Mediagazer: Leveson inquiry: Peter Wright, Liz Hartley

11:15 AM ET, January 11, 2012

Top News:

Leveson inquiry: Peter Wright, Liz Hartley - live — Full coverage as the Mail on Sunday editor and legal chief appear at the inquiry into media standards and phone hacking — 10.26am: Silva says there have been “a handful” of complaints by celebrities over the past few years.

Discussion: Press Gazette, @benfenton, @iburrell, @dansabbagh and FleetStreetBlues

Erik Larson / Bloomberg:

Rupert Murdoch's Wedding Singer Sues News Corp. Over Phone Hacking — The British pop star who sang at News Corp. (NWSA) Chairman Rupert Murdoch's wedding in 1999, when she was 13 years old, sued the company over claims its News of the World tabloid later hacked into her voice mails to get stories.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Rachel McAthy / Journalism.co.uk:

Private investigator Steve Whittamore used by MoS after arrest — Mail on Sunday editor Peter Wright first became aware of the newspaper's use of the private investigator in ‘early 2004’, who he said was used until September that year — Peter Wright, the editor of the Mail on Sunday …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Julie Moos / Poynter:

NYT limited layoffs to 200 employees in sale to Halifax — In its deal to sell 16 regional papers to Halifax Media, The New York Times Co. limited layoffs to 10 percent of employees, according to an SEC filing from Dec. 27, 2011. Since the New York Times Regional Group employed about 2,000 people …

Discussion: mediabistro.com

Julie Moos / Poynter:
Confirmed: Halifax noncompete will not apply to New York Times Regional employees

Discussion: The New York Observer

Jim Romenesko:
Halifax waives non-compete clause for NYT Regional Media Group employees

Discussion: St. Petersburg Times

Julie Moos / Poynter:
Lawyer: Where's the journalist who leaves Halifax supposed to get a job?

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

John Plunkett / Guardian:

BSkyB axes Al Gore's Current TV from its pay-TV lineup — Sky makes ‘commercial decision’ to let go of documentary channel that has struggled for ratings — Al Gore's Current TV channel in the UK is facing closure after BSkyB - part owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation - axed it from its pay-TV lineup.

Discussion: @iburrell

Ian Burrell / @iburrell: UK news-based TV channel Current, part of network set up by Al Gore, is facing closure because BSkyB is withdrawing funding, Current says

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Journalists' campaign-trail secrets revealed — NASHUA, N.H. — I've long suspected that if editors knew how little journalism occurs on the campaign trail, they would never pay our expenses. — Forget door-knocking. In reality, it's more trainspotting.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

John Cassidy / The New Yorker:

In Defense of Political Journalists — If there's one thing most people can agree on these days it's that political reporting has gone to the dogs. Even some of my colleagues subscribe to this view. In a Daily Comment last week, George Packer had a rip at the reporters covering the Republican primaries …

Discussion: Poynter and The Daily Caller

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Justices Weigh Relevance of TV Indecency Laws — WASHINGTON — In a rollicking Supreme Court argument that was equal parts cultural criticism and First Amendment doctrine, the justices on Tuesday considered whether the government still had good reason to regulate cursing and nudity on broadcast television.

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, Media Decoder, Los Angeles Times, Company Town, Broadcasting & Cable and Reason

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:

‘CBS This Morning’ Premiere Posts Modest Ratings Gains — The revamped morning program with Charlie Rose and Gayle King is watched by 2.68 million viewers. — The revamped CBS This Morning with Charlie Rose and Gayle King joining Erica Hill, was watched by 2.68 million viewers for its debut on Monday …

Ben Popper / Betabeat:

Former HuffPo CTO Paul Berry Building New Startup and Incubator With Lerer Ventures — The news broke today that Paul Berry, the longtime CTO of Huffington Post credited with their legendary SEO and early adoption of social networking tools, was leaving the company.

Discussion: paidContent, Future of Journalism and Business Insider

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:
Huffington Post Losing Key Editor and Top Tech Wizard

Discussion: AllThingsD and Business Insider

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:
Nico Pitney to leave The Huffington Post

Discussion: Gawker, Capital New York, @dylanbyers, Business Insider and FishbowlNY

Wall Street Journal:

Sale Explored for New Republic — The owners of the New Republic, a fixture of political journalism, are exploring a possible sale of the magazine and have hired a financial adviser, people familiar with the matter said. — Adviser Blackstone Group is expected to reach out to various media companies …

Discussion: DealBook, New York Magazine, Gawker and Business Insider

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Why media outlets team up in an election year — We've reached the point in journalism where we barely bat an eye when two news organizations say they're joining forces. Anything less than a merger is just not an earth mover these days, when egos, brands, unique audiences — all of the guarded …

Discussion: Future of Journalism

David D. Burstein / Fast Company:

The New York Times's Nick Kristof On Journalism In A Digital World And The Age Of Activism — Nicholas Kristof has been writing for The New York Times for more than a quarter century and has appeared on that paper's op-ed page since 2001, often penning articles about the struggles of people in distant parts of the world.

Discussion: The New York Observer and Journalism.org

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Government loses bid to ban BBC terror interview — The BBC has won a High Court battle over the Government's refusal to allow it to film and broadcast an interview with a terror suspect who has been detained in the UK for more than seven years without trial.

Suzanna Andrews / Vanity Fair:

The Mystery Woman Behind the Murdoch Mess — Rebekah Brooks was running the News of the World at 31, and Rupert Murdoch's entire British newspaper empire at 41. A virtual member of the Murdoch family, close to Prime Ministers Blair, Brown, and Cameron, she relished her power—until the phone-hacking scandal took her down.

Adam Sherk:

News Organizations on Google+: Which Pages Get the Most Engagement? — News organizations (along with businesses of all kinds) have been able to create official Google+ pages for a couple months now so I thought I'd check in and see how their pages are doing.

Discussion: Mashable!, eMedia Vitals, Future of Journalism, WebProNews and Poynter

Jeff Sonderman / Poynter:

Even on smartphones, your news is more likely to be found through social media — The average person looking at a smartphone screen right now is more likely to come across news from your organization through a Facebook or Twitter app than through your own news app.

Discussion: MediaPost, Forbes, Softpedia News, App Advice, ZDNet and NetNewsCheck Latest

Mark Katches / California Watch:

Media partners pool resources to fund bullet train trip — When Fresno Bee business reporter Tim Sheehan boarded a plane for Spain in November, his trip signaled a new chapter of collaboration for a growing group of California news organizations. — Sheehan spent eight days abroad …

Discussion: LA Observed