Mediagazer: AOL hires chief content officer for troubled Patch (Peter Lauria/Reuters)

1:45 PM ET, February 8, 2012

Top News:

Sunday Mirror chief authorised hacking, says blogger Guido Fawkes — Sunday Mirror editor Tina Weaver personally authorised hacking and blagging, political blogger Paul Staines told the inquiry into press standards today. Mr Staines, who blogs as Guido Fawkes, told the Leveson Inquiry he had heard the claims from two journalists.

Henry Clarke Price / @henrycp:

Trinity Mirror not commenting on @GuidoFawkes #leveson claims about Sunday Mirror ed Tina Weaver allegedly authorising hacking and blagging

Martin Beckford / Telegraph:

News International scandal: police paid £100,000 under false names — Police officers were paid more than £100,000 by News International journalists who hid their true identities in company records, it is claimed. — Contacts are alleged to have been paid under £1,000 …

Discussion: The Independent

Mark Hosenball / Reuters: News Corp team accused of risking journalist sources

Guardian: NI faces more than 50 new damages claims

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:

Nice Guy, Finishing Last: How Don Graham Fumbled the Washington Post Co. — In the next few months Facebook will go public at a rumored valuation of up to $100 billion, one of the most keenly anticipated business events ever. The instant that trading opens, Mark Zuckerberg and a handful …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, mediabistro.com, Gannett Blog, Politico, FishbowlNY, NetNewsCheck Latest and Poynter

Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:

Washington Post Will Further Reduce Staff — 9:44 a.m. | Updated The Washington Post announced a new round of buyouts on Wednesday, the latest in a series of staff reductions that have decreased the size of its newsroom by more than 200 people over the last three years.

Discussion: Forbes and The FJP

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Brauchli to Washington Post staff: More with less!

Thanks:@erikwemple

Jim Romenesko: Notes from the Washington Post newsroom meeting

Lynne Marek / Chicago Business:

Chicago Tribune eyes price tag for online news — (Crain's) — The Chicago Tribune will begin charging online readers for access to content and is considering a “creative way” to do that, said Gerould Kern, the paper's editor. — “I think we will begin to charge in a selective way,” …

Peter Lauria / Reuters:

AOL hires chief content officer for troubled Patch — (Reuters) - AOL Inc, which has been investing heavily in content to make up for declining revenue from dial-up Internet access, has hired an executive for the newly created position of chief content officer at its struggling Patch hyperlocal news network.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Future of Journalism and Business Insider

Jim Romenesko:
Patch to reduce staff, change editorial focus

Discussion: LA Observed

Jim Romenesko: ‘There are no layoffs planned,’ says Patch

Anna Heim / The Next Web:

Amazon Prime subscribers will get access to Viacom TV shows — Amazon has closed a deal with the media conglomerate Viacom that will let its Prime subscribers stream new TV shows, the company announced today. — This announcement doesn't come as a surprise, and confirms recent rumors …

Discussion: paidContent, Future of Journalism, The Verge, Reuters, GeekWire, Epicenter, 9to5Google, CNET and Home Media Magazine

Ryan Lawler / Gigaom:
With Viacom deal, Amazon looks like a real competitor to Netflix

Discussion: Multichannel, VentureBeat, Media Decoder, Adweek, AdAge, Amazon, Home Media Magazine, TechCrunch, The Wrap and Pocket-lint, more at Techmeme »

John Plunkett / Guardian:

Don't break stories on Twitter, BBC staff told — As Sky News clamps down on staff Twitter updates, corporation tells reporters to file copy before tweeting it — BBC journalists have been told not to break news stories on Twitter before they tell their newsroom colleagues.

Discussion: BBC, Journalism.co.uk and The Next Web

Ben Fenton / blogs.ft.com:
Sky's the limit on retweets

Discussion: The Wall Blog

Josh Halliday / Guardian:
Sky News clamps down on Twitter use

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Felix Dennis in treatment for throat cancer — The private office of Felix Dennis, the eccentric 65-year-old British publishing magnate who imported Maxim and The Week to the U.S., announced today that Dennis has cancer. — “Felix has been diagnosed with cancer of the pharynx (throat),” reads a statement posted on his website.

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Mail Online Income Quickening After U.S. Expansion — Mail Online's annual revenue growth rate has accelerated to a high of 70 percent following its big push in to the U.S., its publisher DMGT reported in Wednesday's interim disclosure for its October-to-January earnings.

Discussion: production.investis.com, Press Gazette and Guardian

Robert Andrews / paidContent:
Nevermind The Numbers: Mail Online And New York Times Are Chalk And Cheese

Discussion: New York Times

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

End of Lance Armstrong probe raises questions about media's reporting — With little fanfare, federal prosecutors on Friday dropped their investigation of Lance Armstrong, nearly two years after it began. After convening a grand jury, summoning dozens of witnesses and involving several federal agencies …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Reuters UK journalists will not strike — Thompson Reuters has reached a deal with the National Union of Journalists, who will now call off a two-day strike scheduled to begin tonight at midnight. — “As you know, the National Union of Journalists had scheduled an industrial action to begin …

John Koblin / WWD:

BuzzFeed Taps Amy Odell — CUT TO THE BUZZ: BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith has poached Amy Odell from New York Magazine's The Cut blog. — Odell will start at BuzzFeed at the end of the month and run a vertical geared toward women. Smith, Odell and BuzzFeed executive editor Doree Shafrir …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Greg Kelly ‘thankful’ to be cleared of rape charges, will return to ‘Good Day’ soon — Fox 5 anchor Greg Kelly issued a statement through his publicist Tuesday night following news reports that the Manhattan D.A. will not charge him with rape. — “I am thankful that the investigation established …

Discussion: NY Daily News, rbr.com, Capital New York, New York Magazine and FishbowlNY