Mediagazer: Five things I would do as CEO of the New York Times (Mathew Ingram/GigaOM)

10:40 AM ET, December 21, 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: New York Magazine, @kevinoncfb and Associated Press

A.J. Daulerio / Deadspin:

Legendary Columnist Bill Conlin Resigns Over Forthcoming Philly Inquirer Bombshell [UPDATE] — 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: mediabistro.com, Speak Easy, CBS Philly, New York Times, The Huffington Post, Crossing Broad, Bleacher Report, @dhm and Poynter

Larry Platt / Philly.com:

How do we report about our own? — I have been a journalist for more than a quarter century, and I have never had a professional experience that was sadder - or more shocking - than reading the allegations leveled against Bill Conlin today. — As detailed by the Inquirer's Nancy Phillips …

Will Bunch / Boston Herald: Philly papers share outrage over Bill Conlin case

The 20 | NBC Philadelphia:
Bill Conlin Retires, Doesn't Resign

Discussion: Poynter

Fox Sports:

Report: NBC reporter charged with DUI — NBC News correspondent Jay Gray charged with drunken driving after he attended a party at the house of the attorney for accused child molester Jerry Sandusky, TMZ reported Tuesday. — According to the report, Gray was pulled over after drinking …

Discussion: TMZ.com, The Hollywood Gossip and TVSpy

Guardian:

Leveson inquiry: James Hipwell gives evidence - live — • Ex-Mirror journalist witnessed Morgan's phone being hacked — • Hipwell says hacking ‘was bog standard journalistic tool’ — • He says voicemails were deleted to stop Sun getting stories

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Press Gazette, Digital Spy and BBC

Richard Adams / Guardian:
What does CNN do with Piers Morgan now? | Richard Adams

Discussion: TVWeek.com, Media Decoder, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and Business Insider

BBC:
Phone hacking ‘bog-standard tool’ says former Mirror journalist

Discussion: @tom_watson, @joelmgunter and @patrickfoster2

Guardian: First police officer arrested over alleged payments for journalists

Kevin Roderick / LA Observed:

Times ‘terminates’ blogging pressman Ed Padgett — Ed Padgett, a Los Angeles Times employee for 39 years, has been in trouble with the bosses before for his blog posts. This time, he says today, Human Resources called from out of nowhere to tell him he had been fired.

Discussion: edpadgett.blogspot.com

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Marcus Brauchli, Washington Post Editor, Gathers Veteran Staffers To Steady Uneasy Newsroom — NEW YORK — The Washington Post newsroom has changed dramatically in recent years, with hundreds of staffers leaving in a series of buyouts and numerous star reporters and editors decamping …

Discussion: Washington Post

Adam Serwer / Mother Jones:

Defeating the Point of Fact-Checking — Fact-checking, as a genre, probably shouldn't exist. It does largely because of one of the weirder conventions of mainstream journalism, which is to give equal weight to competing claims regardless of whether or not they actually deserve it.

Discussion: Democracy in America, Culture, PolitiFact and Washington Monthly

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

Discussion: St. Petersburg Times, Swampland, Slate, Mother Jones and AlterNet.org

Brian Beutler / TPM:
Ryan's Plan Still Ends Medicare Even If Politifact Rates That As A Lie

Discussion: New York Magazine, Hot Air, Gawker, Big Journalism, Paul Krugman, The New Republic, Forbes, Forbes, Washington Wire and PolitiFact

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Glenn Mulcaire wins legal fees battle with News of the World publisher — News Group Newspapers had no right to cancel private eye's legal fees over alleged phone hacking, high court rules — Glenn Mulcaire has won his high court bid to force News Group Newspapers to continue to fund his legal fees in cases of alleged phone hacking.

Discussion: Press Gazette

The Huffington Post - UK: Andy Coulson Loses Battle Against NotW Over Legal Fees For Phone Hacking Case

Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:

Five things I would do as CEO of the New York Times — Janet Robinson recently stepped down from her position as chief executive officer of the New York Times, and while there haven't been any official announcements about why she left, the Wall Street Journal says that Robinson's lack …

Discussion: Gawker and eMedia Vitals

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: Future of Journalism, Associated Press, ABCNEWS and Reporter's Committee …

Guardian: Bradley Manning hearing - Tuesday 20 December 2011 as it happened live updates

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

Al Jazeera English wins first duPont as 14 news orgs awarded with broadcast, digital honors — Al Jazeera English has won its first Alfred I. duPont award for excellence in broadcast and digital journalism, one of 14 the Columbia School of Journalism announced this morning …

Discussion: TVNewser and Broadcasting & Cable

Lauren Indvik / Mashable:

Inside The Atlantic: How One Magazine Got Profitable by Going ‘Digital First’ — The Atlantic's James Bennet, Scott Havens, Bob Cohn and Justin Smith. Photo courtesy of Richard A. Bloom. — With consecutive quarterly growth in both print and digital advertising sales …

Discussion: The Buttry Diary

John Eggerton / Multichannel:

Tennis Channel Wins Program Carriage Complaint Against Comcast — First Time a Network Has Prevailed in a Program Carriage Complaint Against Cable Operator — An FCC Administrative Law Judge has ruled in favor of the Tennis Channel in its program carriage complaint against Comcast.

Discussion: New York Times and Adweek

Joe Flint / Company Town:
Bloomberg TV says Tennis Channel win over Comcast boosts its case

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Hollywood Reporter and New York Post

Seth Godin / Seth Godin's Blog:

The new lazy journalism — When journalism was local, the math of reporting was pretty simple: you found a trend, an event or an issue that was important and you wrote about it. After all, you were the voice to your readers. Being in sync with a hundred or a thousand print journalists around …

Discussion: Future of Journalism and Big Journalism

Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:

Nielsen And comScore Put An End To Their Patent War, Enter Cross-Licensing Agreement — Online audience measurement and Web analytics companies Nielsen and comScore have settled their patent disputes, according to a joint statement released this morning. — Nielsen filed suit against its rival …

Discussion: MediaPost, Business Wire and Mashable!, more at Techmeme »

The Detroit News:

Borders era over as judge confirms bookseller's liquidation — Borders Group Inc. won approval from a U.S. bankruptcy judge Tuesday on the final details of the retailer's liquidation, marking the end of the country's former No. 2 bookseller. — The 40-year-old Ann Arbor company started …