NPR, and before that led CBSNews.com.

Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:

Mitt Romney Brazenly Lies and the Media Lets Him Slide — Last week, a lot of media attention was devoted to latest GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich using the word “humane” in a debate answer about illegal immigration, suggesting we should avoid policies that tear families apart.

Discussion: CJR and Capital New York

Curt Anderson / Associated Press:

US To Pay $2.5M In Photo Editor Robert Stevens' Anthrax Death — MIAMI — More than a decade after tabloid photo editor Robert Stevens became the first victim of the 2001 anthrax attacks, the U.S. government has agreed to pay his widow and family $2.5 million to settle their lawsuit, according to documents released Tuesday.

Discussion: ProPublica and Seattle Times

Jim Romenesko:

‘Mounting Nittany’ sex column on hold as Penn State deals with Sandusky case — The “Mounting Nittany” sex column used to run every Thursday in Penn State's Collegian — typical fare: “Let's talk sex, hugs and handjobs” — but it's been MIA for several weeks now.

Discussion: Deadspin

Katherine Rushton / Telegraph:

Chris Bryant: BSkyB used details from phone hacking to aid lobbying — News Corporation passed information obtained by hacking to BSkyB to help it “advance its commercial interests”, Chris Bryant, the Labour MP has claimed. — Anti-Murdoch protestors hold placards reading “End the Murdoch Mafia” …

Katherine Rushton / Telegraph: James Murdoch suffers severe loss of support as BSkyB chairman

The Sydney Morning Herald:
BSkyB chairman Murdoch re-elected with 19% opposition

Discussion: Company Town, paidContent:UK, Guardian and Wall Street Journal

Bloomberg:

Lions Gate Said to Be in Merger Talks With ‘Twilight’ Film Producer Summit — Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF), the independent film and TV company, is in merger talks with Summit Entertainment LLC, the studio behind the “Twilight” vampire movies, three people with knowledge of the situation said.

Discussion: Deal Journal, Forbes, Los Angeles Times and Deadline.com