Mediagazer: News International confirms it has settled seven phone-hacking claims, including Ulrika Jonsson, Paul Dadge and James Hewitt. More soon ... (Media Guardian/@mediaguardian)

8:40 AM ET, December 20, 2011

Top News:

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Sharon Marshall gives evidence — Full coverage as the former News of the World editor appears at the inquiry into press standards and phone hacking — 1.06pm: In her book she said it wasn't just the royals phones who were hacked, one famous celebrity left a message on the end of their voice mail.

BBC:

Piers Morgan to appear before Leveson media ethics inquiry — Piers Morgan has denied ever hacking phones or order anyone else to — Former Daily Mirror and News of the World (NoW) editor Piers Morgan is set to appear at the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics later.

Media Guardian / @mediaguardian:

News International confirms it has settled seven phone-hacking claims, including Ulrika Jonsson, Paul Dadge and James Hewitt. More soon ...

Erik Larson / Bloomberg:

News Corp., Gascoigne Close to Settling Phone-Hacking Lawsuit — Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) — News Corp.'s U.K. publishing unit is close to settling a lawsuit by former England soccer player Paul Gascoigne over the interception of his voice-mail messages by the now-defunct News of the World tabloid.

Amy Chozick / Media Decoder:

Times Co. Negotiating to Sell Regional Newspapers — Updated The New York Times Company, which last week announced that its chief executive would depart at the end of the year, is close to selling its regional newspapers to the Halifax Media Group, the company announced Monday.

Discussion: Latest from Crain's …, Media News, Guardian, The Wrap, Future of Journalism, St. Petersburg Times, Poynter, Business Wire, The Daily Caller, rbr.com, WWD Media Headlines, Deal Journal, Adweek, FishbowlNY, @nytjim, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Capital New York and paidContent

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Sale of New York Times regional newspapers a sign of increased dealmaking in industry

Discussion: Mixed Media

Ken Doctor / Newsonomics:
New New York Times Plan: (Digital) World Domination

Discussion: GigaOM, Reuters and Poynter

Edmund Lee / @edmundlee: Heads up on @nytimes selling regional media group to Halifax. The unit is headed up by Michael Golden, Sulzbergers cousin and COO

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Record number of journalists killed on ‘dangerous assignments’ — A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists finds that at least 43 journalists were killed this year ‘ in direct relation to their work’, with 16 of those on ‘dangerous assignments’ — British-born photographer Tim Hetherington …

Joel Simon / Committee to Protect Journalists:
Journalists killed: Inside the numbers

Discussion: Guardian

Nadira Isayeva / Guardian: Khadzhimurad Kamalov: a death foreseen

Paul Lamkin / Pocket-lint:

Netflix signs up BBC for UK launch — Auntie on board for streaming fun — Netflix has snapped up a digital licensing agreement with BBC Worldwide ahead of its arrival in the United Kingdom and Ireland, meaning access to the wealth of Beeb goodies. — The deal means shows such as Spooks …

Discussion: paidContent:UK, Guardian, Softpedia News and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Kim Zetter / Threat Level:

Forensic Examiner Found No Match of Cables on Manning's Laptop to WikiLeaks' — FT. MEADE, Maryland — A day after a government forensic expert testified that he'd found thousands of diplomatic cables on the Army computer of suspected WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning, he was forced …

Discussion: Electronista and Future of Journalism

Kim Zetter / Threat Level:
Jolt in WikiLeaks Case: Feds Found Manning-Assange Chat Logs on Laptop

Discussion: PBS

Washington Post:
Soldier's gender identity issues raised in WikiLeaks case

Discussion: The Week, Guardian and Threat Level

Foster Kamer / The New York Observer:

More NYT Buyouts: Diana B. Henriques, Eric Dash, Bob Harris, and The Reporter Who Didn't Get One — IN MID-OCTOBER, a memo was sent out to all New York Times editorial staffers, from recently-installed Times executive editor Jill Abramson, managing editor Dean Baquet …

Discussion: Capital New York, Future of Journalism and The Future of Capitalism

Foster Kamer / The New York Observer: Goodbye, Gray Lady: New York Times Legends Take Buyouts, Internal Tributes Follow in Suit

Dylan Stableford / Yahoo! News:

Newspapers in Europe cover death of Vaclav Havel, not Kim Jong-Il — The deaths of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il and Václav Havel, the playwright and former Czechloslovakian president, were both announced on Sunday. But depending on where in the world you woke up this morning …

Discussion: Inside

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
On Word of Kim's Death, a Varied Response on Cable News

Discussion: The Boston Globe, Poynter, New York Times and The Lede

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Cable News Finally Realizing That SOPA And PROTECT IP Are Bad News — Well, well, well. We've noted in the past that while the serious concerns about SOPA and PROTECT IP (PIPA) have been all over the web and newspapers, they've mostly been mostly been absent from cable news …

Discussion: WebProNews

Jeffrey ErnstFriedman / MapLight:
Sponsors of SOPA Act Pulled in 4 Times as Much in Contributions from Hollywood than Silicon Valley

Discussion: Betabeat, VentureBeat, The Next Web and ZDNet, more at Techmeme »

Edmund Lee / Bloomberg:

CNN Looks to Digital Acquisitions to Gain on Fox — Time Warner Inc. (TWX)'s CNN, the pioneer news network that's fallen behind newcomers Fox News and MSNBC, is looking to acquisitions as part of an effort to regain ground by pushing more programming to tablets and smartphones.

Thanks:beet_tv

Stuart Elliott / Media Decoder:

Ad Spending Slowed to a Crawl in the 3rd Quarter, Report Finds — Like traffic on the way to the beach on a summer Friday afternoon, advertising spending in the third quarter barely moved, according to a report to be released on Monday morning. — But like that traffic …

Discussion: BtoB Magazine, rbr.com and AllThingsD

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

For Election Year, MTV Drops ‘Choose or Lose’ Slogan — After nearly 20 years of “Choose or Lose,” MTV is changing the name of its election season campaign. — The youth cable channel's coverage will be labeled “Power of 12,” a nod to both the election year and the notion that 18 …

Discussion: Big Hollywood, Gothamist and The Daily Caller

Patrick Foster / Guardian:

BBC admits using notorious private investigator to trace paedophile — The BBC has admitted hiring a notorious private investigator who was convicted of supplying newspapers with illegally obtained private information about celebrities and public figures.

Katherine Fung / The Huffington Post:

WATCH: ABC's Major New Ad Campaign — ABC News launched an initiative to re-brand its news coverage on Monday, under the new slogan “See the whole picture.” — The tagline debuted during “Good Morning America.” The new campaign emphasizes the network's ability to break down important news …

Discussion: ABCNEWS