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

5:40 PM ET, December 20, 2011

Top News:

Nancy Phillips / Philly.com:

Four say Philly Daily News writer Bill Conlin sexually abused them as children — Three women and a man say they were molested as children by Bill Conlin, a Hall of Fame baseball writer and Philadelphia Daily News columnist. — In vivid accounts, the four say Conlin groped and fondled them …

Discussion: Poynter

A.J. Daulerio / Deadspin:

Legendary Columnist Bill Conlin Resigns Over Forthcoming Philly Inquirer Bombshell — The Philadelphia Inquirer's top investigative reporter, Nancy Phillips, has written a story containing what we're told are allegations of child molestation against sportswriter Bill Conlin, a longtime columnist at the rival Daily News.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, CBS Philly, Bleacher Report, Crossing Broad, JIMROMENESKO.COM and Poynter

The 20 | NBC Philadelphia:

Bill Conlin Retires, Doesn't Resign — According to Deadspin, “The Philadelphia Inquirer's top investigative reporter, Nancy Phillips, has written a story containing what we're told are allegations of child molestation against sportswriter Bill Conlin, a longtime columnist at the rival Daily News.

Dan McQuade / @dhm: KYW 1060 just reported Inquirer story about the Conlin allegations involve molestation of girls 40 years ago.

Guardian:

Bradley Manning hearing - live updates — • Read a summary of the day's main events — • Fifth day of pre-trial military hearing in Maryland — • Blogger Adrian Lamo called by prosecution — • Prosecutors say evidence links Manning to Julian Assange

David Dishneau / Associated Press:

US close to resting case against Manning — FORT MEADE, Maryland (AP) — The U.S. government neared the end of its case Tuesday against the Army intelligence analyst blamed for the biggest leak of national secrets in American history. — The prosecution was expected to call its final six witnesses …

Discussion: Reporter's Committee … and ABCNEWS

Pauline Jelinek / Associated Press:
Alleged leaker case more tech than military

Discussion: CNN

The Independent:

Piers Morgan ‘unaware of phone hacking’ — Former tabloid newspaper editor Piers Morgan today told an inquiry into press standards that he was unaware of any phone hacking when in charge at the Daily Mirror. And Mr Morgan said he had not been “directly involved” in the use of private investigators at the Daily Mirror.

Discussion: Guardian and TVNewser

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:

Piers Morgan Attacks Critics, Calls Accuser Insane at Ethics Hearing — Piers Morgan is tired of people trying to tie him to the phone-hacking scandal consuming the U.K. journalism industry. On Tuesday, during live video testimony to the British government's Leveson Inquiry on press ethics …

Discussion: Guardian, Media Decoder, Gawker, Mediaite, Press Gazette, Broadcasting & Cable and FishbowlNY

The Sydney Morning Herald:

Piers Morgan quiet on McCartney voicemail — CNN star interviewer Piers Morgan has refused to disclose details about the most damning links between himself and Britain's phone hacking scandal - his acknowledgment that he once listened to a phone message left by Paul McCartney for his then-wife Heather Mills.

Lisa O'Carroll / Guardian:

Leveson inquiry: Rupert Murdoch could be called — News Corporation chairman and chief executive could give evidence before the inquiry early next year — Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, may be called to give evidence before the Leveson inquiry into ethics and standards in press.

Discussion: CNN, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, AllThingsD and Chickaboomer

Josh Halliday / Guardian:
News of the World publisher settles seven phone-hacking claims

Discussion: rbr.com, Company Town, Guardian, Media & Entertainment and Reuters

Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media: Upcoming Conference to Focus on News Corp. Hacking Scandal

Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America: U.S. Attorney Recuses Himself From News Corp. Investigation

Erik Larson / Bloomberg: News Corp., Gascoigne Close to Settling Phone-Hacking Lawsuit

Brian Beutler / TPM:

Ryan's Plan Still Ends Medicare Even If Politifact Rates That As A Lie — Ryan's Plan Still Ends Medicare Even If PolitiFact Rates That As A Lie — Here's a long, sad story about how Democrats' basically true claim that House Republicans voted to end Medicare ended up “winning” …

Discussion: Gawker, Washington Monthly, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Big Journalism, The New Republic, Paul Krugman and PolitiFact

Alec MacGillis / The New Republic:
The Hard Truth About Fact-Checking

Discussion: Slate, Mother Jones and New York Magazine

Joel Simon / Committee to Protect Journalists:

Journalists killed: Inside the numbers — CPJ today released its annual tally of the journalists killed around the world. This is always a somber occasion for us as we chronicle the grim toll, remember friends who have been lost, and recommit ourselves to justice.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Next Web, WebProNews and Guardian

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk: Record number of journalists killed on ‘dangerous assignments’

Nadira Isayeva / Guardian: Khadzhimurad Kamalov: a death foreseen

Tim Carmody / Epicenter:

Livestream the Super Bowl, Kick Off Disruption of Broadcast TV — Screenshot of the NFL 2011 iPad app. Courtesy iTunes — In February, Super Bowl XLVI will be the first instance of the biggest game of the year to stream live over the web, via NFL.com and NBCSports.com.

Discussion: Online Video News, NetNewsCheck Latest, VentureBeat and ReadWriteWeb, more at Techmeme »

Richard Sandomir / The Fifth Down:
NBC Will Stream Super Bowl

Discussion: The Huffington Post, NBCSports.com, New York Times and Media & Entertainment

Jeff Roberts / paidContent:

Publishing Insider Tipped Law Firms About E-Book Price Fixing Conspiracy — The decision by major publishers to strike a pricing deal with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has been the source of speculation and several antitrust investigations. Now, a new court filing suggests someone inside the industry …

Discussion: The Awl and TeleRead

Ira Stoll / The Future of Capitalism:

The Times Shell Game — The New York Observer's Foster Kamer has a dispatch about how the New York Times has “bought out” several of its veteran employees, while retaining them as “contractors” to do the same jobs they were doing before. It quotes an email from Times staffer-turned-contractor Diana B. Henriques:

Discussion: FishbowlNY and The New York Observer

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:
Katy Roberts, Jody Alesandro to leave ‘Times’ in buyout scheme

Discussion: Gawker, The New York Observer, Future of Journalism and JIMROMENESKO.COM

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: VentureBeat, The Wrap, CNET News, Softpedia News, paidContent:UK, Home Media Magazine, Guardian and TechCrunch

Greg Jarboe / Search Engine Watch:

Hulu Grew Audience by 23% Year on Year — Late last week, comScore Video Metrix released its November 2011 U.S. Online Video Rankings. The data showed that 183 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content that month for an average of 20.5 hours per viewer.